Mereja.Forum

[Zmeselo]

[Zmeselo]

We'll get you all, 1 by 1!

[Zmeselo]

Why is Addis standard so hostile towards Eritrea, you might wonder.

1. It's an NED funded org. (Soros)
2. Eritrea, opposed Ethnic/ religious based politics. Addis standard, is owned by a backward tribalist person.

These are 2 of the man reasons why, it's churning out fakenews about Eritrea.





They didn't even bother to mention this:








_____________






No surprises here, though:

[Zmeselo]

Eri-lions, they got him already!!!

[Digital Weyane]

እዞም ተጋሩ ወገናተይ ብሰላም ስንዳይ ካናዳ በሊዖም ከይህርሱ ፌስቲቫል እንዳማቶም ከፍርሱ ክብሉ ነታ ዓርሳቶም ዝኾዓቱዋ ጉድጓድ ዓርሳቶም አትዮማ። ልዓየይ ኡቱ ቡዙሕ ዘግርመለይ ልባንዴራ እኖና ትግራይ ደብሪዮም ጥንታዊት ሸማያዊ ባንዴራ ኤርትራ ተላቢሶም ገበን ክፍፅሙ ምርአየይ እዩ። ልመን ክሽውዱ እዮም? ብትግራዋይ ማንነተይ ኻም ዝሓፍር ገይሮሙኒ።

[Zmeselo]

TE EXCLUSIVE
Gießen: How Greens want to use violence to ban a festival

Matthew Nikolaidis

https://www.tichyseinblick.de/daili-es- ... stival/amp

(Software translation)

Sat, July 22, 2023

The Giessen Eritrea Festival made headlines nationwide this year. It had previously taken place eleven times peacefully. The reason: a militia with a political agenda is targeting Eritrea festivals in several countries with threats of violence. The Giessen Greens have allied themselves closely with the opponents of the Eritrean leadership.


Screenshot: via twitter

A week ago, riots caused displeasure in Gießen. For one Saturday, the entire city center was a no-go area recommended by the police. Some traffic axes were also blocked. This is neither good for business nor for gastronomy or for a relaxed stroll. This is how a medium-sized German town is put into a state of war. And that was exactly the intention of the “demonstrators” who had traveled there, disrupters and rioters. In fact, peaceful demonstration was not an option for these fighters or opposition figures, the leaders declared it useless. But who is responsible for the violence in Gießen, the simple threat of which called 1,000 police officers from five federal states and the federal police into action?

It was about an Eritrea festival that had been held in the Gießen Hessenhallen for twelve years, the necessity of which some politicians might dispute in retrospect. But who decides whether a festival can take place or not? In Germany, it is the authorities who are bound by rules, and in the end sometimes the courts, who have to weigh up whether an event disturbs public peace and order or not. In this case, the Giessen Administrative Court overturned a ban issued at the last minute by the Mayor and Head of Public Order Alexander Wright (Greens).

In the ban, the mayor referred to wild threats of violence against the festival, which is organized by the Central Council of Eritreans. This is a kind of umbrella organization for the Eritrean communities in Germany. Membership certainly requires basic loyalty to Eritrea, which is not unusual, even if there can of course be a conflict with loyalty to Germany. A woman who attended this year's festival says to the camera on the Hessencam YouTube channel that her family lives in two cultures. She carries a small German flag and defends the festival as her "home" that cannot be taken from her.

Are organizers responsible for riots by opponents?

According to the administrative court, the Central Council and the Hessenhallen, in which the two-day festival took place, had presented an adequate security concept. This was confirmed to a certain extent by the trouble-free course of the event itself inside the exhibition halls. Although the festival gave the "cause" for the riots, the organizers had not

caused a disturbance of public safety or order through their own behavior,

according to the court https://www.giessener-allgemeine.de/gie ... 93914.html.

The Senate does not share the subjective theory put forward, according to which the purposeful causer deliberately brings about the dangerous situation that finally occurred or at least accepts it with approval.

The organizer of the festival is not to be held responsible for the violent excesses of the opposing party.

According to his own statements, Mayor Frank-Tilo Becher (SPD) wanted to give in to the announced acts of violence even earlier than his head of public order, Wright, did https://www.giessener-allgemeine.de/hes ... 95700.html. This is remarkable, as it reflects a current discussion in the media and parts of politics, which assumes, in a simplified way, that the organizers of the Eritrea Festival are also responsible for the excesses of their opponents. An assumption that would have to lead, for example, to the fact that many football games with imminent fan excesses could no longer take place. Controversial events of all kinds would also have to be canceled. Any controversy that displeases any small or large violent group could be on the Index.


Violent excesses at the "Eritrea Festival" in Giessen

For the operator of the Hessenhallen, Roland Zwerenz, a "simple ban" is not a solution either. As a trade fair operator, he cannot carry out

a moral assessment

and is rather bound by law and order.

And in this case that means that he has to rent without discrimination, also taking into account the obligation to contract, which often applies to a property of this size (as well as to city halls). The

relationships and backgrounds of the drastic events with the violent disruptors who have arrived

must be clarified

in the legal and social context,

said Zwerenz to the German Press Agency.

In addition, the trade fair operator provides answers in its own press release. https://www.messe-giessen.de/presse/pre ... -festival/

When Zwerenz said that slogans like "no sales to..." reminded him of "dark times", the local press immediately accused him of a "verbal slip-up". But can one also contradict him on this point http://uis.maeweb.de/zeitung/view.php?aid=88942?

