12/10/2019
By: Daniel Wedi Korbaria
http://www.eritreaeritrea.com/attualita ... i-italiani
(Software translation from italian)
The Nobel Prize should have arrived in the Horn of Africa four years ago, when Kristian Berg Harpiken, director of the Oslo International Peace Research Institute, had the bad idea of nominating Don Mussie Zerai for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.
Yes, for those who say the absurdities of life, a former drug dealer[1] was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize[2] defined by the Italian mainstream media “the angel of the refugees” while he was under investigation by the prosecutor's office of Trapani for
Otherwise, in these months, all of us Eritreans have supported Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and seeing him today, being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize has really cheered our hearts. In fact our most sincere wishes and our testimonies of appreciation run in social media, twitter in the first place.aiding and abetting the clandestine immigration.
And although we are aware that we cannot applaud with one hand, so our President Isaias Afwerki would have deserved the Nobel Prize jointly with Abiy, we feel nonetheless the same as our honor. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which writes in its announcement, also believes this:
Abiy had the courage to stretch out his hand in peace, and he met the hand of the Eritrean President who warmly held it. On June 20, 2018, the day of commemoration of the Eritrean Martyrs day, President Isaias Afwerki in his speech to the Nation announced that Eritrea welcoms the Ethiopian Prime Minister's initiative. News that had moved and filled our hearts, with joy.Peace does not derive from the actions of a single party. When Prime Minister Abiy reached out, President Afwerki grabbed it and helped him formalize the peace process between the two countries.
Abiy's predecessor, Desalegn Hailemariam, had also attempted an approach in 2012, declaring to Al Jazeera[3] that he wanted to go to Asmara to negotiate with Isaias Afwerki. His attempt, however, did not go through because the Eritrean government claimed that Ethiopia should first unconditionally respect the EEBC (United Nations Border Commission) verdict which in April 2002 established the disputed territories belonging to Eritrea including the town of Badme, casus belli of that absurd border war between 1998 and 2000 which claimed about 100,000 lives on both sides. Initially Ethiopia had accepted[4] believing that Badme had been assigned to it but when he discovered that instead it was on the Eritrean side about 1.7 km from the border, refused to accept the inviolable verdict and for 16 years occupied the Eritrean territories militarily.
In 2018, unlike Hailemariam Desalegn, the newly elected Abiy Ahmed declared to his Parliament that he would accept the verdict of international arbitration without preconditions thus returning to us Eritreans the coveted hope of reconciliation; after twenty years of no war no peace . And so, like a newborn, peace immediately began to crawl and, slowly, to stand up and walk on two legs until it reached that historic month of June, when it blossomed like a summer flower.
In Asmara and Addis Ababa, the two leaders were greeted by a cheering crowd. The respective embassies were then opened and Ethiopian Airlines began to fly loaded with tourists from both countries, shuttling between the two capitals. Borders were also reopened, to feed even the coming and going of trade on wheels. And, so far so good.
But there's a problem. A serious problem, that threatens peace and that the Italian mainstream media cannot identify.
The Future, the Newspaper, the Press, the Messenger and a dozen other small newspapers; copy and paste without in anyway verifying, wrongly writing even the name of President Isaias, the news published by the press agency Adnkrons:
I rediscover so, that the illness of the so-called "copy & paste" journalists took over and became endemic like typhoid or cholera.The embrace with the Eritrean president Isais Afewerki and reciprocal visits in the two capitals, the resumption of diplomatic relations and of the flights between Addis Ababa and Asmara have raised great enthusiasms, even if the dictatorship in Eritrea has then closed again the borders, leaving in half the process.
But what did Adnkronos mean with that
Why does he accuse the Eritrean government, of having broken the peace? What is the point of assigning the Nobel Prize to one of the protagonists, when peace in the Horn of Africa has been broken?the dictatorship in Eritrea then closed the borders, leaving the process half way?
Obviously, nothing's more false. Peace is alive and well, and continues to make its leaps and bounds. Cooperation is growing between the two countries, to make up for lost time. In Eritrea, for example, there is a lot of excitement. New roads are being built that will connect the port of Massaua and Assab with Addis Ababa across the border between Bure and Debay Sima, meanwhile the ports are being modernized to accommodate large commercial ships.
We should make a lectio magistralis, to all these gentlemen who improvise themselves in geopolitics and misinform Italians by copying far-reaching and superficial news in full.
