http://ascenteq.com/project/epdp

ኣብ ዞባና፡ ፖሊሲ “ጸላኢ ጸላእየይ፡ ፈታውየይ”  ነዊሕ ዕድመ ዘለዎ እዩ። እዚ ብሰፊሑ ናይቲ እትጸልኦ ምምሕዳር ተቓወምቲ ኣብ ሃገርካ ኣዕቊብካን ኣዕጢቕካን ከም መፈራርሒ ብምውፋር ኣብ መንጎ መንግስታት ክረአ ዝጸንሐ ክብ ለጠቕ ዝብል ቁርቁስ እዩ። ኣብ ኣተገባብራ’ዚ ፖሊሲ መንግስታት ዞባና ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ መድረኻት ነናተን ተመኩሮታት ኣለወን።

ግዝያዊ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ፡ ኣብዘን ዝሓለፋ ናይ ድሕሪ ነጻነት  ዓመታት፡ ኣብ ናይ ጐረባብቲ ሃገራት ጉዳይ ኢድ ብምእታው፡ ናይ ዝተጻልአን መንግስታት ተቓወምቲ ብምሕጋዝን ምዕጣቕን ሰፊሕ ኢድ ዝጸንሖን ዘለዎን እዩ። በብግዜኡ ናይ ሱዳን፡ ደቡብ ሱዳን፡ ኢትዮጵያ፡ ሶማሊያን የመንን ተቓወምቲ፡ ከስንቕን ከዕጥቕን ዝጸንሐ እዩ። መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ እውን ኣብዚ መዳይዚ ካብ ስርዓት ሃጸይ ሃይለስላሴ ጀሚሩ ክሳብ ምምሕዳር ብልጽግና፡ ጸላእተይ ናይ ዝብሎም መንግስታት ተቓወምቲ ብምዕቋብ ነዊሕ ታሪኽ ዘለዎ እዩ። ተቓወምቲ ሶማሊያ፡ ሱዳን፡ ደቡብ ሱዳንን የመንን ፡ ካብ ነዊሕ ግዜ ጀሚሮም፡ ካብ ምምሕዳር ኢህወደግ ንደሓር ከኣ ተቓወምቲ ውድባት ኤርትራ እውን ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ክንቀሳቐሳ ጸኒሀን እየን። ሱዳንን ሶማሊያን ብወገነን ብተመሳሳሊ ናይ ኤርትራ፡ ኢትዮጵያን  ሶማሊያን ምናልባት እውን ናይ ካለኦት ሃገራት ተቓወምቲ ከጽልላ ከም ዝጸንሓ ፍሉጥ እዩ።

ሃገራት ንተቓወምቲ ተቐናቐንተን መንግስታት ዝህበኦ ዕቑባ ከከም ኩነታቱ፡ ንሓንሳብ ብግሁድ ንሓንሳብ ድማ ብስዉር የካይደኦ። ካብ ናይ ጣልቃ ኣእታውነት  ክስን ውግዘትን ንምህዳም፡ እዚ ጉዳይ ክለዓል እንከሎ፡ “ኣሉ ቀጣን” ምባል ከኣ  ልሙድ እዩ። መንግስታት ተቓወምቲ ዘዕቁባሉ ምኽንያታት ዝተፈላለየ እዩ።  ነተን ተቓወምቲ ኣዕዊትካ ኣብ ሃገረን ስልጣን ከም ዝሕዛ ጌርካ ኣብቲ ዝምስርትኦ ሓድሽ መንግስቲ ብማዕዶ ናይ “ገባርን ሓዳግን” ግደ ከም ዝህልወካ ክትገብር ምፍታን ሓደ ካብቲ ምኽንያታት እዩ።  ገለ መንግስታት ከኣ፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ እቲ ዝተጻላእከዮ መንግስቲ ከም መፈራርሕን መፍጠሪ ተጽዕኖን ንምጥቃም’ውን ይረአ እዩ። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ፡ ፍልልያተን ብዘተ ክፈትሓ ክሕተታ እንከለዋ፡ ነተን ዘዕቆበአን ተቓወምቲ ከም መፍጠሪ ተጽዕኖን መንበርከኽን ምጥቃም  ልሙድ ተመኩሮ እዩ። እንተኾነ ካልእ ሕሳብን ሕቡእ ኣጀንዳን ብዘየብሉ ካብ ፍትሓውነትን ህዝባውነትን ናይቶም ዝቃወሙ ኣካላት ነቒልካ ዝግበር ፍትሓዊ ደግፍን ዑቕባን ፈጺሙ የለን ማለት  ኣይኮነን።

