Your call for a dialogue is commendable. The fact that you tried to look into the things that are common to the people of Ethiopia and Eritrea is a great leap forward. Narrow outlooks and views have made our region the hotbed of animosity, clashes and wars. The consequence is what you have described in your preamble to your modest proposal: pestilence in general; hunger, HIV/AIDS and malaria in particular. Our parents used to say ‘(Tyit - barud) yetetkosebet bota znab ayzenbm’ - roughly meaning the sounds of guns disturbs the natural environment. Hence, the search for peace must be our primary engagement.

General Comments

How do we attain that peace? Well, first of all we have to undo the negativity of the past. Many months ago I wrote an article appreciating one of your contributor’s commentary that I read at AWATE.com. I believe the writer was Yosief. (Incidentally, I received one encouraging and one discouraging ( negative) comments from your readers, and few positive feedbacks from Ethiopians.) Although I took issue with some of his later articles ( both in approach and content), I found the effort he put in identifying the common elements that unite our people very helpful.

As an introduction, allow me to indulge in generalities while not losing the main points that divide us as parties with seemingly different objectives. I do this in a spirit of openness and genuine desire for real peace. It is my hope that future discussions will focus on refining the issues of contention, and ways or approaches to resolving them. But first we need to know our points of departures.

In the past thirty odd years we were told that we are people who are alien to each other’s values, norms and cultures. Common ancestry between our people was denied. These lies were left unchallenged by democratically inclined Ethiopians and Eritreans just because they did not want to upset EPLF, or they did not want to be seen as if they were against the struggle for the democratic rights of Eritreans in general. Those bold and visionary ( a hindsight assessment) men and women who dared to voice their opinion about this fallacy were either persecuted or made outcasts by both Ethiopian and Eritrean movements of the time. Eritreans were reprimanded when they were heard speaking Amharic. At least that was the perception by common men and women who equally feared the wrath of the Deg as well as EPLF.

Those who held different views were gagged by the forces of gloom and doom ( liberation movements). I had met well-to-do elderly Eritrean gentleman and his family whose origin was from the Massawa region who told me that he was forced to go and vote for independence in Addis Ababa, his former permanent home town. I am sure you are aware of hundreds of similar stories. The result is the creation of a generation that is devoid of meaningful knowledge about our past history.

In the last thirty odd years, Eritrean groups, save a handful of individuals, have miserably failed from appreciating the contribution of Ethiopian democrats in popularizing, accentuating and propagating the right of Eritreans for self-determination. As young idealists, Ethiopian democrats of the ‘70s and 80's did not realize that their idea of justice and equality was different from the narrow and hateful ambitions of the leaders of the EPLF. That was made clear to many of us when Isayas massacred naive but innocent educated young Eritreans - the ‘Menkae group’ - those that Isayas characterized as anarchists. This group, among others, included young radical and educated Eritreans with broader democratic views and principles- Eritreans who were willing and ready to work with Ethiopian democrats.

Incidentally, Issayas reminds me of Saddam Hussein ( as a leader of the Baath Party in his early years) who identified some of his colleagues as enemies in a public gathering and sent them to the guillotine, and then wipes his tears to show that he likes them ( those whom he killed) as individuals. A perverse way of looking at things indeed.

My Views and Perspectives

I will liberally quote your article to make some points and forward some of my views on the subject and some of its contents. Let me start withe the following: “We are hereby offering this forum, awate.com, to serve our region in that respect. What we have in mind is an effort to mobilize the voices of freedom and democracy for the sole purpose of alleviating the miserable conditions in our region, as well as to promote prosperous and dignified living conditions for our people. ...”

“Kelib kaleqessu enba aigedmm”. This Ethiopian saying conveys an important message. It tells us that if we really want something, we could do it. We can achieve peace if we work for it full heartedly. But, at the outset we need to recognize the seemingly insurmountable problems that we are going to encounter.

True, the peace dividend is not to the interest of all. Specifically, peace dividend is not something that benefits those that are currently holding power and their followers. They will be losers in this journey that we all have to make for peace. As you stated in your call, it is not to the best interest of dictators to covet peace. Weed blossoms in conditions of draught and in the absence of nutrients. Similarly dictators secure their power during times of war and chaos; in the absence of peace. It is thus essential for Ethiopians and Eritreans alike to reject any posturing for war that is made by the dictators. Your forum could go a long way in promoting the common interest of both people.

