What Ethiopian-Eritrean “Friendship”?
27 March, 2011 | By Saleh "Gadi" Johar,
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One night a man came upon a child who was searching under a
street lamp for a coin he lost. After a while the man asked him if he
was sure he lost it there. The child said, “No. I lost it over there.”
And he pointed with his finger to a distant place. The surprised man
asked, “Then why don’t you search for it there?” The child looked
even more surprised, and said, “You can’t tell! There is no light
where I lost it!”
I will return to this anecdote at the end. Of my speech
Dear organizers, I would like to thank you for giving me this
opportunity to speak at this event. And I thank all the
respected guests and panelists for attending.
People search for something because they lost it or never had it. I
am sure the organizers of this event are convinced that we need to
establish, reestablish, or repair the friendship between Eritrea and
Ethiopia, or more precisely, between Eritreans and Ethiopians. And
my first attempt is ….
Defining Friendship
There are many noble initiatives undertaken in the name of
“friendship.” And some that are not so noble. Friendships
undertaken to introduce people to one another, people who had no
reason to know one another, are noble. For example, campaigns by
cities to adopt each other as “sister city” or campaigns by schools
for “student exchange” are noble and I am all for them. There are
also friendship campaigns to reconcile two feuding parties—and
these may begin by having people verbalize their grievances. I am all
for that; and “reconciliation” has been a mantra of mine forever.
What I have a problem with are those “friendships” that are
organized by people who are in the business of creating and
exacerbating conflicts, just so they can be the permanent friendship
brokers. And when we talk about creating a friendship between
Eritreans and Ethiopians, we really have to make sure that we are
engaged in the noble kind of campaigns, and that we do not fall
prey to the brokers who are incentivized to make a lucrative career
out “friendship events.”
As many of you might know, I have been vocal in opposing the so-
called friendship projects—blame it on the NGO factor. There are
many Dellalas brokering such projects, and one has to be careful.
Therefore, the first thing I asked when I received the invitation to
give a speech was: who is funding it? I made my decision to attend
only after I was assured that this is a self-funded event. Then I
began to ask myself a few questions: Is there a need for such an
event? Did we have friendship that somehow we lost and we are
trying to regain it? Did we have enmity that we want to replace with
friendship? What would change if we kissed each other in this hall?
Would we say that we have achieved our goals of establishing
friendship? (Excuse me, it seems I was stung by the Isaias bug, I
find myself throwing so many questions)
My objective is to present a speech from a different perspective. I
want to provoke the audience to think differently—and if I achieve
a fraction of my expectation, I would be content.
There is no doubt that the organizers and the audience are anxious
members of our society; they are people who are so sick and tired
of what is happening in the Diaspora—my disappointment is that
they mistake it for a reflection of what is happening in our
countries—and such mistaken extrapolation, is leading us to a
wrong conclusion.
At times, even those who seem to embrace the diversity of our
population fall in the trap of wrong conclusions. They assume that
there are two monolithic Ethiopian and Eritrean nations and they
make generalized statements—for example, the assumed enmity
between Ethiopian and Eritreans! Of course there is enmity; but that
is only a tiny fraction of the realty: the fraction of our population that
has become mortal enemies, but it is just a fraction.
What accounts for our enmity, if there is any? If we are to avoid
the trap of the professional brokers, we need to identify them. In my
view, there are some that are a result of what we Eritreans call
“Ethiopian occupation”; there are some that are a result of intra-
Abyssinian power feud—a conflict that doesn’t address the
majority of Eritreans or Ethiopians—and then there are some that
are based on second or third hand information of people who
basically don’t know one another. And I will explain the…
Occupation-Related Enmity
My first visit to Ethiopia was in 1991; with what I grow up
experiencing, and hearing, that trip was not easy—I had to stay in
Cairo for two weeks to decide if, after all, I want to go to Eritrea
via Addis Ababa. I had travelled to Cairo on my way to Khartoum
from where I had planned to travel to Eritrea by road. I carried an
Ethiopian passport (albeit with a fake name) and I didn’t think I
needed a transit visa for Sudan; but at that time, Egypt and Sudan
were at the brink of a battle over Halaib; and an Egyptian
immigration officer said I cannot board a plane to Khartoum without
a visa. I discovered the only option left was to fly through Addis
Ababa; and those who advised me to do so, travel on Ethiopian
Airlines, could have been telling me to go to meet my death. I said
to myself now Saleh, you will become a martyr, and you will die in
Ethiopia, someone will just cut you into pieces.
