ADVOCATING FOR ETHIOPIA'S HEGEMONIC INTERESTS?

Last month, I wrote an article gauging the status of our struggle for democracy in Eritrea. In that piece, I included one paragraph challenging Dr. Tesfatsion Medhanie to re-invent himself (like everyone else) as he has been visibly positioning himself to play a sinister role in our struggle for democracy. Since all his writings reflect the mindset of an unrepentant ideologue, perennially out of sync with mainstream Eritrean politics; it is appropriate for any Eritrean to remind Dr. Tesfatsion that times have changed. The world is changing rapidly, and the world of Eritrean politics is changing rapidly as well.

Eritreans are so disgusted with their experiences of the so called "scientific socialism," in the 1970's through the 1990's. They won't give communism a second look even if its literature gets incorporated within the Bible and the Qur'an. If Tesfatsion sticks to his "anarchist-internationalist" version of Marxism, and its discredited ideological parameters, it is obvious he'll end up being a minority spoiler rather than a positive contributor in the context of the upcoming Eritrean political landscape.

Ideologues like Pol Pot, Mengistu Hailemariam, Isaias Afwerki, and Meles Zenawi have wasted tens of thousands of innocent lives and squandered precious time and resources by way of imposing a sham class struggle in a pre-capitalist setting, where capitalists in the classic and historic sense of Marxism are hard to come by. How can rational people follow such misguided leaders?

The literature these misguided warlords produced in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, describing the bourgeoisie class with people owning 3 pairs of oxen, a horse, a mule and a couple of donkeys, is laughable and embarrassing to mention again.

The current persecution of the evangelical religions in Eritrea is also a proof of their vulgar Marxist policies running amok. Unashamedly, they claim that Jehovah’s witnesses, Bahais, Pentecostals, etc., are tools of Imperialism, as depicted in the TPLF document: “National Democratic Programme, TPLF,” (www.asmarino.com, Temesghen Asmerom, 30 September 2004). Aren’t all Eritrean religions imported from outside anyways?

It is in the context of these concerns that I proposed to Dr. Tesfatsion to straighten his trackrecord and assure our people before he tampers with the noble struggle for democracy in Eritrea. What's more, Dr. Tesfatsion has a thuggish psychi who only knows how to trudge forward with no updates to his original database. Since Marxism has been refuted as an idiology, all his writings are totally irrelevant today. Dr. Tesfatsion's irrelevance to our struggle for democracy emanates mainly from his inability to shake off his Stalinist idiosyncrasies.

His knowledge of 20 years ago is so attractive and dear to him; new information is thrown away by the wayside. As far as good information is concerned, the older is the better for Dr. Tesfatsion. That is why he has been mentally disposed not to think of Eritrea as a genuinely independent nation. For some awkward reasons, he has continued to see Eritrea as an appendage to Ethiopia, as he has so often reflected in his misguided writings in the last two decades.

BACKGROUND TO THE REBUTTAL

As stated above, I wrote the following paragraph addressed to Dr. Tesfatsion Medhanie:

Individuals like Dr. Tesfatsion Medhane should also offer an apology and an explanation to all Eritreans before they embark on any leadership role within democratic Eritrea. Isn't he the same person who declared that Eritrea does not deserve independence? Who proposed that Eritrea should forever merge with Ethiopia? In the early 1980's, Mengistu Hailemariam was so impressed with Dr. Tesfatsion's distaste for Eritrea's struggle for independence and his commitment to the now defunct Soviet Union's foreign policy perscription to the developing nations, "The Non-Capitalist Road to Development," he sent a special invitation to him to go to Ethiopia. I hear Dr. Tesfatsion is still a true believer of the same propaganda tool, long after the Soviet Union withered away without a trace. Why do such people take the Eritrean people for fools? I personally feel insulted by such arrogance!!

In his seven pages response, Dr. Tesfatsion was obviously upset, and in a "how dare you?" demeanor wrote:

"I usually don't write reacting to an article posted on an Internet Web site even if I see something seriously wrong in it. However, if it contains something not merely wrong but egregiously unfair, I feel I have the responsibility to respond. The reason is not that I am interested in a rejoinder with the writer concerned. I respond mainly to address whatever adverse effects the article may have produced on the minds of readers."