ተቓወምቲ ውድባት ካብ ሃገረን ወጻኢ ብሓፈሻ፡ ኣብ ዝኾነት ሃገር፡  ብፍላይ ድማ ኣብ ጐረባብቲ  ክንቀሳቐሳ ዝግደዳሉ  ቀንዲ ምኽንያት ኣብ ሃገረን ተወዲበን ኣተሓሳስበአን ዘንጸባርቓሉን ህዝበን ዘለዓዒለን ዝውድባሉን ነጻ ባይታ ክስእና እንከላዋ እየን። እዚ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዓይኑ ኣፍጢጡ ዘሎ ፖለቲካዊ ኣተሃላልዋ ዝምስክሮ እዩ። ምኽንያቱ ተቓወምቲ ውድባት ኤርትራ፡ ኣብ ጐረባብትን መላእ ኩርነዓት ዓለምን ምእንቲ ዲሞክራሲ፡ ፍትሒ፡ ልምዓትን መሰረታዊ መሰላትን ክንቀሳቐሳ ተገዲደን ዝጸንሓን ዘለዋን ኣብ ሃገረን ምስ ህዝበን ዝንቀሳቐሳሉ፡ ካብ ናይ ህግደፍ በሓቲ ኣተሓሳስባ  ዝተፈልየ ኣረኣእያ ዝጸውር ባይታ ዘይምህላዉ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ዝተፈልየ ሓሳብ ከንጸባርቑ ዝፈተኑ  ዜጋታት ዝውሰድ ጭካነ ቀጻሊ ምዃኑ እዩ።

ተቓወምቲ ዘዕቁባ ሃገራት ኣተሓሕዘአንን ሓገዝ ዝገብራሉ ኣገባብን ዝተፈላለየ እዩ። ገሊአን ናይተን ዘዕቁበአን ውድባት መጻኢ ናይ ምውሳን ነጻነት ዘኽብራ ክኾና እንከለዋ፡ ገሊአን ብኣንጻሩ ደረቱ ዝሓለፈ ኢድ ኣእታውነት የርእያ። ክሳብ ተቓወምቲ ድሕሪ ዓወተን ናይ ዝምስርተኦ መንግስታት መጻኢ መደባት ክትልማን መራሕቲ ተቓወምቲ ክመርጻን ክቕይራን ይደናደና። ክብሪ ሃገሮምን ረብሓ ህዝቦን መእከል ንዝገብሩ መራሕቲ ተቓውሞ ክሳብ ምእሳርን ካብ ሃገር ምስጓጉን እውን ይበጽሓ። ካብቶም ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝንቀሳቐሱ ዝነበሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን ተቓወምቲ ብዛዕባ ምስ ህግደፍ ዘሕለፍዎ ኣተሃላልዋ ከዘንትዉ እንከለዉ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ይእሰሩ፡ ይፍትሑን ዘይኣመንሉ ተግባራት ክፍጽሙን ይግደዱን ከም ዝነበሩ ዝገልጹ ብዙሓት እዮም። ፍቓድ ህግደፍ ዝመልኡ ዝነበሩ ግና ኣብ ዓመት ክሳብ 300 ሚልዮን ዶላር ሓገዝ ይወሃቦም ከም ዝነበረ እዮም ዘዘንትዉ።