I convinced myself I was brave enough and decided to face the
monster called Ethiopia in its den; but my knees went limp and I
was sweating when I landed at Bole Airport. I found a taxi and I
said, Hilton, pretending to know the city; not because I could afford
the Hilton, but because I assumed it has to be the only safe place in
Ethiopia. The taxi driver must have been thinking ‘mn aynet fara
netch ychchi’ and dropped me at the entrance of the Hilton.
Without being asked he said, the fare is $100. I reached for my
wallet and paid, no questions asked, after all, he brought me there in
one piece. That evening I called a friend and I told him the story;
and if it was not over the phone, he would have killed me. The
Ethiopians didn’t kill me, thus far, but I thought my Eritrean friend
would do the job. I checked out of the Hilton the next day and took
a room at Ghion for a fraction of the Hilton rate. By then I
discovered the taxi fare from the airport was only $20 birr—now
the Ethiopians here owe me $100 dollars and they have to pay it
before we talk about any friendship!
It was in Addis Ababa that I began to ask myself: why do I fear and
suspect all Ethiopians? I couldn’t find a convincing reason for that,
but prejudice (though I can justify that prejudice with conviction.)
Those who showed me darkness in broad daylight with their
oppression are responsible for their deeds. But simply because they
were Ethiopians doesn’t implicate the rest of Ethiopians in any way.
I also realized that an Ethiopian farmer in Shoa or Gondar did not
oppress me; he was oppressed himself by the same oppressor. But
understandably, to most Eritreans, it was the Amhara oppression, in
absolute terms—and that was the cause for my fear and suspicion—
I descend from a people who had seen nothing in their history with
Abyssinia except killing, oppression, uprooting, humiliation and
disenfranchisement.
But with all of that, I found in Abyssinians a copy of myself, of my
culture, of my language and of my heritage. And that is why I am
asking today if I need to be friends with ordinary Ethiopians. Of
course I do—and I came to that conclusion on my own, long ago,
without meetings, or resolutions or declarations. I can point to a few
Ethiopians in this room whom I consider friends, and I have
developed other friendships in Ethiopia; since my first ever trip in
1991, I went to Ethiopia no less than 15 times; I stopped travelling
when they switched the street lamps off, in the street of Badme—
THAT village!
Since that brutal war, I went to Ethiopia only once—remember, I
have many relatives who suffered from the repercussions of the war,
and deported, humiliated, destroyed— yet, I would like to visit
Ethiopia as much as I can. But that doesn’t change my views: I like
to live today without forgetting yesterday. And that is the problem
that I see with Abyssinian elite—their slogans and declarations
could be good intentioned, but not deep enough, I mean not deep at
all. They forget yesterday and they are too self-centered, they
espouse narrowly defined wishes, ill defined wishes. And I pity
those who are obsessed with reclaiming Eritrea that they consider a
mere piece of real estate. I wish they realize that Eritrea is not
Ethiopia and it is high time that they come to terms with that reality.
The fact that Eritrea is being brutalized by Isaias doesn’t change
anything. I believe we can live as neighbors, and let the future take
its natural coarse. And if there comes a time when the entire region
would unite, let alone Eritrea and Ethiopia, then be it. But not the
arrogant attitude of ‘we will retake Eritrea’—though fortunately
enough, such romantic views that were espoused since the imperial
era are fading away fast. That is positive.
I, as an Eritrean, was oppressed by Janhoi? But so was Shaleqa
Dawit who was jailed in a basement of a villa—I think it was in
Embatkala—by Janhoi’s security, in Eritrea when he was much
younger. How can I blame Ethiopians at large when they, too, were
being victimized by my victimizer? Was the Derg rule cruel to
Eritreans? Yes it was, but it didn’t spare Ethiopians either.
