Category: Pencil
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UNSC Sanctions: Targeted And Well Deserved
The United Nations is an imperfect institution with imprecise tools. It celebrates the dignity of man and the universality of rights; yet it says that five superpower countries—US, Russian Federation, UK, France and China—have rights that supercede those of the rest of the world. It is a club where friendship or animosity to a superpower
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Yes To Targeted Sanctions
Shortly after September 11, 2001, every tyrant in the world wanted to cash-in on the justified rage of the United States and tried to align himself with the United States and to classify his political opponents as “terrorists.” At the forefront of this campaign was the Eritrean regime and its foot-soldiers who lobbied hard to classify members
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EU’s NGOs & Their Viceroys
On October 29th, Gedab News reported about the November 9-10 conference on aligning EU and US policies towards Eritrea. We entitled the piece “Engagement and Exclusion: US, EU & Eritrea.” The piece was almost entirely about the EU and US and almost in passing mentioned the Eritreans who will be attending. Some thought that the “engagement and exclusion”
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Practice Diversity, Don’t Preach It
Do the Eritrean regime’s policies impact all Eritrean segments equally or are they, depending on the policy, impacting one segment more disproportionately than others? If this is the case, is it intentionally so? And, whether it is so or not, is it prudent politics to discuss it or it is just a distraction that will
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Can’t Have Reconciliation Without Truth
Every once in a while, we are required to take a step back and explain to our readers what the mission of awate.on-forge.com is and why what we do falls within the objectives of the mission. We do not expect all our readers and/or supporters to concur with what we do—but we do hope that they
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A Mission Accomplished; A Dream Interrupted
May 24, 1991 is the collective achievement of generations of brave Eritreans going back to the 1940s, who dared to dream the impossible, culminating in the Eritrean People’s Liberation Army (EPLA) riding its tanks in victory in Asmara to the boisterous applause of a grateful and elated nation. So, it is right and appropriate that
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7 Years And Counting
Seven years ago, on April 13, 2002, the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) rendered its arbitration ruling on the territorial dispute of the two neighboring countries. In short order, it became clear that the Ethiopian government had no intention of implementing the ruling in the manner proscribed by the Commission and, since the Commission had
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EU and Eritrea: Very Strange Message, Indeed
On EU’s unrequited love affair with Isaias Afwerki : As the opportunity that the Eritrean people had to engage and dialog with their head of state has decreased, the occasions for Isaias Afwerki to provide monologues and lectures in various platforms have increased. Now that he doesn’t have “People’s Meetings” where little people ask him what he considers annoying
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Eritrea Slouching Towards Another Confrontation
All UN resolutions are non-binding, except when they are not. The Isaias regime has spent 17 years of miscalculation trying to figure out which is which, and there is fresh evidence that the issue is still beyond its grasp. On June 10 -11, 2008, Eritrea and Djibouti engaged in a skirmish at their common
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A Call For Sober Dialogue
In 1967, the United Nations Security Council passed “Resolution 242” whose first call was for the “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” For 36 years now, Arabs in general and Palestinians specifically have been quoting “242”—sometimes using it as a battle cry, sometimes as diplomatic shorthand–to legitimize their request
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A Tale of Two Eritreas
“But you just told me that they have been involved in illegal acts but you cannot tell me what the illegal acts are; I have asked you what these people are charged with, you can’t tell me what they are charged with. This is hardly a, you know, an open process.” – BBC Reporter, October
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Happy Brick Day to You
A new window for expression. An extension of the of the fierce struggle to be heard. A blessing of the electronic age. An addition to the sister websites that cater to the needs of Eritreans…and the region beyond. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to awate.on-forge.com. This site was conceived almost a year ago with an overly