The highly moral reasons of the Giessen Greens

The balance sheet of July 8, 2023 in Gießen is at least 125 criminal proceedings, mostly for breach of the peace by the “demonstrators” who arrived and fought street fights with the police officers. The police headquarters in Giessen expects further allegations as soon as video recordings and other evidence have been evaluated. So who are the disruptors that triggered all this? This answer must be surprisingly differentiated.

Over the years, a highly characteristic mixture has developed in Giessen, which first erupted last August at a concert and then on July 8 of this year around the Giessen Eritrea Festival. In the background, the work of the Giessen Greens is of crucial importance. There are ten-year-old videos showing the city councilor of the Greens, Klaus-Dieter Grothe, holding a rally right in front of the exhibition hall and telling some people of African descent that this festival cannot take place here.

Klaus-Dieter Grothe: Protest against the Eritrea Festival in Giessen

Grothe's reasons are – how different for a Green? – highly moral. The country is a military dictatorship, he says in the video from 2013, and they are not allowed to hold a festival in Germany, which of course costs money and where the participants pay admission. Something must follow immediately from Grothe's “moral outrage”, even if it more than touches the brink of violence.

The politician should appear again and again in the context of the festival as well as a concert in August 2022, where he obviously had nothing against the new "path" of his East African protégés, who distinguished themselves with brutal violence for the first time this year. Grothe had also traveled to this "protest" with the minibus and megaphone. He also appeared in direct, physical solidarity with Tsehainesh Kiros, a Giessen activist of the anti-Eritrea cause. The Green also associated himself with a double movement, a “twin path” that he must have seen through if he is as great a local politician as he likes to think of himself.

Incidentally, Grothe is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and chairman of a

Support Association Psychosocial Center for Refugees in Central Hesse eV.

In this capacity, it is rumored that he also issued certificates about psychological trauma for "refugees". In Gießen there is an initial reception center for asylum seekers from the state of Hesse. Recently, Grothe has been working as a psychiatrist again in the Kara Tepe camp on Lesbos, the replacement building for Moria - mediated by another Green, Erik Marquardt, MEP and NGO operator on Lesbos and in Islamabad, organizer of the so-called "Kabul Airlift". .

Legalistic procedure was only "Plan A" of the opposing groups

But first it must be said: Eritrea festivals have existed in many countries for many decades and so far they have not led to similar outbreaks of violence, not even in Giessen, where the festival has been held annually since 2011. The festival was also quiet last year. But a concert planned for August became the occasion for an unprecedented mobilization of opponents of the event.

In the run-up, seven organizations had tried to have the concert, which ran as an "Eritrean cultural festival", banned. In addition to the "Eritrean Bright Future" based in Frankfurt, this also included the so-called "Mothers' Initiative" from Giessen itself, which is led by Tsehainesh Kiros. The application for a ban was rejected by the Giessen administrative court, since the judges ruled out a violation of the applicant's rights.

But the legalistic procedure was apparently only the “Plan A” of the opponents of the event, who are actually more than that: It has become clear in the meantime that it is a party in an East African civil war or war that is thus taking root in Europe and Germany has. After the failure of "Plan A" (to have the cultural festival banned through an application), "Plan B" followed for the first time last August, which, to put it briefly, involves the use of violence.

This “twin way”, as TE found out thanks to an informant who knows the language, is firmly anchored in the program of the opposition forces – let's call them that provisionally. It is therefore an overall plan in which some groups, in close cooperation with actors from German politics, are making initial attempts at pressure and suppression against legitimate and legal events in Germany. If such actions are unsuccessful, then the above-mentioned “Plan B” takes effect, in which extreme violence is openly threatened – on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Direct threats against the festival, "indirect" against the police

The city of Gießen was confronted with such a threat shortly before the start of the Eritrea Festival this year. The officials of the public order office had found TikTok videos that contained "concrete threats" against the event and its visitors, as well as threats against the police, which the Gießen public order office described as "indirect". The ringleader of the agitating group Brged Nhamedu, a certain "John Black", has a high reach of up to 2,000 viewers with his videos. In them, the middle-aged man issues death threats against the participants of the Eritrea festival: some would not survive the festival. On the other hand, this “John Black” doesn't think much of peaceful demonstrations and doesn't want to take part in them.

DEATH THREATS BEFOREHAND


Gießen: Greens fueled conflict over festival – 26 injured police officers

Other app users even threatened the elderly, women and children. A "militia", of which no one knows exactly what they are asking, is calling for war against another group of people. And since this war is to take place in a medium-sized German town, the Hessian police also becomes involuntarily combatants. She, too, is being targeted by the "oppositional forces" who want the Eritrea Festival to be canceled. The brigade's logo is a clenched fist with the signature "Our Victory with a Fist."

Thanks to our informant, an Eritrean who grew up in Germany, TE learnsthat "John Black", also known as the four-star general, is Yohannes Abraha, residing in Utrecht, The Netherlands. He appears as the leader of the militant organization Brged Nhamedu (English "Brigade of Mother Earth"). The name of the brigade, the Eritrean-born informant tells us, means that the brigade members are willing to give their blood for "mother earth". This also seems to make sense of the name of another organization, the "Mothers' Initiative" of Tsehainesh Kiros, that close friend of the Gießen Green Party Klaus Grothe, who last year refused to distance herself from the violence against the concert promoters and organizers exercised by Messe Gießen.

