As part of African Reading Challenge 2008, Scarlet read a book about Eritrea by Michaela Wrong, “I didn't do it for you: How the West betrayed a small African nation.” She says: “Not that much has been written by Western journalists about Eritrea. Michaela Wrong decided to write all of it.”
- Countries:
- Eritrea
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- English
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“Eritrea: African Reading Challenge 2008”
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There are numerous excellent books written by Eritrean authors. Mr. Ndesanjo Macha, so why not recommend those written by them?
Ironically enough the present president of Eritrea is also saying “I didn’t do it for you\ because he ‘liberated’ the country in 1991 but now he is the best dictator in the history of humanity, the fact that he came to power in 1991 and he is still there can be just an example of his dictatorship and the fact that the country has never seen any election since he came to power can also highlight what the Eritrean people have destined to suffer and thus Michaela Wrong, I think you must publish another book entitled \I didn’t do it for you: How the Eritrean President betrayed his own country.
“I didn’t do it for you” is the most comprehensive and well researched book about Eritrea that I have read so far. As an Eritrean my self , I always found it almost impossible to find a non-partisan and politics free narration of the legendary Eritrean history and her sons bravery that is yet to be told. Micheala Wrong has made a significant in roads in that direction. I think you have made an excellent choice for the African Reading Challenge 2008.
God bless
World powers have been trying to establish hegemonic control over the strategic location of Eritrea either directly or through surrogates (i.e. Ethiopia). The annexation of Eritrea by it’s much larger neighbor, Ethiopia, sparked a 30 year guerilla war against the expansionist Abysinnia. Eritrea, lead by their heroic freedom fighters successfully drove the occupation out. Despite what anti-Eritreans posing as Eritreans on the internet try to propagate, H.E. President Isaias Afwerki and the Government of Eritrea enjoy overwhelming support of Eritreans both in the homeland and in the diaspora.
Mr ‘Genuine Eritrean’,
Eritrea has one party the so-called ‘People’s Front for Democracy and Justice’ (PFDJ), it does not allow any other party to operate in the country.
Ten (10) Percent (%) of the Eritrean productive population (The Eritrean youth) are involved in an endless national service under the pretext of ‘border war with Ethiopia’
The country does not have any private Press since 18 September 2001, and more than ten journalists have been detained since the specified time, without due process of law.
There is no freedom of religion in the country - If you do not belong to the main stream religions (Orthodix, Catholic, Protestant and Moslem) you are literally not allowed to worship God (in public)
The governmet closed the only University we used to have (The University of Asmara)
Hundreds of Thousands of Eritreans are in exile and they do not know whether they will make it back home in their life time.
The list goes on … and on … and on …
Can we then argue that “H.E. President Isaias Afwerki and the Government of Eritrea enjoy overwhelming support of Eritreans both in the homeland and in the diaspora” as you are trying to.
Come on brother I guess we are both Eritreans after all, unless your intention is to give a distorted information to non-Eritreans.
May God Bless the authentic Genuine Eritreans.
It would be wise and original had the choice of the reading book was picked out of those countless Eritrean authored books that dipicted some of their own unntold true history. But I guess that is too much to ask to change the mind set of people who only see themselves through the white man eyes to define themselves, as if most of, if not all, Africa problems had not been the white man making!
It is remembrance weekend here in the UK. As an Eritrean with a British passport I would not even pretend to wear the poppy, instead I would be carrying Michaela Wrong’s book “I did not do it for you.”
At the beginning of the Second World War my grandfather and his younger brother, who were Eritrean rebels fighting Fascist Italy joined their Ethiopian counterparts along the common border. My grandpa told me they were soon joined by the Brits who came from the Sudan with their big guns, and they helped rout the Italians. Once they secured that front line the Brits could not care less in leaving the Eritreans under the defeated Italians rule. Much like today’s America, the Brits wanted the people in the region to act nothing more than sandbags against their own enemies.
TO THE FAKE authentic Genuine Eritrean you have some points but there misguided in todays world were theres no way of propsering like the west following there methods of living anyway thats a whole different subject. but please remeber your a minority group of eritreans who dont support are goverment or the current way of life for the magority support are goverment at present things may change but i doubt they will becuase eritreans are a people of sacrifice, rules, strong headed, do it the right way get goals accomplished for the long term , religious people.
the war with ethiopea is not a lie whats there to lie about a 30 year war another war in 1998 because we change are currency which is are right.
eritrea the yougenst nation in africa 17 years free to be ecaxt so gives us a brake with your long histroy of nation building
There are many reasons that the country is in the situation that it is currently in. Anti-Eritreans have an agenda to put this great nation in a divided/weak position in order to force it to be recolonized by Ethiopia because Ethiopia is easily manipulated and exploited by some forces in the West.
