Au contraire,E'Ta AaBaY SeAaL
By Ibrahim Berhan
" There is no cure for narrowness of mind."
Andre Norton,writer.
"In the past we will find things that,when combined with the elements of our
present life,will lead us to something different from either the past or the
present, and in some ways better than both." Michael Beran
Remembering BaH'Ti Meskerem,Sep.1
As Eritrea and Eritreans celebrate Sep.1, as the inception day for Eritrea's armed struggle,one can ask:was the first bullet actualy fired in Sep.1,1961?? I have to admit that question have perplexed me and I asked one of the then Jebha 'historians', the late Micheal Gaber, in the early 80s in the hope of gaining insight to that query.The late Micheal Gaber explained that the date of Sep.1961 was not an actual date that the Eritrean Revolution started, but a 'conventional date' that was selected and agreed upon as the starting day of the Eritrean Revolution.
One of the most memborable 'things' from the past celebrations of BaHT'i Meskerem, is an interview with TeGaDaLaY Ramadan Mohammed Nur,in the early 80s,with D'MTsi HaFaSh.The following is what I can still remember from that momentous interview:
Dimtsi Hafash: When you joined the ELF,what was your expectations???
Ramadan M Nur: In the early 60s,the thing that I wanted most was to see Hamid Idris Awate.Alas,though, when I got to the Eritrean field he was martyred and I didn't have the opportunity to see him.
Dimitsi Hafash: what was your most favorite moment when you were a Tegadalay in the early 60s???
Ramadan M Nur: The thing that pleased me the most was,after we,ELA units, completed a successful ambush against the Ethiopian army we used to sit under the shade of a tree, sipping hot tea and talking about the military operations.
Dimtsi Hafash: What would the Ramadan of the early 60s say to the Ramadan of the 80s???
Ramadan M Nur: I don't think the Ramadan of the 60s would be able to recognize the Ramadan of the 80s,beacuse the Ramadan of the 80s has undergone a lot of dialectical changes.On the other hand the Ramadan of the 80s can recognize the Ramadan of the 60s.
Before I delve on the the issues I want to cover on this piece,allow me to express my appreciation and heartfelt thanks to all those who have emailed me privately and I apologize for not responding to all of you.This was simply because of time constraints and not that I fail to recognize the importance of your inputs.Once again,though,zillions of thanks to all who wrote to this writer.Having said that,allow me to go back to the issues that I want to cover on this screed.
First,it is more than apposite to share with the reader that AaBaY SeAal in English is tuberculosis.The rationale of those who chose to use AabaY SeAaL is pretty obvious.It was to refute the absurd notion of Jebha AaBaY.Put more simply,it was the way that those democratic forces within the then Jebha used of telling all of those Eritreans with open eyes and ears that Jebha was not AaBaY in the nationalistic sense,but in actuality it was like a killer disease,AaBaY SeAaL that is!!!
E'Ta AaBaY SeAaL,H'MaM NaY SeNaBuE,is part of the lyrics of a song that one heared coming from the corners of the then Jebha.The song that was the favorite tune of those ELF members who were at loggerheads with the sectarian and reactionary political outlooks of the now defunct ELF-RC,encapsulated the pathologic condition of Jebha's political outlooks.It is taking the aforementioned reason into consideration that I have chosen it to be the title of this thread,that,hopefully,I will continue to write on and bring out to the fore,the atrocities that were perpetrated against individuals or Eritrean groups in the name of that absurd expression, Jebha AaBay ,which ,I think, the message of the song was to confute the fatousness and inanity of that expression to be applicable to a sectarian congerie of power clans.The condition of the then Jebha in the late 70s was not that of greatness.On the contrary,Jebha was moribund and as the song captured that state,it died because of AaBaY SeAaL.Before it was interred for good,though,it has left a long trail of atrocities committed,individual rights violated and crimes against Eritreans perpetrated.
From the annals of Jebha's atrocities:the cases of the two Kidanes
Continuining on the theme that I have introduced in my piece under the title of the battle of HaLHaL 1969,in which I have described some of the ethno-racist practices of the now defunct Jebha (the case of Younis Ibrahim),I will continue on this theme, in the hope of echoing and bringing to the fore the plight of the victims of Jebha's atrocities.
Kidane KiFLu
Kidane is one of those gallant and brilliant fighters,TeGaDeLTi,who was assasinated in Kassala,Sudan in the late 60s.He was not only a heroic fighter who relentlessly opposed the sectarian and backwarded political outlooks of the then Jebha,he was a decent person with exceedingly pleasant personality.Those who were incarcerated with him in Sudan's jail in the late 60s attest to those facts.Once he was released the butchers of the then Jebha killed him and put his body in a trunk of a taxi.So was the barbaric acts of QiYaDa ALaMa that left no options for the true and patriotic fighters that they have to emabark upon seeking a different path of pursuing the nationalist agendas.