I guess I am supposed to be immensely thankful for getting a response from none other than Dr. Tesfatsion himself. Be that as it may, Dr. Tesfatsion has to recognize the fact that he is positioning himself for public office. When citizens question his pronouncements, he should account for them properly. That is democracy in action, not dictatorship of the proletariat. If I read my fellow Eritreans correctly, they seem to be vouching for the implementation of the rule of law and democracy, not dictatorship of any sort. However, the real question here is: What kind of a mindset lurks behind a man with such a self-defeating hubris?

Dr. Tesfatsion epitomizes the Eritrean proverb: zeyhafer ayhaferen iyu (A shameless person has no sense of shame at all!) As a self promoter, all Tesfatsion has done so far is to shamelessly portray himself as a God-sent teacher to the Eritrean people. Since nobody can stand his parochial exigencies and arrogant behavior for that long, he continually switches alliance to conceal his skin-deep self-worth, each time offering statements that do not make any sense at all. What should be most embarrassing to him is his:

Attempt to downgrade our struggle for independence employing threadbare ideological reasons as depicted in his writings. Unfortunately for him, our struggle for national independence was victorious, proving that his predictions were thoughtless and flimsy, at best.

Contemptuous propaganda to devalue the internationally supervised Eritrean referendum was loud and clear. Nonetheless, the referendum succeeded inspite of his efforts to devalue its outcome apriori.

Continued mockery of Eritrea's national sovereignty and territorial integrity in collusion with his temporary weyane allies. He is actively working on this evil effort by advising senior weyane leaders on a day-to-day basis via phone conferences and online messages. The only market place left for Tesfatsion to sell himself and his services is in defense of Ethiopia's aspirations for hegemony in the Horn of Africa. This shall also fail, leaving Tesfatsion with no more anarchist designs on Eritrea.

“HOW ON EARTH” DID DR. TESFATSION POP INTO MY ARTICLE?

By unilaterally voting himself into the position of the chairman for the upcoming "National Conference," Dr. Tesfatsion forgets that he has placed himself as a public figure. How did Dr. Tesfatsion get elected for such a key position? What was the process? Who chaired the meeting? The following statement by Dr. Tesfatsion certainly reflects that his mental reach falls short relative to his grasp of related issues vis-À-vis his public position:

"Incidentally, the article purports to dwell on issues pertaining to the political situation in Eritrea especially on that of the opposition. How on Earth I come into the picture is not clear to me and to all others I talked to on this matter."

RELEVANT HISTORY OF ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA

The time-frame we are mostly interested in is the second half of the 19^th century, when Emperor Yohannes IV was the king of kings in Ethiopia, and Menelik II was king of Shoa. Shoa was an Oromo speaking entity. Exactly, how and when Shoa became an Amharic speaking population is still a mystery. What is known, however, is that Negassie, the first king of Shoa, was not of Abyssinian descent, but was a self-made Oromo warlord who made his own position and styled it after the Abyssinian model (Salole, Gerry; “The Shoans,” Horn of Africa).

Strictly speaking, the Abyssinian Empire, like the Axumite Empire, was comprised of Eritrea, Tigray, Gondar, and Northern Gojjam (Salt, Henry: “A Voyage to Abyssinia,” 1814). It was under the reign of Tedros that Abyssinia begins to include Shoa as a frontier province in the south (Blanc, Henry: “A Narration of Captivity in Abyssinia,” 1868).

The Italians first established themselves in what is now South Eastern part of Eritrea by a purchase of land from the local Sultan in 1896. Right after the sudden death of Yohannes, in the border battle against the Sudanese Mahdists, the contenders to power in Ethiopia were king Solomon of Shoa and Raasi Mengesha Yohannes of Tigray.