These Anti-Eritreans want a Somalia type of “TFG” for Eritrea so they can either covertly or overtly control the resources of the region, which rightfully belongs to the indigenous population.
Eritrea, it’s Strong Leaders, along with their fellow citizens will never kneel down to any pressure these Anti-Eritreans use to try to subjugate the them.
While the slaves of the West (Anti-Eritreans) want to hastily mimic the “democracy” of the West regardless of important factors such as geography, religion, population, traditions, extraordinary circumstances, etc, the GENUINE Eritreans are patiently and steadily creating an atmosphere where a True Democracy can, not only work but, thrive in.
The “Democracy” of Kenya brought Death and Destruction. The “Democracy” of Ethiopia brought Death and Destruction. The FORCED “Democracy” of Somalia brought Death and Destruction.
These African States, or rather their “leaders,” have chose to imitate the type of democracies that there are in the West. If you take a look at these “leaders,” whom have the support and financial backing of powerful forces in the West, you can see an eerie correlation to the amount of corruption in their respective states (i.e. Meles Zenawi and the “TFG” of Somalia.)
So The Next book should be:
“I WILL NEVER DO IT FOR YOU!: How the West is Continually betraying a Great African nation”
Tes,
You’ve made a lot of good points in your reply to Genuine Eritrean but I’d like to continue the discussion.
1) “Eritrea has one party the so-called ‘People’s Front for Democracy and Justice’ (PFDJ), it does not allow any other party to operate in the country”
In the national charter the GOE states they want the structure of democracy in Eritrea to be strong and not based on any divisive elements (tribal, ethnic whatever). I commend them on that because you see a lot of divisiveness in a lot of countries, especially African countries. And so they haven’t focused on creating multiple parties. I don’t think it would be completely accurate to state that they do not allow any other party to operate in the country.
2) “Ten (10) Percent (%) of the Eritrean productive population (The Eritrean youth) are involved in an endless national service under the pretext of ‘border war with Ethiopia’”
This is very true and it’s the horrible situation Eritrea is stuck in due to the ‘no war, no peace’ situation with Ethiopia. I do not think there is much Eritrea can do in this situation. It is important for us to protect our country especially when there are Ethiopian troops on Eritrean land at this very moment and the international world refuses to do anything about Ethiopia’s disregard for international law. I hate that the Eritrean youth are forced to be in service for so long and do not have the opportunities that a lot of us have in the Diaspora but what else can be done? The generation before us also sacrificed their youth for a greater cause (I understand it’s a different time and situation but the final obligation we should all have is to do whatever we can for Eritrea). Besides protecting the country, the youth that are in service are also helping the country develop necessary infrastructure all over Eritrea.
3)” The country does not have any private Press since 18 September 2001, and more than ten journalists have been detained since the specified time, without due process of law.”
I do not agree with censoring the freedom of speech/press. And I can not say that I know everything about the situation, I’m sure you can’t say that yourself. The thing I am wary about is the fact that there is a lot of foreign interest in Eritrea, this has been the case from the beginning of time almost. And we are all aware of what these foreign interests can do to a country by manipulation. Eritrea, unfortunately, has been a victim to these manipulation tactics in the past and, thankfully, we have overcome and united. Whether these journalists were apart of any manipulation in the favor of foreign interests or not I can not say. What I do disagree with in terms of what the GOE has done whenever it senses any type of corruption is the punishment of everyone whether they have committed a crime against Eritrea or not (i.e construction industry, religion, the press).
4) “There is no freedom of religion in the country - If you do not belong to the main stream religions (Orthodix, Catholic, Protestant and Moslem) you are literally not allowed to worship God (in public)”
I do not agree in censoring the freedom of religion. I do not think it’s fair for a government to tell its citizens what religion/denomination they are allowed to practice. But again as I have stated in the “issue” with the freedom of press is that there are a lot of foreign interests in Eritrea and historically the manipulation of certain foreign interests have come through different channels and one being through religion (I’m not trying to imply that this has happened in Eritrean history but it has happened to other countries). Again, the collective punishment of all I also disagree with in this case. But it is important to note that all Eritreans, regardless if they’re Christian or Muslim, have long lived peacefully.
