For months I have been itching to write a response to the often repeated Tigrean complaint that Eritreans "feel superior" to Ethiopians in general but Tigreans in particular. In my opinion, this is an unfounded accusation. This bogus charge is being raised now as one tool of Ethiopia's misinformation campaign in order to divert the world's attention from the border conflict that should be resolved through demarcation. If they admit the problem is a border conflict then they will not have any excuse to continue the war after demarcation takes place. But if they create these baseless side issues then they will find enough excuses to delay the peace process and continue with their war agenda.

Through the years Ethiopian leaders have sought excuses to wage war on Eritrea. In the 50s Haile Selassie's line was "mother wants to reclaim lost daughter". The world believed him and Eritrea was unjustly handed to his brutal rule through US championed UN blessing. Eritrea survived Haile Selassie failed. After Haile Selassie came the Communist dictator, the devil incarnate, Mengistu; he too waged a destructive war on Eritrea on the pretext of "unity and territorial integrity". The world but especially the Soviet Block and African countries stood by his side. Menghistu got defeated and Eritrea got liberated. Then came the current leaders; those that are Marxists by night, but capitalist by day, those who are aggressors by night, but parade themselves as victims come morning, those who spent the night breaking every international law and treaty, and on day light they swear to God that they are advocates of international law. These are the leaders of Tigray who are trying to wage, yet another war on Eritrea and this time on the pretext of "regional stability" and "Eritrean mentality". Unfortunately, and so far, part of the world is siding with them as well. They have got some supporters in the US government in the diplomats of Susan Rice and Gayle Smith; they have a key man in the person of Salim Ahmed Salim at the OAU, and they have secured strong advocates in the persons of Hassen Gouled Aptidon and Robert Mugabe in the High Level Delegation of the OAU. Will they succeed? Not even a chance.

This being the case, why are the Tigreans crying "Eritrean super race mentality"? It is a puzzle that only Tigreans can answer. From our part all what we know are the facts. It is a fact that Eritreans have always rejected Ethiopian desire to dominate and have never bowed to Tigrean or Amhara supremacy. In fact they fought Ethiopian domination and through sweat and blood had won their independence. But their rejection of Ethiopian rule had nothing to do with their feeling of superiority over Ethiopians, it was rather a mark of their courage to reject Abyssinia's myth of "superiority". If every body who fights for independence and rejects colonial rule is accused of "feeling superior" then we are in for a twisted logic. By these reasoning all colonized people of Africa, Asia and Latin America will be accused of feeling superior to their European colonizers. Let it be known that the Eritrean war of independence would have been waged even if Ethiopia was ruled by angles. It had nothing to do who was south of the border and ruling Ethiopia. The slogan was "Eritrea for Eritreans". Be it the devil or an angle if he ain't Eritrean he ain't welcome to rule Eritrea.

If it is lack of self-confidence that is making Tigrean leaders and elite to accuse Eritreans of "feeling superior", then except for "Lord have mercy" there is nothing that can be done.

If they are interpreting Eritrean determination, Eritrean desire to be self-sufficient, Eritrean will to survive, and Eritrean wish to live according to its own means rather selling its body and soul as "feeling superior", then tough luck for them. Yes Eritrea is trying to work rather than beg, struggle on its own rather than hire mercenaries, and is confident on its true identity rather than fabricating fake identity and mythical history. If they are uncomfortable of the praises Eritrea is getting for its unparalleled achievement in only 6 years of independence what they and several others have failed to show in their decades of independence again there is nothing that can be done except they should close their eyes and plug their ears. Eritreans have no numbers or resources to boast of and thus they have to work hard like any people that want to survive. If this is not sitting well with Ethiopians and our Tigrean friends then that is none of Eritrea's responsibility; they too need to work hard and put their house in order.

If Eritrea desires to be like Singapore, why do Ethiopians have to loose sleep over it? If Eritreans want to make their country like Hong Kong what is Ethiopia's problem? Does Ethiopia want trade with Eritrea? Well and good, if not they can take their goods elsewhere and Eritrea can find its market some where else. Does Ethiopia want to use Eritrea's ports? If yes fine, if no, best of luck. Why do they have to take Eritrea's desire to have an export oriented economy as a result of "a mentality of superior race"? Why don't they want to call it a mentality of hard working and aiming high? For sure they don't expect Eritrea to remain a poor country. We hope they don't want Eritrea to be like those countries that squander hundreds of millions for parties while their population is never relieved of the burden of waiting for food handouts from Canada, Australia and the U.S.?

