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From: awetnayu@hotmail.com
Date: Wed Jul 13 2011 - 21:03:07 EDT
Our Martyr’s Cherished and prized
By: Berhane Woldu
This was my first time being part of the procession for the candlelight vigil for Martyr’s day in Asmara Eritrea. At around 6:00 P.M people started flocking from all corner of Asmara to the center of Liberty Avenue. Everyone seemed sad, tense and focused. Children as young as six years old were carrying their lighted candle and one can look at their face and see the seriousness and the reflection of sadness in their face. To me their seriousness’ signified as how much hurt, respect and love there is to wards the Martyred. The old, young, middle aged, men and women all were grieving; the manner was cold, silent and deep in thought. As the procession passed through the city you could see people lined up on the right and left waiting to join the march to wards “Bahti Meskerem Square”. As we reached, the official observance place people took their respective place and the formal procedure began. We all stood, bowed our head as the saxophone started to blow the official Martyr’s day song. I looked to my right and saw this tall slender woman in her forty, holding her candle cold as ice standing like a statue with no movement gazing at her candle tears flowing off her face like a stream. The message through her felling was that reflective admiration and gratefulness for her loved Martyred; to the world the empathy, solidarity and selflessness that is entrenched in her consciousness.
Why a nation and its innocent people suffer for so long.
Many historians have written about Eritrea and the years of 1946 when Italy renounced its right and title of Eritrea. United State, Soviet Union, France and Britain become the administrators and deciders of the future of Eritrea. The Soviet Union had stated that Eritrea be administered under trusteeship for 10 years and be an independent state there after. Britain, France and the USA all had their own initiative based on their National Interests. The USA was the major power of the time and having a military base as from 1941, wanted to continue occupying the base. The base would enable US to monitor the USSR and to gain access that is more direct to the US troops in Korea. USA through John Spencer opened discussions with Ethiopian and affirmed that Eritrea was to be given to Ethiopia then the USA will continue occupying the Eritrean Islands and retain its military base. Getting what it wanted the USA mobilized its resources to influence all its allies to cooperate with it in giving their vote in support of its Eritrean annexation plan to its ally, Ethiopia. John Foster Dulles in 1950 and The US undersecretary to Africa Herman Cohen in 1991 confirmed the unfairness of the western decision on Eritrea by saying that the US “strategic interest” had priority over the interests of the Eritrean people.
On 12-2-1950, the late Ibrahim Sultan an Eritrean representative said to the UN that the UN would be held responsible for the war that will rage in Eritrea- Ethiopia, to the death and suffering of the people. In 1961 The Eritrean people started to fight for their right full right to stand as a free nation equal to all the nation of the world.
The USA supported Ethiopia economically and militarily until 1974 when the Marxist government and its new ally the Soviet Union deposed King Haile Selassie.
The Soviet Union who was the main advocate for Eritrea’s independence at the United Nation in 1950, had a change of hearts in 1976, and was the biggest arm supplier to the Marxist Ethiopian government. In 1978, the Soviet Union delivered load of weapons to Ethiopia. Fifty large ships, airplane with big and small armaments, East Europeans, Cuban and Soviet army with high military experience and knowledge were brought to Ethiopia to assist the Ethiopian army. From 1978 to 1979 AN22 Russian airplanes did 225 sorties bringing in 600 tones of arms and 80 fighter jets at a cost of 2 billion dollars. This assistance was delivered to help the Ethiopian army defeat the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF). In the1980’s after five failed attacks on the EPLF, the Ethiopian army was preparing for the sixths offensive. The Russian sent 2,600 military advisors, four billion worth of armaments and 1,600 Ethiopian military officers were trained in Russia. The largest war after Second World War was waged and again it failed. The USA and The Russian have both fought for their Geo-political strategy and self-interests. The Cuban Missile crisis, Vietnam, Russia’s involvement in Afghanistan and the Iraq war were wars of Geo-political interests. Vietnam and Iraq, Lyndon Johnson and George W Bush both went to war and thousand of young Americans were killed in wars waged for “Special interest” the very few billionaires that put pressure on the political system to have things turn out their way.
June 20th was chosen, as Martyrs Day as that was a day that a large number of EPLF fighters were martyred. Martyred day have special meaning for those of us who are living. The Eritrean people in conjunction with EPLF fought for 30 years to liberate the nation. They fought hard with an adversary that was 30 times the size of Eritrea. Ethiopia that was supported by the USA, Russia, Cuba and East Germany billions of dollars and thousand of Military experts were offered to help Ethiopia subdue the Eritrean people and defeat the EPLF. Unlike most colonized countries that were freed by their colonial master through political dialog and good wishes, Eritrea had to fight to liberate it self from the domination of the four superpowers (UN) and Ethiopia. To gain its right full right to live as an independent country Eritrea had to sacrifices 65,000 of its young men and women. By bravery and sacrifices of these heroines and heroes, independence was achieved in 1991. In 1998, Ethiopia, once again with US help waged a war of aggression, Eritrea had to defend its hard won independence and 20,000 heroines and heroes were martyred. Wars that have been fought all over the world mostly affect the very poor or the marginalized people of the given nation. In Eritrea that is not the case, the number of martyred in Eritrea with a population of four million has affected every family. (My brother was martyred in Nakfa, my nice in Zalembasa, my nephew in Afabet).
The sacrifice is unsullied and deeply felt, the cause was to be free from domination, subjugation, slavery and abusive exploitation. To over come the adversaries, injustices, misguided policies of the so-called Western Democracies and the Russians the Eritrean people sacrificed 85,000 of their young. Forgiving but not forgetting the Eritrean people and government are willing, able and ready to work with all peace-loving nations for justice, mutual prosperity based on equality.
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