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Until the PFDJ came around, Eritreans had to live under oppressive regimes, which of course, oppressed them crudely. Thanks to the PFDJ, today, after the independence of Eritrea, Eritreans are being oppressed with style, class and passion. Adi-Khwala and Nakhura alone are not enough. More jails. There is diversity in everything; not only in songs and mother-tongue education. The PFDJ shop offers, Wia, the dungeons of Sahil and places you should not know about because the benevolent PFDJ doesnt want its citizens to worry about things it will worry about on their behalf.
The history of humanity is the story of conflicts and bloodshed. True to world reality, the wise PFDJ makes sure that Eritreans are sacrificed for the preservation of this world heritage. All able bodied, and not able bodied, Eritreans are trained on the use of firearms. They are exposed to the technologies of modern warfare, military equipments including Helicopters identical to the copters that the Russians used in the battles in Chechnya. Star-War toys that were used by Mighty Russia and mightier Chechnya.
Eritrean families are trained to hatch children to keep a running supply of humans for the wars that will be waged to protect our sovereignty. No matter the cost, it will only be part of our sovereignty; just a quarter of our country and few Islands here and there. Excess production will be sent to exotic places like Wia: a good training for the next war, maybe with ones own brothers, if one is to endure hardships.
When the students were detained at WiA, we predicted that the PFDJ would interview some of them and their parents who would place the blame on the Reformers for agitating them. We underestimated PFDJs capacity for exploitation has no nadir; it will even cash out sentimentality. Calculating as always, the PFDJthrough Shaebia.orgwrote an article about Wia and, through interviews of nostalgic former Liberators, tried to present The Furnace as the equivalent of a tourist attraction. After reading the article (chockfull of reminisces of fighters and the injuries they sustained), one is supposed to feel so guilty for even complaining that university students (spoiled brats according to some) are sent to this tourist attraction for such a short time. Listen, Unnamed Reporter, we are eternally grateful to all Liberators who fought under any banner to liberate Eritrea; but that belongs in history books not propaganda pieces designed to deflect attention from the spotlight on your cruelty. The heroism of former fighters doesnt change the facts: (1) contrary to law, a student union president is still in jail, without charge, for over a month; (2) students who protested this unjust act peacefully were sent for correction to a hot place without sufficient preparation; (3) as a result, two students died and many have sustained dementia and (4) you have not apologized for your errors and, instead, have blamed the victims for your crime.
Time has lost its value under the PFDJ system and healing, as everybody knows, needs awareness of time. They have proudly elevated the turtle to an exemplary symbol, which is their right. The turtle can live up to 150 years. The problem is that they want to outlive the turtle in longevity.
Selfi Nesanet comes of age
If anyone is thinking of disputing our assertion that the PFDJ is a mighty organization, dont even try. How else would you see the logic of fighting colonialism to replace it with ones homegrown equally mighty suppression? Genius, isnt it? It is a genius, albeit a wicked type of genius, that made the PFDJ finally end up controlling Eritrea for its own narrow interests. The whole driving force and power base of todays PFDJ has been regional mobilization and Machiavellian treachery and deception. This PFDJ is a continuation of the original Selfi Nesanet, mother of PLF1 that enslaved the other PLFs that fathered EPLF that finally resulted in the rebirth of Selfi Nesanet in the attire of PFDJ. A full 360-degree to arrive where it started at Ala: a narrow, arrogant, divisive and inimical organization that owes its growth to the promotion of sub national feelings and cultivation of regional mistrust.
PFDJ used all the resources of Eritrea and deceived Eritreans to get to where it is now. What is the difference of the situation of today from the early sixties when Eritreans ruled other Eritreans on behalf of Haile Sellasies Ethiopia? Werent most of the jailers Eritreans? Werent most of the spies, qarmas, Eritreans? The jails of today are the jails of yesteryears; the jailers of yesteryears were Eritrean tools of a colonizer, the jailers of today are Eritreans tools of an oppressive regime. How would an average Eritrean compare 1964 with 2001? Students were demonstrating and being jailed; today, students are being jailed as well. A perfect Before-And-After picture. A generation later, we are comparing Sembel and Wi'a. Sembel where the President, then a student, was rounded and detained, Wia, where his system has detained the students for over a month now.
