Year: 2003
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The Birth Of Despotism
I believe it was a telltale sign for what was to become an everyday act of terror and cruelty. If not a sign then it might have been the birth of brutality. If not a sign or birth, then it must have been the revelation of what was suppressed since adulthood of the one who…
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Responses to Our Call To The Moderates
On October 20, 2003, we published “A Call To The Moderates of The Horn Of Africa”. Obviously, although the call was addressed to moderates from the whole Horn Of Africa in general, it was mainly addressing Ethiopians. We described our effort as taking a leap with the only safety net to be provided by moderate Ethiopians.…
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A Call For Sober Dialogue
In 1967, the United Nations Security Council passed “Resolution 242” whose first call was for the “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” For 36 years now, Arabs in general and Palestinians specifically have been quoting “242”—sometimes using it as a battle cry, sometimes as diplomatic shorthand–to legitimize their request…
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Goodbye, friend
You have influential friends whose presence changes your life and you have taken-for-granted friends whose absence changes your life. And sometimes, they are the same person, the same friend, in-and-out of your life as you drift in-and-out of their presence. You try to make sure that the last thing you remember is not a scene…
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95% Of Eritrea’s 12th Graders are Male
The government of Eritrea’s decision to centralize the nation’s 12th grade level at Sawa, the military training camp, has resulted in a disproportionately large male population. According to a source, the female student population at Sawa High School is “no more than 5 out of 100.” In the current academic year, an estimated 10,000 students are enrolled…
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From The Persian Gulf to Badme
Suppose you bought a flat in the third floor of a building. Then, the owner of the flat below your flat, on the second-floor, wanted to take his flat away- wouldn’t your flat be left hanging in mid-air? Adil Imam, the famous Egyptian comedian, popularized this illogical-logical idea in a hilarious play. This joke is…
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“No Problem. Any Time.”
Shigir yelen: abzkone gzie. Those were the last words of President Isaias Afwerki in his “interview” with Shaebia.org staff. Some hyper eager folks have called Isaias Afwerki Eritrea’s “George Washington.” Actually, they should call him Eritrea’s first Sahel-bred person who speaks Tigrigna as if English is his first language. Offered thanks, a Tigrigna-speaking Eritrean might…
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The “Executed”: No Smoking Gun, but plenty of circumstantial evidence
A Investigative Report On The Alleged Massacre of 150 people Gedab Investigative Report On January 23, 2003, TV-Zete, a television station founded by the Eritrean Action group in Sweden in November 2001, announced the news of a mass-massacre perpetrated by the government in Eritrea against its own citizens. Awate.com feels that this announcement, which has…
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The Language of Authoritarians
As everyone knows, there are nine languages spoken in Eritrea. And, as everyone knows, the Government of Eritrea continues to preach and, in fact, enshrined in the retired-since-birth constitution, the clause that “all languages are equal.” And that, based on this principle, the government cannot possibly endorse any language as the official language. This article…