*Martin Plaut is Giving Journalism a Black Eye *
*Amanuel Biedemariam*
Eritrea’s existence as a sovereign nation, and a full member of the UN, is
a product of the hard-working, independent, resilient, and self-reliant
people that overcame all odds and came out victorious.
Martin Plaut, is a western agent of death, propagandist that claims to be a
journalist. He has been on the quest to undo hard won independence and to
see the endless suffering of the Eritrean people
Martin Plaut is accustomed to get in-and-out of African countries in
pursuit of western agendas with specific missions. In other words, he is an
agent of the US and UK foreign services. Per his biography, he “has advised
the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the US State Department.’
Globalinitiative.net
No more proof is required to show that he is an agent of destruction who
operates as a journalist. In most cases his primary focus is the regime
change agenda in countries which the powers to be have deemed them as being
non-compliant. For example, from his twitter feed,
“RT _at_BBCAfrica <
http://twitter.com/BBCAfrica> : As Gambia's President
Jammeh refuses to stand down”
“RT _at_Smith_JeffreyT <
http://twitter.com/Smith_JeffreyT> : #Gambia's
security forces are the only institution supporting Jammeh right now.
Chamber of Commerce joins list calling…”
Eritrea is his full-time obsession. His writing is always a campaign that
aims to achieve regime change. It is impossible to find an individual with
the kind of persistence and determination as he has shown for so long. It
has been 18 years since he targeted Eritrea. His biased, vitriolic venomous
blubbers, writing, organizing, tweets and related social media campaign is
unprecedented.
In short, he has destroyed all norms and standards of journalism. It is
irresponsible activism the like of which we have never seen. It is a
targeted attack that aims to demean Eritrea and her achievements. It is
harassment of Eritrean Diaspora population. It is incitement that aims to
pin Eritreans against one another.
Martin Plaut is an agent who lies about Eritrea consistently. He makes
outlandish statements that have no foundation on truth. 1:16 PM - 29 Nov
2012 <
https://twitter.com/martinplaut/status/274215208753446912>, he
twitted,
“Martin Plaut _at_martinplaut <
https://twitter.com/martinplaut>Eritrea votes
against a Palestinian state at the UN. What does this tell us about
Eritrea's foreign support from Israel?” 1:16 PM - 29 Nov 2012
<
https://twitter.com/martinplaut/status/274215208753446912>
In disbelief, The Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Eritrea to the
United Nations in New York Mr. Nebil Seid was compelled to respond,
“_at_martinplaut <
https://twitter.com/martinplaut> as a distinguished
journalist you have 2 check facts before tweeting how could Eritrea voted
against before the voting take place”
This is the rubbish that the self-anointed anti Eritrea propagandist
spreads regularly without reservation or fear of repercussion. That is
because journalism has lost its ways. There is no accountability for what
he writes and it is impossible to determine whether it is opinion piece or
well researched verifiable news.
The Guardian, Washingtonpost, New York Times and the like are in the
forefront. They embrace the agendas and methodology that the likes of Plaut
exercise and use to further greater agendas of the west. If one follows New
York Times and Washington Post regularly it is easy to see that they mirror
each other.
It is agenda driven campaign under the banner of journalism. It is vicious,
and relentless. A few days before the Eritrean Minister of Information,
Yemane Gebremeskel addressed the European Union recently, the propogandist
Plaut started a petition drive to stop the Minister from attending the EU.
He wrote,
“We strongly urge the EP to not allow itself becoming a forum for a
campaign of misinformation waged by a high-ranking official of a tyrannical
regime, accused of committing crimes against humanity. We are calling for
this meeting to be cancelled based on the following major concerns.” And
went on with his lies.
The author of this article had considered responding to the petition-drive.
However, knowing how impotent his campaigns have become, decided to ignore
the petition. And sure-enough the petition failed to raise significant
signatures. The petition speaks loud to the fact that Plaut is not acting
as an independent, unbiased journalist.
Similarly, on Jan 11, 2016 in a piece that headlined, “The World’s Next
Crisis: Drought and Famine in the Horn of Africa,” he wrote,
“These warnings cover only Ethiopia. *There is every indication that the
situation in neighbouring Eritrea (as well as tiny Djibouti) is just as
severe. The difference is this: the Ethiopian authorities have had the
courage to call for help. The Eritrean government has not.”* Emphasis added
The government and people of Eritrea have been building dams everywhere in
the country for decades to ensure food and water security. In Eritrea, food
security is a national security issue and as such it is the number one
priority. The quoted statement highlights Plaut’s intention to demonize
Eritrea without proof, facts and by insinuation.
The reality is the situation in Eritrea cannot and should never be compared
to Ethiopia for the simple fact, despite all defamation and vilification,
the people of Eritrea are educated & capable to manage their needs without
resorting to foreign aid. If left alone to be, Eritrea will be by far the
greatest nation in Africa. After World War II, Eritrea and South Africa
were the most advanced countries in Africa. However, US and UK’s ambitions
dashed the hopes and aspirations of the people to ensure their larger
strategic interest in the region and Africa and to that end they placed
Ethiopia in the center.
Everything the biased, agent-of-death, fraud Martin Plaut does is part of a
greater agenda that aims to vilify, demonize Eritrea, and justify their
punitive measures as dictated by his paymasters. However, regardless of
what he and his ilk try, they were met by a feisty Eritrean resistance that
is exposing them daily.
This raises the greater question on what journalism is and what is the
criteria that distinguishes a journalist? How is it possible to call
someone who advises government entities, organizes and campaigns in
collaboration with known regime change advocates, to be referred to as a
journalist? He is playing the accuser, prosecutor, and the judge all at the
same time.
For now, I will leave-out the bizarre fact where various government
departments and authorities consult with someone they refer to as an
“expert on Eritrea”, when he has not set foot in the country for more than
a decade. It can be a subject for another day.
Furthermore, where can the public and the victims of rogue journalism find
justice particularly in an international arena where there exist no uniform
standard or laws to protect the aggrieved? As it stands now, Martin Plaut
is free to harass Eritrean communities with impunity under the banner of
journalism sponsored by globally known media conglomerates such as the
Guardian.
*Conclusion*
The people of Eritrea have faced and keep facing the most organized
vilification and demonizing campaign in the history of Africa. Amazingly,
buttressed by decades of experiences, in ways the world has never seen,
Eritrea managed to challenge and defeat their destabilization agendas.
Eritrea managed to survive the wars they ignited, international legal
hurdles they erected, illegal sanctions, unfounded rights allegations, and
incessant lies. Diaspora Eritrea has played incredible role by challenging
the falsehoods and their organized campaigns. The world could learn from
Eritrean Diaspora communities on how to challenge organized western
campaigns that are used to destabilize countries in the name of human rights.
One thing that ought to be clear to the blood thirsty masked white
supremacist Martin Plaut is that paper tigers will never bring down Eritrea!
Awetnayu_at_hotmail.com
Received on Sun Dec 18 2016 - 19:01:10 EST