From: Sophia Tesfamariam (sophia_tesfamariam@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Aug 27 2009 - 23:31:23 EDT
Selam,
I would take what Benjamin Joffe-Walt has to say with a grain of salt…He is obviously on a mission to blemish Eritrea's image. Two garbage pieces in two weeks- he is just a step or two behind Martin Plaut of the BBC.
Had Joffe-Walt visited Eritrea, he would have known immediately that Eritrea is not a hardship country by any stretch of the imagination...If Israeli Ambassadors can serve in countries like Ethiopia and Kenya...serving in Eritrea would be the next best thing to serving in heaven...
As a matter of fact, it is the Eritrean Ambassador in Israel that is in a hardship country.
There are 10 things that are important to expatriates in any country and Eritrea scores 10 out of 10 in my book. Here they are:
Economic conditions- Eritrea offers opportunity for expatriates moving to Eritrea to experience an increase in their purchasing power. Eritrea offers a relatively low cost of living for expatriates.
Political Stability: Eritrea is the most politically stable country in the Horn of Africa
Religious Tolerance: There is exemplary religious and ethnic harmony, tolerance and respect amongst the people.
Adequate Public Service: There is adequate provision, administration and accessibility to water, electricity, sanitation in Asmara and all major towns and villages
Climatic conditions: The weather in Eritrea is very comfortable
Safety conditions such as personal security and the threat of public violence is non-existent. Eritrea is one of the safest countries in the world.
Health conditions such as health standards and risk of viral outbreaks are also rare.
Education conditions such as state education standards, expenses, mother-tongue teaching, and school proximity to home are not an insurmountable issue for expatriates in Asmara.
Transportation conditions such as public transport availability, safety and efficiency is comparable or better than most third world countries.
the people: The hospitality and magnanimity of the Eritrean people is unparalleled.
Can Mr. Joffe-Walt give Israel the same score?
After everything that Israel has done to the Eritrean people in the past, the crimes that were committed against our people during the struggle for independence, the arming of the Derg regime with cluster bombs and napalm bombs that razed our villages and our homes, the deaths and destructions caused, I'll say we are being very magnanimous havign any relations with Israel and it is Israel's loss if they choose to stay away.
By the way, there are only a handful of countries in Africa where Israel has an Embassy (15 would be an exaggeration), and out of the 159 countries in our world that recognize the State of Israel, there are only 70 resident Embassies…does that mean that they are all hardship countries?