Does EDA consider the killing of Eritreans as a victory or as a disaster?
Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA) must condemn the horrible acts of Eritrean Jihad
By Habtom Yohannes
August 9, 2005
Note: this article was written on 9 August but due to technical reasons it couldn’t be posted in time.
Those who shed innocent blood are not worthy of building a strong and viable nation. Those who want to drag us into an armed and thus bloody struggle must first convince us that every other peaceful means is exhausted. As history shows time and again, those who are quick to take up arms are those who lack vision. Their only program is an organised destruction like that of the PFDJ. What we need are political and civic organisations which are skilled enough to organise the public and convince the public that they indeed have the alternative: a well organised, conscious, well organised and peaceful struggle.
I was devastated by the sad news I read yesterday on Meskerem.net. There, I read that the Eritrean Jihad organisation, The Eritrean Islamic Islah Movement, has killed four members of the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF). According the news, these four Eritreans were killed by the Mujahdeen in an ambush near Augaro, Eritrea. Since this is an ambush, I assume the killings were not in self-defence but a calculated murder.
I don’t know if the news is true or fabricated to uplift the moral of the Islamic Jihad or EDA. as a whole.
Since I don’t have other means to verify this sad news in oppressed Eritrea, I suppose the news is true.
If this news is true, then it is not only sad news for Eritrea as a whole but also a terrible blow for the newly born Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA). Unless EDA perceives this bloody act a great victory. In that case the EDA-leadership must clarify to the public why its member organisation has killed Eritrean soldiers.
Does article 5 of its charter refers to such bloody acts when it states: “The Eritrean National Alliance shall resort to all established methods of struggle in order to dismantle the dictatorial system of the PFDJ.”? Emphasis is mine. The Eritrean Islamic Islah Movement is one of the 16 groups that founded the Eritrean Democratic Alliance with its charter. Please have a closer look at the charter of EDA, especially article 5 and article 7.
http://www.erit-alliance.org/Charter/Political%20charter%20of%20ENA.asp English
http://www.eritreana.com/pdf/2005/March/charter-EDA.pdf Tigrigna
And please compare article 5 and article 7; - by the way I don’t understand why one misses article 7 in Tigrigna. But in the English version of its Charter, the EDA states in article 7 : “In principle, if not in fact, the Eritrean National Alliance regards the army presently under the control of the dictatorship as, potentially, part of the Eritrean armed forces.”
The whole charter is doubletalk. What does EDA mean by “part of the Eritrean armed forces”? Which armed forces? The question is not if EDA perceives the Eritrean army as part of the Eritrean forces but does EDA perceive the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) as an enemy or not? Does EDA realize that EDF is full of forcefully conscripted patriots? Indeed, loyalists not to Isaias Afwerki and his cohorts but to Eritrea and Eritreans, Islamists and Christians alike. It is the Eritrean Defence Force (EDF) that defended Eritrea and Eritreans, weather Muslim or Christian, when they fought a war that was ignited by those who refuse to be accountable to the public. It is a crime to ambush and kill Eritrean soldiers.
I have stated that in my past articles:
Eritreans murdering
Eritreans, Eritrea loses
Every Eritrean should condemn this horrible act
By Habtom Yohannes
March 10, 2003
http://news.asmarino.com/KNZAREB/Articles/2003/031003.asp
and
"The Precision Bombs"
of Mr. Hiruy Tedla Bairu
Rushing For Power Before Death Arrives
By Habtom Yohannes
May 8, 2003
http://news.asmarino.com/KNZAREB/Articles/2003/050903.asp
Certainly in the Eritrean situation I don’t believe in a religious party; weather it is Christian or Muslim. One need not a solely Islamic organisation -that is what the Eritrean Islamic Islah Movement is!- or a Christian organisation to bring about a just and democratic change in Eritrea. I don’t even believe in Kunama or Afar organizations that are solely pure Kunama or Afar. Ethnicity based or religion based organisations are discriminatory in their nature and will turn Eritrea into Somalia; a fractionalized and devastated nation. What we need in Eritrea are inclusive organisations; that believe in one sovereign and secular Eritrea as a unitary but diverse nation. The Eritrean Democratic Alliance in its present form and with its present charter is a disaster for Eritrea. The path the EDA is following is not well thought. One can’t bring unity by appeasing Islamic Jihad and the like. What we need in Eritrea are principled leaders who dare to think beyond their lifetime and beyond the graveyard of PFDJ. What kind of Eritrea do they want to create? This is a question which must be addressed by every and each organisation but let me be clear to all of them: Eritreans have said enough is enough to the present regime in Eritrea but this doesn’t mean Eritreans are going to accept any alternative. We want a change with quality. The time of “the king who ascend tot throne, our king and the sun which shines is our sun” (Zenegese ngusna, zebereket tzihayna) is over.
We will stand and challenge you as we are challenging Isaias Afwerki and his cohorts. The key is in the hands of the Eritrean peoples.
With the help of God the Almighty Eritrea will be a democratic, just and prosperous nation.
Comments: habtomy@asmarino.com