Dear PFDJ Master, the forces that matter, the forces of the students, want you out. The forces that you demeaned and enslaved want you out. The forces that you deceived, want you out. The forces that spend lifetime struggling to free Eritrea and watched you kidnap that freedom want you out. The land that you so much abused and colored red with blood wants you out. The demands of the sixties are still valid because they were not achieved; it is a continuation to achieve what Eritreans mistakenly thought they had achieved in 1991.
Federation Parliament-ShaEbia Parliament
Heard about the popular anecdote that some Parliamentarians sold Eritrea for a bowl of rice? Yes, food for their children. Job security. Some titles of Dejazmatch and Gratzmach and other favors from Janhoi. These were some of the perks. Our generation used to laugh at them: boy, did they sell us cheap!
What are the so-called parliamentarians of today, the same ones that mocked the previous generation, doing? Watching the bowl of rice? Busy inking their fingers to sign any move by the PFDJ hardliners? Ready with all their fingers to stamp? We were not aware but there is a possibility that they may have changed their Assembly to some sort of Boy-Scout Club. Or, were they boy scouts to begin with and that is why they were appointed to the Assembly?
We saw many Federation era Parliamentarians who wronged their people walking with shame. No one wanted to talk with them and no one came close to them. They lived strangers in their own country. Wherever they showed up people pretended they didnt see them. They died a slow death in seclusion or were eaten up by the fire of the revolution. Do our current Assembly Members want to face the fate of the Parliamentarians of the Federation era, the Assemblia? It seems this is their choice. The consequences of history are brutal. It is all written on the wall. We call on them to learn from history. We call on them to stand up for justice and fairness. We encourage them to shake their conscience: we encourage them to go buy a mirror and stare at it for a minute or two and reflect on what they are about to do to their former colleagues. God is watching you.
The ELF-RC In Gonder
The emperor being a wily politician understood that a congress held in Eritrea by the ELF would go a long way towards legitimizing the struggle. So he did his best to stop the first congress.In the Sudan it was his security service. Money was spent liberally to gather information. The army was there seeking out the ELA [Eritrean Liberation Army]. In a short period of time, there were so many battles from Keren to the Sahel where our congress was held. (Source: Herui T. Bairou, 1/1/01, Awate.com)
Holding a congress in the field has been a proud tradition of all Eritrean liberation movements since 1961. It was the ultimate sign of defiance: We Are Here. We now read, with a heavy heart, (from Ethiopian press, no less) that the ELF-RC, the offspring of the ELF, held its last congress in Gondar. Yes, Gondar, as in the former capital of Abyssinia.
There are many reasons for this, comes the explanation. One, the Sudanese governmentvia its security agency, via its interior ministrygave assurance to the ELF-RC to conduct its congress in the Sudan and, at the last minute, its Foreign Ministry Office said, no, our relationship with the GoE is blossoming forcing the organization to trek to Gondar via Metema. But why cant the ELF-RC hold its congress in Eritrea, just like the EIJM (Islamic Jihad) and ELF (led by Abdella Idris) can?
The ELF-RC, we are told, has been fighting its partners in the Alliance against the militiazation of Eritrea. This is a situation like Somalia or Lebanon of the 80s (or much of sub-Saharan Africa) where an armed militia liberates a certain plot of land within a nation and exercises total autonomy over it. This is what the ELF and the EIJM have been able to do in certain parts of Western Eritrea. The ELF-RC is against this approach. As Seyoum O. Michael of the ELF-RC explains (in the a segment of his interview with Awate.com): ELF-RC is for political pluralism; it is against military pluralism. Thus, the ELF-RC has no military wing and is incapable of holding a meeting within Eritrea. If the PFDJ persists in its politics of exclusion and denial, and the Sudan co-operates with PFDJ in denying the ELF-RC an opportunity to meet, then it is only a matter of time before ELF-RC joins its partners in the Alliance and forms its own military wing. This may make some people feel good that at least they are not meeting in Ethiopia but it will also mean that the militiazation of Eritrea (a hard to reverse process) will be in full swing.
