Do you feel paralyzed? You want to take any measure your capacity can afford to help improve Eritrea’s situation, but you’re caught in some analysis-paralysis and fear that your action might do more harm than good? We’re all wedged in this vicious “damned if I do, damn if I don’t” circle.

For several years now, most Eritreans, whether they live inside the country or abroad; whether they’ve gotten an opportunity to obtain a higher education or barely read the alphabets; whether they are for regime change or are ardent PFDJ supporters; whether they are veterans of the war of independence or members of the National Service; have long concluded that the country is in peril. But a web of lies has frozen most individuals and groups in their tracks and the country’s downward spiral continues. 

No one in their right mind needs further evidence of the country’s sorry economic, social and political state. No, not even the so called PFDJ followers in the Diaspora or card carrying members of the Front. If the reports and data from respectable institutions did not convince them, their cousin’s desperate phone call from Libya probably has. If they publicly dismiss every story of abuse at the hands of the regime, more likely than not they have heard a childhood friend recite a horrendous experience. No charismatic cadre, skillful commentary or ERI-TV’s video collage can mask the failures, corruption, religious persecution, and other ugly realities of life under the dictatorship of Isaias Afeworki. 

If there is one thing we all can agree on, it is the fact that the status quo is simply not sustainable. With virtually every aspect tethering on the edge of a cliff, something will give away and the next phase of the country’s fate will be here before we know it. Depending on our point of view, change will either happen to us or for us. It will be ushered via a drastic internal reform, revolt, coup d'état, invasion, external pressure or a combination of other factors.  

Those of us who pray for peaceful transition to democratic constitutional governance seem to have very little going for us, save our wishes and prayers. Those of you who are desperately trying to place a bandage and apply makeup on the dictatorship’s increasingly ugly face are doomed to fail because you have no say on what the regime plans or decides. The ones that showed a little wherewithal to internally reform the regime and party are rotting in jail or have been effectively muzzled. It seems if the prevailing paralysis continues we will be left to drift at the mercy of unpredictable winds of change. At this juncture we have a choice. We can either watch in horror as we recast a play-by-play report of what is happening or engage in activities that will have some significance in directing these winds of change. 

But first, we have to end this self imposed paralysis. The powerful actors in this twisted play are moving about trying to implement whatever prescription and agenda they have in mind. There seems to be very little moral conflict between what they want to do and their conscience. Isaias Afeworki does not seem to be suffering from this dilemma. The Weyane will be doing whatever they think will advance their agenda.  The United States can be expected to be swayed only by the requirements of its national interest. As there is no congruence in these powerful parties’ goals, conflicts and collision will be unavoidable. But, as the Swahili proverb states, “when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” In this convoluted bout, the stake holders that have the most to lose (the people of Eritrea) are unfortunately the ones with the least power. 

When wise men and women know the limitation of their power and influence, when they contemplate the negative consequences of their actions, when they are intimidated by the odds stacked against them, when they have given up hope, when they live with the despair of their powerlessness –paralysis reigns free. But what about the flip side of the coin? What if, against our better judgment, we start believing that each of us possesses the power necessary to shape our country’s future? What if we stiffen our lips and straighten our spine and declare that enough is enough? What if nothing is impossible? What if we choose to unshackle ourselves from this metaphorical paralysis? Indeed, we are not really paralyzed.  All we need to do is adjust our mental spectacles, see beyond the web of lies and envision a better day. It is time to identify the lies we have been told, the lies we tell ourselves, the myths and the fiction. It is time to let ourselves speak aloud for the rights of the poor grass. It is time to set ourselves free. Free to defend our people from the impending disaster.  

The lies that I am referring to were sold to us for a reason -mostly to deceive us and to maintain the status quo. We sometimes inadvertently and other times happily bought these lies because they absolved us from the responsibility of action. We were told that we can’t handle the truth or the lies are for our benefit. It is very hard to speak of a phenomenon such as “a lie” without first delving into moral, psychological and societal factors which I am not an expert of. I will spare you the agony of trying to pretend that I understand the factors behind them. I don’t. All I know is these falsehoods have greatly contributed to our current predicament and if we don’t get them out of the way or jump over them we will remain paralyzed. More importantly, by harboring and nurturing them in our collective psyche, we have made it difficult for those who want to save our nation by taking a quick action. 