5) “The governmet closed the only University we used to have (The University of Asmara)”
This is true but there were several other colleges that were constructed throughout the country in its place.
I’m pretty sure I can argue that the President and the GOE enjoy overwhelming support of Eritreans both in the homeland and in the Diaspora because a) the majority of the Diaspora do support the government (I do not have any figures but I think the fact the majority of the Diaspora are involved in PFDJ, YPFDJ, attend festivals etc. supports that argument). In the homeland, the GOE has developed the lives of its citizens (possibly excluding those living in the cities). The majority of Eritrea’s citizens dwell outside the cities and have never had access to certain basic human necessities until the GOE developed them (access to clean water, roads, hospitals/clinics, schools etc). I understand there are a lot of people that do not support the President and GOE but I do not believe they are the majority.
In the end, I think we all love our country the same and want to see it progress and develop and that’s including the President and members of the GOE.
Thanks Serawit for your taking your time to write such a detailed response. There are a lot of points that I will never agree with you, until we all meet in Asmara, Eritrea. One of them being your claim that “the President and the GOE enjoy overwhelming support of Eritreans both in the homeland and in the Diaspora”. How many Eritreans are in the Refugee camp in Shimelba and May Tsebri (Ethiopia) How many Eritreans are in Sudan, South Africa/America/Israel/Libya/Malta …
I am referring to the ones who had to leave their country because life was unbearable for them/because they couldn’t see any future in the country. I am also referring to the Eritreans who can not even go back home till there is change in the way the country is being led, if it has a leader. And if we talk about the population inside the country, how many Eritrean students are deliberately failing in class because Education is leading them to the Military Training Centre. How many Eritreans are complaining about the amount of time they spent on the queue just to get a handful of bread?
With regard to the press, why did you overlook the fact that I said more than ten journalists have been languishing in jail since September 18/2001, if it is because they are being manipulated how come they have never been in court to prove that. And how about a regulated private press, how come it is taking almost a decade to come up with any alternative. I am sure you sometimes (always) browse shabait.com, isn’t it pathetic for the Eritrean people to be suffocated only with pro-government news?
As to the Eritrean soldiers, first of all, the people of Eritrea are not responsible for starting the war. Mr Isaias and Mr Meles were friends for years and years and suddenly the war broke out and it is upto them to solve the problem by reaching into a consensus and apparently the situation is being tantamount to the Palestine Vs Israel case (I mean on the fact that you do not see an end in sight). So what is gonna happen to the youngsters at the end of the day. Don’t you think that they also live only once in this planet like all of us.
Religion = please Serawit my brother, do not write against your conscience. The main reason for why the the government is against religion is because the Eritrean youth have started carrying bible even when they are in the military training centre and the government believed that this will destroy their nationalism, which I will never agree. Please do not lecture us on politics as we had enough of it - do not tell us it is because the churches are being manipulated and if that is the case - give us the proof.
University of Asmara - there is a big book on Internationally recognized universities, which I want you to read and in that book half a page is reserved to our beloved ex-University of Asmara, which means that someone who is from this University can be easily accepted in any University in the world. Do you think this is True to students who are being graduated from these colleages, let me just share with you what I was chatting with a fellow Eritrean who is in Asmara and graduated from one of these colleges. When he told me that he graduted on communication and information from one of these colleages I automatically said “Great!” he replied it is not great and justified his points by the fact that “the certificate is fake and it can only be acceptable in Eritrea” His other frustration is since he is doing his endless national service he will only be getting 145 Nakfa (about six US DOLLARS) per day (oppppps) per month.
Anyway Comrade Serawit, for some reason the so called Genuine Eritreans are trying to bury the truth 10 metres down in a country whose president hypocratically claim that “If you bury the truth on its head, it will come out on its feet”
May Gode Bless the authentic Genuine Eritreans. For the fake Eritreans all I can say is May God Bless you as well because “you do not know what you are doing”.
Hi Tes!
I enjoyed reading your response because I like this type of dialogue between two Eritreans who may have differing views but love their country the same and are able to express their views without insulting one another.
You made a lot of good and valid points but that I can not agree with only because I do not have valid evidence to tell me that I am wrong. I am not stating that your information is false or true (and to be honest all that I know and have stated previously may also be false or true as well). I try to read a lot and the more I read the more I realize that I do not know everything.