It is this lesser-of-two evils choice that have gotten some to say, I dont care whether the ELF-RC holds its congress in Gonder or Al Merikh. This sounds very logical but emotionally and at the visceral level what is frustrating, of course, is the ELF-RCs addiction to tactical screw-ups. For one thing, Eritreans should not have heard about the meeting from an Ethiopian newspaper. With the proliferation of Eritrean news-outlets, it should have been relatively easy to get the news out. For another, regardless of who started the Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict or who won it, it is safe to say that Eritreans do not want to hear that an organization that bills itself as an alternative to the PFDJ is holding a meeting in Ethiopia with the permission of the awful TPLF. We deserve better from an organization that claims to speak on behalf of the oppressed Eritrean. In many ways, the ELF-RC mimics the politics of PFDJ: those who understand what we do dont need an explanation and those who need an explanation will never understand us. This is arrogant and will not help the ELF-RC to expand its membership.
And what was achieved at the congress? The substance, in the form of the last communiqu that the ELF-RC issued, could be a copy of the many communiqus that the ELF used to issue in the seventies. Very rhetorical, run of the mill content and very weak presentation. Only thing missing was Down with Imperialism and Zionism and victory to Palestine and the Polisario. Is this what Eritrea deserves? reHima allah emraen Arefa qedr nefsihi.
The Sitting Ducks
Of late, we feel that the Reformers have chosen to adapt the Sitting Duck strategythem being the ducks. The mouthpieces of the Hardliners are busy defaming the Reformers. The Reformers had enough interviews and enough exposure that they didnt capitalize on properly. Enough support was accorded them from all Eritreans who wished their country well; Eritreans who wish to get out of the quagmire and into a new epoch: an era of freedom, of justice, of peace, of stability, of dignity, prosperity and most of all, an inclusive system. Though the Reformers are part of the dreaded PFDJ, many non-PFDJ Eritreans showed their maturity (focused on issues instead of personalities) and rallied behind them. The demands of the reformers are not new to many non-PFDj members; they were the core issues of the anti-PFDJ struggle for the last ten-years and long before. The difference is that the Reformers recognized the gravity of the issues a little bit too late. The Hardliners camp has drastically shrunk. Its only advantage is that it still controls the resources of the country. One would confidently assert that a bigger portion of the PFDJ rank and file and a big portion of the non-PFDJ population genuinely support the Reformers. This support should not be taken for granted and should not be underestimated.
The independent newspapers did more than their share in promoting the concerns of the Reformers and raised the consciousness of the public to the problems of governance that is ailing Eritrea. The newspapers are at the mercy of Bashai Zemhret, who is holding the financial sword over their heads and Wedi Kassa who is always ready with his handcuffs.
Few days ago, the PFDJ hardliners read what they want to read from a news item published by the Arabic daily, AlHayat: they read only one sentence.
Mohammed Burhan Blata has not disowned his signature in the initial letter that he co-authored with the rest of the Reformers when they asked for regular meetings of the central Committee of the PFDJ. However, he distanced himself from any activity, by the Reformers, that has followed the initial letter. Blata might have his reasons, but we hope he will not take a detour from the historical path that he started to trek.
The presidential office has been turned into an operation room planning to discredit all the Reformers and those who were contaminated by them. The president is ready with his new party-within a party that he assembled in Embatkala a few weeks ago. The new faces of the Future Government are already groomed and ready to take over. What is the strategy of the Reformers, that is if they have one? Or was the strategy of tenazez: a confessional. We have done our part, now we shall wait for Gods call?