Ordinary people have no share in all this sin! I came to learn that I
have no enmity to Ethiopians, but only to those who were in power,
the same people who were brutalizing my Ethiopian brothers and
sisters just like they were brutalizing Eritreans. That should not
make us forget that there some Eritreans who have a deep rooted
suspicion of anything Ethiopian due to past experiences that we
never reconciled, or put a closure to. But still, all of that is not the
kind of suspicion that would lead us into battle to spill each other’s
blood. It is a just fear and precaution caused by our history, which
only time will heal. What needs to heal fast is the….
Enmity Based On Intra-Abyssinian Feud
That region is approximately 20% of the total area of the two
countries; and it is home to around the same percentage of the
population. Unfortunately, many Abyssinian elite would most
probably not see the rest of the 80% land and people in Ethiopia or
Eritrea when they close their eyes and imagine the region. Why do
I bring that?
I bring that because I do not believe in building a house from the
roof down, but from the foundation up. If one is not at peace with
himself, he will never be at peace with others. This applies relatively
more to us Eritreans, we are not at peace with ourselves—thanks to
an oppressive regime that hinders us from achieving closure. That is
why our country is a record holder for igniting wars; and that is why
the conquering regime in Asmara has militarized the entire nation.
This intra-abyssinian feud of kings and conquerors has been
immortalized in songs and poems and books; but I have some news
for you: it has nothing to do with the majority of Eritreans and
Ethiopians. For the non-abyssinian sections of our population, it
might as well be the story of cowboys and Indians. It had nothing
to do with them. One side defeating the other made no changes to
their lives.
Unfortunately, I have to say this is the one that occupies the minds
of most of the peace brokers who always find a way to tell us that
“Meles and Isaias are cousins,” or some variation of that. Their
focus is entirely the Telahun Gessese defined Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Non Abyssinian Ethiopians and Eritreans of other sects and groups
have nothing to do with this enmity that has been prevalent in
Abyssinia for too long. What is there between a Beni-Amer and an
Oromo? What enmity is there between a Harreri and a Somali in
Ethiopia and a Blin, Mensae, Saho speakers or Jeberti in Eritrea?
What is there between an Eritrean Muslim and an Ethiopian Muslim
in general? Nothing. Nothing at all. Check around you, all the
quarrels and hate in the USA are between Ethiopians and Eritreans
of Abyssinian extract.
Eritrean elite and Ethiopian elite were praying together in one
church; after the border war of 1998, they decided to have two
separate churches, to pray to the same God, with the same church
doctrines and language, in two different churches. And this is further
proof why I believe the friendship you are talking about concerns
Abyssinians only because it is Abyssinian in nature. If we further
dissect that, it is the Abyssinian elite, predominantly Tewahdo, who
did not want to rub shoulders with each other, even when they pray.
And now, I am afraid, those who are bleeding their hearts for this
kind of friendship are all Abyssinians, and they are predominantly
Tewahdo. Why are the Muslims praying in any mosque regardless
of the nationality of the congregation? My friends, these are the
causes that are hindering the friendship—face them head on.
I am boldly stating that the hate that you are talking about is your
own making—call it inter-Habesha reconciliation–or more
precisely, inter-habesha elite reconciliation. Don’t pretend that there
is hate between the ordinary people that we can transform into
friendship from our adopted homes in the West.
For me, this is of great concern because first, I am a Habesha, an
Abyssinian, and second, Tewhado is the faith of half of my
compatriots; Tewahdo is an Eritrean heritage, and therefore, it is my
heritage. Its status concerns me like any other Eritrean—because
the problem that half my country faces, immediately becomes my
problem. And what follows is another enmity, the…
Enmity Based On Ignorance
There are sections of Eritrea, and segments of Ethiopia who, due to
Geography, never got to interact with one another. They are
strangers to each other. A friendship campaign, an attempt to
introduce these people to one another would indeed be noble. It is
friendships for the rest of us: the Kunama to be introduced to the
Gambella; the Harreri to the blin; the Saho speakers to the Sidama,
the Wellayta, Ben Shangul, the Oromo, the Gurage, the Nara, the
Habab, Marya, Saho speaking tribes, Hadendwa and so on—of
course I can’t possibly name all eighty-something groups of Ethiopia
here. This kind of venture would expand the base of friendship—it
would be truly “people to people.”