“Our Fears, Our Hopes Even during the era of the liberation struggle while fighting Ethiopian armies, Eritreans never hated Ethiopians. Our struggle was focussed and concentrated on the unjust Ethiopian regimes.”

I do not want to engage in old arguments, but want to share my different view. There was no reason to hate Ethiopians in the first place. Ethiopians have always considered Eritreans as their keens, same people with same culture, similar or identical languages, religion and norms. Our parents have never taught us to look at Eritreans with a different lens. In fact many of us grew up without knowing the difference between Eritreans and Tigreans. Hundreds of thousands of Eritreans made Ethiopia their home. They prospered and loved it. At least that was our thought; our understanding. Hate was not a factor. This hate thing is a product of the liberation movements of the early eighties. Organizations such as EPLF, ELF, TPLF and OLF were aware from the beginning that creating havoc and discord among different nationalities was the best way to achieve their respective goals.

When there were about few hundred or so fighters in Eritrea in the beginning of the 1970's, Ethiopians were even taking part in the liberation struggle. The Ethiopian student movement and later on parties popularized the Eritrean struggle. More than in Eritrea the struggle against oppression of all sorts was deeper in Ethiopia. We had a common enemy, the imperial system and later on the Derg system that we have been viciously fighting against. Hence, it is important that Eritreans are exposed to other stories; stories that tell how Ethiopians were not only against the regime that intensified the war in Eritrea, but also Ethiopians died defending the rights of Eritreans and Ethiopians for justice and equality. The reality is that Ethiopians were also under the yoke of the same vicious dictator.

We have the responsibility to show our young the situations, the sentiments, the relationships and the problems as they were then. We grew up so closely with love, affection and friendship without even realizing who is who in terms of ethnic identification. Suddenly, through the divisive works of interest groups we were told that we were enemies with irreconcilable interests. To this date, we have never been able to come out of that vicious circle. Even the very premise of making peace, dialogue and negotiation, a noble cause that your forum proposes is based on an assumption that I do not quite share- an assumption that we are hateful towards Eritreans. While there are thousands that espouse the idea of hate, a negative reality that vacillates depending on current affairs, the fact is that the people to people connection is still strong.

My idea of dialogue is based on the fact that we have groups/ parties that have an interest in sowing hate between us for the sole purpose of holding the power in their grip as long as possible. And we have to realize that theirs is diametrically opposed to the interest of us, their subjects. Our interest could be realized only if we go to the basics: respect, realization of each other’s interest, nurturing the many things that are common to us, working on the negligible differences that we have, sharing our resources and looking at the big picture. I believe having a common understanding of these issues would pave a way to an interim arrangement of conflict resolution, a step that could ultimately plant real peace in our region.

Let me say few words on the following. You wrote:

“But there are many things we don’t like about some Ethiopians. We do not like your obsession of talking about Eritrea as if it were a piece of real estate without people who decide their own fate. We are insulted by your belittling of the struggle that we as a people waged. We are stunned by your inability to understand our right to self-determination and your revision of our yearning to be an independent country. We are apprehensive of Ethiopians when they equate Eritrea to (and define it by) the extremists among us. We are saddened when we see supposedly enlightened intellectuals preaching hate and violence. We hate the Ethiopian obsession with an outlet to the sea even if it means throwing the region into yet another endless war and pushing it to the abyss. We do not understand why Ethiopians, who have a strong need to be united and fear fragmentation, cannot understand that we Eritreans see ourselves as one unit with diverse population.”

The description of the special affection Eritreans have for Ethiopia you mentioned somewhere in your message is noted. On people to people level, realizing the deep rooted historical identity of the people, the feeling can’t be otherwise. However, the points you have raised above are reflections that dominate our two societies at this time. It can’t be otherwise when we have allowed elements who propagate hate on base instincts to dominate our political forum. I see hate being preached by both groups but mostly by Eritreans. They are in your forum, in other Ethiopian and Eritrean forums. They characterize the Amharas as the origin of all obstacles, the Tigreans/Agames/ as detrimental enemies.