The Beleza Academy
A few months ago we discovered that a new force of commando unit was being trained in Beleza, a town nine Kilometers of Asmara. We also came to know that the selection of the members of this force was copied direct from the camps of Dekemhare of the sixties. The admission test for the commandos was composed of few straightforward questions. Example: Which is likely to be pregnant: a horse or a mule? Well, obviously a mule cant be pregnant. If the would-be-trainee knows this fact, he is too smart to be admitted to the Commandos force. Good muscular body figure and small brains were the qualifications for a commando.
The Beleza trained unit doesnt go under the Army or the Police force. It takes its orders directly from a place no one exactly knows. They are neither under the police commissioner nor under the Minister of Defense. As the PFDJ Hardliners are enamored with things special, we consider it a Special Force. It is. Only the name is hagerawi DeHnnet a strange name for a force put together after the deHnnet of the hager was jeopardized. Now you might ask: why do we need a special unit when we have an army, police forces, militia, air force and navy? Look around in the politics of the third world and you will discover that all presidents have their special forces. Remember kbur zebengna of Haile Sellasie? The elite Republican Guards of Saddam Hussein? dehnnet of Mengistu and now deHnnet of PFDJ. Trick Question: do Republican Guards guard a republic? No, a republic does not need Republican Guards who guard the republic in what is left of the 24 hours a day that they spend guarding the power of their commander. Two months ago, they began assigning members of the unit as bodyguards for personalities of the PFDJ. They were the ones in action on the demonstrating university students and they are the ones who bused them out to Wia. The night before, at the stadium, the students were guarded by members of the Eritrean Defense Forces, the draftees, who were sympathetic with the students and in fact smuggled few blankets, clothes and food. The Special Forces arrived the next morning smelling trouble. They had special uniforms and different equipment. They were harsh and aggressive. They even roughed up the mothers. And guess who is in charge? General Wechu, the hot-head who got us into the Three Year Mess, is the commander of the Maekel front or the so-called Maekel region: the Tserona Front and the Hamassien region including Asmera. Asmara is far from Tserona and we reckon that the Maekel is possibly the Asmara region. It is Wechus soldiers who used batons against the parents of the Asmera University. General Wechu entegelbeTkayo General Wechu.
UNMEE: Preying on Children When they say war is hell, they mean war is hell. There is no worse assault than sexual molestation of children. Allegedly, the UNMEE folks met our children (whose pictures are now plastered in an Italian weekly magazine) in a nightclub. Now our commissioner begs the UNMEE to please investigate the incident! Get the rascal from his tent and give him one of your special court treatments. Outraged and powerless Eritrean citizens did only what they can do: organize another petition to register outrage. Who knows how effective it is: if the government and its supporters spent all sorts of energy discrediting previous attempts at petitions, how will they argue to take this one seriously? When we are done being disgusted with UNMEE, we should ask ourselves some tough questions. Questions such as: what happens to the moral fabric of the nation when high-level government officials drink (and get drunk) at these nightclubs also frequented by children with makeup? What happens to the moral fabric of the nation when religious leaders are asked to co-operate in educating citizens about safe sex? What happens to the moral fabric of the nation when religious leaders are forbidden from using their pulpit to denounce moral decay? When the Americans established a base at Kagnew Station there was a spike in prostitution but, even then, this was tempered by Eritreas strong Censors (tradition and religion). The PFDJs social engineers, who think religious leaders should talk about nothing more controversial than The Ten Commandments, are shredding Eritreas safety net of culture, tradition and specially religion which protected Eritrea from vices and evil introduced by a series of colonialists. The PFDJ has endangered the continuation of the Eritrean family as a unit. Their politics is the cause for the economic deterioration. They perpetuate a state of war that created more orphans and more widows. Family heads are polishing guns non-stop instead of raising their children. The role of parents in their childrens life ends as soon as the children hit their teens and thereafter, they are owned by the PFDJ. Eritrea is struggling against an assault from within. By diluting Eritreas culture and muting Eritreas religions, the PFDJ is reducing Eritrea to another Third World Country. Our only hope is that the turtle is so slow it will take forever to destroy something that has been in Eritrea forever.
Eritrea1.org
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