A few weeks ago, our debate started by setting a more serious and frank tone to the issues that were being discussed Hishikhshukh style around kitchen tables among close confidants in almost every Eritrean gathering with two diametrically opposed motivations and justifications depending on the ethnic or religious backgrounds of those involved. The first phase of this debate basically did nothing more than carrying the kitchen table out in the open for everybody to see and guess what the other is cooking. Now that everybody has an idea, it is time to start the actual cuisine. Bon Appetite!
A special salute to Semere Habtemariam (Mainstream on Main-Street, Awate Aug 17, 2009) for his very understanding analysis; his eloquent & pleasant to read and easy to understand pieces with fascinating parables of wisdom. Commenting on the content of “Mainstream on Main-Street” itself may not fit within the scope of the issues that this article is intended to address (as Semere’s article had little to do with the core issue of the debate: land grabbers in action) so I will pass it by applauding Semere’s good intentions that reveal the qualities of an Eritrean deeply invested in the cause of justice. I am of the belief, Semere, that it is the problems that we can’t wish away that we need to deal with first so that our children would not need to fight another Higdef in the future. I agree with your statement that “the regime has marginalized an overwhelming majority of the people and rendered them powerless”. Except that, from reading Ahmed Raji’s Rainbow II, I did not get the impression that those excluded were actually selected by a lottery machine of random numbers. Your conclusion that “the Eritrean people do not count” is in fact an elitist overstatement that totally ignores at least the thousands who attend higdef’s festivals in the Diaspora and I had no reason to believe that they are morons who have no way of knowing where they interest lies.
It is remarkable that despite the rough ride we all had for the past few weeks, those who followed the rules of reason and fastened their seat belts managed to carry the debate to new levels. I am especially grateful to Ahmed Raji (The Lost Rainbow I, Awate August 09, 2009) and Saleh Gadi (Eritrea is not an Eggshell, Awate August 12, 2009) for stressing the need for open and uncensored debate on real issues to reclaim our lost rainbow and for easing people’s fears (which I happen to share) that our internet debate might wakeup a sleeping monster. Mengs T M (Cabbages and Kings I, August 11, 2009) elegantly wrapped up the various dimensions of the debate in a manner that fairly represented the way I understood what the writers were trying to say. Cabbages and Kings II (August 17, 009), despite the evident good intentions, was premised on the wrong assumption that Lowlanders are a bunch of uneducated sehabti-gemel that are lagging behind not through active and deliberate exclusion but for lack of some kind of philanthropic affirmative action by the Tigrigna elite (not my favorite argument). Tekhlit Tesfai (G. Ande Knows the Issue of the Devil, Awate Aug 17, 2009) was what any decent Eritrean should become (Thank You). An innovative article with concrete implications for action was Hamid Selman’s call for some form of Hilf Al-Fudul (Pact of the Virtuous) justified by countless examples that would dwarf the case of Keren that he managed to describe so graphically. The shock of the season was, I believe, Ahmed Raji’s “The Lost Rainbow II” (Awate August 15, 2009) which would make any decent Eritrean reading the naïve speeches, on Hade hizbi Hade libi trash, to freeze, turning anger into disappointment and hope into helplessness.
One of two other writers who deserve gratitude was Selam Kidane, a symbol of aynimbirkekhin, who would keep coming back with more of the same to make a strong case for a viewpoint that I obviously do not agree with but respect nevertheless. The second was Mohammed Ahmed who, following a previous article about Shifta Gebre (the guy I am chasing for an autograph) came up with “the Big Ugly Crack”, which exhibited a genuine attempt to give the benefit of the doubt to the PFDJ’s new-found-friends in their claim that the current land grabbing is nothing but an implementation of Dr. Berekhet’s constitution.
I am sure there are some, including myself (don’t laugh), who would not agree with the assessment that the EPP is an organization of irresponsible skunis with no principles. In fact, they did have some bright moments in their history. It was probably the death of one of the undisputed heroes of our armed struggle, Siyum Harestay – may God bless his soul – that let them loose like wild dogs with no headlights. This is how their position on the subject matter of our debate used to be (paragraphs taken from an old NHarnet article):
“ERITREA: MINEFIELD OF LAND REFORM (From the April 1997 issue of the Eritrean Newsletter)
The assertions of the ELF-RC regarding the long-term disastrous consequences of the decrees and proclamations churned out by the EPLF are being authenticated by expert judgment reached through independent assessment and research. One such corroboration of ELF positions is a conclusion reached by a recent Oxford research work on the question of land and EPLF’s Land Proclamation No. 58 of 1994.
In a research work … discussed at a conference on Land Reform in Africa, Sandra F. Joireman concludes that the wrongly conceived reform law in Eritrea will end up generating serious political and economic disasters to the Eritrean people.