Democratic Ethiopians do not want a destabilized Eritrea. If we consider it as our own it is because of perhaps nostalgia, the love we have to the people, to the country, or because we do not look at them as if they are different from us. That said, we are ready, and have been for a long time, to recognize an Eritrea that is separate, independent and prosperous. We recognize your yearning for independence, but you should also recognize that your independence could not and should not be at our expense, at the expense of our border area people who want to remain Ethiopian, and at the expense of Ethiopia not having a sea outlet access. An Eritrea at peace with itself is good for Ethiopia. For this to happen a democratic governance has to be installed in our region. One point deserves a deeper scrutiny, analysis and dialogue. That relates to the statement about our “..obsession to outlet to the sea..”

Ethiopians do not look at this as an obsession, but a matter of right that is based on the settlement of people, future economic progress of Ethiopia and the region as a whole, and our national security. It is a part of the border demarcation. We sometimes find it hard why it is difficult for rational Eritreans to realize our quest for sea-outlet. After all we are talking about a seaport that Issayas was ready to give to Mengistu if the later was willing to allow Eritrea proper to be left to the former. It was a factor that could have been decided by two dictators without any people to people dialogue.

Democracy can’t be built by disregarding the rights of a group. It is widely known that the inhabitants of the Assab environs, Irob and Badme want to remain Ethiopians. They refuse to be trapped by old colonial agreements to be ‘real estates’ of Eritrea. Isn’t this a plausible and reasonable request by the population in question? Shouldn’t these people determine their own destiny? Shouldn’t a group that fought on the principle of self-determination respect the desire of a given population to determine their own destiny? These are questions worth our honest opinions.

I would like moderate Eritreans to mention the deportation of over 200,000 Ethiopians from Eritrea in the early 90's, a scheme that was condemned by many organizations worldwide. Mention should also be made about the more than 40 thousand Ethiopians that were forcefully booted out from Assab by Issayas, a move that made Assab almost deserted. Eritrean democrats should take the bold step of condemning the Issayas regime for the inhuman act it committed when it deported over 230 thousand Ethiopians. Many died walking in treacherous roads and extreme heat. Almost all left empty handed from cities and towns they called home for decades, in some cases for generations.

To their credit, many Ethiopians had opposed and publicly spoken out against the deportation of tens of thousand of Eritreans from Ethiopia. Could Eritrean intellectuals boast of the same act? True, during the time of war there are saboteurs who can compromise the national security of the nation. But these are not more than few dozens or few hundreds. That is why many Ethiopians opposed the deportation of Eritreans by the ‘friend’ of Eritrea, Mr Meles Zenawi. Nothing better demonstrates the good nature and hate-free characteristics of Ethiopians than the support both moral, and material, given to deported Eritreans during that testing time. If we consider justice selectively, the outlook remains unjust and bleak.

There is one other factor that needs to be acknowledged. This, we do to emphasize the importance of truth based on facts. Nobody should deny the fact that thousands of Eritreans volunteered themselves and sacrificed their lives to gain independence. At the same time it will be the right thing to do to acknowledge that independence was realized through the participation of the TPLF. The TPLF of Meles, the Prime Minister that Ethiopians blame for all the current hardships, did more than their fare share in fighting the Derg in the plains and hills of Eritrea. It won’t be far from the truth to state that had it not been to the contribution of the TPLF, the independence of Eritrea wouldn’t have materialized in 1991.

It will also be a genuine move for Eritreans to appreciate the voluminous works of the Ethiopian student movement and the ultimate sacrifice paid by young Ethiopian intellectuals fighting in the name of self determinations. Eritreans must know how the Isayas EPLF treated democrat Ethiopians who were sympathetic to the Eritrean struggle. EPLF undermined the many declarations and supports that were forwarded to the Eritrean people by the Ethiopian Student Movement. It hid the publication from the Eritrean public, and sometimes it ridiculed and belittled it in public gatherings. As early as in the late seventies, I have witnessed the cold shoulder Issayas agents gave to a solidarity message in one meeting in Europe. It would be correct to document that fact, at least, for the sake of history. In hindsight, it is now clear why Issayas wanted to keep the two people at bay: he wanted the division to deepen, the hate to be instilled in young minds and therefore the ‘contradiction’ between the people to be irreconcilable.

You also wrote:

“We are apprehensive that they don’t recognize that the Eritrean struggle, among other reasons, was a result of a betrayal by Ethiopia. It is a result of Ethiopia always wanting to protect its interest by sowing seeds of discord among Eritrean social forces. ...”

