Category: Videos
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The Six-Husbands of Eritrea
In the Tigrinya language we do not have separate words for sebay, as in husband, and sebaay, as in Man. Both are sebay. Therefore, the title is not about men but about husbands. Also, we refer to Eritrea in the feminine gender, Eritra t’Ewet, not Ertra y’Ewet, always in the feminine gender. But what triggered
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Eritrea and the Ethiopian Civil war
[9 mnts. reading] Writers or speakers who discuss everything under the sun should not shy away from raising critical topics for fear of annoying a few. Discussing sensitive issues is what I intend to do in the coming few episodes. In today’s Negarit 149, which is an introductory episode, allow me present to all
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Negarit 148: ብሰላም ዕረፍ – Remembering a friend – ارقد في سلام
Eulogy for a departed friend, mourning in my own way and cursing the PFDJ//Saleh
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Casualty and Effect
Living in Eritrea, far from the Sea, I only knew canned Sardines. Then I went to Massawa and tried grilled chunks of fish—I thought Massawans were pulling a joke on me, giving me beef, and claiming it was fish! Years later I lived in Jeddah and AlKhober but never cared for fish. Then I moved
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“The World Is Against Us,” Eritrea’s St Alamin
A few people were mad because I criticized Saint Alamin, the Secretary of the PFDJ. They insisted that I apologize for a misconstrued statement clipped out of context taken out from Negarit 4 of May 2018. Arsonist who either do the PFDJ bidding or are blinded by ethnic motives had a field day with it
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The Hyena-leg, Egri Zb’ee
When I was a child, there was a man who had a big funnel-shaped wooden leg. His steps made a bang every time he stepped. The children would say, Ennguuuy, and he will chase them. His nick was Egri Zb’ee and children never let him live in peace. Years ago, a thief broke through the
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“May You Beget A Black Cat”
In 1986 a border conflict erupted between Qatar and Bahrain over the ownership of the Hawar Islands (Fisht AlDibal). Qatari forces arrested 29 workers sent by Bahrain on a construction job. Soon, Saudi Arabia succeeded in mediating and securing the release of the prisoners; in 1994, the case was resolved by the international court under
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The General’s Bad Lessons
A longtime ago in the environs of Kulentebai, the late Tesfai Tekhle, the liberation era commander, told a group of young combatants a joke. He was warning of a military involvement in governance in post-independence Eritrea. That is an important lesson I learned from him. Tesfai told us the joke: once a general was sick
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Please Come and Invade Us!
A fringe racist, bigoted, and servile group has been trying hard to undo Eritrea and what its people stand for. They have been mocking the struggle for self-determination and freedom including its veterans. They were in the verge of losing steam when the Ethiopian civil war erupted and the fringe Tigrayan groups became vocal. Their wish is to
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Eritrea: “A Foolish Undertaking”
Over the years I have come across many views; some I learned from, others I were a waste of time, still others were dazzling and made me scratch my head. My topic for today is one the most annoying view That’s based on a twisted logic, devoid of any rational thinking—the following is a sample:
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Rude Awakening
Emperor Humayun was the ruler of the Moghul empire in the 16th century in what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, North India, and Bangladesh. One day in 1556, Humayun carried some books from his library, stepped on his robe and tripped on the stairs and injured himself, and died a few days later. Emperor Haile Selassie
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Kings of Kings and Colonels
In ancient times, each locality, and later each city, had a king. One of them emerged stronger and subjugated the rest. They accepted his authority over them and submitted to his rule with varying level of autonomy. Thus, he became King of Kings, who overtime became an expansionist emperor. Some historian trace that to the
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Negarit Special: ሓዘንን ሓጎስን – Joy and Sorrow – احزان وافراح
One morning Jemal and Khalid were strolling around when they saw armed soldiers leave Shishita garrison on speeding trucks. It could have been another trip to search a house or arrest someone, only their number was large. An army car stormed Khalid’s house and hauled his father while they watched in fear. The soldiers went
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Whispering to the Eritrean Forces
Addey Abeba’s* husband and elder son died in a car accident while the family was returning home from a pilgrimage. Since that incident, the traumatized woman became over-protective of her younger son and wouldn’t let him play in the streets for fear of cars, though daily, hardly more than three cars passed in that street.
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A Message To Tigrayans
A fed-up worker decided to quit his job. He approached his boss who was standing behind a workbench, looked him straight in thes eyes, and told him, “Give me my dues, I don’t want to work for you anymore.” The boss asked for a reason, but the worker was adamant, “just give me my dues.”
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Surrender To Peace
In Germany a friend surrendered to the German police: A long time I go when visiting Germany, I heard a joke of a struggle era veteran who wanted to apply for asylum there. His friends showed him the nearest police station and told him to just surrender there. The veteran, a tall man, walked to
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Dr. Berhanu Nega and His Allies
When I heard people calling the workers at a coffee chain, I cringed. It took me some time to get used to the job title ‘Barista’; It was a cultural shock because where I came from, barista (usually women who work at bars), is not considered a respectable job. It took me a while to
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1,001 Arabian, 11,000 Eritrean Nights
1001 Nights is a literary work from the Golden Ages where Shahrazad every night tells a story to the Sultan Shahryar, over 1001 nights. Remember, since 1991, Eritreans have gone through 11,000 nights of horrible experience that we have yet to narrate in a timeless literary manner, maybe we could call it 11000 nights. In
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Gilgamesh or Gilgamesh?
Hormuz Rassam was well known in Europe after he made important archeological discoveries in Iraq between 1877-1882. He found the Nimrod collection, the Hanging Garden of Babylon, the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, and the clay tablets in which the Epic of Gilgamesh was curved in cuneiform—the oldest written story. Then he became a diplomat and eventually
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Jailers and Jailed
Freedom of Expression Forum in Oslo About a decade ago I attended the exquisite Freedom of Expression Forum in Oslo, Norway, where many dignitaries and activists from around the world flocked. As a skeptic, I observed the activities of the event critically—blame it on my experience with political NGOs operating in the Third World. But