Instead of presenting history as that of the victorious conqueror that
has always been elevated to mythological proportions; and the
history of the vanquished and conquered, that has been relegated to
the sidelines, mercilessly ignored, and made to disappear slowly
from the collective memory of the people; it could become a story
of anthropology.
I grew up loving history (maybe because it doesn’t involve math),
and I found it to be a continuous non abetting heartburn. I get this
heartburn whenever I read or hear the perpetuation of the mutilation
of history, that is always told from the political perspective of the
victor, as a perpetual political tool to ascertain the superiority of the
victor, even if that victory happened centuries ago; while stressing
on the inconsequential nature of the vanquished, as if it is current
events. I wish scholars would help us reconcile this history; we just
cannot afford to live in such kind of ignorance forever. That is why I
think our history is crying for closure—I have a lot of admiration for
people Like Prof. Lapiso Dileba.
Ordinary Ethiopians and Eritreans are decent, peace loving and
respectful people; we make a mistake when we assess the situation
at home with our individual situation in the West. We all know that
Europe or America is not a Zoba of Eritrea or a Kilil of Ethiopia.
Our hyphenated situation is not representative of the situation at
home; but in our confusion and self-absorption, we want to impose
our choice on them. Whether Eritrea or Ethiopia should have an
American style capitalist government or a Swedish like socialist
government, is our selfish concern, not our peoples’ problem. Of
course we should help them choose—that would be showing our
concern; but we should not try to impose, or think we have the right
to force our choice on them. We can help in promoting universally
accepted rights and values: good governance, respect for human
rights, respect of the rights of women and children, and why not,
even the rights of animals that are much abused in our countries. But
we should be careful of our arrogant attitudes and looking down on
our own people.
To conclude, in my view, the enmity between Eritreans and
Ethiopians is of three kinds: there is one that is the outcome of one
country occupying another. This will heal with time and as people
come to learn, as I did 20 years ago, that the cause of my misery
was not an entire population but a ruling elite. There is enmity based
on prejudice: of people who never interact with one another. I
wouldn’t even call this enmity but ignorance and lack of awareness.
And this can be solved, over time, with noble initiatives to introduce
people to one another’s culture. There is a lot that the elite can do in
this regard: writing books, producing videos, writing articles, etc. Of
course this will re-teach us what we already know: that we are
people who share the same values and people who have the same
concerns. Then there is the third cause of enmity, which is the intra-
Habesha feud and because, for whatever reason, it is the Habesha
of Ethiopia and the Habesha of Eritrea who have been at the helms
of power, this feud has become an Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict.
In all of the three kinds of enmities, I submit to you that the
professional brokers, the Dallalas, have nothing to contribute that
we can’t do on our own. Their only contribution would be to
institutionalize the conflict, and create their own satellite brokers
who would have a vested interest in perpetuating the conflict. We
have enough able people who could do the job a thousand times
than an expatriate solely imported from the West to resolve our
conflicts for us. We should not allow ourselves to be insulted.
So, finally, which section of the Ethiopian and Eritrean people needs
to be friends? Is it all of the 80 million Ethiopians and 4 million
Eritreans?
What I am saying here is that unfortunately, you are looking
for your lost coin under a specific place simply because that
place is lighted, not because that is where you lost your coin.
I believe the problem is not framed correctly; the ordinary people
do not need your help to become friends. The feud and conflict is
elite and mostly Diaspora-based and I strongly suggest that it be
framed as such.
Thank you.
Saleh “Gadi” Johar is the founder and publisher of awate.com;
activist; author ‘Of Kings And Bandits‘ and ‘Simply Echoes.’
Negarit@awate.com
Courtesy
27 March, 2011 | By Saleh "Gadi" Johar,
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- (This is a speech delivered on
Saturday, March 26, 2009, at a
conference organized by the
Eritrean Ethiopian Friendship
Forum in San Jose, California:
“Ethiopia & Eritrea: Healing Past
One night a man came upon a child who was searching under a
street lamp for a coin he lost. After a while the man asked him if he
was sure he lost it there. The child said, “No. I lost it over there.”
