Lessons Never to be Forgotten
Date: Friday, May 03 @ 11:56:20 CEST
Topic:
What makes the Palestinian situation even more painful is that they have within among their own people, traitors who spy and transmit secrets as well as who guide the Israelis where to find Palestinian fighters. Comparatively speaking, an established enemy is a blessing, but being stabbed in the back by your own kind is a double jeopardy to which no amount of punishment would compensate, as the long lingering hurt is too deep and the damage done is beyond any magnitude.
As far as the so-called Eritrean opposition group goes, it is not the fact that they disapprove of the present system that surprises anyone, (although, up to date it has not been elaborated except for insults and unsubstantiated allegations) but the way they go about in their ruthless and cruel ways to undermine the whole of Eritrea and what it stands for, while on the other hand, minimizing and disregarding what the woyane have done. And not only that, but the way they are fabricating horrendous lies so as to achieve whatever it is that they are seeking, which, if it were handed to them on a silver platter they would not recognize. They are so full of hate, they cannot see or settle for anything except the complete destruction of the State of Eritrea. It is very difficult to categorize or understand such people. They are so busy demonizing anything and everything to do with Eritrea, that they have forgotten their main issue - if ever they had any to begin with. The dilemma is that they have started to believe in their own fabricated lies.
In 1991 the Eritrean people decided to forgive, and forget the past atrocities committed by two previous Ethiopian administrations. This new woyane administration was supposed to have wiped it all out, and we were to look forward to a new chapter full of healing and friendship with all of Ethiopia. In addition an outreach was made to those Eritrean so-called opposition who had been sulking, to come home and bury the hatchet. It was thought to be worth the sacrifices that had been made to liberate our nation, and to bring a closure on all wars and rumors of war forever. But true to their ancestors' colors, the woyane unleashed on us a hatred we never even knew existed. And the so-called opposition, after a hibernation of twenty years, finding a window of opportunity, decided to do the same, having refused the earlier invitation for reconciliation.
In 1998, as soon as the woyane decided to declare a war on Eritrea, under the pretext of having been invaded by Eritrea at Badme, the first thing they did was to start deporting or imprisoning thousands of innocent Eritreans who lived in Ethiopia. According to Amnesty International, the explanation was: "The Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said that the deportees posed a threat to national security and that they had forfeited their Ethiopian citizenship by voting in Eritrea's independence referendum in 1993" It took the woyane leader thirty eight years to figure that one out. The referendum to which he was a witness, an accomplice, and a guarantor turned out to be a crime by which to punish the Eritrean people and label them as a national security threat. Unbelievable!!
Eritreans have been living as citizens of foreign countries for decades now, and none of these countries considered Eritreans a threat when they voted with their people for independence. As a matter of fact, many were happy for us. Only Ethiopia, who claims we are brothers and sisters, considered us a threat. And none of those Ethiopians living at home or abroad raised a voice about it. And now they want to go back to the UN resolution of 1950! Isn't that something?
When people are such hypocrites and tell such turned and twisted lies, it becomes futile and irksome to even begin to untangle and straighten it out. The only way to counter it would be by revealing the obvious, which had been witnessed by many; including by those whose job it is to document it, like the following testament of Amnesty International released in 1999:
"No evidence was found to support Ethiopia's allegations that 40,000 of its citizens have been seriously ill-treated and forcibly deported from Eritrea since May 1998."
But they found the following atrocities in Ethiopia to be true.
"Women, some of them pregnant, children, the elderly -- even hospital patients -- are now being arrested and detained in the middle of the night," Amnesty International's representatives said.
"People of all ages, from babies to pensioners, are imprisoned in harsh conditions for several days before being forced to board buses under armed guard with only one piece of luggage each -- if that -- and being dumped at the border. They arrive hungry and exhausted, and often ill, after the three-day journey."
Families have been split up, the male head usually deported first, and his wife, parents and children weeks or months later.
Deportees have had to abandon their homes, possessions, businesses and other property with no guarantee of ever recovering them. Individuals who have protested have been threatened or beaten. The deportees were arbitrarily stripped of their Ethiopian citizenship without any warning, legal process or right of appeal.
Amnesty International is reiterating its appeal to the Ethiopian government to put an immediate stop to the deportations and ill-treatment of deportees, and arbitrary detentions of thousands of other Eritreans, including 38 students in Blattein military camp.
Deporting a people to their land of origin is one thing; but why that extra abuse? And what did it have to do with Badme? It is hard to believe that these are the people that our so-called opposition is defending, just to spite our president, and in the process completely disregarding those 100,000 Eritreans who have been through this entire ordeal, not to mention the one million they caused to be displaced in Eritrean territories not even contested, and the crimes that they committed on those who stayed behind. It is also mind boggling that, during all this time, the ELF-RC chief who is roaming around the United States in search of an audience to listen to his lies, was actually a witness to all these atrocities, but was at that time too busy trying to see Eritrea defeated so he and his cronies could come through the back door as a puppet government. Some of them even taunted us with pictures of themselves taken in occupied Eritrean territory. Others praised and thanked the woyane publicly for their kindness towards the Eritreans who lived in Ethiopia. And now, they have the audacity to shamelessly tell the world that they are fighting for the good of the Eritrean people, whom they had betrayed big time.
It makes one shiver to think that some of those so-called opposition were actually government officials working in Eritrean Embassies who themselves had been fighters. While Eritrea and her people were sweating it out, they were plotting against their government that was at war, and fighting for its life. And barely had the last bullet been silenced, they came from the woodworks and shamelessly started to pop their heads out one by one claiming democracy. This type of behavior is even worse than the atrocities, which were committed by the woyane.
So here we are continually discovering animosities, the kind of which we never knew existed. Through the experience with the woyane we came to know to what extent the Ethiopian people wish us ill, and to what extent they would want to destroy us. And by the experience of this so-called opposition we came to know what type of people we had harbored among us. People, who take advantage of the aftermath of wars, are the worst kind. As costly as it was, this war has been a growing experience, a big eye opener, and a decision maker. The only way we can really honor our martyrs is by not losing sight of this lesson. Otherwise it will be repeated, over and over again until we learn it, and the sacrifices of our martyrs, the disabled and the genuine living fighters will all have been in vain.
Yes, because right now we are at the mercy of the United Nations we might be asked to do certain things such as what they call "building confidence," or other mumbo jumbo. We might not find it acceptable at this early stage, but we have no choice. We live in a world where things are done diplomatically and not necessarily fairly, but we have to tolerate it for a short while, and keep our eyes on the ultimate big prize, while at the same time always remembering the lessons we have learned. No one has control over our hearts or our minds. Of course the so-called opposition will run with, and make an issue of it, as though they were not already sleeping with the enemy. We will have to ignore them, as we have already heard it many times before. Anything that they see, which would lead to peace and prosperity, will enrage them and cause them to do more evil Their aim is to keep Eritrea at war at all times. But with all our efforts, vigilance and better judgment, it should never ever happen again.
Abeba Isahac
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