…
She explains the situation as follows: “In Eritrea, because the government has already committed the support of the legal system to the agriculturalists without a corresponding guarantee of pastoralist rights, the chances that competition for land will develop into conflict or political alienation are high.
Because the conflicts that are set to develop will happen in the lowland areas and not in the highland agricultural areas, the rift of conflict will run directly along the cleavages which have existed in the Eritrean society throughout the political struggle for independence … Pastoralism is practiced by a more clearly defined group of Muslim lowlanders (who) at several times in the independence struggle stood in opposition to the EPLF program.
“The danger of lowland opposition to the land reform is magnified by an EPLF ban on opposition political parties … With no outlet for political organization to give expression to lowland demands, these interests are more likely to ferment, breeding instability in the long run”.
Now compare that with their current position (under Woldeyesus Amar) as stated in the Final Statement of the 2nd Regular Meeting of the Executive Committee of the EPP dated August 5-6, 2009:
“The Executive Committee condemned the PFDJ’s policy of forced and involuntary resettlement of highland villagers in the lowland part of the country. It further noted with concern that forcibly removing villagers from their ancestral and long-established territory and resettling them in new land by evicting others from their ancestral land will affect the social fabric of our society, as well as create conflict and animosity among various Eritrean social groups (emphasis mine).”
Don’t get me wrong, I do recognize the “by evicting others from their ancestral land” hidden in the rubble of garbage that qualifies to nothing more than adding insult to injury as far as “the others” are concerned. It is the policy of what they call “forced and involuntary resettlement” that might destabilize the land grabbers for a few weeks until they get used to their new stolen alternative homeland that they are condemning, not the policy of robbing the dream of a primary homeland for half the population for the rest of their lives. Yet it is, at least, something that should be applauded for putting the silent mummies of the EDP and their franchise civic organizations in a corner appearing more like the Templar of the Neo-Nazi bosses in Asmara than an opposition group with dignity and self-respect.
Why would the EPP that correctly predicted that the PFDJ’s Land Proclamation would end up motivating agriculturalists (Highlanders) to displace pastoralists (Lowlanders), today change their mind to tell us that the same motivated displacement that they had predicted is actually “forced and involuntary” contrary to what the land grabbers themselves are saying? Why do the same people who predicted that the implementation of the Land Proclamation would lead to serious political conflict between Lowlanders and Highlanders, suddenly appear surprised as if the problem appeared out of the blue when their own prophecy came to be true? The answer is pure and simple: the EDP owns the “ratified constitution” and the Land Proclamation that inspired it and is not ashamed to defend thieves and land grabbers whose master plan was probably laid during Mesfin Hagos’ tenure as Governor of Zoba Debub, the source of today’s land grabbers. The EPP had to go through tehadiso before they were qualified enough to meet the Godfather to get initiated into the cult.
My absolute Hero of the Week (in the Hall of Shame) was no other than Abdulrahman Alseyed (Commentary on Two Trends, Awate August 05, 2009), the most active advocate of CDRiE; the organization of Tigrigna intellectuals conspiring to put the Tadamun out of business. You (Abdulrahman) agree that the “grievances and resentments across the Lowlands” are justifiable because of “the deep rooted” injustices that started with Haile Sellassie continued with Mengistu and were amplified by the PFDJ regime (of what you described as “the well-entrenched and better organised Tigrigna highlanders”). You agree that the “demographic changes” of truckloads of land grabbers sneaking into other people’s property behind their backs is in fact over 50 years old and I wouldn’t mind agreeing with you (thank you) that we set 1952 as the reference date so that any illegal settlements of land grabbers established after that date would be dismantled immediately. I appreciate that you do not agree with my “Tigrigna Neo-Nazi” branding (we are open for suggestions) and feel free (to consult the bosses) and propose an alternative that fits a regime of land grabbers that stratifies citizens on the basis of ethnic and religious origin.
I completely understand your suggestion that Tigrignas are “well entrenched and better organized” and it might not be in our interest (technically) to get into confrontation before we are equally “well entrenched and organized” so that when we decide to jump them we would be more effective. What you are calling for is exactly what the traditional Lowland organizations have been working on for the last 18 years, sugar-coated hypocrisy over the counter while cooking venom underneath (copy-cut of what the Tigrigna Neo-Nazis have done for years). Unfortunately, my dear friend, I am not into that kind of business because times have changed and there are new guys in town. This time, under-table trafficking is banned and everybody will know what they are buying; the Neo-Nazis will have a picture of what is being cooked for supper; and advocates of the land grabbers may help themselves by sticking to their traditional chefs in PFDJ kitchens cooking the old menu or by stopping to play games and coming up with an alternative recipe that we might share (because we don’t like pork). So our message to you and to the puppet masters in CDRiE is: STEP UP AND TAKE THE RIDE or BACK OFF AND FOLLOW THE TIDE!