For example, and unfortunately, who in the west remembers the people of Ethiopia for the many other traits that they should be remembered for? Practically no one. Instead Ethiopia is always remembered for being the land of mass starvation and its images of bone-thin children dying of hunger. Should Eritrea join Ethiopia in this unfortunate club? If possible, not at all! That is all what Eritrea wants; to provide for its own children instead of begging day in day out for handouts. If Eritrea says no to all the undesirable NGOs why should Ethiopia cry about it. It can have them all for itself if it wants.

No one can deny the fact that there are some Eritreans who use certain derogatory words, on some members of the Tigrean and Amhara societies, but that can hardly be taken as a sign of Eritrean feeling of superiority. It is not. Quite to the contrary, the Eritrean population doesn't look down on Tigreans. It doesn't trust them is another issue, but look down at them is far from the truth. If a use of one or two derogatory words are a sign of "superiority" then the Abyssinians are known for their use of worse words on Eritreans as well. At the same time the different people within the Ethiopian empire are never referred to by their names of choice. If the Tigrean elite see the use of the word "Agame" (which by the way is a name of a district in Tigray), when used by Eritreans as a sign of superiority, then what will they call themselves who like their Amhara cousins have been calling the Oromo as Galla, the Wolaytas as Wolamo (wey-lamoch) [which means animals] or the Afar by Taltal? What do also the Tigrean have to say to what their ancestors under the leadership of Emperor Yohannes did to the thousands of Muslim Tigreans? In the middle of the last century they deported them to Eritrea. At the same time how will they explain the denial of the right of Tigrean Moslems to build their house of worship (mosque) in Axum in this day and age?

In short I have no idea from where their accusations against Eritrea are coming from. May be it is a result of projection. That is projection of their own feelings on others.

It is safe to say that the majority of Eritreans have neither a feeling of superiority nor that of inferiority. For sure Eritreans love to speak, read and write in their own languages; for a fact Eritreans are proud of their country, not in words but also in deeds; as a matter of principle Eritreans are never ashamed of their identity; for sure Eritreans never like to forget their heritage; and as a result of appreciating who they are, they don't like to abbreviate or change their names in order to look American, French or English. This commitment to Eritrea and Eritreaness have never been compromised in the past and it will never be compromised in the future. Should Eritreans be accused for standing for their own identity?

On the other hand, there is so much to be desired on the behavior of the Tigreans. First and foremost the majority of the Tigrean elite love to show off their Amharic rather than their Tigrigna. It is a well known fact that the majority of educated Tigreans until yesterday used to write letters to their family members in Amharic when in fact their relatives understood no word of Amharic. One might blame Amhara rule on this and it might be true but it equally speaks negatively about the problems of Tigrean politicians and elite. At the same time for many Tigrean elite marrying an Amhara woman used to be considered a huge sign of prestige. Should Eritreans be blamed for these kind of behaviors of the Tigreans? Not at all!

Accusing Eritreans of "superiority complex" is what the majority of the Tigrean elite have liked to harp about day in day out since the beginning of this conflict. This has been the war cry for all of them, from Ghebru Asrat to Abay Tsehaye, from Seyoum Mesfin, to Sebhat Nega, the politicians, and from Dr. Solomon Inquai, to the other academicians. What causes this complaint is a puzzle to this writer. Should the Tigreans go to war because they suspect the Eritreans have a superiority complex? So what if some Eritreans feel superior? If some Eritreans feel superior for no apparent reason it is only a sign of weakness and foolishness that should be laughed at not to go to war for.

As recently reported by the Indian Ocean Newsletter, Aboy Sebhat (Sebhat Nega) had told Al Jazeera TV of Kuwait that the border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia is due to the "supreme race mentality" of Eritreans. What is the world supposed to read of this? Was it the Eritreans that tampered with colonial borders and drew a new map of Greater Eritrea? No, it was not the Eritreans. It was the Tigreans. Was it Eritrea that declared a war on Ethiopia and boasted to teach it a lesson? No, it was not Eritrea; it was Ethiopia through its Tigrean leaders. Was it Eritrea that decided to expel people for not liking the color of their eyes? No, it was not Eritrea; it was Ethiopia. Having a country with all these ugly track records and having leaders who boast of their ethnic cleansing tactics, gives the Tigreans no credibility, whatsoever, to talk about Eritrea. Let them first clean their own house and thinking.

Sebhat Nega further accused Eritreans of

"calling themselves the 'Jews of Africa' and the 'Black Israelis'". They say Tigrayans are inferior and that they are a super race ... that is the cause of this conflict. They say they are a super race and they believe it. Our enemy is this attitude of the Eritrean people."

