We too, as Eritreans, are
not Afraid
By: Abeba Isahac
There has been much talk, in the past
few days, of a recent and
new website called “we’re not afraid” which had been set up in order to send a message to those
cowardly terrorists who had attacked
London’s transit system, killing
and maiming innocent civilians.
I thought it was appropriate to let those whose aim is to intimidate and hurt the hard
working, peace loving, good and decent
every day citizens of the world, know
that, life will go on, and that no one will cower to
their madness, no matter what.
It also made me think about those news organizations, especially the
ones coming from Britain, such as the BBC, the Guardian and their alleged
anonymous diplomatic sources who reside in Eritrea, who are constantly trying
to intimidate and sow fear around Eritreans by their evil wishful thoughts and false
forecasts, that another round of a
war, between Eritrea and her
southern neighbour, is imminent. Now,
if this is not subliminal terrorism, I do not know what is. So, in the same
spirit that Europe is defying and
telling the terrorists that they are not afraid of them, I too would like to
join in, adding to it, that the
terrorist western nations, as powerful
as they are, do not scare Eritrea, and that Eritreans are not afraid, because,
this time around, we know who our enemy
is, and are therefore well prepared,
and will be ready for them any
time. We are not afraid, and with this,
the BBC, the Guardian and all their allegedly anonymous diplomatic corp
cronies, can go to the bank!
Like the Americans were caught
by surprise on 9/11, and as the British were on 7/7, Eritrea was also caught
by surprise in 1997, when, unprovoked belligerent woyane troops, cold bloodedly shot and murdered
fourteen Eritrean officers who had come to the scene only to
investigate, in response to some
complaints of ill treatment suffered by Eritreans in the Badme
area. That was all that there was to it, because one does not start a war
with only fourteen officers.
Eritrea had
never in the least realized or ever suspected in her
wildest dreams, that the leaders
of her southern neighbour, after having
been taught and acquired so much knowledge from the EPLF on how to fight a guerilla
war, and after having had the honour to fight side by side with the EPLF , who after the war was over escorted and seated them in power
in the country where no one knew ,
liked or accepted them, and stayed on
as long as it took, protecting them until they got settled, would
end up, instead of feeding their starving people, cooking up and conspiring, along with other evil hidden foreign accomplice forces, to stab her in the back under
the pretext of a fictitious border
dispute which they had crafted and which they had been provoking over for
seven whole years before, but which petty incidents were played down by
Eritrea, as she busied herself ,day and night,
toward the goal of more important
and pressing matters of nation building, rescuing her people from the condition they were in, and then on
to the fulfilment of their long awaited dreams and aspirations.
Eritrea was also at that time,
distracted by the encouragement, cheers
and accolades she was receiving from the international
community with regards to her single
handed great efforts towards success, and the progress she was obviously
making, (Please
refer to an article dated July 27, 2005,
titled “InAfrica, Just Help Us to Help Ourselves” posted at Shabait , written by
Ato Gebreselassie Yosief Tesfamichael, a development economist
and former finance minister of
Eritrea) and had not realized that
it was deliberately being done to
distract her attention from suspecting
or realizing that it was those very same entities who were
praising her , that were working behind
the scenes, conspiring with the woyane, to destroy her and reverse
her independence ,if not to detract her success, and bring down her economy, as
the then USA Ambassador to Ethiopia, David Shinn, promised would happen to Eritrea, as he condoned the
illegal pillaging, deportation and
exodus of 90, 000 legal residents, citizens of Ethiopia, whose ancestral origin
just happened to be Eritrea.
Considering the amount of human tragedy , physical damage, and spiritual
trauma that was caused as a result of all the conspiracies which were being played behind it, if this is not a first class example of an
evil terrorist act, I do not know what else is.
Driven by that kind
of a busy mind set toward the fulfilment of the long awaited dreams and
aspirations of her people, how could it be said, even by the leap of any imagination, that Eritrea, at that momentous period of
her life, would wish,
out of all things, to start a war? It just does not make any sense, and
of course it is not true. On the other
hand, for the woyane, whose initial
aspirations were no more than to follow
in the footsteps of Albania, and who were having a hard time getting accepted
by the majority of the Ethiopian people, it seemed, according to their advisers
and backers, that perhaps a
war might be able to save things
for them, especially if they could succeed in reversing Eritrea’s independence and snatching the port of Assab
to make it one with Ethiopia. That act, it was believed may have calmed down
the Ethiopian people in general and their opposition parties in particular.
That was the whole idea, which is a far
cry from a border dispute.
