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The Spirit of
Determination
By Gelila Yoftahe
Lies must be refuted at every turn, because if a lie is repeated
enough, it does not matter who is telling it, or that there is nothing
to substantiate its' claims…
going unchallenged, it becomes the truth – embedding itself in public
consciousness.
On a quiet Sunday afternoon, November 18th, 2007, at
the
Doubletree Hotel in Crystal City, Virginia, a large meeting space was
occupied by a lot of determined Eritreans. It was then that I asked
myself, "What makes Eritrea great?". Here, was the answer –
the sum
of her parts – her people. On this day, undivided, they sat side by
side, Christians and Muslims, with one unwavering decision…they either
live together or die together, united in their cause, just as they
were at the war front which won Eritrea its' independence back in
1991.
On this day, Eritrean people gathered to address the
urgent
matter at hand – Jendayi Frazer's comment that Eritrea could possibly
join the long list of terrorist nations (incredibly, this is the
latest news), however - this attempt to outfit Eritreans with such a
profile is a dismal, pathetic try to destroy the image of Eritrea on
an international level. To say the least, this profile is contrary to
Eritreans' plight. Very eloquently, this evening, facts were neatly
presented step by step, then systematically analyzed and examined to
reveal inconsistent and contradictory statements. Significant to
note, not too long ago, the State Department had hailed Eritrea as one
of the greatest nations in regards to its' stand as well as fight
against terrorism. Secretary General Rumsfeld had stated that a lot
could be learned from Eritrea in regards to its' ability to ward off
and fight terrorism. Unequivocally, presentation after presentation,
ranging from the elders of the community to a well-organized youth
task force, several myths were dispelled, easily dismissed due to
their contradictory nature. Truths, supported by facts, were brought
forth by the youth, combined with words of wisdom drawn from the
elders of the community, practically - using today's language, to
calmly deliver a necessary message to the State Department and to
America itself. On this occasion, Mr. Bereket Tecle, Hizbawi Mekete
Task Force Chair, H.E. Ambassador Ghirmai, Mrs. Sophia Tesfamariam,
all made strong, short speeches which served to strengthen the unified
voice of the Eritrean community.
Three leaders of the Eritrean Youth Media Task Force
then
delivered compelling and powerful presentations. Yohannes Seyum, a law
student at George Washington University, gave a history and overview
of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's wishy-washiness,
exposing its' contradictions and side-stepping of issues, to finally
not taking a stand, although the ruling was clear and resolute in
Eritrea's favor as to the demarcation of the disputed land, Badme,
between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Bisrat Mesghebe, a student of international
development at John
Hopkins, passionately addressed the systematic way in which the U.S.
targets 'enemies', points fingers and declares them 'terrorist states'
and then goes about trying to gather evidence, mostly fabricated, as
was done with Iraq, and now being compiled against Iran. She talked
about how the American public gets mentally prepared (with the media
as a tool for this), to go to war against a threat that does not
exist, with a country they know very little about. This done by way
of installing fear and insecurity in people to rally around the
present 'danger'. How easy it has been to place nations on the
terrorist list since 911. Iraq was invaded under these guises
although no supporting evidence was found for 'weapons of mass
destruction'.
Saba Sebhatu, a graduate in Journalism & Media
from George Mason
University, gave us a look into mass media and how it controls public
thought. She used the important example of how Eritrea is usually
portrayed by most media; as a 'tiny' nation although it is actually
much larger than several countries in the Middle East and Europe. She
explained how the word 'tiny' puts in the mind of the reader,
insignificance and defenselessness. She also offered ways we can
respond to articles which misinform, correct misconceptions and
contribute information that may help journalists better understand our
hardly known country; that we can counter any negative images. She
also cautioned that there are journalists interested in the truth,
which seek clarification and welcome information. These three segments
were so well researched and presented by the youth task force in such
a way that one could clearly see them as strong future advocates for
our community. Additional contributions resounding all of the above
comments were made by Dr. Asgede Hagos, Professor of Communications at
Delaware State, Dr. Gidewon Asmerom of Virginia Commonwealth
University, and Mr. Abdelkadir Hamdan, a journalist and activist of
the HornofAfrica.de website.
In this meeting space, in what looked like thousands
of
Eritreans, was a united voice – remembering the fallen heroes, fallen
in the name of freedom, with an eye towards what must be done for a
peaceful future. On this day, an unseen torch was passed from elder
to younger as a silent commitment was made. The knowing that the
blood shed by our heroes, their bones ground into the dust, all for
the right of our nation to exist, would not be for naught; and the
struggle, at whatever price, to emerge as a self-reliant nation would
continue. A self-sufficient African nation, 'tiny' at that…Would this
pose a threat to those eager for our demise? Of course, as this would
create the possibility of exporting the idea to the rest of Africa.
It could be somewhat of a franchised idea, a physical, successful
blueprint for self-dependence. Other African nations could follow
suit and reject the concept of 'aid' and the enormous debt it
inevitably incurs. Would the sleeping African giant finally awaken to
the fact that it contains more than half the wealth and resources of
the world? That let alone feed its' own, it could feed the world as
well – once it learns how to manage its' own resources. Yes,
self-reliance would be a dangerous concept. Self-reliance is what we
and our leaders propose in order to survive in the long-term.
The atmosphere was charged, the Eritrean spirit had
arrived
hungry to commune and was fed, encouraged, reborn, and strengthened,
as all agreed to renew the commitment to justice, adding to it new
voices of a generation filled with enough passion and armed with
enough knowledge to separate fable from fact, to cut through mass
media and help us understand the power of our hearts and minds. The
understanding that we each have to educate others as to who we are;
that we are a people that come from a newly independent country which
says 'no' to the new slavery of dependence – much like the slavery of
the 'welfare' system of America that is neither well nor fair; a
system which fosters numbness, laziness and hopelessness in its'
people…one which binds and controls, withholds knowledge and
encourages ignorance. The same policy being extended to Africans,
with 'free' hand-outs as the real power and wealth is extracted and
exported through numerous 'aid' organizations cleverly set up to
fulfill larger agendas; however, when these countries cannot payback
the ridiculous amounts they had 'freely' received, they begin selling
their parts, their sovereignty, until stripped of pride, tradition,
culture and most of all – Hope.
Towards the end of this meeting, we saw a clip of
Ms. Frazer
being challenged by a British reporter as to her statement of making
Eritrea a terrorist state; Ms. Frazer's eyes wandered as she reached
for answers. It was then that I recalled, it is said that in police
intelligence handbooks, that glances toward the upper-left reflect
that a person is recalling a memory, whereas glances to the
upper-right reflect that the person is creating. Ms. Frazer is on the
creative side. It makes one wonder, what the real agenda behind the
'terrorist' cloak is.
Gelila Yoftahe
November 30th, 2007
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