May be we have to introduce aboy Sebhat to the writings of those who believed in "Greater Ethiopia". We should let him read what famous Ethiopiansist have been telling the world about the mentality of the Tigrayan people and their cousins to the south, the Amharas. Here below are a few samples:

"Their [Amharan and Tigrean] hierarchical society presents a complete contrast to that of the Negroid tribes who inhabit the outlying parts of the Ethiopian empire to the west and south -- peoples they formerly regarded as fit only for enslavement. The Abyssinians take immense pride in their long history, their superior culture, and their martial prowess. Other African ( or indeed non-African) races are generally held to be inferior." --Glyn Daniel, The Abyssinians, p. 58.

Is there a worse indictment than this? Who has the "super race mentality"? Definitely not Eritreans.

If one wants to excuse aboy Sebhat, then here is what one of Tigray's cream of the crop elite, Dr. Solomon Inquai wrote. This is from his " KEY DETERMINANTS OF THE ETHIO-ERITREAN CRISIS, 1998" an article that is hosted at ( http://www.ethiospokes.net ) (Ms. Salome's propaganda page) He said the following in order to elaborate on his thesis of "Eritrea's distorted self-image".

"Eritreans consider themselves more civilized or enlightened not only than the Ethiopians but also than the rest of Africans. They think that life under colonial rule makes for better people."

Wow, did the good doctor understand what he wrote? If this is his case against Eritreans then what did he say when he read the following words (I am certain he had read them when he was a student) of the well known Ethiopianist, the author of "Greater Ethiopia", Professor Donald Levin?

"The ethnic self-conception of the Amhara is one which stresses certain physical and cultural characteristics, thanks to which he regards himself as superior to all non-Abyssinian groups in Ethiopia as well as to all non-Ethiopian nationals. With regard to race, the Amhara consider themselves distinctly more handsome than both the white man and the Negro man, to both of whom they apply derisive epithets. ... And being an Ethiopian Christian is to the Amhara a mark of superiority in at least two respects: it means belonging to a chosen people, heirs to the Jews and sole bearers of authentic Christianity; ... Knowledge of Amharic is considered another index of superiority, and the Amhara look down on Ethiopians who do not speak Amharic or who speak it with an accent. ... The Amhara claim superiority over other Ethiopian peoples in connection with certain other aspects of culture besides religion and language,... Being an Amhara is thus belonging to a superior category of human beings." --Donald Levine, Wax & Gold, p. 82

Has Dr. Solomon confronted his cousins, the Amharas, on this feeling? Has he written condemning them for their superior feelings? I don't know but I don't think so.

How can he? He is one of them. He has the same feeling of superiority over the Oromos and the Wolaytas and the others. If this was not the case he wouldn't work hand and glove with a government that has trampled the basic rights of the many oppressed people of Ethiopia, telling them it knows what is good for them. In fact isn't what the TPLF doing an act of "superior mentality"? If it believed in equality of all ethnic groups how come then it is not working to create a country where every Ethiopian lives in equality? Isn't the TPLF trying to build greater Tigray at the expense of the other people of Ethiopia? Is the Ethiopia of yesterday (at the time when Levine observed it) any different than the Ethiopia of today? Is the feeling of the Tigreans and Amharas towards the other Ethiopians of yesterday any different than that of today? Not at all. In fact it has gone worse. As many of those who know the ins and outs of Ethiopia will tell things have never improved in Ethiopia. The only difference is that today the Amhara ruling elite have been replaced by Tigreans. Other than that Ethiopia is still the prison of the non-Abyssinian nationalities that it always was.

If the above quotation was that penned by a "white man", below is how African-Americans felt about the Tigrayan and Amhara betrayal of the black race after all what African-Americans did to help Ethiopia at a time when it faced the Fascists aggression in the 1930s.

"Ethiopian Loyalist in the United States conceded, however, that Abyssinian traditions gave credence to all the anti-Negro propaganda being spread among African-Americans. Black authorities on Ethiopia, such as Joel Rogers, observed that, although the Sabean strain of early invaders from the Arabian peninsula had become increasingly African through the ages, the Abyssinian highlanders [Tigray + Amhara] held tenaciously to claims that they were an "Asiatic people." They insisted not only that they were distinct from the region's indigenous and darker inhabitants, but also that they were superior to them." -- William R. Scott, The Sons of Sheba's Race, p. 197

"African-Americans encountered extraordinarily few experiences in which Ethiopians so boldly proclaimed their membership in the Negro race. Throughout the crisis [1935-1941], they yearned for a definitive statement on the racial question from the Ethiopian government itself." --Ibid. p. 199