Legal arguments aside, it is all clear that the feudal lords of the past and the dictators of the present do not represent the people and the country in the real sense of the term. Will I be right to accuse Eritrea and Eritreans for the sin that was committed by Issayas and his clique? Similarly, will it be morally correct to accuse Ethiopia of Betrayal? Eritreans did not choose federation because they liked Haileselassie, but because they strongly believed that they have a historic and natural connection to the people in Ethiopia. Ethiopians can’t be blamed for the political and leadership manoeuvres of the Haileselassie cabinet and the federation leaders of Eritrea at that time. I hope that Eritreans who have now lived under a dictatorship will realize the depth of my argument in this respect.

Unless one wants to own all the maladies of the past, it will be wise to recognize that the feudal system was pitching one group of people against the other in order to help it sustain its governance over the people as a whole. Again, unless one wants to disregard the agony that people of Ethiopia experienced during the last half century, it is clear that Eritreans were not the only people that faced oppression. Only Eritreans who have lived under both the Haileselassie Imperial system and the current Issayas dictatorship could judge under which one they are/were better off. It seems silly on my part to compete on the idea of who was oppressed more. I just want to show that it would have been wise to recognize the same fate we faced as people in the past, as beyond any doubt our fate in the future will be similar in nature.

Finally you wrote:

“What Eritrea and Ethiopia (and for matter, the entire Horn) need is a moderating influence and agents of change. As ordinary citizens, we can formulate solutions to the problems that bedevil our countries, through dialogue and in an environment of mutual respect, without being encumbered with the game of politics—which is all about getting power and keeping power. We can discuss the thorny issues and present our people not just another list of problems, but actual solutions to their problems.”

“Our goal should not be to wage a propaganda or actual war to guarantee the precise location of a border marker; our goal should be to design a political and economic system that renders the border marker, just like European borders, economically irrelevant. The goal should not be an obsession with Asab; our goal should be on how to transform Asab to a prospering port where the national flag will be secondary to the insignias and logos of the merchants. Our goal should be to exchange ideas on how to maximize our two nations' economies of scale; how to develop our garment industry, our fisheries, our salt mines, our hydroelectric power, our art and culture.”

I generally agree with the thrust of your message. Not only economically, but also politically the border marker should be irrelevant. We do not only share economic resources but also cultural, linguistic and historical resources making the idea of forming separate non viable states irrelevant. I know that this will not bode well among the ultra-nationalists among us. In pragmatic terms, it will be also hard to convince a generation that has sacrificed so much that its struggle for independence was worthless. That is the present reality. Given this reality, a people to people confidence building measures should be our focus for now.

Equally important is for Eritreans to understand why we insist on Assab and the other contested areas. Many rational Ethiopian democrats are convinced that Assab is of a vital economic interest for Ethiopia. Ethiopia can’t afford to lease ports for economic purposes. The issue of sea-outlet, aside from the people settlement issue, is a resource issue that Ethiopia can’t do without. We want Eritreans to realize this fact and work with Ethiopians on how to find a solution for this impasse. In my view and writing from the heart what matters most is the needs, wishes and interests of the people in question, and not the opinions and pronouncements of foreign legal experts. After all, when one rationally think of it, what will be the economic and security loss to Eritrea if it relinquishes Assab to Ethiopia considering the fact that Eritrea still will have hundreds or a thousand kilometres of sea access to its advantage? This question begs an honest answer from Eritreans that seek peace and good neighborliness to prevail. If the thinking is that Eritrea will prosper through the earnings that it gets from Ethiopia, then the relationship will be more of parasitic and less of mutual resource sharing.

Even in economic terms, Eritrea will gain more from a peaceful brotherly relationship rather than through rent that it will accumulate by controlling the port. It is not difficult to measure the superior economic benefit Eritrea would gain if Ethiopia opens its border and its huge market to the former compared to a closed border and an abandoned Assab. If learned Eritreans fail to see the huge benefits they could get by relinquishing Assab to Ethiopia, then their idea of prosperous Eritrea will remain just that- an unrealized dream. On a political level and in our quest for peace, it won’t do good if Eritreans choose to ignore the demand of 70 million plus Ethiopians for a sea-outlet. The attitude of some who tell us that it is too bad that Ethiopia is landlocked and it has to live with it will certainly exacerbate the current reality.