ተቓወምቲ ውድባት ብወገነን፡ ካብ ተጽዕኖን ኢድ ኣእታውነትን ናይቲ ዘዕቁበን መንግስቲ  ነጻ ክኾና፡ ድሕሪ ዓወተን ናይ ዝምስርትኦ  ስርዓት መዕቀኒ ከኣ ናይ ህዝበን ድሌትን ኣብ ሃገረን ዘሎ ኩነታት እምበር፡ ናይ ዘዕቆበአን ሃገራት ድሌት መፈጸሚ ከይከውን ይቃለሳ።  ኣብዚ በቲ ሓደ ወገን ዑቕባን ሓገዝን እናሓተትካ፡ በቲ ካልእ ወገን ከኣ ነጻነት ውድብካን ውሳነታቱን ከም ዝዕቀበልካ ክትገብር ዝካየድ ቃልሲ ክሳብ ክንደይ በዳሂ ምዃኑ፡ ካብ ተቓወምቲ ውድባት ኤርትራ ዝሓሸ መስካሪ የለን።

እቲ ሓደ ናይቲ ካልእ ተቓወምቲ ብምሕጋዝን ዕቑባ ብምሃብን ዝተሃላልኹ መንግስታት፡ ንሓዋሩ ኣብ ጽልኢ ክነብሩ ስለ ዘይክእሉ፡ እንተ ብናታቶም ተበግሶ ወይ ብናይ መተዓረቕቲ ተጽዕኖ፡ ናብ መኣዲ ዘተ ይኣትዉ እዮም። ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት ኣብ ወጥሪ ዝኣትዋ እተን ኣብ ዘይሃገረን ክንቀሳቐሳ ዝጸንሓ ተቓወምቲ እየን። ገለ ሃገራት ኣብቲ ዝግበር ዘተን ዕርቅን ብዛዕባ መጻኢ ዕድል ናይተን ሓላፍነት ወሲደን   መብጸዓ ክኣትዉለን ዝጸንሕ ተቓወምቲ መጻኢ ዕድል ኣብ ግምት የእትዋ እየን። ገሊኦም ግና በምቲ “ቀዋሚ ጐረቤት እምበር ቀዋሚ ፈታውን ጸላእን የለን” ዝብል ፖሊሲ ተሻቢቦም ጉዳዮም ጥራይ ዝገብርሉ ኣሎ።  እዚ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ኣሕሊፍካ ናይ ምሃብ ሓደጋ ከም ዘጋጥም’እውን ኣብ ተመኩሮ ቃልስና ዘጋጠመ ተመኩሮ ብምጥቃስ  ይከኣል።

ኣብ 2018 ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን “ዝምድናና ኣሕዲስና” ምስበሉ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝጸንሑ ኢትዮጵያውያን ተቓወምቲ፡ ዳሕረዋይ ውጽኢቱ’ኳ ከምቲ ትጽቢት ዝተገረሉ እንተዘይኮነ፡  ጉዳዮም ኣብ ግምት ኣትዩ እዩ።  ብግብሪ ከኣ ውድባት ግንባር ነጻነት ኦሮሞ፡ ጉንበት 7ን ዲምሒትን ብስምምዕ ናብ ሃገረን ክኣትዉ እንከለዋ፡ ኣብ ኣደባባያት መንግስታዊ ኣቀባብላ’ውን ተገይሩለን። ኣብ መንግስቲ ብልጽግና ክሳብ ብደረጃ ሚኒስተር ዝተመዘዙ መራሕቲ ተቓወምቲ ነበር’ውን ኣለዉ። ብኣንጻሩ ብዛዕባ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ዝነበራ ኤርትራውያን ተቓወምቲ፡ ህግደፍ’ኳ ካብ ቀደሙ ኣፍልጦ ክህበን ትብዓት እንተዘይነበሮ፡   ብልጽግና ዝመርሖ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ከኣ ሓላፍነት ወሲዱ ኣጀንዳ ክገብሮም ብቕዓት ሰለ ዘይነበሮ ግዳይ ከም ዝኾና ናይ ቀረባ ግዜ ኣሉታዊ ተዘክሮ እዩ።