So, if you bought any of these lies in the past, it is time to return them to wherever they came from and demand a big fat refund. In the worst case scenario, you will keep the liars busy as they have to come up with uncontested fresh lies. It is bad enough that we are all depressed by the sorry but real facts about our Eritrea. Let’s not make it worse by believing in lies that are designed to exacerbate the situation and keep the vast majority of us from getting involved in the decision making process. This message is for anyone who believes their action can save countless lives. Especially for those who are paralyzed with indecision. It doesn’t matter whether you are a community leader, a journalist in exile, a proud member of the PFDJ, a religious leader, a colonel in the Eritrean army or a scholar. My fellow compatriots, we are equality paralyzed by these and other lies. 

Here are a few of the most frequently used lies in no particular order. 

Lie #1. “Eritrea’s situation is unique.” 

Here is a claim that seems harmless, well thought of and true. But at close inspection it is nothing but a big lie borne out of twisted logic. Yes, Eritrea’s political history and current situation is indeed unique. But that is like saying that since my fingerprints are unlike no one else’s in the whole wide world; I can only inhale nitrogen when the entire humanity breathes in oxygen. By definition every country in the world is unique. They have their own unique set of circumstances and reality. Therefore, it is absurd to claim this as a concept to reject every cure and prescription that have been tried and proven to work in other countries.   

There is nothing unique about Eritrea political situation and its people’s yearning for freedom. There is no nation on earth who managed to employ a command economy, a police state, no freedom of expression, one party and one man rule and by some miraculous revelation manage to create a peaceful state of internal and external harmony. On the other hand, countries that have traded unrealistic communist mantras for democratic and free market capitalism are prospering well. Yes, the pseudo scientists of the regime will not fail from pointing out some worst case scenarios of failures of democratization. But they conveniently forget to tell us that there are far more success stories than otherwise.   

We don’t have any “unique” problems or concerns that can not be resolved by relying on multiparty democracy and a government that is for the people and by the people. And for crying out laud, our “uniqueness” does not call for brutal dictatorship whose claim to fame includes extortion by kidnapping parents of conscripts who manage to runaway. May be our peoples tolerance to this and other despicable immoral behaviors makes us “unique”. But I am not even sure the people of Eritrea are being tolerant either. It is just that we all have been paralyzed by this and other lies and did not know what to do. 

Lie #2. “The status quo is working well and change is unnecessary.”  

If no one believes the truthfulness of a statement does it count as a lie? I am talking about when even the liars don’t believe what they say? Since their intent is to deceive, confuse and change the subject, my guess is that a lie is a lie. They know Eritrea’s youth are escaping in droves, they know that the number of people behind bars is at unprecedented level, they know that corruption is rampant, they also know that Eritreans have no legal means of changing their government if they so choose; yet they prefer to talk about another project that is “working”. Fine. Let’s talk about what is “working” then. 

Like most Eritreans, when I hear about a successfully completed reconstruction project in Eritrea I find it heartwarming and welcome the news. Who wouldn’t be pleased about new roads, village electrification, clean water, repaired schools and water dams? Intercontinental hotel, Eritrean Airlines and Tekor Dam are examples of what could be. But this is where our agreement ends with the crowd that insists on grabbing you by the chin lest you try to look and talk about other odd things. Things like the absence of freedom of movement, persecution of the religious, disenfranchisement of the merchant class, torture, disappearance, killings and abuse at the hands of the few and powerful. 

Furthermore, at close inspection, who is to say these un-audited development projects are free of the usual corruption? For an economy that largely depends on remittances from the Diaspora (economies of other countries), grants and donations –coupled with a humanity of slave labor what is so impressive about them? More importantly, are they really worth the cost we are told is being paid for them? 

Let us suppose you were to hire your brother to renovate your house and after a few weeks you come back and look at the impressive exterior paint and a well manicured lawn. Would you be pleased?  Silly question. Who wouldn’t be?  But what if you also find out that your daughter has quit school to paint the kitchen, your son run away because he couldn’t take the beating and whipping, your fence is on fire and someone sold your bed? Would you be demanding to know what in God’s world is going on or would you be too mesmerized by the exterior décor to even care? 

That is the difference between those who are demanding for change and their brethren who are hypnotized. There are better ways of renovating a house. There are alternative ways of reconstructing a country. Hypnosis is just another result of a lie through willful defiance of reality, so snap out of it!   

Lie #3. “Bad news about Eritrea helps the enemy.” 

This lie is usually told from the moral high horse with the tone of “I am more patriotic than thou”. Granted, this phenomenon is not limited to supporters of the Eritrean government. Over the past few years, we have witnessed it in America as the media tries to cover the war in Iraq. There are some Americans who would rather talk about the good things their government is doing in Iraq. But we know that true patriots view the media and information as a means to be educated, remain vigilant and check on what our leaders are up to. As long as the news is reliable and responsible the public has the right to know.  Besides, there is a mind boggling twist here. 