I’ve read about the refugee camps and even know several people who are living in them or who have escaped Eritrea to ‘seek a better life’ although their lives in Eritrea were not as unbearable as it is for a lot of other people in the country or as unbearable as it is now in the refugee camps or wherever they currently reside. I know I sound condescending and I shouldn’t judge them because I have not walked in their shoes but let’s not forget that Eritrea has seen worst times.
I have met Eritrean youth that were deliberating failing their classes so that they wouldn’t have to go to the Military training center. These kids are only sent there for their senior year (or junior year…I forget now). And there are thousands of students that don’t fail their classes and go to Sawa where they are educated as well as being militarily trained. Eritrea is not the only country that has this type of program. A friend of mine from Serbia just returned to his country to complete his military training (Israel also has this type of program). I’ve visited Sawa and you wouldn’t believe what type of things they have for the students (tech centers etc). Also, it’s a great way to bring youth from all over the country together to unite them and thereby eradicating any possible segregation that may arise (if there is any or were to be any). I was in Sawa for a few days and although I was there for a festival and of course our accommodations were probably definitely wayyyy better than what the Eritrean youth receive regularly (even with all their accommodations Sawa is not going to get any better than it is for an American) I had one of the greatest times of my life.
In regards to the long lines for food, it is true. There are long lines for bread and sugar, but these items are supposed to be government subsidized I believe, and therefore that’s why there are such long lines because it’s cheaper for the general public (don’t shoot me, I have not seen people in long lines nor have I read any information on this but this is what I’ve been told. As I’m sure is the same case for you on this subject).
As for the journalists, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to overlook anything and as you’ve stated there are more than 10 journalists that have been jailed. I do not agree with the GOE with their imprisonment without a right to a trial or not coming up with any alternatives. I really don’t have any knowledge about the press industry in Eritrea and how it’s doing. I do read shabait.com from time to time but there are other places that I do read about Eritrea, including ‘opposition’ websites. I put all those opinions together and try to come up with my conclusion because again the more you read, really isn’t the more you know. Everybody has an agenda no matter if it’s private, opposition or government owned.
As for the war that ‘Isaias and Meles are responsible for’, the only reason why there isn’t an end is because Ethiopia is not being reprimanded for its crimes and thereby allowing Ethiopia to do whatever it wants. So if you really want to point a finger to what is going on with Eritrea (besides to the GOE) it should be to Ethiopia and the UN (i.e the US, the UK etc). The case of Palestine V. Israel is pretty similar as well. And I understand the people of Eritrea are not responsible for starting the war but citizens of a country have never been responsible for starting wars in probably the history of wars. It’s always the government that starts them and it’s always the citizens that suffer (soldiers and civilians). I guess you just have to believe that your government is making decisions in order to protect its citizens.
In regards to the religion issue in Eritrea, if I did not state clearly previously, I was stating my opinion/belief about the situation as you are. My main point on that was to introduce the fact that foreign interests in the past have used religion to cause tension among citizens in other countries in the past (the British and the Ethiopians tried and somewhat succeeded in trying to cause segregation amongst the Eritrean Christians and Muslims in the past, thankfully Eritreans were able to overcome). I did not state that that was actually happening in Eritrea, but that it was a possibility and may be a reason why the GOE has started to restrict certain denominations. As for the youth and religion, a lot of youth were abusing these religions/denominations in the sake of not having to go to Sawa because certain religions/denominations did not believe in military service. Again, I am not stating that that is the reason why the GOE has placed restrictions on religion. And technically, they have not restricted any religions; they have asked that all religions/denominations register with the government and all religions/denominations that are not registered are not recognized.
In regards to Asmara University, I knew you would bring up the accreditation issue. You are right Asmara University was accredited and these new colleges are not. It may have been done deliberating by the GOE in order to keep its educated people in the country (I’m sure we all know the problems other countries face with ‘brain drain’). But the GOE could be trying to get these new colleges accredited. As for the small pay your friend in Eritrea receives, as well as other Eritreans in service, it is sad to hear but we all know the government itself does not have that much money period. God willing, one day Eritrea will see better days.
I still support my view of the President and the GOE enjoying support from Eritreans in the homeland and in the Diaspora because I’ve seen it with my own eyes in Eritrea and in the States, where I reside. Obviously, Eritreans in the homeland have a tough life but a lot of them realize that and continue with their lives because that’s what it is. I can not say that they deserve to struggle where we MAY have it better (depending on what we think is better). I understand that there are those such as yourself that do not support the government and I will never deny your opinion although I may not share it. But I just happen to agree with Genuine Eritrean.