No one can truthfully say that Eritrea crossed the
borders in order to provoke a war with its southern neighbor; but rather, the truth is that , it was the woyane, after years of conspiring,
and encouraged and backed by their
powerful western surrogates, who
confidently came to pick a fight and to upset the Eritrean independence, which
mission instead, to the
humiliation, shock and fury of their
handlers, failed miserably and ended losing it all, militarily, arbitrarily,
as well as legally. That is
perhaps why they feel they have an
unfinished business with Eritrea, and
that is why they are constantly trying their best to set up another
pretext for the renewal of another
conflict. That is also why, that the witnesses and guarantors of the Algiers agreement have decided not to live up to their
responsibilities and honour the promises they had given during the signing of
the Algiers Agreement. They seem not to want
peace, but rather the renewal of another conflict, at any cost.
Never in her
wildest dreams did Eritrea ever suspect that, after over two generations, she would encounter and once again, have to deal
with the decedents of those same
people who had denied her independence and freedom, a half a century earlier,
despite the fact that, this time around, she had fought for and earned her
freedom all on her own, fair and
square, and even though their old
friend the Ethiopian emperor and his empire had long been gone. The ex USA
one term president ,Mr. James
Carter, and the novice reporter and
wannabe historian writer Michela Wrong are good evidences among many
others. In what was supposed to have been a report on his observations on the Ethiopian elections, Mr. Carter could not refrain, albeit out of context, from injecting his disappointment over the Eritrean independence ,
as a result of which he openly
lamented over Ethiopia being
landlocked. And Michela Wrong, well, as
the newest kid on the block, we will just have to see
what she is really up to, where she comes from, and where she is going. All
this, in addition to the appeasement the woyane are enjoying, no matter
the crimes they commit , just proves,
all the more, and reenforces Eritrea’s claim
that indeed there was a
conspiracy and that the woyane were not
alone, but definitely did have
accomplices to help them destroy and over turn Eritrea’s hard earned
independence.
The years of 1998, 1999 and 2000 were especially very
painful and difficult periods for all
Eritreans, and we were all alone in our grief and sorrow. Unlike our generous, disciplined, and humane Eritrean leadership who always
send letters of condolence and
consolation, on its, as
well as on the Eritrean people’s behalf, whenever catastrophe
strikes around the world , when Eritrea
lost 19,000 of her finest, and had to
have 90,000 of her people deported from
Ethiopia, in the most unceremonious and illegal manner, while a third of her population became internally
displaced with all the rest of her
people being traumatized, she got no condolence or consolation letters or phone
calls from the international community,
but instead became the butt of their media’s jokes, and ridicule, especially by the BBC, for fighting over what they
called a barren land, as they displayed the
picture of a cow and a hut for the world to see what Badme was all about. In other instances, journalists sarcastically would allude to the war, as a fight
between two bald men over a comb. All this in order to cover up their
own tracks, and also furious at the failure of their plans.
Not only did they make fun of our
devastation and loss, but, ever since,
they have been making fun and disrespecting the sacred anniversaries we hold every year in memory of our martyred
heroes and heroines, although they seem to have learned from Eritrea how to honour the dead, as we see them emulating us by
holding candle light vigils
themselves. And also, knowing full
well what war can do to a nation, never mind one that lasted for over two years,
and let alone one that was unleashed on a nation in its infancy,
which was starting from scratch, they
started to blame Eritrea for its dilemma, and to blame its present situation, which clearly is a result of the
war, and a far cry from what it
was before the war, as though it was the lack of democratic
elements such as elections,
parties and independent press, and they
add salt to our wounds by pretending to
punish us for it through sanctions from aid, at a time when Eritrea needed it most. If this is not an act of terror, I do not
know what else is.
What has been done in New York
city on 9/11, and the other tragedy in London of 7/7 is inexcusable, inhuman
and is a sign of cowardice, and of course no decent people should condone it,
no matter what mistakes were done by the illusive leaders of those nations. What
was done to Eritreans starting in 1997 through to the end of the
millennium, and what has been tried since, was also cruel and savage, and should be
considered no less than an act of terrorism, which those who took a part in,
should be ashamed of themselves,
in stead of threatening us with more of the same, which, as long as
there is an Eritrean standing on this earth, will never happen again, except in
self defence.
Whether it be a one
time drastic incident, or a three years
long endless punishing event , as we
Eritreans join hands and say we too are not afraid of terrorists, and condemn
all terrorist acts, it would be nice if the citizens of all democratically run
systems of government, would tell their
leaders to take their hands off of other
nations’ business, and to stop fueling fire over internal disagreements as well as to stop pitting
nations and people against one another
by using their wealth to lure some
leaders such as the prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, allowing him to go berserk and into breaking
every international law, and to commit
all the criminal acts he wants, to his heart’s content , with impunity
I therefore
appeal to the Citizens of the world, and especially to those who claim to
have control over their government
under the power of democracy, enough to order their leaders, if indeed their
government is made by, for and of
the people, let the international community, namely the United States, the
European Union, the AfricanUnion, and the United Nations among others, to
live up to their promises and honour the commitment they entered into
in Algiers as witnesses and guarantors of the agreement which was signed