Amanuel Hidrat’s article on the “Need for Re-Framing Issues” (Awate, August 05, 2009) was one of the articles I enjoyed reading and I can’t agree more on the need for framing our arguments within the big picture. With all due respect Emma, having seen your previous article, I was expecting you to ask the ethnic Neo-Nazis in Asmara, the land grabbers in the Lowlands and their shadows in the Diaspora to place their actions into frames and tell us where the targeted exclusion of half the population fits in the big picture. Why don’t you help me put the undisputed guru of the EDP, Petros Tesfagiorgis (Washington March’s Historic Significance, Asmarino August 08, 2009) in one of your frames and maybe squeeze in some space for Professor Gaim – another CDRiE architect – who according to Petros is going crazy because “the people are forcefully uprooted from their natural environment (where the Tilyan live) to very hot areas infected by malaria (where we live)”. Where in the big picture does this typical argument of Tigrigna writers infuriated by being associated with the Neo-Nazi regime fit best (quote from Petros’ article – all brackets mine): “This situation gave rise to a lot of conspiracy theories (regarding the land grabbers in pictures) that derail the thinking of the people from the present challenges (of constitutional theft) and focus on debates concerning the past (that happened in May 2009) or on secondary contradictions (about Tigrigna supremacists driving the nation down a cliff) in the Eritrean society of religious (Islamic) or regional (Lowland) nature which can be addressed once Eritrea becomes a democracy (under Dr. Berekhet’s Land Grabbers Manual). It is not limited to Eritreans only; some Ethiopians (Weyanes) have taken that road (in Baduma and Environs)”.
I apologize if these guys never knew that the Eritrean revolution actually started from the same “hot areas infected by malaria” that they think is too disgusting for the land grabbers, and that there are still Eritreans who call those same places home and that they are not backing an inch away. Petros might be right according to an Eritrean Profile editorial “Congregation That Highlighted National Values” (Shabait.com August 12, 2009) reminding that “The times we are in right now are times of national congregation and gathering. They are the times that highlight the unity of the Eritrean people. It is the time of joy and amusement … The rationale behind the Eritrean people’s independence and securing its rightful place … is that it defied and withstood numerous global conspiracies … We (Neo-Nazis) harbor no ulterior motives (by erasing other people’s identity) or agendas (such as defacing the ethnic composition of the nation) and wish to see that peace, justice and truth prevail”.
A handful of the Tigrigna readers who flooded my e-mail with questions and comments (for which I am grateful) regarding my articles showed some sympathy towards Lowlanders right to ancestral land in the same footing to what is guaranteed for Tigrignas in their own villages. Contrary to the Neo-Nazi advocates, there were a lot of Tigrignas who e-mailed me with questions expressing genuine concerns about basic facts that they had been brainwashed into taking for granted. I noticed a huge difference between Tigrignas who identified themselves as opposition members (disgusting messages) and those who said they supported the government (polite and understanding messages). This was one of them:
“I forward my cordial salutation to be acquainted with you. I am from highland and Christian Eritrean. I support the Eritrean government. I am not a member of PFDJ. I am reading your articles about your concern for lowlanders land. I believe that you have all the right to raise the issue so that this issue will not remain to be in hibernating that explodes later in the next generations. My question to you is do you believe that if this case is not addressed at this proper time to rectify it doing the right thing at the right time will result in the future of ethnic cleansing by the lowlanders to free their land from the highlanders? What about if the highlanders would ask you where were you in liberating the land from Ethiopian occupiers? Do you, Ali Salim, believe that those highlanders who martyred in lowland sacrificed in vain to free the land that does not belong to them?”
Of course, the implication that “highlanders who martyred in lowland” did so to create justifications for the land grabbing thieves of today (a view widely held among Tigrigna writers) is something that I leave for you to pass your judgment on. It is also up to you to judge if the EPLF that geographically identified with the trenches of Nakfa in the heart of the Lowlands more than it did with any place in the Highlands throughout its history can be said to have liberated Eritrea in the absence of Lowlanders or against their will. Before you make you judgment, you may want to compare that decent e-mail (despite the misguided premises) with one of the many almost identical e-mails I received from Tigrignas who said were active opposition members:
“I still believe both Salim and Gedi (Jowhar) are the same. …
Can you tell me any western paper that has published which divides the states of the US? Can you tell me any state that divides the Scots from the rest of UK, NI or Wales for that matter? Can you tell me any western media that glorifies terrorism … no there is no. Then why is this cheap site working against national interest? Why is this site working to divide people alongside religion and region? Who said there are no Christians in highland? We were told by our brothers and fathers that Islam and Christian are united when it comes to their country, and it is all now fake.