Next "John Black" wants to destroy Sweden...

The organization "Bright Future", which was founded in Switzerland in 2016 and was one of seven applicants in the Gießen application for a ban, seems to be somewhere between plan A and B in the "twin path". Their openly stated goal is the overthrow of the Eritrean government. They are unideological and strive for a constitutional reform for Eritrea towards a more democratic organizational form. Their leader can be seen at gatherings along with "John Black". Together they prevented an Eritrean concert in The Hague through road blockades and disruptions.

Meanwhile, Facebook entries show the "General" in a party mood. The dances of joy that he and his followers perform in front of the cell phone camera are explained with the words:

John Black after Gießen Festival

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 3075112809.

Another post suggests that no Eritrea festival should take place in Sweden either. In another, the “general” announces that he next wants to “destroy” Sweden because it is a stronghold of his opponents.

So this is the supposedly light-hearted side of this "general". His movement has members in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and elsewhere. Often it is newly arrived asylum seekers who attract the attention of the upper echelons in order to recruit them to their own cause. In many cases, however, the simple origin - often from the Ethiopian Tigray, not from Eritrea - should suggest membership in the combat association.

A blog associated with the brigade (https://nhamedu.noblogs.org/post/2022/09/16/about/) calls for a “free Eritrea” as well as a “free Tigray”.

Tigray is a border region between Eritrea and the rest of Ethiopia, sharing a language (Tigrinya) with one of Eritrea's main tribes. In Tigray there is the powerful People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which initially supported Eritrean independence but has now turned into a competitor.

Today there are moves in Tigray to unify Eritrea with an independent Tigray which would no doubt cause turmoil and disorder throughout the region. Above all, it will not please the Eritreans, who believe that the possibly authoritarian President Isaias Afwerki is doing a respectable job by giving the young country support. These are East African issues that would not concern us - if they were not now being dealt with on German soil.

"Brigade General": Our language is announcements and strikes at the same time

That the fight of this militia associated with Tigray called Brged Nhamedu in the middle of Europe is really only violent can easily be verified by the video speeches by Yohannes Abraha alias "General John Black". In a video made the day before the attack, he says:

A man speaks once and then strikes again. Our language is announcements and strikes at the same time. Tomorrow the world will be witness. We made a clear announcement to the city and police of Gießen and asked them to ban the festival. "One belongs to the "oppressed and peaceful".

Nevertheless, Abraha's words are also, and above all, threats, also against the police, which on July 8 also became quite real opponents of the militia. The Eritrean informant finds it incomprehensible that threats of violence against the police in Germany do not lead to increased vigilance long in advance. In retrospect, he is surprised that state security has not yet intervened.

The opponent could not oppose the brigade, however, he was just "a piece of cake". Abraha announces that he will simply walk through the entrance to the fair and then destroy everything. He then calls on his followers to travel from all over, which no doubt happened. This is perhaps followed by the key sentence:

If we can do this, there will never be any more events like this anywhere in the world.

You will first try to reach your goal with an "e-mail" to the authorities:

But if you don't comply with the request, we have to fight for our rights.

Here you can see the abysmal situation in which the German state is - together with other EU countries - after randomly taking in "refugees" from half the world. Any single interest group, as long as it is violent enough, can play Brged Nhamedu's game. And these groups exist, whether with roots in sub-Saharan Africa, in North Africa, or in the Middle East. The recent mass brawls in the Ruhr area should have taught us that some clans, extended families or downright tribes believe they have their own rights and live by them.

The green OB-to-be also used violence

But it goes even further in the speech of the "General". According to him, Gießen will be "brutal" and "destructive":

The world will talk about it.

This is nothing less than a terrorist announcement for Germany and other countries that should learn that Brged Nhamedu - whoever was behind the militia stands – will not abide by the rule of law in Western Europe.

"Many disgusts" could come to the fighters in the course of this "operation". What is meant is the resistance of the police:

Injuries, dog bites and imprisonment.

In this respect, the general's speech resembles the educational camps of the “climate glue”, which are also made aware of state funds. And the opponents, according to Abraha, would not only appear "in full gear", but might also have

howitzers, dogs and horses

with them.

Other comrades-in-arms say they will throw stones at festival-goers (says a woman who fears the men will not accept her as a fighter), others speak of broken bones and "stitched heads" after Brged Nhamedu's victory would lose meaning. A fighter (Michele "Warzema" Weldegabr) who is exemplary from the point of view of the "Brigade" is currently in custody in Gießen for alleged attempted murder.

And the Giessen Greens are connected to all of these figures quite directly. Of course, the mayor and mayor-to-be, Alexander Wright, https://www.giessener-allgemeine.de/gie ... 97675.html distanced himself from the acts of violence in good time. But the fact that they take place was also part of the strategy he was pursuing when he wanted to have this year's festival banned shortly before - with the very argument that the "General" had given him. As recently as July 1, 2023, groups pursuing the “twin path” of legalism and violence were able to call for a press conference in city-owned premises (at the city convention center), including Tsehainesh Kiros and Ruth Bahta (United4Eritrea). “Bright Future” was also involved, and its chairman had traveled all the way from the Netherlands.