Kidane Antonio
Kidane Antonio's case is the ultimate testimony of the ethno-racist politics of the then Jebha.Kidane Antonio,an Eritrean from Keren,completed his High school education in Kassala's Eritrean Refugees Senior High School.First,one has to be an Eritrean to attend the abovementioned school.Second,during his High school years,Kidane was a member of the then Jebha's student association.After his graduation from high school in the early 80s, he left to the Eritrean field to complete a one year 'natioanl service' as it was part of the requirement of all members of the then Jebha's student association. Once Kidane was in the Eritrean field,guess what the ethno-racists Jebha leadership told him??? They told him that he was not an Eritrean and thus he can't particiapte in the 'national service'.They told him that,he was an Ethiopian and can only accept him in a humanitarian basis.Kidane was born and raised in keren,Eritrea and attended Atsie Dawit high school until 1977.He was as Eritrean as any of those feudals in then Jebha who were deciding who was Eritrean and who was not.
Such was the rampant politics of ethno-racism as practised by the leadership of jebha.
Weird math,bizarre geography & odd history
The lair of lies,Dukan HaSoT,also known as Awate.com, has first given us a good dose of weird math.We were told that 15 was greater than 60 during the height of the 'open letter'. Those who are under the illusion that they can spread their lies through such weird math were caught and were made the laughing stock of all Eritreans.And,now we are told that SeMeNaWi BaH'Ri means SeMHaR.This is purely and simply nothing but bizarre geography.Because the numskull sees that BaHRi he assumes that everyone is as ignorant as he is and he arrogantly claims that I meant SeMHaR in my previous piece on the conference of SeMeNaWi BaHRi.Also,what kind of person who is shouting day in and day out that he is in a business of chronicling Eritrean history didn't hear about that pivotal conference in the political evolution of ShaEbia??? Although the reader is bombarded by Salih Gadi's days in Jebha and how much he has struggled for Eritrea,I am on record for stating the following: He is either knowingly concealing the ethno-racist practices of the then Jebha or he is wallowing in the bliss of ignorance.
As for DuKan's (awate.com) odd history, you can read the following exchange between a proud Jeberti ( PJ) (Saleh Younis) and a very proud Jeberti(VPJ) ( Saleh Gadi):
PJ: Why is this 'little guy' who calls himself Haraka,Mr.thesaurus,Ibrahim Berhan
keep talking about the ethno-racist practises of the then Jebha??
VPJ: Why are you referring to Awate's front as the then Jebha.Don't you know you are
repeating the words of this 'shameless' guy who is insulting his own ethnicity and
the shopowners so that the hard liners of the Shaebia camp will like him.
PJ: Now,caz Saleh,I haven't seen anything from his writings that is insulting to the
the Jeberti ethnic group;nor do I remember anything negative that he penned about
shopkeepers.
VPJ:Didn't you read his piece about the Battle of HalHal in which he has insulted
Younis Ibrahim and the shopkeepers of Eritrea.This is the official stand of the
Awate team.I have called all my connections in Toronto,Kuwait,Germany,
Atlanta so that he will feel the pressure.You know what I mean by that,Ya Abu
Salah.
VJ: Of course,I realy know what you realy mean,caz Saleh.I am the prime (victim) of
that brand of your political campaigning.On the piece of the battle of HalHal ,
all this 'little guy',Haraka, said was how the ethno-racist politics of the then Jebha
,Oops,I meant Jebha,violated the basic rights of Younis Ibrahim.It is like calling a
an African-American who reported the beating of Rodney King by the LAPD anti-
Blacks,if you are going to accuse him of being insulting to Jeberti's simply for
echoing those who discriminated against an Eritrean of a Jeberti extraction,such
what his piece on the battle of HalHal dealt with the case of Younis Ibrahim and
Jebha's ethno-racist stands in expelling him from the Eritrean field.
VPJ:What about his claims about the shopkeeper in HalHal who spied for and told
the Ethiopian forces when Jebha was going to attack?
VJ : Now,caz Saleh, how can one say that he has insulted the Eritrean shop owners by
merely stating the knid of work that an Eritrean who spied for Ethiopia.That
is odd and strange,which ever way you slice it,caz Saleh.
VPJ: Still that is the stand of the awate team?
VJ: You mean that is your stand?
VPJ: You mean you are not in the team with us,oops I mean with me,even spiritually,
of course on a part time basis.
VJ: You know caz Saleh,you can't fool the people by using these terms such as awate
team,Pencil,Awate research and translation team as it is now getting crystal
clear that:
Awate team is Saleh Gadi --- a team of one!
Pencil is Saleh Gadi
Translation is Saleh Gadi
Gedab is Saleh Gadi
VPJ: Now,Ya Abu Salah ,you are sounding like that fake Warsay who is hiding behind
a pen name?
PJ: Caz Saleh,Warsay is not the only one using a pen name.You are also not using your
given names.
VPJ: How can you say that?
PJ: Let us be honest caz Saleh for a change.You need to sign all the pieces you write
with your real name and not hide behind such convient names as Saleh Gadi ,Pencil
,awate team and Gedab.Then and only then can you preach about owning to ones
writings and not hiding.I will leave it to you to sign all your pieces with your real n
name,i.e full name,Ya caz Saleh.You can also include your sobriquet so that people
will have a full picture,if you know what I mean Ya caz Saleh!!!