The current situation in Ethiopia is very difficult because 27 years of politics based on divide and rule and American-style federalism have fragmented the Ethiopian society by confining it to "Kilil" (areas), where the integration of other ethnic groups is almost impossible. Unfortunately, almost daily, there are reports of deaths and refugees within the country and all that ethnic hatred cannot be canceled with the magic wand of Abiy and his philosophy of "Medemer", that is of the Union. It will take time to take root and it will not be an immediate process. The Prime Minister himself, has so far suffered several attacks and some members of his government have been assassinated.
But who are the authors of this disorder?
Here, no journalist comes to ask himself:
That they dissolved into nothingness? Of course not. The Woyane have locked themselves up in their Tigray, a region bordering Eritrea, and since they lost power they continue to destabilize this peace and the two countries; as they have always done in the last twenty years.What happened to the Woyane, that is, the Tigreans of the late Prime Minister Melles Zenawi who, having been in power for 27 years, were dispossessed by Abiy Ahmed?
And, after almost a year and a half since the signing of the peace, they persist in militarily occupying the city of Badmè and the other Eritrean territories and do not intend to return them to their rightful owner; despite the Addis Ababa Government accepting the EEBC verdict. Practically "Tigray kilil" is disobeying its Prime Minister by refusing even to cooperate with the federal government and deliver some characters of the former regime accused of crimes and human rights violations such as the famous torturer Getachew Assefa, former head of TPLF intelligence now hidden in the city of Mekelle, capital of the Tigray.
Abiy is cautious and expects the results of the 2020 elections to decide what to do, as the Woyane are armed to the teeth and any initiative could plunge the country into a civil war. Meanwhile, even the Amharas, as did the qeero- Oromo before the rise of Abiy, block trade by closing roads to trucks headed for Tigray.
[5]Shortly after the borders were reopened, controls and conditions imposed on Ethiopian citizens in transit resumed, arbitrarily and without explanation, on the Eritrean side. And it is only one of the signs of the lack of goodwill of the Eritrean regime.
the Fatto Quotidiano writes without even a shred of analysis, as if the democratic Europe had not accustomed us to such situations when there are security problems. Two weights and two sizes!
It is obvious that Eritrea, in agreement with Ethiopia, had to close the border, first between Zalambesa and Serha in the Tigray and then the one between Humera and Omahajer. And, with good reason. Last year, the Woyane have tried to infiltrate their armed agents into Eritrean territory to carry out attacks. And if that wasn't enough, to create further disorder online- the “Digital Woyane”- was created, a large group of social network activists who use false Eritrean profiles in order to spread fake news on Eritrea daily. This very well-financed organization enjoys the collaboration of a few western journalists abroad, if not an entire editorial staff. The most striking example is the BBC Tigrigna, where Eritrea is demonized in the Tigrigna language.
In unsuspected times, in January 2018, three months after the election of Abiy Ahmed, as if he had already foreseen everything, the Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki during an interview on State television ERiTV[6] had said: "Game over, Weyane!", a phrase which became viral throughout the Horn of Africa.
Like it or not, this peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea is unstoppable and irreversible. It Will never be turned back. And no one will be allowed to put a spike in the wheels, as the Eritrean President himself declared in the Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa; a speech given to Ethiopians for the first time in Amharic:
The upcoming elections in Ethiopia will most likely see the victory of Abiy Ahmed and therefore this Nobel Prize is welcome as it will give further legitimacy and strength the Prime Minister to carry forward in the stability of Ethiopia and to all of us that hope of living in a peaceful future and prosperity throughout the Horn of Africa, despite the Woyane.We will not allow anyone to ruin and destroy our love and our agreement, to terrorize and attack our harmony, to slow down and hinder our development and progress.
Daniel Wedi Korbaria, an Eritrean writer, has published numerous articles in Italian then translated into several languages. In April 2018 he published his first novel "Mother Eritrea".
[1] Migranti: ecco gli attivisti eritrei che si occupano dell'accoglienza - Fausto Biloslavo https://www.panorama.it/news/cronaca/mi ... i-eritrei/
[2] The Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace ... s-release/
[3] Ethiopia PM willing to talk to Eritrea https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2 ... 52231.html
[4] Announcement of the Hague verdict on Bademe
[5] Nobel per la Pace, premio ad Abiy Ahmed è un messaggio ai regimi africani. Eritrea in primis https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2019/1 ... s/5510126/
[6] ERi-TV: Local Media Interview With President Isaias Afwerki, January 14, 2018