The young country of Eritrea is going its own way

It may also be interesting to note that the young state of Eritrea is currently going its own way in East Africa. Although they are open to cooperation, they do not want to be dependent on support from Europe. You want to remain independent and independent of "aid" from other countries. Does such behavior bother the German Greens, who have to place their “aid money” everywhere in the name of improving far-flung countries in Africa or Central Asia? Foreign policy has long been pursued here as a higher level of development policy with a German-European guilt complex behind it.

The Islamic scholar and ex-diplomat Alfred Schlicht, who is also the author of a monograph on “The Horn of Africa” and a guest author for TE, https://www.tichyseinblick.de/gastbeitr ... n-auswahl/ said on the Internet radio station Kontrafunk that Green foreign and human rights politicians initially had hopes in the current Eritrean government, but then they did were disappointed by the authoritarian course of President Isayas Afewerki. From then on, the Greens seem to have defected, indiscriminately supporting opponents of the Eritrean President.

On the other hand, one can criticize the lack of democratization process, which was also interrupted because of the war with Ethiopia. Critical voices within Eritrea are calling for this process to be resumed. But none of this seems to have anything to do with the Gießen scenes, which may be about politics, but in the end the free basic order in Germany was attacked. According to our Eritrean informant, conscientious objectors and deserters can now return to the country without fear of punishment.

A natural fighting community: Greens and “immigrants”

If you look at the work of the Greens in Giessen, you get the impression that they are obsessively destroying those areas of society they are concerned with. Some will now say that is understandable, given their hatred of the status quo. In this case, however, it is particularly puzzling. Because the attack that the Giessen Green City Councilor Grothe has been leading for more than ten years could ultimately be directed against an institution that the Greens hold in high esteem: German asylum law. Greens like Grothe are probably under the illusion that this legal institution cannot fall. They may think that every "protection" burden on the country should be tried until it reaches the overload, which they might not even think possible.

But why do they also fuel conflicts between different refugee groups that could ultimately break the system? In short: the Gießen case seems to be a case of extreme naivety, as is commonly associated with the Greens. But perhaps there is also something self-destructive here. So why do people do this?

The answer to the question asked is probably: because they cannot do otherwise. The connection between green politicians and a certain type of "immigrant" has become symbiotic to such an extent that a natural fighting community has long since formed. Any opponent is fought today, the Central Council of Eritreans in Germany and its festival in Gießen in central Hesse. At the same time, however, the legal system in this country is being trampled on, disregarded and ultimately broken. Here not only should all solidarity of green politicians stop with the obvious violence, but above all the solidarity of all citizens with them.

[Zmeselo]

Eritrea: A Bright Spot on a Planet near the Edge of Armageddon

Ann Garrison

https://www.blackagendareport.com/eritr ... armageddon

09 Aug 2023



Last week I attended the Eritrean American Festival https://www.festivaleritrea.org/ in the Seattle/Tacoma area, at the Tacoma Convention Center, as did Black Agenda Report Executive Editor Margaret Kimberley and Breakthrough News Host and Producer Eugene Puryear. I arrived after they had spoken, on the day I was scheduled to speak at 6 pm. However, the festival was in disarray because diaspora dissidents attacked the festival in Sweden https://apnews.com/article/sweden-eritr ... d9338d2363, so the Seattle festival was busy hiring extra security and taking extra precautions. The evening’s program started late, near the time when the dancing was to begin, so I didn’t speak that night.

At 6 am the next day, attackers tore down the festival tents https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/loc ... 90558.html outside the Marriott Hotel and scattered merchandise—Eritrean style dresses, t-shirts, flags, umbrellas, and the like. That afternoon protestors assaulted four people, some of whom were taken away in an ambulance. My speech was canceled while the community held an emergency meeting.

Eritrea is often called “the Cuba of Africa,” and the US has long been hostile to its alternative form of government and encouraged the diaspora dissidents who turned violent this year, in Seattle/Tacoma and in Canada and Europe.

This was the speech I would have given if the festival had not been disrupted by violence.

Hello thanks for having me again. I never can get the shoulder shimmy right, but I bought myself an umbrella to pump once the music starts instead.

Last night I made a few notes, then I read them and thought, “Eh, that’s not very good.” Then I decided that the main thing I want to do is quote President Isaias. I want to quote some of what we aired on Pacifica Radio broadcasts https://pacificanetwork.org/ that I work on.

But before I do that . . . I was just watching video in shock as tents and cars burned at the Eritrean Festival in Sweden and one thousand attackers injured 52 innocent people. I called and asked a colleague on one of the Pacifica Radio broadcasts I work on whether she could get the basics and get it on a Monday newscast on KPFK-Los Angeles. I actually asked myself for a moment whether there could be any trouble like that here, but for some reason this happens in Europe, and I hope some of you here will be able to share some insight about that with me later so I can understand what we might need to report.

Now, setting that attack aside, I’m so glad to be here because Eritrea is one of the few bright spots on the planet right now. A few others include the emerging struggles for self-determination in West Africa, although as my plane took off this morning, I was wondering whether the US and France would be bombing Niger by the time it touched down or whether they’ll have managed to bully ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] https://ecowas.int/ into attacking four of their own, maybe starting a regional conflagration, by next week.

In any case I’m glad Eritrea is not among the nations who’ve called for the restoration of Niger’s puppet government.

