Incarnated in the picture on the front page of Hadas-Eritra, rightfully every Eritrean has a model on the image of Eritrea or on how it should look like. The model could be ones own village or community. Sometimes, whishes in the vacuum and experiences in democratic cultures alone may not be enough to make the model more inclusive. What so ever, one must have understanding, tolerance and respect for others and their models. Yet, I had to unsubscribe to join other discussion tables in Kessela, Riyadh and Damascus.
To make a confession, this month I fell prey to the intellect and reasoning of the Awate family. My greetings and respect is extended to all of you. It is also good (for the sake of tolerance) to extend greetings to worshipers of front-page pictures including sister Yingrtu Ingrid. She commented, "we have an excellent government
(and) If there are changes that need to be brought, the present government has the capacity to do so", therefore, afkum hazu, wach wach aytibalu! Reading some articles in awate, I could not resist the temptation of sharing with you some few words in your wach wach. (I am sorry for using the phrase wach wach but it is what the Hafafish use to describe the critical voices of others. Hafafish, the plural of Hafash in Arabic, is a word we in the Middle East use to describe those parrots who repeat: wa`a ! bwedi Afawarki ay timsa`ani, hamshay masre wey jihad ikha meslani, awet nihafash.
In particular, I am in arrested by Saleh Younis words: "Dissent is not a threat to our unity; oppression is. Our refusal, our adamant refusal to refuse to talk to one another, to tolerate one another, is creating a society of strangers, separate, unequal and silent". My main motive is to introduce the readers and participants of this website to a segment of our society. A segment of strangers, separate, unequal and silent in the websites but active in wach wach for the last ten or so years. They are voices pleading to be heard. They are the Sultans who never found the opportunity to meet the WelWels. Strangers, unequal and separated from you by some objective obstacles of language and geography. That has prevented the creation of an All-Eritrean discussion forum that would have helped in reaching a consensus on critical national concerns and created a mutual understanding and respect. Though I lack the time and competence, my utmost desire is to find, together with you, means and ways to facilitate the immanent WelWel-Sultan meeting for the sake of a sane society.
To avoid misunderstanding, by WelWels and Sultans, I don't mean Moslems and Christians, but I mean those Eritreans who, while aspiring for change, peace and democracy, are separated by geography, language and pattern of thinking while developing in parallel lines. I think what the so-called cyber revolutionaries are doing is magnificent but it will never be ideal, complete or representative unless the Arabic speaking Eritreans in the Sudan and the Middle East join it. I am pretty sure that at first, it will look quite confrontational . It would be the type we experienced in the mid seventies in Jebha of "targumalay kiqawamou". But I am also hopefully positive that gradually, representative, comprehensive and healthy consensus between the partners can be reached-- the one "we". It will not be between victors and vanquished; not between dominants and dominated; not between "us" and "them", but a true partnership will develop and prevail.
"Wa a`asa an takrahu shayan wahuwa khayrun lakum (you may (now) dislike something that might ultimately becomes blessing to you) -The Holy Qura`an. Thanks to the latest war, many Hafafish and Khafafish (Bats) have spoken for change. "wa shahada shahidun min ahliha (member of the family stood as witness (of the crime in court)-The Quraàn. Yes, a family member. Even the so-called prominent intellectuals from the Ginbars most inner circle have spoken for change. In this case, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, let us all come together and listen to each other. Start an Arabic site, a mirror to awate.com, and let a competent team take the task of translating from Arabic to English and vice-versa. If we have the will, we can do it. Incidentally Gadi, let Sabbe rest where he is, raise funds for this noble mission. Let Sabbe rest where so many nameless veteran living-Sabbes, blind, helpless and old guided by a son or a daughter in Kessela, Girba, Gadarif and Khartoum are begging "lillahi ya muhsinin, Allah karim ya muslimin". Sabbe lived among them, he led them, let him rest beside them. Only when they are able to return to their beloved country to live in peace, dignity and harmony as partners and not as undesired guests, only then, Sabbe will be able and willing to go back.
An individuals` concerns, commitments, thoughts and ideas comes from his/her immediate surroundings and needs. Where are the Adi/Ad, elections and democracy that we are talking about? Why don't we first talk to undo the enormous injustices inflicted (still persisting in its worst manner) upon our people by the Ethiopian army and the commandos in the sixties? Why don't we first talk of restoring and reconstructing the Ads that were leveled to the ground by Haile Sellasie and Mengistu? Why don't we talk about rehabilitating the orphans and widows of Karakon, Ad Ibrahim, Ona
etc that are languishing in refugee camps and Sudanese villages and towns? What does independence and a colorful flag mean to them? Is this the Eritrea Awate and his comrades fought and died for? Who defines the identity of Eritrea and what language its people speak? Why don't we talk about the those who are reduced to a mere minority on their own ancestors land, sometimes under the slogan of Eritrean unity and another times under Ethiopian unity? Why don't we talk about the 30-year taxes that Shabia demands for the compensation to an occupant of a house (who occupied your house in your absence because he lived in good terms with Ethiopia) which the returnee is forced to pay? Why don't we talk about our people on both sides of the border who are again suffering from land mines and shelling by the alien forces of John Garang and the Sudanese opposition? Do people deserve all these? Could any one dare to blame the indifference of many Eritreans during the last Ethio-Eritrean war? Why and Why and Why? One could go on squeezing out the pains from ones stomach but all was said in one word or another. Most of you have said bits and pieces here and there. Sometimes words of condolence could help ease the pains in the darkest of nights after which there is always a bright day--if not by being noisy then by wailing loudly.
There are as many concerned Eritrean intellectuals in the Sudan and the Middle East as there are in the West. They use different language and style of discussions and have rather different concerns and activities. They might not have the advantage of a wide access to the electronic communication world as it is for those living in the West, but they have many ways suitable to their environment, that enable them to disseminate written articles and ideas. The space of freedom of expression available to them needs no comments. However, in the last ten years many papers and articles were written, many groups for discussions and other political purposes were established. Some did not last but others are still functioning. And new ones are being born. Depending on different issues and governed by certain realities on the ground, most of these groups are close or far from opposition organizations. Most of these groups are independent ex-ELF members who drifted away from the present opposition organizations either because of the fragmentation and/or because of incompetence. I hope that if an Arabic website is created, it would help the co-ordination of debate and discussions among all intellectualssomething that would bring them into one wavelength. Could awate.com facilitate this?