The Italians fully supported Menelik’s bid for the throne. Upon his accession to the throne in 1889, Menelik and the Italians signed a Treaty affirming Eritrea’s status as a separate entity, having nothing to do with Ethiopia. Hence, with his imperial seal, Menelik acknowledged Eritrea was a separate entity. In another Treaty between the Italians and Ethiopia, that pertained to the southern Ethiopia border. In 1893 Menelik denounced the Treaty of Ucciali. A major controversy ensued, that culminated in the Battle of Adowa. Ethiopia won the Battle of Adowa, and most of the 14,500 Italians were either killed or taken prisoners. Many retreated back to Eritrea. Menelik declared victory after stating, “the enemy is out of our country,” confirming Eritrean territory is beyond the battle ground, and outside Ethiopian territory.

Since Ethiopia had no imperial prison system, each local warlord had to volunteer to take several Italian prisoners into custody for a year, after which they were released. The Italian prisoners were treated with respect. The treatment of the Eritrean war prisoners, however, was horrendous. Each Eritrean had a leg and a hand savagely amputated before they were sent back home to lead a miserable existence.

The peace Treaty that was signed in Addis Ababa in 1896 annulled the Treaty of Ucciali, and Italy recognized the absolute independence of Abyssinia. Menelik spent the next twelve years subduing surrounding nationalities and consolidating his frontiers during the “Scramble for Africa.”

On July 10, 1900, the King of Italy and Emperor Menelik formally signed a Treaty, and according to the statements of the Treaty, the purpose was “…to regulate the question of the frontiers between the colony of Eritrea and Ethiopia, which has remained open since the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace of Addis Ababa of the 26^th October, 1896.” For all practical purposes, this Treaty certified once for all, that Eritrea was a separate entity in 1900, and thereafter.

After Italy’s defeat in 1941, Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie, in cooperation with the USA, pressed claims to Eritrea. The United Nations, however, federated Eritrea with Ethiopia in 1950, against the hopes and wishes of Eritreans. Following an abortive federation, perpetrated by the Haile Selassie regime, Eritrea was forcibly annexed to Ethiopia in 1962, accelerating the longest and bloodiest liberation war in the world. The Eritrean armed struggle for independence had already begun in earnest in 1961. In 1991 Eritrea was successfully liberated from Ethiopia by the gallant Eritrean sons and daughters of the people. Eritrea declared its independence in 1993. Needless to state, Ethiopia’s unilateral decision to occupy Eritrea from 1962 to 1991 was illegal. My questions to Dr. Tesfatsion is: How can Eritrea secede from Ethiopia, when a series of Treaties made it absolutely clear that Ethiopia and Eritrea were separate entities all along? Was Haile Selassie’s abrogation of the federation legal, in your opinion?

CONCLUSION

In general, writers select words with care to state what they mean and mean what they state. Reading Dr. Tesfatsion's books, I was astounded to observe how loosely he throws words left and right. In the same tone, Dr. Tesfatsion writes:

"I am assuming here that by "independence" Dr. Taddesse understands secession or the attainment of separate existence ostensibly as a sovereign state. I do not want to get involved in a discussion of the various forms of political independence. So, I respond assuming, for purposes of this discussion, that independence means secession."

You notice how he shoves his own definition of “independence” down the throat of the reader. That is how loosely Dr. Tesfatsion throws words around, and pulls assumptions out of the blues as long as they satisfy his ideological infatuation. Dr. Tesfatsion again and again conveniently forgets that assumptions are rooted on objective conditions. If an assumption does not reflect an Eritrean reality or any reality for that matter, it's not a good assumption. Let me elaborate. There are specifications of reality check that need to be met for any assumption to be valid and useful. For example, I can’t claim an assumption such as, “All eggs are white.” This assumption is not valid in the real world, because cases of brown and blue eggs have been observed domestically and in the wild as well.

In his book (Eritrea: Dynamics of A National Question, 1986), Dr. Tesfatsion dismisses Eritrea’s armed struggle for independence as “counter-revolutionary.” That is why he continues to belittle Eritrea’s hard won victory for independence, and still refers to it as a case of secession. David Korn, a former U.S. Charge D’affair, in Ethiopia, dismisses Dr. Tesfatsion’s claim as a “chimera.” Mr. Korn, in fact, argued that the United States opposed Eritrea’s independence up to the end. [ chimera: A wild and/or foolish idea.]