I know you understand that electoral democracy is neither the only nor the most credible expression of popular will, especially in Africa where outside forces typically turn elections into selections of the puppets they want in power. When exiles have complained to me that Eritrea doesn’t hold elections, I say,

Oh, I’m so not sorry for you.

And in the one case I know of—Somalia—where one-person-one-vote elections would definitely represent popular will, the US has made sure they don’t have them https://thegrayzone.com/2023/02/14/us-c ... li-nation/.

Also, as I wrote in this week’s Black Agenda Report, Kenya and Rwanda have offered to put a Black face https://www.blackagendareport.com/kenya ... tion-haiti on a US-engineered re-invasion of occupied Haiti—to lock it down even tighter. Russia and China keep resisting on the UN Security Council, but this seems to be building to a point where the US will say it’s got enough willing pawns to go in even without UN Security Council approval. I’m glad Eritrea isn’t one of them.

Meanwhile, the US-Russia proxy war in Ukraine drags on with no end in sight, and the threat of a nuclear exchange keeps looming. In a few doom-dreaming moments I went to the Web and looked up “tactical” nuclear weapons to see just what the use of these things would look like.

They include gravity bombs, short-range missiles, artillery shells, land mines, depth charges, and torpedoes, all equipped with nuclear warheads. Who would have ever imagined nuclear artillery shells or land mines?

They also include nuclear armed ground-based or shipborne surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and air-to-air missiles. Air-to-air means one plane bombing another, but in any case, if nuclear weapons are used, radioactive material will be released into the air, the soil, and the water, which don’t know national boundaries, and I can’t even imagine the suffering in Ukraine.

These “tactical” nuclear weapons can have yields several times that of the weapons used in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and they’re actually part of the conversation now. Actually using them is frequently discussed in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Russia Today.

No one has a plan in place to de-escalate once two of the world’s great nuclear powers deploy “tactical” nuclear weapons, so this puts us all near the edge of Armageddon.

In the midst of all this insanity, it was so inspiring to see both Russia and China rolling out the red carpet for President Isaias at the end of May, and then to hear him standing so tall for Eritrea, a country free of IMF or World Bank debt, speaking so clearly and rationally.

We aired some of what he said on one of the Pacifica Radio shows I work on, but before that, my co-producer asked me,

Do you really think we should do this? Or do you think it’s too much?

She meant that it might cause complaint in this environment, where so much air time—even on Pacifica Radio—has been given over to mindlessly demonizing Russia.

I said,

Of course we should play it; we may have some Russia-obsessed fanatics in our midst here, but they’ll just have to live with it, and we don’t have any advertisers or corporate sponsors to answer to. Pacifica Radio is totally listener supported. This is just some of what he said that we put on the air:

. . .This obsession of containing Russia was there for the last 30 years. It’s nothing new. If you are containing one nation not to grow, not to compete, not to be able to make its contributions, then you are declaring war.

We had our position very clear. We said this is not the kind of old world order that the peoples of all continents need. Nobody needs these kinds of policies. Hegemony, control, and not allowing people to grow and work hard to change their quality of life. This idea of war in Ukraine or war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine is not true at all. This is war declared by NATO and Washington against the Russian Federation for the last 30 years. This has been going on and on and on for the last 30 years.

How can you contain Russia? Not enable Russia to economically compete, not enable Russia to compete in technology, not allow Russia to compete in industries, not allow Russia to even have influence anywhere. If you have declared this war, then the war is there. It’s not a war between Russia and Ukraine.

For that matter our position was clear. We were against this so-called global order or world order.

We’ve been victims of these sanctions. It’s not just big nations or powerful nations like Russia, China or anybody else. But even those who don’t bow or kneel down to this ideology of hegemony will have to be punished. Sanctions, sanctions, sanctions. This declaration of war will have to end.

Now I’ve got a few words of my own for these reprehensible sanctions. We all know that Eritrea is heavily sanctioned by the US and the West. The only reason it’s not as sanctioned as Russia is that it doesn’t have nearly so many exports and imports to sanction. None of those sanctions have been lifted even though the Ethiopian civil war is over. Some sanctions were imposed on Ethiopia and they haven’t yet been lifted either, but the most punishing of sanctions were imposed on Eritrea in November 2021, when it was excluded from the SWIFT system, used to conduct international financial transactions. That put Eritrea in the exclusive company of Iran and North Korea and then, as of February 2022, Russia.

The only thing further that the US could do would be to add Eritrea to the state sponsors of terrorism list https://www.state.gov/state-sponsors-of ... 0countries,)%2C%20Iran%2C%20and%20Syria.&text=For%20more%20details%20about%20State,in%20Country%20Reports%20on%20Terrorism. along with Iran, Syria, North Korea, and Cuba, and we’ve got crackpot, neocon fanatics like Michael Rubin who argue for that.

At last year’s festival, a number of people asked me why the US won’t just let Eritrea live as a self-reliant, independent nation, and I said because the US is a hyper-militarized, capitalist, imperialist empire that will not, as President Isaias said, tolerate any nation that doesn’t bow down to its global hegemony.

I know that most of you have probably had opportunity here that you might not have had at home, and you may like your neighbors and your communities, but that’s the complexity we live with. The US may have been good for you, but it doesn’t want to let Eritrea live as it is.