And he pointed with his finger to a distant place. The surprised man
asked, “Then why don’t you search for it there?” The child looked
even more surprised, and said, “You can’t tell! There is no light
where I lost it!”
I will return to this anecdote at the end. Of my speech
Dear organizers, I would like to thank you for giving me this
opportunity to speak at this event. And I thank all the
respected guests and panelists for attending.
People search for something because they lost it or never had it. I
am sure the organizers of this event are convinced that we need to
establish, reestablish, or repair the friendship between Eritrea and
Ethiopia, or more precisely, between Eritreans and Ethiopians. And
my first attempt is ….
Defining Friendship
There are many noble initiatives undertaken in the name of
“friendship.” And some that are not so noble. Friendships
undertaken to introduce people to one another, people who had no
reason to know one another, are noble. For example, campaigns by
cities to adopt each other as “sister city” or campaigns by schools
for “student exchange” are noble and I am all for them. There are
also friendship campaigns to reconcile two feuding parties—and
these may begin by having people verbalize their grievances. I am all
for that; and “reconciliation” has been a mantra of mine forever.
What I have a problem with are those “friendships” that are
organized by people who are in the business of creating and
exacerbating conflicts, just so they can be the permanent friendship
brokers. And when we talk about creating a friendship between
Eritreans and Ethiopians, we really have to make sure that we are
engaged in the noble kind of campaigns, and that we do not fall
prey to the brokers who are incentivized to make a lucrative career
out “friendship events.”
As many of you might know, I have been vocal in opposing the so-
called friendship projects—blame it on the NGO factor. There are
many Dellalas brokering such projects, and one has to be careful.
Therefore, the first thing I asked when I received the invitation to
give a speech was: who is funding it? I made my decision to attend
only after I was assured that this is a self-funded event. Then I
began to ask myself a few questions: Is there a need for such an
event? Did we have friendship that somehow we lost and we are
trying to regain it? Did we have enmity that we want to replace with
friendship? What would change if we kissed each other in this hall?
Would we say that we have achieved our goals of establishing
friendship? (Excuse me, it seems I was stung by the Isaias bug, I
find myself throwing so many questions)
My objective is to present a speech from a different perspective. I
want to provoke the audience to think differently—and if I achieve
a fraction of my expectation, I would be content.
There is no doubt that the organizers and the audience are anxious
members of our society; they are people who are so sick and tired
of what is happening in the Diaspora—my disappointment is that
they mistake it for a reflection of what is happening in our
countries—and such mistaken extrapolation, is leading us to a
wrong conclusion.
At times, even those who seem to embrace the diversity of our
population fall in the trap of wrong conclusions. They assume that
there are two monolithic Ethiopian and Eritrean nations and they
make generalized statements—for example, the assumed enmity
between Ethiopian and Eritreans! Of course there is enmity; but that
is only a tiny fraction of the realty: the fraction of our population that
has become mortal enemies, but it is just a fraction.
What accounts for our enmity, if there is any? If we are to avoid
the trap of the professional brokers, we need to identify them. In my
view, there are some that are a result of what we Eritreans call
“Ethiopian occupation”; there are some that are a result of intra-
Abyssinian power feud—a conflict that doesn’t address the
majority of Eritreans or Ethiopians—and then there are some that
are based on second or third hand information of people who
basically don’t know one another. And I will explain the…
Occupation-Related Enmity
My first visit to Ethiopia was in 1991; with what I grow up
experiencing, and hearing, that trip was not easy—I had to stay in
Cairo for two weeks to decide if, after all, I want to go to Eritrea
via Addis Ababa. I had travelled to Cairo on my way to Khartoum
from where I had planned to travel to Eritrea by road. I carried an
Ethiopian passport (albeit with a fake name) and I didn’t think I
needed a transit visa for Sudan; but at that time, Egypt and Sudan
were at the brink of a battle over Halaib; and an Egyptian
immigration officer said I cannot board a plane to Khartoum without
a visa. I discovered the only option left was to fly through Addis
Ababa; and those who advised me to do so, travel on Ethiopian
Airlines, could have been telling me to go to meet my death. I said
to myself now Saleh, you will become a martyr, and you will die in
Ethiopia, someone will just cut you into pieces.