Isaias and his cronies not withstanding, the war of liberation in Eritrea was a people's war. Why Dr. Tesfatsion continues to fabricate such a propaganda is not beyond me to comprehend. On the one hand, he seems to suffer from the “if the facts are contrary to my opinion, too bad for the facts,” syndrome. On the other hand, the answer is given away in the title of this article: Unashamedly, Dr. Tesfatsion is advocating for Ethiopia’s hegemonic aspirations like there is no tomorrow.

To sum up, the people in Eritrea supported the struggle for independence wholeheartedly. Without the full participation of the people, there wouldn't have been a victory to talk about. The people and their sons and daughters rightfully declared victory over the Ethiopian occupiers in 1991. The failure of leadership that transpired ever since has nothing to do with Eritrean intellectuals, contraray to what Tesfatsion would have it. It is the "old guard" Eritrean politicians headed by Mr. Isaias Afwerki that are to blame.

As a small nation, Eritrea cannot afford much more room for error anymore. Unless and until Dr. Tesfatsion comes to terms with the destructive role he has played so far, nobody expects him to play a constructive role in Eritrea's future. Dr. Tesfatsion, "If you mess up, you should fess up!"

A PERSONAL NOTE TO Dr. TESFATSION

I met you for the first time at the “Association of Eritrean Students in North America,” annual meeting in Washington, DC, in the 1976/77 timeframe. Five of us rode back to New York in the same car. You were sitting in the back seat. In the five hours drive to New York City, you didn’t open your mouth; you were kind of depressed, looking out the window all the time. The rest of us were having a good time chatting, joking and laughing. When we reached the first rest area, you preferred to stay in the car; the rest of us sat down in one of the restaurants for coffee and tea. Inside, one of us asked: what is the matter with Tesfatsion? Another one answered, “Don’t you know why? EPLF rejected him; they refused to give him a position. Tesfatsion desperately needs power to survive and thrive.” Come to think of it – that day probably marked the beginning of your misplaced anger and revenge against Eritreans and the nation of Eritrea.

(Personally, imagining you in a position of political power in Eritrea would probably make “Isaias’ Eritrea” look like a picnic, by comparison.)

Subsequently, the next thing I heard was that you sided with the ELF, not the EPLF. The reason you offered was that you liked the ELF’s National Democratic Program (NDP). How revealing? It was an open secret that the EPLF’s program was NDP also. In fact, the EPLF’s program was more advanced than that of the ELF because it advocated for an independent political line, independent of the Arabs that is. Now your demand for Eritrean intellectuals who fought under the umbrella of the ELF and EPLF to apologize is indeed laughable, for the reasons given above. Now you shifted full circle to join hands with the weyane in order to marginalize Eritrea. What a strange bedfellows? Aren’t these leaders the same individuals that totally debunked your book in the 1980’s?

Dr. Tesfatsion, there really is the language of rationality and life as contrasted to the contrived language of ideology. If an ideology does not serve the individual and the nation as a whole, it ought to be debunked. Try to learn and adopt rationality and respect for life, for a change. The Eritrean individual and the nation must be above and beyond any ideology – they are sacrosanct. There is no worse betrayal than subjecting the Eritrean individual and the nation to an infantile ideology like yours.

Your pet ideology not only lost its credibility globally with the demise of the Soviet Union, but at home in Eritrea also. Ethiopia is no exception. That is because your ideology is about “control” and “abuse” of the human spirit. Unfortunately, without bothering to answer the fundamental question of whether the demise of the communist and socialist world was a plus or a minus to civilization, you are hopelessly trying to resuscitate a globally debunked ideology. That doesn’t make you an honest intellectual; it makes you a pseudo intellectual if you ask me.

Throughout history, our traditional and enlightened ancestors have been voices of reason and tolerance. Your unflinching commitment to weyane and the Amhara chauvinists notwithstanding, Eritrean national sovereignty and territorial integrity is here to stay, to be fully enjoyed by generations of Eritreans, thanks to the unconditional commitment of our people to unite when push comes to shove.