I had the honor of speaking with President Isaias’s advisor Yemane Ghebreab about the sanctions when he was at the last UN General Assembly meeting. He told me about the creativity that Eritrea has to exercise to get around them. We also discussed some of the difficulties that those of you here may have sending money to family in Eritrea because of the sanctions, but as he said, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Now back to President Isaias’s remarks. He said:

This is not a war between Russia and Ukraine. This is a war declared by NATO, led by Washington, and Russia has a right to defend itself. Not alone. It’s not an isolated Russian case. This is a global issue, and we need an order, a global order or a world order, that enables everybody to share, cooperate. Complementarity will have to be there. You can’t contain someone, you can’t contain one nation. You can’t force or even use force, all sorts of coercion to subdue nations. This is not acceptable. This is the law of the jungle. We need to get out of this law of the jungle. And people will have to be free, live like human beings.

No one nation has the right to come and impose its will on anybody else. And Russia had the right to defend itself. Russia is defending itself on behalf of everybody everywhere.

We aired that on Pacifica Radio, and I’ve got family right here in Seattle who would think I was deranged if they heard it, but families are like that. They rarely agree on everything, and this country is blanketed in the propaganda that President Isaias was slicing through there.

He also said:

So the question comes, what is the position of every nation as far as the imposition of sanctions on the Russian Federation or even declaring war against the Russian Federation? Our position was very clear. We are against containment. We are against the domination or hegemony of one nation. We can’t accept it. It’s not our specific case. It’s a case for everybody. Everybody, every nation, every people will have to make its position clear. And our support for the Russian Federation against these hegemonistic policies was a natural phenomenon or outcome of what we’ve done. So it’s not a matter of abstaining or supporting or not supporting. It’s a matter of taking a position on this phenomenon, US global hegemony.

I can’t do any better than President Isaias, so I’m just going to end by repeating that Eritrea is such a bright spot on the planet right now. Thank you again for asking me to be here with you.





________________







Eritrea Celebrates Freedom

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist

https://www.blackagendareport.com/eritr ... es-freedom

09 Aug 2023


Image: Eritrea Ministry of Information

Eritrea is an example of an independent and self-determining African state. Its people are rightly proud of their history.

I was honored to speak at the 49th annual National Council of Eritrean Americans conference and festival recently held in Tacoma, Washington. Black Agenda Report has always been a staunch defender of the rights of the Eritrean people to live free from U.S. domination. BAR exposes the lies that are told about that nation by the U.S. and their partners in corporate media. The late Glen Ford was especially keen to explain why this country, which is referred to as a “prison camp” and which is described in the most negative and inaccurate ways possible, is in fact a functioning state which overcomes the hardships created by U.S. sanctions to care for its people.

Eritrea is a small nation on the Horn of Africa with a population of only 6 million people. In 1991 it emerged as an independent country after years of war with Ethiopia and is decidedly socialist, which is why the U.S. has remained so hostile to its existence.

The U.S. has waged an unrelenting attack using unilateral coercive measures, commonly known as sanctions, https://www.blackagendareport.com/us-st ... ns-eritrea against Eritrea. Eritrea is barred from using the SWIFT financial transactions system, which creates not only financial hardships but which even makes it difficult to send medicines and medical equipment.

The goal of these persecutions is to punish Eritrea for its determination to be socialist and independent of U.S. influence. The only African nations free of entanglements with the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) https://therealnews.com/gford0614eritrea are Eritrea and Zimbabwe. This refusal to go along with the imperialist agenda has placed Eritrea firmly in the crosshairs of the U.S.

Of course the state uses its operatives in corporate media to assist in their destabilization effort. It even uses the name of another demonized country as part of its smear campaign. Eritrea is called the North Korea of Africa, which is a tactic to either erase it from consideration as a nation inhabited by human beings with rights, and to establish it as a pariah to be ignored or perhaps even destroyed as a regime change target.

In my remarks I spoke of the need for independent media such as Black Agenda Report to act as journalists should, being skeptical of official narratives and seeking out information from those who are being attacked. Invariably one finds that the amplified voices are those of de facto agents of the state who work to spread war propaganda whenever they are told to do so.

While Kenya agrees to participate in the impending occupation of Haiti, and nations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) act as directed by Washington to sanction and even wage war against Niger, Eritrea is celebrating its independence from foreign control. The U.S. and the rest of what is known as the western world, engage in continued hostility against Eritrea because it insists upon being a fully sovereign nation. Self-determination is the last thing that Washington wants. Domination is always their goal and so the process of trying to crush those countries that refuse to be dominated continues.


Author, with Elias Amare

The conference and festival were an opportunity for Eritreans in this country to celebrate their homeland, its history, and the culture of the nine ethnic groups who live there. They are portrayed as people who fled state oppression and yet they are quite proud even as they live elsewhere. Of course U.S. destabilization always brings displacement as people in the targeted nation become refugees fleeing the hardships that Washington instigates.

Eritrea has succeeded where others have failed. Washington and its minions are quite serious about exerting control over African nations. When leaders who act on behalf of their people rise up, they are often brought down by concerted effort from the U.S. and its colonizer partners. Such was the fate of Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, and Thomas Sankara to name just a few. Those Africans who succeed in working for and maintaining an independent path should be studied so that their successes can be replicated. Eritrea’s exclusion from Biden’s 2022 summit with African nations was further proof that it is working for the benefit of its people and ultimately for all African people.