I convinced myself I was brave enough and decided to face the
monster called Ethiopia in its den; but my knees went limp and I
was sweating when I landed at Bole Airport. I found a taxi and I
said, Hilton, pretending to know the city; not because I could afford
the Hilton, but because I assumed it has to be the only safe place in
Ethiopia. The taxi driver must have been thinking ‘mn aynet fara
netch ychchi’ and dropped me at the entrance of the Hilton.
Without being asked he said, the fare is $100. I reached for my
wallet and paid, no questions asked, after all, he brought me there in
one piece. That evening I called a friend and I told him the story;
and if it was not over the phone, he would have killed me. The
Ethiopians didn’t kill me, thus far, but I thought my Eritrean friend
would do the job. I checked out of the Hilton the next day and took
a room at Ghion for a fraction of the Hilton rate. By then I
discovered the taxi fare from the airport was only $20 birr—now
the Ethiopians here owe me $100 dollars and they have to pay it
before we talk about any friendship!
It was in Addis Ababa that I began to ask myself: why do I fear and
suspect all Ethiopians? I couldn’t find a convincing reason for that,
but prejudice (though I can justify that prejudice with conviction.)
Those who showed me darkness in broad daylight with their
oppression are responsible for their deeds. But simply because they
were Ethiopians doesn’t implicate the rest of Ethiopians in any way.
I also realized that an Ethiopian farmer in Shoa or Gondar did not
oppress me; he was oppressed himself by the same oppressor. But
understandably, to most Eritreans, it was the Amhara oppression, in
absolute terms—and that was the cause for my fear and suspicion—
I descend from a people who had seen nothing in their history with
Abyssinia except killing, oppression, uprooting, humiliation and
disenfranchisement.
But with all of that, I found in Abyssinians a copy of myself, of my
culture, of my language and of my heritage. And that is why I am
asking today if I need to be friends with ordinary Ethiopians. Of
course I do—and I came to that conclusion on my own, long ago,
without meetings, or resolutions or declarations. I can point to a few
Ethiopians in this room whom I consider friends, and I have
developed other friendships in Ethiopia; since my first ever trip in
1991, I went to Ethiopia no less than 15 times; I stopped travelling
when they switched the street lamps off, in the street of Badme—
THAT village!
Since that brutal war, I went to Ethiopia only once—remember, I
have many relatives who suffered from the repercussions of the war,
and deported, humiliated, destroyed— yet, I would like to visit
Ethiopia as much as I can. But that doesn’t change my views: I like
to live today without forgetting yesterday. And that is the problem
that I see with Abyssinian elite—their slogans and declarations
could be good intentioned, but not deep enough, I mean not deep at
all. They forget yesterday and they are too self-centered, they
espouse narrowly defined wishes, ill defined wishes. And I pity
those who are obsessed with reclaiming Eritrea that they consider a
mere piece of real estate. I wish they realize that Eritrea is not
Ethiopia and it is high time that they come to terms with that reality.
The fact that Eritrea is being brutalized by Isaias doesn’t change
anything. I believe we can live as neighbors, and let the future take
its natural coarse. And if there comes a time when the entire region
would unite, let alone Eritrea and Ethiopia, then be it. But not the
arrogant attitude of ‘we will retake Eritrea’—though fortunately
enough, such romantic views that were espoused since the imperial
era are fading away fast. That is positive.
I, as an Eritrean, was oppressed by Janhoi? But so was Shaleqa
Dawit who was jailed in a basement of a villa—I think it was in
Embatkala—by Janhoi’s security, in Eritrea when he was much
younger. How can I blame Ethiopians at large when they, too, were
being victimized by my victimizer? Was the Derg rule cruel to
Eritreans? Yes it was, but it didn’t spare Ethiopians either.
