The unfortunate situation of the highlands, with its overcrowded rocky mountains, has never been the envy of Lowlanders, who are blessed with abundant access to graceful farmlands, while it has always been a fixation of highland politicians and an indispensable component of the independence dream. How many Highlanders would have joined the independence struggle if they were told it was just a long ride on a ring road that would bring them back to square one? And how many Lowlanders would have answered Awate’s call if they were told they would be asked to vacate their farmlands for a chance to claim a piece of land on top of a rocky cliff?

ኩላትና ከም እንርድኦ ሓደ መራሒ ብፍላይ ከኣ ባዕሉ ኣብ ዝጻሕተሮ ኵናት ምስ ዝሳዓር፡ ብፈቓዱ ኢዩ ካብ ስልጣን ዝወርድ። ኢሳያስ ግን በንጻሩ “ተጋጊና። ስልጣን’ውን ናብ ህዝቢ ነረክብ” ንዝበሉ ብጸቱ ዝኣስር። እዚ ንዓይ ኢሳያስ ካብ መጀመርታ  ናይ ህዝቢ ጥቕሚ ዘይኮነስ ናይ ስልጣን ዓላማ ከም ዝነበሮ ኢዩ ዘረድኣኒ። ሓድ-ሓደ ግዜ በዚ ስርዓት ዝካይድ ሱር-ነቀል ገበናት ክስምዕን ክርእን ከሎኹ፡ ኣዕሙቚ ኣቢለ ይሓስብ’ሞ “ምናልባሽ እዚ ሰብዚ ሓደ ሕቡእ ዓላማ’ዶ ይህልዎ? እዚ ህዘቢ ብኽቱር ምረት ናብ ኢትዮጵያ ምሕዋስ ከዘምብል?” ዝብል ሓሳብ ይሐድረኒ። ፖለቲካ ረሳሕ ሰለ ዝኾነ ኣይፍለጥን?

Before I close this essay I would like to add this: how different, do you think, the Eritrean landscape would have looked now, had Eritreans shown more pessimism and skepticism from the first day when the Eritrean State came about at independence! The Eritrean problem is, in fact and essence, a problem of naiveté, good will and misplaced faith through and through. In view of this I Second Voltaire in advocating Candid’s newly found enigmatic percept: “We must cultivate our garden”. 

እምበኣር ዋዕላ ዲሲ ዝቐየሮ ነገር እንተሎ፡ መንእሰያት ኣያታት ጕዳዮም ኮይኖም፡ ኣብ ሃገር ምድሓን ክዋፈሩ፡ ባይታ ዘንጽፈ ኣጋጣሚ ምንባሩ ኢዩ፡፡ እዞም ካብ ዝተፈላለየ ናይ ኣመሪካ ክፍለ-ሃገራት ይዅን ካብ ካናዳ ኣብዚ ዋዕላ እዚ ንምስታፍ ዝመጹ መንእሰያት፡ ኣብ ኣእሙሩኦም ሓደ ነገር ነይሩ፡፡ ንሱ ድማ “ ደጊምሲ ይኣክል ስቕታ! ሎሚ ግዜና ኢዩ! ሕጂ እንተዘይኮኑ ኸ መዓስ? “ ዝብሉ እዋናዊያን ጭርሖታት፡፡

There is, I am sorry to say again, a great deal of ZehmiQo Aleni Betrey Habuni (there is somebody I can beat up, hand me my stick) attitude in the writings of Yosief Ghebrhiwet and those who support his point of view. It is unthinkable to them that one man of extraordinary skills (talent, if you are an admirer) like Isaias Afwerki can wreak so much havoc and destruction in a country of five million. Thus, it is concluded, it can’t be him; so it must be somebody else---his colleagues, the revolution that produced him, the society that raised him.

This is perhaps to do with recent legislation coming out of parliament. Either to indirectly inform people or to make them wary, a man was recently arrested under a terrorist threat for taking architectural pictures in an area where development was taking place. In a stark contrast where a girl in ‘Senita, asmera’ was arrested during the dergue era for similar reasons,

the Opposition organizations should establish a coordinating committee to set the above recommendations in motion. It can be done. It must be done. And when the rank and file of our defense forces learn about all this they will redouble their efforts to continue their underground movement for democratic change. I urge the participants of this symposium to consider these proposals seriously; and if need be adopt binding resolutions to put them into effect.

It is not about ostriches, but cows.   Which takes us to the reason why we are in stagnation. LaHmi Hawi weledet, key’tiliHso nededet key’tgedfo weledet” A cow gave birth to fire; she couldn’t lick it; it burned; she couldn’t leave it be; it was its baby.  Those who have been burned by the PFDJ regime, but identify themselves with it are always in a dilemma. 

We expect all governments of the civilized world that represent democratic values, to defend those values in Eritrea by  acting expeditiously and effectively to the criminal actions and continuous terror of the  bully regime against its own people, while we expect the Obama Administration to take the lead in defence of these values. I feel that this is in the process of happening, hearing the news that the US have stripped eight Eritrean government officials of their US citizenship. I hope this  measure amounts to what the Amharas call, “YeZefen Dardaru Eskesta Naw.”

I used to think that I am immortal, but some times I think I am a mere mortal just like the rest of you. When I confided to Yemane about this contradiction, he was uncharacteristically silent at first then he drew from his passion of literature and he quoted Tennessee Williams from The Great Gatsby: “a genius is some one who believes in two opposite ideas simultaneously."

We are writing to congratulate you on the work you are doing to bolster the movement for justice and democracy in Eritrea. As your partners in the struggle we are heartened by the expertise with which you are planning your upcoming events and are certain that this will inevitably have a positive ripple effect in shaping the history of our troubled nation. Indeed it is through such acts of courage and principled diligence to do the right thing, that we would begin to chip...