Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2015 18:01:52 +0100
The Case Against Freselam Mussie
By: Mekete Berhane
24.02.2015
Earlier this year, Freselam Mussie, the young Eritrean musician, fled from
Eritrea, and ran into the open and accepting arms of Ethiopia. In a six part
interview he gave to Radio Wegahta, Freselam publicly condemned and aired
his grievances against the Eritrean government, which he claimed was the
reason he defected. To the dismay of many Eritreans, Freselam explained in
the interview that he merely left "one home, for another home" as in Eritrea
and Ethiopia were the same.
Eritrean youth fleeing from their homeland is not a recent phenomenon, and
in the past few years, Eritreans have seen some of their country's biggest
celebrities flee. The list of celebrities includes Yohannes "Wedi Tikabo",
Robel "Shikor" Michael and Tesfalem "Korchach" Arefaine.
The reason that the youth are fleeing is a complex issue that has to be
looked at from several different angles, including but not limited to the
following: the favorable immigration policies towards Eritrean asylum
seekers in many Western countries; the creation of major refugee camps right
across Eritrea's border in Ethiopia's Tigray region; the Eritrean diaspora
who are willing to finance the smuggling of their Eritrean relatives into
Western countries; and the desire the Eritrean youth have for greater
economic opportunities to better their lives and those of their family in
Eritrea. Again, it is to be reiterated that every situation is different for
everyone, these are just what I consider to be the major areas impacting the
draining of Eritrea's youth.
It is clear that until there is a major changes in the national and
international policies in place that are enticing the Eritrean youth to
flee, they will continue to flee. This being said, most Eritreans don't hold
it against those youth that do leave the country. The majority of the
Eritreans realizes that they are simply trying to better their lives, not
for the alleged political reasons the major western media outlets tell us
that they're fleeing for.
By virtue of their celebrity status, when Eritrean athletes, musicians,
actors and other artists flee, it's used by the West as a political tool to
indict the Eritrean government. Now, I believe that it's okay for people to
have their opinions on the Eritrean government and the way they conduct
themselves. It only becomes problematic when outsiders try to influence this
conversation for their own political gain.
The issue with Freselam Mussie's public defection and condemnation of the
Eritrean government, is that there are unresolved, major political and
geographical issues between the two neighboring countries that have hampered
the peace process. I would also go on to argue that the main obstructer of
peace in this scenario is the Ethiopian government. However, the main issue
is rooted in the bitter Eritrea-Ethiopia Border War wherein both sides
sustained heavy casualties. As of today, fifteen years after both countries
agreed to enter arbitration, under the Algiers Agree of 2000, to settle the
boundary dispute, Ethiopia has refused to comply with the findings of the
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission and withdraw from the occupied
territory that was found to be legally Eritrea's.
Given the political situation between Eritrea and Ethiopia, there hasn't
been legitimate peace and healing between the two countries. Freselam Mussie
is an Eritrean and therefore has a right to have his own independent beliefs
about the Eritrean government, but being an Eritrean who is old enough to
remember the stress, horrors and grievances of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border
War, to condemn the Eritrean government in the territory of the Ethiopian
antagonist, feels treacherous and tasteless. One must also factor in the
population size of Eritrea compared to our Ethiopian neighbor; one would be
hard-pressed to find a family in Eritrea that hadn't sacrificed at least one
immediate family member in the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border War.
I want to reiterate this point: Even if I don' agree with all of his views,
I don't have an issue with Freselam Mussie having his quarrels with the
Eritrean government. What I take issue with, is his public airing of
grievances in the territory of Eritrea's political and physical antagonist,
Ethiopia. By publicly declaring his negative thoughts, attitudes and
feelings toward the Eritrean government, he's allowing himself to be used as
a political tool against the Eritrean government and the Eritrean people by
the Ethiopian regime.
Furthermore, Freselam's action on his social media accounts in the past few
weeks show that he is willing to go to any lows to stab the Eritrean
government and people in the back. A few weeks ago, the TPLF (Woyane)
musician, Abebe Araya posted a photo with Freselam Mussie on his Facebook
account "welcoming" Freselam Mussie to his people, as if the Eritrean and
Ethiopian are one. A viral video on YouTube shows Freselam Mussie not waving
the Ethiopian flag, but waving the TPLF (Woyane) flag at a live concert.
Another recent post on Freselam's Facebook page indicated that he performed
live at the TPLF 40th Anniversary Concert in Mekelle, Tigray. These actions
are unsettling to many Eritreans, such as myself, as we feel that they
undermine Eritrea's hard-earned credibility as an independent nation.
Freselam's recent activities and engagements shows a level of immaturity
that is disgraceful to his family and the Eritrean people as a whole. I hope
that this young and talented artist wises up and stops selling himself as a
political tool to the Ethiopian regime.
Admin <http://www.madote.com/2015/02/the-case-against-freselam-mussie.html>
4:43 AM
<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qDLzhe4BBlg/VOxO6ghMm_I/AAAAAAAAIjE/lxC7j1ziYfQ/s
1600/Freselam%2BMussie%2B-%2BTPLF%2B-%2BEthiopia.jpg>
Freselam Mussie holding the TPLF flag in Tigray region of Ethiopia.
According to Freselam, he left Eritrea after he was briefly detained by
police for showing support for the Ethiopian dictatorship, which occupies
sovereign Eritrean territories, and supports armed terrorists groups against
Eritrea. In his bizarre Facebook rants, the struggling musician lashed out
against certain Eritrean ethnic groups, the Government and boasted about his
region as being superior to other regions in Eritrea. Currently, Freselam is
being paraded across Tigray as the second coming of Jesus by the TPLF
regime, which is desperate to distract the public from the numerous and
embarrassing high profile Ethiopian Air Force defections to Eritrea.
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