Ordinary people have no share in all this sin! I came to learn that I
have no enmity to Ethiopians, but only to those who were in power,
the same people who were brutalizing my Ethiopian brothers and
sisters just like they were brutalizing Eritreans. That should not
make us forget that there some Eritreans who have a deep rooted
suspicion of anything Ethiopian due to past experiences that we
never reconciled, or put a closure to. But still, all of that is not the
kind of suspicion that would lead us into battle to spill each other’s
blood. It is a just fear and precaution caused by our history, which
only time will heal. What needs to heal fast is the….
Enmity Based On Intra-Abyssinian Feud
- If you tell Abyssinians, from
both countries, to close
their eyes and visualize
Eritrea and Ethiopia, they
would most probably float
on a specific landmass, the
highlands, a strip that runs
from central Eritrea to
Addis Ababa—the region
that the immortal song of
the late Telahun Gessese
defined as “Asmera Addis
That region is approximately 20% of the total area of the two
countries; and it is home to around the same percentage of the
population. Unfortunately, many Abyssinian elite would most
probably not see the rest of the 80% land and people in Ethiopia or
Eritrea when they close their eyes and imagine the region. Why do
I bring that?
I bring that because I do not believe in building a house from the
roof down, but from the foundation up. If one is not at peace with
himself, he will never be at peace with others. This applies relatively
more to us Eritreans, we are not at peace with ourselves—thanks to
an oppressive regime that hinders us from achieving closure. That is
why our country is a record holder for igniting wars; and that is why
the conquering regime in Asmara has militarized the entire nation.
This intra-abyssinian feud of kings and conquerors has been
immortalized in songs and poems and books; but I have some news
for you: it has nothing to do with the majority of Eritreans and
Ethiopians. For the non-abyssinian sections of our population, it
might as well be the story of cowboys and Indians. It had nothing
to do with them. One side defeating the other made no changes to
their lives.
Unfortunately, I have to say this is the one that occupies the minds
of most of the peace brokers who always find a way to tell us that
“Meles and Isaias are cousins,” or some variation of that. Their
focus is entirely the Telahun Gessese defined Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Non Abyssinian Ethiopians and Eritreans of other sects and groups
have nothing to do with this enmity that has been prevalent in
Abyssinia for too long. What is there between a Beni-Amer and an
Oromo? What enmity is there between a Harreri and a Somali in
Ethiopia and a Blin, Mensae, Saho speakers or Jeberti in Eritrea?
What is there between an Eritrean Muslim and an Ethiopian Muslim
in general? Nothing. Nothing at all. Check around you, all the
quarrels and hate in the USA are between Ethiopians and Eritreans
of Abyssinian extract.
Eritrean elite and Ethiopian elite were praying together in one
church; after the border war of 1998, they decided to have two
separate churches, to pray to the same God, with the same church
doctrines and language, in two different churches. And this is further
proof why I believe the friendship you are talking about concerns
Abyssinians only because it is Abyssinian in nature. If we further
dissect that, it is the Abyssinian elite, predominantly Tewahdo, who
did not want to rub shoulders with each other, even when they pray.
And now, I am afraid, those who are bleeding their hearts for this
kind of friendship are all Abyssinians, and they are predominantly
Tewahdo. Why are the Muslims praying in any mosque regardless
of the nationality of the congregation? My friends, these are the
causes that are hindering the friendship—face them head on.
I am boldly stating that the hate that you are talking about is your
own making—call it inter-Habesha reconciliation–or more
precisely, inter-habesha elite reconciliation. Don’t pretend that there
is hate between the ordinary people that we can transform into
friendship from our adopted homes in the West.
For me, this is of great concern because first, I am a Habesha, an
Abyssinian, and second, Tewhado is the faith of half of my
compatriots; Tewahdo is an Eritrean heritage, and therefore, it is my
heritage. Its status concerns me like any other Eritrean—because
the problem that half my country faces, immediately becomes my
problem. And what follows is another enmity, the…
Enmity Based On Ignorance
There are sections of Eritrea, and segments of Ethiopia who, due to
Geography, never got to interact with one another. They are
strangers to each other. A friendship campaign, an attempt to
introduce these people to one another would indeed be noble. It is
friendships for the rest of us: the Kunama to be introduced to the
Gambella; the Harreri to the blin; the Saho speakers to the Sidama,
the Wellayta, Ben Shangul, the Oromo, the Gurage, the Nara, the
Habab, Marya, Saho speaking tribes, Hadendwa and so on—of
course I can’t possibly name all eighty-something groups of Ethiopia
here. This kind of venture would expand the base of friendship—it
would be truly “people to people.”