Attending the Eritrean American festival was a proud moment, a legacy of Glen Ford’s work and of the connections he forged with that community. Enhancing those ties is a necessity for anyone who claims a Pan-African orientation. The Eritrean people are definitely showing the way for anyone interested in African self-determination.

Margaret Kimberley is the author of Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents. https://www.blackagendareport.com/bit.ly/3fnaWYU You can support her work on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/margaretkimberley and also find it on the Twitter https://twitter.com/freedomrideblog and Telegram https://t.me/MargaretKimberley platforms. She can be reached via email at [email protected].

[Zmeselo]

CULTURE
Eritreans host successful cultural festival in US following tight security orchestrated

By: Bola Ishola

https://theafricanpress.com/eritreans-h ... val-in-us/

Published: 1 day ago



The Eritrean Cultural Festival in the United States has proved to be a harmonious celebration as tight security measures ensured that protesters, who aimed to disrupt the event, chose to behave themselves.

The seamless security arrangements were a direct result of the careful planning and concern for his people demonstrated by the Eritrean Chargé d’Affaires to the United States, Berhane Solomon.

Unlike incidents in other states, where protests escalated into clashes, the Chargé d’Affaires’ topmost priority of maintaining a safe environment allowed the festival to proceed without any untoward disruptions.

In the lead-up to the cultural festival, tensions and concerns over potential disruptions were high.

However, the Chargé d’Affaires Solomon’s proactive approach prioritizing the safety and welfare of all attendees paved the way for a peaceful gathering.

Law enforcement agencies worked in close coordination to implement stringent security protocols, ensuring the festival grounds remained orderly and safe.

The Chargé d’Affaires Solomon’s commitment to fostering a peaceful environment was evident as he engaged with community leaders and protestors in constructive dialogue.

His unwavering focus on ensuring that voices could be heard in a respectful and safe manner set a notable precedent for future events of this nature.

The Eritrean Festival serves as a testament to the effectiveness of diplomatic efforts in preserving harmony during sensitive political contexts.

The Chargé d’Affaires Solomon’s dedication to his people’s welfare and the successful security arrangements fostered an atmosphere of inclusivity and understanding, making it a memorable and incident-free celebration of Eritrean heritage in the heart of the United States.

[Zmeselo]

OPINION: TPLF Funded and Youtubers Spearheaded Unhinged Terrorist Act Against Eritrean Diaspora Communities.

Abel Kebedom

https://setit.org/17402-kcbxbh/

8 ነሓሰ, 2023



Diaspora Festivals are common all over the world. The objectives of diaspora festivals are to keep the connection diaspora communities have with their culture and history alive.

For instance, Nordic festivals in North America showrooms, music, food, Woodcarvers, silversmiths, weavers at work and so much more. Also, the Mexican festival called Cinco de Mayo marks the anniversary of the 1862 victory by Mexican troops over invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla. During Cinco de Mayo Celebration, the French do not get infuriated and attack the Mexican spectators. The Chinese Diaspora’s Dragon Boat Festival is another spectacular event that is celebrated, not once but twice, all over the world.

Then what makes the Eritrean Diaspora Festival different? Why is it targeted by Terrorist groups that do not have any clue about the rule of law and the rights of Eritrean Diaspora communities to celebrate their culture and history? The issue is more complex. To understand it, let’s start looking at the players:

THE TIGRAY LIBERATION FRONT (TPLF).

TPLF is a de facto governing party in the Tigray region of Ethiopia bordering Eritrea. It is the funder and organizer of the Terrorist activities against the Eritrean Diaspora Communities in Europe and North America.

The TPLF has two major objectives to achieve.

First, it believes, to emerge as a major player in East Africa, communities in the region need to be divided and fight each other. It implemented such a strategy in Ethiopia for 27 years and pushed the country to the brink of disintegration. Similarly, when it was in power in Ethiopia, it created an armed group for each of the nine Eritrean ethnic groups. TPLF invests whatever a meager resource it has, to further terrorist activities against the Diaspora Eritrean Communities.

The second objective is to obscure defeat. When the TPLF attacked the Ethiopian Northern Command on November 4th, 2020, Eritrea, in cooperation with the Ethiopian Federal Army, crashed it in two rounds of war. It was forced to sign a humiliating surrender agreement in Pretoria. Such humiliating defeat created disbelief, shame, and frustration in its supporters and TPLF was scared that, like in Cinco de Mayo, such defeat would be a basis for music, dance, and other theatrical acts during the Eritrean diaspora community festival.

To hide defeat TPLF needed to work on mechanisms that disrupt such festivals under the pretext they preach hate. For those who are not aware, TPLF is often scared of Eritrean propaganda to death. When a journalist asked the former TPLF kingpin and late prime minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, why he was not returning Badme to Eritrea, he replied by saying if he did Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki would make a lot of Propaganda out of it. Although Meles Zenawi’s response did not reflect the whole story of why TPLF wanted to continue occupying Badme, the fear of Eritrean propaganda is real.

Remember the current terrorist activity against the Eritrean Diaspora Community Festivals started after the TPLF was annihilated in the Battlefield.

TIGREANS WHO STOLE THE IDENTITY OF ERITREANS AND RECEIVED REFUGEE STATUS IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA.