In fact I don't think our good Tigrean elite will even now admit that they are blacks. Why do the elite of Tigray and Amhara try to deny that they are blacks? Read on:

"Ethiopian highlanders, because of their physical characteristics and mythic origins, ... seem to have produced ... the perception that they were neither white nor black that they were distinct racial group, whose heritage and history made them more civilized than the so-called Negroes and the cultural equals of the world's Caucasian races." --Ibid. p. 217

In fact it was this "superior race mentality" of the Tigreans and Amharas in general, and that of Haile Selassie in particular that made the famous Marcus Garvey withdraw his support for Ethiopia and made him go all the way to the other side to condemn Haile Selassie in 1936. The later, after he fled Ethiopia and sought refugee in London, had refused to associate himself with the African-Americans who stood with Ethiopia during the Italian invasion. He had ignored prominent black leaders that had assembled to greet him at the airport in London, had declined to attend a welcoming party that was prepared by the West Indian community in his honor, had hosted a party where he had invited no black people at all .... Here are the words of Garvey:

"We hope the Emperor [Haile Selassie] will forget he is from Solomon and realize that the world looks upon him as a Negro, and it was because he was a Negro why they treated him as they did." -- Marcus Garvey, "Italy's Conquest?" The Black Man, Vol. 2, No. 2, (July-August 1936).

One can also read "The Sons of Sheba's Race" Chapter XVI for more details on the issues Garvey was raising against Ethiopians.

Thus our suggestion to aboy Sebhat and Dr. Solomon Inquai is that may be they need to abandon memorizing their "Tigray Manifesto" and have to start memorizing Ethiopian history and what is written about their fellow Tigrayans and Amharas. They ought to know how their brothers and sisters felt about their link to Israel and Jews before opening their mouth to accuse Eritrea. As for Eritrea even if they accuse it of wanting to be "black Israel" the analogy wouldn't fit. First Eritrea is not the one that has tried to take some one's land, second Eritrea is not the one that had tried to claim thousands of years of "history" to claim others' land third Eritrea is not the one that is trying to get its legitimacy by citing lineage to Solomon or David. One need not go further than Axum to find out the true color of Tigray. How should the children of Tigray explain to the world what, not Axum's real obelisk, but Axum's "mythical" ark stands for. Isn't through this ark that the TPLF tries to cash into tourism money? Let them tell the world what sort of information they were feeding Graham Hancock for his book and then the world would tell who is the one who wants to be "black Jews". Eritrea has nothing that makes it envy or makes it desire to imitate Israel. It never has and I hope will never have to. Thus aboy Sebhat and Dr. Solomon may want to throw any mud they want but it won't stick.

Furthermore Dr. Solomon Inquai misquotes President Isaias in the following:

"They feel superior to their Ethiopian cousins. Here is how Isaias puts it. 'We do not suffer from a superiority complex. It is rather the Ethiopians who suffer from [an] inferiority complex. It is the Tigrayans who have [an] inferiority complex. It is not us who feel superior, it is the Ethiopians who suffer from [an] inferiority complex. We have lived with Europeans. We have seen much of the civilized world. There are many things we have learned from them. The Ethiopians on the contrary have just come out of the forest. They are not civilized. They feel inferior because they have come out of the bush."

This looks a total fabrication. By the way no real explanation is given to where the true source of this quotation comes from. Dr. Solomon doesn't quote any credible source, but the Reporter, a TPLF news paper, for this unfounded quotation. Mind you this is how low Ethiopian professionalism have sank. To quote Isaias one has to cite a TPLF mouth piece. Where is the credibility here? Where is the professionalism? Unless I am mistaken the quotation seems to be the distortion of Hwyet's interview with the President, but I have no evidence if that was the source. If that was the case however, the good doctor of philosophy, had Hwyet in his hands; he had quoted it for other things in his article he should have used what he read there. We can not say he didn't understand Tigrigna, if my sources are correct Dr. Solomon grew up in Asmara and he is more Asmarino than the majority of Eritreans. Yet having the President's clear stand on his hand, he chose to distort his words and misquot him. He sure is more MLLT than the hard-core cadres.

For those who didn't read it in Arabic or Tigrigna here is what President Isaias had said in his Hwyet Interview when he was asked "why do they [the TPLF] leaders complain of Eritreans looking down upon them?":

"I think, for some reason they[the TPLF] want to mislead people. As I have explained on several occasions, there's nothing we haven't heard before. What is it that they don't say? They say we look down on them. They say we want them to remain as servants and maids. They say we call them Agame. This is nothing new. In the struggle we had washed away (such ideas) and have made many improvements."