Instead of presenting history as that of the victorious conqueror that
has always been elevated to mythological proportions; and the
history of the vanquished and conquered, that has been relegated to
the sidelines, mercilessly ignored, and made to disappear slowly
from the collective memory of the people; it could become a story
of anthropology.
I grew up loving history (maybe because it doesn’t involve math),
and I found it to be a continuous non abetting heartburn. I get this
heartburn whenever I read or hear the perpetuation of the mutilation
of history, that is always told from the political perspective of the
victor, as a perpetual political tool to ascertain the superiority of the
victor, even if that victory happened centuries ago; while stressing
on the inconsequential nature of the vanquished, as if it is current
events. I wish scholars would help us reconcile this history; we just
cannot afford to live in such kind of ignorance forever. That is why I
think our history is crying for closure—I have a lot of admiration for
people Like Prof. Lapiso Dileba.
Ordinary Ethiopians and Eritreans are decent, peace loving and
respectful people; we make a mistake when we assess the situation
at home with our individual situation in the West. We all know that
Europe or America is not a Zoba of Eritrea or a Kilil of Ethiopia.
Our hyphenated situation is not representative of the situation at
home; but in our confusion and self-absorption, we want to impose
our choice on them. Whether Eritrea or Ethiopia should have an
American style capitalist government or a Swedish like socialist
government, is our selfish concern, not our peoples’ problem. Of
course we should help them choose—that would be showing our
concern; but we should not try to impose, or think we have the right
to force our choice on them. We can help in promoting universally
accepted rights and values: good governance, respect for human
rights, respect of the rights of women and children, and why not,
even the rights of animals that are much abused in our countries. But
we should be careful of our arrogant attitudes and looking down on
our own people.
To conclude, in my view, the enmity between Eritreans and
Ethiopians is of three kinds: there is one that is the outcome of one
country occupying another. This will heal with time and as people
come to learn, as I did 20 years ago, that the cause of my misery
was not an entire population but a ruling elite. There is enmity based
on prejudice: of people who never interact with one another. I
wouldn’t even call this enmity but ignorance and lack of awareness.
And this can be solved, over time, with noble initiatives to introduce
people to one another’s culture. There is a lot that the elite can do in
this regard: writing books, producing videos, writing articles, etc. Of
course this will re-teach us what we already know: that we are
people who share the same values and people who have the same
concerns. Then there is the third cause of enmity, which is the intra-
Habesha feud and because, for whatever reason, it is the Habesha
of Ethiopia and the Habesha of Eritrea who have been at the helms
of power, this feud has become an Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict.
In all of the three kinds of enmities, I submit to you that the
professional brokers, the Dallalas, have nothing to contribute that
we can’t do on our own. Their only contribution would be to
institutionalize the conflict, and create their own satellite brokers
who would have a vested interest in perpetuating the conflict. We
have enough able people who could do the job a thousand times
than an expatriate solely imported from the West to resolve our
conflicts for us. We should not allow ourselves to be insulted.
So, finally, which section of the Ethiopian and Eritrean people needs
to be friends? Is it all of the 80 million Ethiopians and 4 million
Eritreans?
What I am saying here is that unfortunately, you are looking
for your lost coin under a specific place simply because that
place is lighted, not because that is where you lost your coin.
I believe the problem is not framed correctly; the ordinary people
do not need your help to become friends. The feud and conflict is
elite and mostly Diaspora-based and I strongly suggest that it be
framed as such.
Thank you.
Saleh “Gadi” Johar is the founder and publisher of awate.com;
activist; author ‘Of Kings And Bandits‘ and ‘Simply Echoes.’
Negarit@awate.com
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