ስለዚ ጠንቂ ኣብ ወጻኢ ኮይንካ ክትቃለስ ምግዳድ፡ ኣብ ገዛእ ሃገርካ ፍልልይ ኣተሓሳስባ  ዝጸውር መቃለሲ ባይታ ዘይምህላዉ እዩ እሞ፡  “ነቲ ኣብ ሃገርና በዂሩ ዘሎ ሰፊሕ መቃለሲ ባይታ ንምፍጣር ክንቃለስ እምበር ካልእ መዋጽኦ ከምዘየብልና ንረዳእ” ዝብል መጸዋዕታና እዩ። 

Many Eritreans are for sure not well aware of how much poor the Eritrean library still is. Records of the colonial period were themselves scanty on top of being mostly distorted or written by less informed authors. But nothing can be done about that except regretting that it was so. Eritreans of the first two to three decades of the post-Italian period cannot also be blamed for the failure to adequately put in record what was going around them because they were denied the educational background for such an endeavor. We also know what happened to us in the past 6-7 decades for not contributing enough in order to enrich the Eritrean library. One can of course mention the 30-year national liberation struggle and what followed it since 1991 as causes for the failure to write. (A few compatriots, on top of them Alemseged Tesfai and Mufti Ibrahim Mukhtar, could be spared the blame – i.e. until we see what awaits for us in Asmara’s ‘Ye Tiravolo Washa’, as the late Tesfaye Ghebreab hinted).

Anyway, to make a quick jump to today’s point: it is my gut feeling that a vast majority of  Eritreans, including many of our educated ones, lack a fair knowledge of the story of what we used to call the Eritrean Liberation Front/ELF or ‘Jebha.’ This is mainly because there has not been sufficient and fair documentation about it, at least in English. And most of the few that exist were penned down by writers with some bias or utter ignorance of all the necessary facts. To my judgment, the prevailing lack of sufficient documentation and knowledge about the ELF is a good example of the poverty of the Eritrean library.

Recently, I came across a new book entitled ‘Eritrea’s Liberation Journey: 1969-1981’ by Mohammed Kheir Omar (PhD), a writer who may not be new to those used to read his ongoing Eritrea-related articles on the social media or his Hedgait blog, not forgetting his earlier book that ambitiously tried to cover Eritrean history from ancient times to 1968. These are commendable efforts by an Eritrean intellectual who deserves a warm thank you by us readers. Let us also hope and pray that others will follow his path in order to help fill at least some of the blind spots in our recent past.

Dr.MK Omar’s new book focuses on the period 1969 to 1981 that he rightly considers “a pivotal decade” in Eritrea’s prolonged struggle for national independence. I can say he fully understands how much little some Eritreans know about their own people’s contribution in the struggle. In fact he says his main aim in writing the book was to give “an accurate account of ELF’s role in the liberation struggle—often overshadowed or distorted” by the winner organization and its partisan chroniclers. Also in the outset, the writer reassured readers that he tried to cover the period “objectively.” Well, it is easy to say that because the final judgment rests with readers who can definitely include those who usually base their judgment on “base” things – like name of the writer and his/her birthplace.  Here, the author is Mohammed and his hometown is Agordat. 

On my part, I found the book to be fairly well balanced, as the author promised. And equally importantly, it is full of new facts, new even for those who lived throughout the liberation struggle days.  

Fully matching with my knowledge and understanding, Mohammed Kheir’s book rightly informs that, although the armed struggle was started by the ELF, it in fact was a “spontaneous popular uprising against the Ethiopian repression” throughout Eritrea, with many acts of resistance occurring, spearheaded mainly by the younger generation.   

The book pertinently refutes the distorted Ethiopian claim that the formation of the Eritrean liberation movement was initiated by Egypt. He exposes the utter lack of substantiation to this argument because “the Eritrean independence movement was well-established by the 1940s, predating Egypt’s 1952 revolution.”

The author at one point wished to question as to why the EPLF regarded Patriot Woldeab Woldeab as “the Godfather of the Eritrean Revolution” while he was known for controversial comments not officially acceptable to both fronts. This indeed is a point still to be scrutinized by future historians who would have to compare roles and contributions of all our patriotic fathers, on top of them, I would say, Ibrahim Sultan Ali, the leader of the biggest party that called for independence as of mid-1940s and was instrumental in obtaining the Eritrean symbolisms that helped in strengthening Eritrean nationalism. 