The origin of such words can be traced to the past. ... During Italian colonial rule, people from all over Tigray, but especially from the Adi Grat area, were coming to work in Eritrea. Most of the low-skilled workers were coming from this area. It was easier to come here [to Eritrea] than go to Addis Ababa, even if it meant crossing the border. The Italians were deporting many of these people [back to Tigray]. This practice may have left its psychological imprint. Even during the struggle, when we were fighting from the same trenches, there were incidents of some unpleasant words. But, I believe this tendency has been cured. We cannot be one hundred percent sure, because time is needed to wipe it (such feelings) out completely from society.

The assertion "They despise us they want us to remain inferior to them they don't want our economy to develop" is simply a projection of what is in their mind. They accuse us of being envious of a pharmaceutical plant in Adi Grat, a textile factory in Adwa. To keep on thinking people are envious of you is a sign of serious psychological problem.

"We were all offended when the government [Derg] said that all they [Tigreans] had was just one flourmill. However, to develop one's mentality as a reaction to such statements is not healthy. If Tigray becomes the greatest industrial giant, so much the better for us. It is so close to us, we may benefit from it. We were cooperating in building roads to facilitate trade, not only between our two countries, but with the other countries of the Horn and the rest of the world. The world market is so vast that we are hardly visible there. That is why it does not make sense to talk about we trying to dominate them [the Tigreans]. This talk is irresponsible, myopic, and emanates from the very leaders that say "we have been despised, now is our time to make it to the finishing line". Such thinking makes people hostage to their deviousness. We have a clean record of tolerance and dealing with things openly and in good faith, be it at the time of the struggle or afterwards. It is basically wrong to make such allegations." --Hwyet # 14, p.19-20 (translations by Tekie F. and Berhe H.)

Dr. Solomon Inquai further states:

"Another complicating factor is mistaken self-image portrayed by some Eritreans. They tend to look down on the rest of Africa and African institutions. They try to compensate their status as the smallest and the poorest country in Africa by projecting an image of the most civilised nation. The language Isaias used to address the OAU and the UN as the most ineffective organizations was a language devoid of any diplomatic nuance.

I have tried to answer above on who really looks down on other Africans. As to the issue about the UN and the OAU, I don't know if there is any better word than "ineffective" to use on the UN and the OAU?

Isn't "ineffectiveness" from the OAU's side that had made the continent to be a continent of disasters? Where and when has the OAU acted "effectively" to solve African problems? Take for example the Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict: as if the OAU was not talking day and night about its peace plan, now when the two countries claim to have accepted it but have differing interpretations of the plan, the OAU found no spine to come out and let the letter of its agreement be known.

What effective organization will behave this way? Will conflicts in the Congo, Guinea Bissau, Comoros, Sierra Leone, Angola, the Sudan and Somalia exist if the OAU was effective? Will nearly a million Watusi be killed in the hands of the Wahutu if the OAU was an effective organization? Will nearly 55,000 Eritreans be expelled from Ethiopia while the OAU watched if it was a credible and effective organization? Going back in history, will Apartheid stay that long if it was not for the ineffectiveness of the OAU? Would the people of Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Western Sahara, Namibia, and the different Portuguese colonies (Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, ...) had to pass through a long and bitter struggle if it was not for the ineffectiveness of the OAU?

The same can be said about the UN. If the UN was an effective organization will the people of Kosovo and Serbia be suffering in the hands of Melosovich and the US lead aggression by NATO? Where is the Security Council during the on going Kosovo crisis? Is it the sign of effectiveness to let a regional organization like NATO to do whatever it wants in the world arena? If the UN was effective how come Israel ignores UN resolutions, gets away with it and still enjoys the support of the west? If the UN was effective how come it has not acted on the resolutions it had passed on East Timor, Western Sahara or even the Ethio-Eritrean conflict?

If the actions of these two organizations can not make them to be called "ineffective" then what should be said of them? I personally don't know what Prime Minister Melles, Foreign Minister Seyoum, and Dr. Solomon Inquai wanted President Isaias to tell the OAU or the UN. All three of them love to go back to June and September of 1993, to the time when the Eritrean President addressed the OAU and the UN in that order, and want to condemn the president for his Undiplomatic speech, a speech that shows, they claim, that Eritrea has no respect for the two organizations. I just searched Dehai archives and have attached these two speeches (www.denden.com/Conflict) in their entirety for readers to read and judge. I hope you forgive me for this long post.

Ghidewon