This moment of Eritrean history is a tipping point, where the levels at which the momentum for change is becoming more unstoppable. In these persisting circumstances, there is no choice for any Eritrean but step fully into his/her  responsibility to end the misery of the people, who are forced to live in fear by those run by ego and hunger for power,   and participate in the process of reversing the slope.  Any people, let alone Eritreans who fought for over thirty years, crave true freedom; that is what makes us human. It is for that reason that our people collectively reject oppression, no matter who it comes from. But as the oppressed cannot liberate themselves without the help of others, they need their sons and daughters living in the free world to be their voice, act on their behalf and rally all international forces by their side. That is why June 19^th went into the annals of history as a great day on which Eritrean protestors, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, region or any other social distinctions the regime aggressively uses to divide the people,   marched in the streets of Washington D.C ,  raised their voices and gave all their energy to the fight for freedom. This way, they left their everlasting echo and image, which many of us recorded with great pride in our personal journals as the lions’ roar, with admiration of the calm heroism of the unbelievably brave men and women.

Our lions and lionesses proved to the regime that they were not among those it had managed to change into frightened wimps or reluctant citizens or anti-people elements, who have no moral authority to persuade the civilized mankind that the regime they represent is not launching a terror against his own nation and that it has a human face.  Our protesters spoke candidly of their hopes for a future of freedom and democracy in Eritrea,  conveying their strong conviction that the future of countries should not be tied to individuals, that a new era of freedom, pluralism and human rights should commence above the grave of the dictatorship. It was such a depressing day for His Majesty, the dictator, and his slaves, on so many levels and shook his determination to stay in power and fill up the cemeteries of Eritrea. We are aware that the dictator shamelessly wrote a letter to President Obama before the protests of June 19^th, driven by the panic that his regime could be placed in the list of terrorist countries.  Is President Obama going to trust this last ditch letter from a poisonous cobra, who considers the US as the most evil power on earth, or the lions’ roar that candidly depicted the true picture of the monster? Time will tell but we are objectively optimistic that President Obama will be by the side of the oppressed; not the oppressor.

A cobra is not a rattlesnake.  A rattlesnake, which makes short sounds by rattling its tail in the bushes and leaves, is a non-venomous type of snake. Some venomous snakes do perform rattlesnake mimicry to fool potential predators and threats into believing it is a rattlesnake. They even take on an “S”: posture or flatten their heads to look like the shape of rattlesnakes’ triangular and wider heads. The monster’s letter to President Obama, or the Congress, was a great rattlesnake imitation intended to give misleading looks and sounds in a few superficial ways like a rattlesnake to the lay person. This was a wrong and cheap trick tried on the wrong predator, at the wrong time. The conceited monster took President Obama for a lay person and failed to see that all realities on the ground about the tragedies caused by his rogue regime are well documented, both in detail and precision; a fact too much for him to see. His arrogance, conceit and insatiable passion for self-gratification blinded him to see that the whole world, let alone the US Administration, keeps a vigilant eye on the horrors he is causing in Eritrea as refugees are multiplying by the hour. Here the point is that the lions’ roar of June 19th cannot be undermined by the misleading rattlesnake-like sounds and artificial movements of the cobra (my reference to his letter). Like the interviews that worked against him, again, His Majesty, who has consolidated his power grip and grew into unbridled monster,  was beaten at his own game. His letter will finally end up in the White House wastebasket.

Of course, it is not rational to expect all Eritreans in the US and Canada to participate in the protests of June 19^th. In principle, numerical strength is not that much important when it comes to protests. What matters most is the strength of the truth exposed, the determination of the protesters to enlighten the international community and the discipline with which the mission was carried out. From these points of view, everything was superb and our protestors have carried out their plan to the best of their ability. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that showing reluctance by some Eritreans at the time when the escalating dangerous crimes committed on the Eritrean people, on all walks of life, reach a fate by far worse than that our people had suffered at the hands of Haile Sellassie and the Dergue, is a sad and cruel betrayal. Put bluntly: it is collusion with tyranny, even if it was not meant. At this historical junction, one must be for or against in the struggle against the dictatorship: no middle way, as Bush demanded at one point but for a different reason. Though the participation could take different forms, he or she, who stands between, will be torn apart by the contradictions and be a victim of his/her own indecisiveness.

The protests will strengthen the oppressed Eritrean people themselves in their determination, self-confidence and resistance skills. They should also stimulate the creation of effective internal resistance forces or strengthen them if they exist. At international level, the protestors reminded the Western governments, whom we think should be more principled and consistent advocates for human rights, to ask themselves if their foreign policies hold to the minimum standards. Add to that, they  helped them to ask how much pressure they have put on the dictatorship, though the human rights records were put every year before them by the human rights organizations. How sickening it would be if the so called champions of freedom and democracy hesitate to support freedom and democracy in Eritrea and other part s of the world?

The election speeches of Obama had revived the sense of optimism of our people who still believe that Obama will live up to that optimism. As these protests took place at the time Obama is contemplating new policy initiative for Africa, our agonized people are anxiously waiting to see if his administration is serious enough to take positive measures that would bring changes in the lives of our troubled people. In this connection, we never hesitate to show our concern to the US Administration that taking longer for tangible measures, such as sanctions, diplomatic pressure, embargo or other feasible and effective means against the rogue regime is to endorse the intolerable suffering of our people, who are daily getting uprooted from their homes and the level of poverty and hunger in which they live show that families can hardly have one meal a day. 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.”

A few harsh realities concerning reliance on international pressure need to be emphasized here. There is no doubt that we cannot do enough without international pressure to bring down the ruthless dictator. Nevertheless, though such a scenario may sound comforting, reliance on an outside saviour cannot help us achieve the type of victory we aspire for.  We, as people, have to realize that there should be a powerful internal resistance movement and that we should be ready for complications and costs of the struggle.  It would be at that moment that international pressure would give a useful support.  This will remind us about our tasks of creating a strategic plan and rallying all forces behind it, while handling contradictions with care, wisdom and thoughtfulness. The issue of the handling of contradictions deserves few words in my conclusion below.

This cancer, infecting Eritrea, will finally be excised, provided that we distinguish between the primary contradiction, the contradiction between the dictatorial regime and the whole Eritrean society, and the secondary ones that exist among the different communities making our society. Though making this distinction between the two types of contradictions is very important, history is there to remind us that the ability to make this distinction will lead to victory only when the secondary contradictions are handled very wisely and citizens stand as one man; a condition that will force the dictatorship to accept the popular will or succumb in front of it.  Thus the resolution of the primary contradiction is the only way leading to the complete and permanent resolution of the secondary contradictions. Short of that, it is like putting the cart in front of the horse.