In writing the book, Dr. Mohammed Kheir used primary sources by interviewing people who took part in those events mentioned in addition to using references not only to English and Tigrigna books but also to rare sources in Arabic and Amharic which are not accessible to everybody. For instance, the author’s use of Arabic books written by key actors in the struggle like the then ELF army chief Abdalla Idris, army commander Idris Hangala, ELF/PLF’s Osman Denden, the Syrian Ahmed Abu Saada, testimonies by the Sudanese intelligence person Al Fatih Urwa and others add huge value in balancing and analyzing facts in the book. Viewpoints on Eritrea and the ELF in Amharic books by former Ethiopian fighters like Ghebru Asrat and Ghidey Zeratzion are also fairly well covered in the book.   

Among other things, the book delves deep into the causes of internal Eritrean divisions and conflicts that bedeviled the struggle for a long time. On top of the list are region, religion and ethnicity followed by leadership rivalries and ideological differences.

The book affirms that the main culprits for splits in the Eritrean liberation struggle were Osman Saleh Sabbe, Isaias Afeworki and Abdalla Idris. 

The author also quotes many sources charging Abdalla Idris to be the main, although not the sole, cause for the military defeat of the ELF whose army was led till its end by persons close to Abdalla Idris, and all of them Muslims except one Christian (Tesfai Tekle), who was also from the western lowlands. The author did not mention that over 80% of the ELF army till its defeat was from the Eritrean highlands.

On his part, the Ethiopian Gebru Asrat is quoted to have admitted that “the ELF had a more considerable, well-trained force” and wouldn’t have been defeated if it were not to the participation of the Ethiopian TPLF in the Eritrean civil war and ELF’s internal tag-of-war within the leadership. 

Whatever the cause of ELF’s defeat, the writer asserts that its defeat led to Isaias Afeworki’s consolidation of power within his front that ended with the establishment of dictatorship in independent Eritrea. The author also blames the “uncritical acceptance” of the front’s followers of the “hegemonic narrative” of the EPLF.

The book argues that the characterization of the ELF and Muslim elements in general as reactionary was not only harmful but also untrue. He tells the stories of the secret parties in both fronts and lists of their founders who were mostly Muslims. The founders of the Labour Party of the ELF in 1968 included names like Ahmed Mohamed Ali Isa, its first chairman, Azien Yassin, Ibrahim Mohammed Ali, Mahmoud Mohamed Saleh, Saleh Eyay and others. The book notes that Kidane Kiflu was around in the Sudan when the party was formed but was excluded from being party member, probably, the author adds, because of the mistrust that prevailed in the field at that particular time. 

When EPLF’s secret party, the EPRP/Eritrean People’s Revolutionary Party was established at Mount Gedem in 1971, its founders were mostly Muslims: Ramadan Mohamed Nur, Ibrahim Affa, Mohamed Ali Umaro, Abubakr Mohamed Hassen Gadi, Mahmoud Ahmed Sherifo, Mesfin Hagos, Isaias Afeworki, Ali Seid Abdella, Maasho Embaye, Ahmed Mohamed Nur Hilal, Ahmed Saleh al Gaisi, and Ahmed Tahir Baduri.

Dr. Mohammed Kheir concludes the book by referring to old divisions that left “lasting scars” on Eritrea’s political and social fabric and that continued to shape “the   liberation struggle and resonate in Eritrea’s post-independence governance.”

In a word, I dare say it is a book that can help readers fill gaps in their knowledge of our modern political history which has not yet taken a good shape.

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1 https://www.amazon.com/ERITREAs-LIBERATION-JOURNEY-1969-BEYOND/dp/B0DTGDJY84/ref=sr_1_1
2 www.geeska.com
3 https://books.google.ch/books?id=Eg_PDwAAQBAJ&printsec=copyright&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false