Bad mouthing, ridiculing and pompous ‘zeraff’ mentality have done us only wrong in the past. This is not definitely hard to realize. Every action ( positive or negative) is challenged by a reaction. A positive action would have brought us the long awaited peace and prosperity by now. The least we can do now is acknowledge our past wrongs and allow the coming generation to live in peace. Not doing this would not make us different from donkey that said ‘enie ke motku-gne serdo ayibQel’. ( Not to mention that this old saying was attributed to the donkey by the Omnipotent Man!!). Mind you, even as it is, many of those that follow the dictators’ orders do not share any benefits ( or ‘sedo’ as in the donkeys case). Hence, in the final analysis it makes them less intelligent, but equally greedy as the donkey.

Last Comments: To All Ethiopians & Eritreans

I have mentioned a great deal about our intertwined past, our similarities, and our common heritage. But recognizing that alone is not a panacea for our common ills. Wars are most generally fought amongst those who have a common heritage, or past or interest. When dictators that do not take the interest of the population as a whole want to take it all, when they want to’ take all the cake and eat it too’, it is then when unfortunate wars happen. It should not have happened in the Horn. Now it has happened, we should make a commitment so that this never happens again. One sees the endless wars in the middle east, Europe and Africa. We have to learn from their experiences ( and ours) and reverse this sick mentality of war.

In this article I have generally and liberally commented on the very vital issue of sea-outlet that we need to resolve if we have to be good neighbours. The issue of border demarcation will remain our current challenge. But even if that challenge, through bilateral negotiation, is resolved to Ethiopia’s satisfaction, normalization of relations on people to people level will be hard to follow unless the question of Assab is fully resolved. Unfortunately, I fail to see any resolution of our problem under the current leadership of the two countries.

We Ethiopians realize that on the question of Assab, the current prime Minister of Ethiopia has the same view as Issayas and Eritreans in general. Hence, I can understand the logical conclusion some Eritreans have reached when they advocate for a dialogue with Ato Meles. But what they fail to see is the fact that Meles is the extreme, almost a lone voice, on the issue of border demarcation. Any agreement that is made between Meles and Issayas would not hold in the future. Hence, the need for understanding and people to people level, heart- to heart discussion between the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia is more vital and current than ever before.

Temporary fixes may be in the work now. The shuttle diplomacy, the assignment of a new envoy by the UN, the indirect pressure exerted by the US on Eritrea are meant to force them to reach a compromising agreement - an agreement that slightly differs from the Hague ruling. But to think that a long lasting peace and harmonization of relationship will occur under the current regimes is the worst mistake one can make.

Arrogance and know-it all attitudes that are the trade mark of our dictators have somewhat trickled down to us. Eritreans can see the depth of arrogance of their dictator in the recent response to US criticism delivered by the Embassy of Eritrea. Issayas and his group have never been challenged by anybody to date, and they have got away with whatever mess they have created in the region. He still thinks he will get away with it. He can’t realize how his response harms his country. This ego problem has been an obstacle in our desire to communicate with each other. It is my hope that your platform for a dialogue addresses some of these problems.

I know that many ( Ethiopians as well as Eritreans) will not, to the very least, consider the positive response to your call as a prudent measure. Some may think that to pursue such a move is naive. Some may even think that we are enemies that do not have any future together. Others may characterize such engagement as a conspiracy or being used as a tool by the enemy. In my belief, however vocal they may be, these are in the minority.

Good ideas do not necessarily come out of consensus. Few good bold people can lead us to achieve the desired objective. This basic and simple logic should propel us all to initiate the journey to making peace in our region. Many of us, knowingly and unknowingly, have brought up this mess to our people. It is only fair to demand from each one us to be part of the force for peace and friendship.

The least we can do is not to fall prey to the machinations of ultra-nationalists who will work day and night to discourage the voices of peace and reason from marching forward in the quest for stability in our region. I have tried to lay out our problems as I see them. As an Ethiopian, I have put my argument by always putting Ethiopia’s interest at the forefront. But I think that I did this without compromising or hurting Eritrea’s long term interest - an interest best served by having a friendly and open Ethiopia.

Imagine the scene when the forced barrier built to divide the people is removed; imagine the free movement of people as has been the case since time immemorial. And one would ultimately understand the meaning of freedom and peace. That is the ultimate reality that renders our talk of borders, and sea outlets and settlements meaningless. It is my hope that your initiative will start the process for that future ultimate reality.

Good Luck.