After the 1998-2000 Eritrea and Ethiopia Border War ended, TPLF and its western handlers devised a plan to deplete Eritrean human resources and weaken its defense capabilities. As part of the strategy, they established refugee camps a few miles away from the Eritrean border, in Tigray, Ethiopia, and disseminated a wide angled propaganda to lure young Eritreans to the refugee camps.

Concurrently the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) put a guideline that gives Eritreans automatic acceptance as refugees in any country in the world. After securing such privileges the TPLF confiscated the identification cards of the Eritreans who arrived at the refugee camps and passed them to Tigrayans who impersonated the Eritreans. The Tigrayans ended up settling as Eritrean refugees in Europe, Australia, and North America, and the Eritreans were left to languish in the refugee camps in Tigray for more than a decade.

When the 2020 war between the Ethiopian Federal government and the TPLF combatants started, to revenge the government of Eritrea’s support to the Ethiopian Federal government the TPLF combatants killed and raped the Eritrean refugees who were in the Tigray refugee camps.

Currently, the Tigrayan, Eritrean impersonators, are the ones who are extending the revenge act in Europe and North America and storming Eritrean festivals and attacking unsuspecting diaspora Eritrean communities who have no interest other than celebrating their culture and history.

YOUTUBERS AND POWER HUNGRY SO-CALLED ACTIVISTS.



As we all know YouTube business flourishes when there is conflict, war, and unrest. Previously obscure youtubers made a lot of money out of the recent (2020-2022) Ethiopian civil war. When TPLF was defeated and signed a surrender agreement in Pretoria, South Africa, they were scared that their business would dry up.

Under the direction of the TPLF, they started propping up terrorist gangs, who have financial and personal problems and prepped them to throw stones and storm Eritrean diaspora community festivals. Accordingly, YouTubers such as Tefetawi Talk show, Assena, Erisat, J. Studio, and Finan App infotech are deeply immersed in creating such a bridge that would transition them from broadcasting breaking news from Tigray to broadcasting breaking news from Europe and North America.

To be clear these group of YouTubers have had relationship with the TPLF for a considerable period and served as a channel for the TPLF to distribute money to the Terrorist gangs. In fact, at a certain point, these YouTubers were also funded by TPLF. Eritrean diaspora communities in Europe and North America may need to reach out to YouTube and explain the violence those youtubers are perpetuating against them. Also, in this camp there are power-hungry failed activists who serve as TPLF interlocutors whose main interest is to guide the terrorist activities and share money with the YouTubers and other external parties that have a vested interest in the terrorist activity against the Eritrean Diaspora communities.

ERITREA BORN TIGRAYANS AND ERITREANS WHO MARRIED TIGRAYANS.

Due to the decades-long war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. cross border marriage between Tigrayans and Eritreans is often discouraged. Accordingly, this group has an identity crisis and dreams beyond its means. For this group to be valued in both Eritrea and Tigray It wants to create a new country in East Africa that incorporates Tigray and Eritrea. It often uses its proximity to the Eritrean and Tigrayan culture and tries to create hate and confusion against the Eritrean Muslim community. This group often hails from the highlands of Eritrea and the Tigray region and considers the Eritrean Moslems as an obstacle to its agenda.

Except for working hard to be validated in both Eritrea and Tigray, it does not have any political program. It wants to erase Eritrean history, does not believe in Eritrean independence, and desecrates everything that advances Eritreanism. It openly advocates Eritreanism as its enemy because it does not include Tigray. This group would attack anyone who carries the official Eritrean flag and expresses his/her proud Eritrean heritage. It is against everything that Eritrea is meant to Eritreans. It has a deep inferiority complex and is very violent.

MONEY HUNGRY FOOT SOLDIERS AND DISGRUNTLED ERITREANS.

Previously I mentioned that TPLF invests a huge amount of money to advance these Terrorist activities.

A few years ago, a TPLF financing agent, by the Nickname of “Pilot”, used to distribute money to anyone who was vocal in criticizing the Eritrean government. He was exposed because he put money into someone’s bank account who did not know the scheme and asked why anyone would put $5000 into his bank account. As we all know, being a refugee in Europe is tough. By taking such hardship as an opportunity TPLF buys the voice of unsuspecting young refugees in Europe. In addition to the lack of job opportunities, some disgruntled Eritreans who deserted the army could not return home. This group of individuals does not have the means to cover their transportation costs or sleep in a basic hotel. The combination of economic hardship, alcoholism, drug addiction, and loneliness create a ticking bomb that can explode any time.

Unfortunately, such frustration leads to crossing the rule of law and ending up in legal jeopardy very difficult to recover from. Also, many of them get hurt by the police and even end up dead.

Conclusion

Whatever injustice may exist in Eritrea, you cannot solve it by throwing stones against women and children in Europe and North America. The

if I cannot convince you I will destroy you

logic is the highest level of hopelessness in life.

Whatever hatred the European and North American governments have against the Eritrean government, they have a constitutional obligation to protect the Eritrean Diaspora Community from violence perpetrated by the above-mentioned delusional groups. Violence negates constitutional order and governments end up reigning on terrorists. In the end, the violence will be between the police and the terrorists. Terrorism might make short-term news but never wins. The terrorist gangs might force the Eritrean diaspora communities to look for secure places where they could celebrate their culture and history peacefully, but this will never stop them from doing so.

Awet N’Hafash and Eternal Glory to Our Martyrs.