The only convincing explanation for the difference between these two sets of e-mails is the fact that many of the Tigrignas who support the government (excluding the Neo-Nazis) by paying their 2% tax, by reading the garbage in Hadas Ertra and trying to follow up developments, by attending festivals and appreciating what is left of our national independence, or by hanging out in the trenches guarding the nation against foreign invasion are responsible citizens who are more worried that Eritrea might collapse for failing to do their part and they deserve all my respect for that. The Tigrigna side of the opposition on the other hand is infested with irresponsible thugs who have never entertained the possibility that the nation might be inches away from collapsing into chaos and delalas who would never hesitate to sell the nation for a night in Gheon or Sheraton in Addis. As Lowlanders I believe it is those responsible citizens who have scarified to maintain an independent nation on life support and have a stake in the nation standing on its feet that we should appeal to with our fears and interpretations of what their Neo-Nazi politicians (in government and opposition) are doing, not the “opposition” gangsters who have nothing to lose and more to gain in paychecks and travel allowances from the Weyanes.
The following is for those who take the rift that is growing exponentially between the two segments of our society (Moslems and Christians) seriously by keeping the nation clear from the scenario of horrors. This is part of a BBC report of December 18, 2008 for an example of what it takes for a nation to top the darkest side of it its own history in an instant of anger. Every time you read a sentence, imagine an instant of public anger back home, and stop to ask yourself: Can this happen in Eritrea?
- the Rwandan President (‘s plane) … was shot down above Kigali airport on April 06, 1994.
- Whoever was responsible, within hours a campaign of violence spread from the capital throughout the country …
- The two ethnic groups are actually very similar – they speak the same language, inhabit the same areas, and follow the same traditions.
- However, Tutsis are often taller and thinner than Hutus, with some saying their origins lie in Ethiopia.
- During the genocide, the bodies of Tutsis were thrown into rivers, with their killers saying they were being sent back to Ethiopia.
- Participants were … told they could appropriate the land of the Tutsis they killed.”
I am sure you have noticed striking similarities between the incidents in the BBC report (taken separately) and what you know can happen in Eritrea. The President’s assassination, the appropriation of land as incentive and the Ethiopia connection might have rung a bell in your mind. Your immediate conclusion might have been that Eritrea is not Rwanda and you probably calmed yourself with rehearsals of the stories of Muslims and Christians who fought and died together during the tough times of the armed struggle. You probably had pictures of Ibrahim Sultan and Woldeab Woldemariam hugging and kissing each other; or memories of Adey Fatima taking you in her lap and feeding you abAkhe just because your mom had done the same to her older son. You can probably still remember when Muslim Sheikhs and Christian Qeshis walked hand in hand to intervene to stop the civil war between the ELF and EPLF. You definitely have a best friend who is Muslim and doesn’t share a pint of what I have been saying. All combined, might make Rwanda an extreme and outlandish impossibility for Eritrea.
But times have changed, and Eritrea is no more the rainbow that we used to see. Times have changed and the beauty we used to know is no more. It was friends, and neighbors and classmates that slaughtered one another in Rwanda and all people in an instant of anger needed to induce total amnesia of anything beautiful was hours of radio time. If this nightmare does happen, by the time Awate publishes the bad news on Gedab or a curious journalist sends pictures to CNN, the clock will have gone too far to be reversed and the Eritrea that we know will have change beyond recognition. If you think this is scaremongering, zoom back to the week following the fall of Barentu (an instant of anger) in May 2000 and if you were in Asmara or any other town in Eritrean at the time, then you still have a vivid picture of the mobs of teenagers running around with whatever they could get their hands on hunting “Agames” and what happened is history that I do not wish to dig.
The only ones who can stop the incarnation of this scenario in a nation where only nightmares seem to turn into reality, are Highlanders, intellectuals in particular. The ball is in your court. The formula is very simple: (1) stop playing games with an issue that will most probably define the nation’s future; (2) stop the PFDJ’s ethnic supremacists and land grabbers when things are still within arm’s reach and before it is too late. My only tip for whatever you come up with is do not entertain the unreasonable and unfair hope that Lowlanders might give up on their right to ancestral land and equal citizenship for fear that the cost of walking the walk might be devastating for the nation.
For Lowlanders my message is always the same: work hard to help and inspire Highlanders to stand up against their own ethnic supremacists from taking them further down the wrong side of the highway into a head-on-collision; do your best to salvage whatever you can to preserve a united nation under a democratic system of equality and justice; do not compromise on your land and your right to equal citizenship and never settle for second-class status in your own homeland whatever the consequences. Always remember that equality among citizens is a necessary prerequisite of meaningful democracy and that whatever you decide to give up today, you will give up forever.