Category: Al-Nahda
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Those Who Can’t, Diss
Many of my correspondents ask why I am focusing on the writings of Yosief Ghebrehiwot when we are both in what is loosely defined as the opposition camp. Well, there are three major reasons. Firstly, it is because I am a huge fan of Yosief particularly of his ability to synthesize ideas, which is a
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For The Man You Are
You are thirteen years old, and your father reads you a poem. You are asked to memorize it, because there would be a test. You don’t remember the test, but you remember part of the poem: I had a dream tonight As I felt asleep Oh, the touching sight Makes me still weep Of my little
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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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“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 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
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shaEbia ktHaqiq alewa (PFDJ Should Dissolve Itself)
Earlier this year, around Feburary 2001, the editors of Hwyet magazine, a quarterly Eritrean newspaper published by one of the para statal organizations, asked me and two other Eritreans, to write an article about the future of PFDJ. I did, as did the two other Eritreans. The editors decided against publishing the articles and, instead,
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Ali Said: Promotion or Lateral Transfer?
am reposting a translation of an interview with Ali Said, the incoming Foreign Minister of Eritrea, that was conducted by Hwyet magazine back in August 1996. (Hwyet issue # 8). I think this is timely because, once again, Eritrea has a new Foreign Minister without sufficient explanation. The issue of swapping of ministers or cabinet
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Ali Said: Promotion or Lateral Transfer?
I am reposting a translation of an interview with Ali Said, the incoming Foreign Minister of Eritrea, that was conducted by Hwyet magazine back in August 1996. (Hwyet issue # 8). I think this is timely because, once again, Eritrea has a new Foreign Minister without sufficient explanation. The issue of swapping of ministers or
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A Call To End The Awate Era
* Awate was a visionary man and a born leader who set out to correct the injustices of his day: lawlessness, property confiscation and violation of grazing rights, colonization, and persecution. * Awate was a commonplace bandit who was indistinguishable from all the bandits of his day. He used—and was used by—ambitious Eritrean intellectuals advancing