Instead of trying to frantically suppress “bad news”, spin and lie about it, why not spend some effort to find the source of bad acts that are turning into bad news.  If you are a government supporter, next time you hear about a group of Eritrean escapees rescued from the Mediterranean Sea (if they are lucky) please don’t wish that they were never saved just because you don’t want to hear about “bad news about Eritrea”. Your blood should be boiling and you should leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of what torture, fear and despair is causing them to flee. Before you know it, you will find out who is actually helping the enemy by weakening the nation. Don’t you stop there either. Then ask yourself if you are the enabler or financier of this tragic drama. 

We are not a nation of 4 year olds who need to be lied to about reality. When given a choice adults should always opt for the bitter truth instead of the sugar-coated lie. Those who chose to dedicate their time in order to provide us with a means of finding out the real truth about the state of our Eritrea should be congratulated and commended. No one wants to be the bearer of bad news and it is tempting to say “kill the messenger”. Again, let’s grow up and deal with the real issue. Personally, I am a better Eritrean today as a result of awate.com and asmarino.com than I would have been without them. I can balance the information and analysis with what the government is claiming on ERI-TV and shabait.com. If I were to exercise this basic right inside today’s Eritrea, I might be thrown in jail. If I am lucky and newsworthy, someone would mention that on the “bad news” internet outlets. The spin doctors and apologists will invent news about my recruitment by the American Embassy or change the subject to political prisoners in Ethiopia. If I am a-nobody, I would be joining the forgotten in the oblivion of Eritrean injustice system.   

Lie #4. “Isaias Afeworki is invincible and/or irreplaceable.” 

I have to be honest here and confess that up until a few years ago, I thought Isaias was a national treasure that we will be all hard pressed to replace one day. I considered myself fairly well informed and reasonable, yet I managed to accept this lie made up unverifiable facts. To his credit, Isaias never beat his chest and declared “I am invincible!” But before and after independence we all covered him with this bigger-than-life aura. May be the Ethiopian occupation was so terrible it was bound to happen –be it Isaias or any other first leader. Having charismatic personality does not hurt either, so the lie grew bigger.  Slowly but surely we forgot that he is a frail human just like the rest of us. 

Sometimes, it is feels so good to lie to ourselves. As they say, reality bites and it probably does not taste as good as a lie either. Consider this. A Coca-Cola drink is nothing but a glorified mixture of sugar and carbonated water, but that is not what the marketers want us to think of when we “enjoy coke.” They rather talk about the “refreshing ice-cold” elixir. So, we decided consciously or otherwise to invent a version of Isaias that is far from reality. In return, he managed to lead us into his version of reality. Then some of us woke up from our hypnotic dream and want an explanation. No explanation to be found -just a lesson. The lesson is: that is what we get for surrendering control and trust to another human. That is why they invented three-branched government system, so that leaders like Isaias can be checked and balanced.  

Let’s forget the legality of his government for a moment and deal with his competence –which is supposedly irreplaceable. What a lie!  In the patriotism hierarchy he is supposed to be more Eritrean than anyone else. But since it is preposterous to even presume that some citizens love their country more than others; and for the simple fact that there is no way of quantifying ones allegiance to the nation, let’s leave this slippery slope alone. For a man who has been a leader of the country for the last 16 years (that is more than 4 American presidential terms if you care to count) –his record should speak for itself.  Translate that however you may, but it makes you wonder how someone else would have fared had we given another person a chance. Let’s say right at the dawn of independence, we randomly picked any citizen with no experience, desire or education to lead the nation. Could he/she have done any worse than our irreplaceable Isaias? Think of the avoidable wars, think of the economy, think of the assault on the educational system, think of the international isolation and the aborted dreams. 

It’s one thing to lie and exaggerate his competence but to even suggest that he can not be replaced goes beyond a lie and insults the fertile wombs of our mothers. His contribution in the national liberation struggle should not be belittled or discounted, but at the end of the day it is just that –a contribution. In this day and age it is debatable whether he is an asset or a liability to Eritrea. Whatever your opinion is, there is only one amicable way to address that. Let the people vote and decide and give a verdict. Whoever does not want to give his people that right is a hypocrite and a big fat liar. 

Lie #5. “Hard-headedness is a virtue.” 

It is one thing to persevere and not give up one’s dream but quite another to be hard-headed about a tactic to the detriment of the said dream. All of us want to see a peaceful and prosperous Eritrea. But it is ridiculous to claim that there is only one way of getting there. If there are 9 ways to skin a cat (yikes!), why is there only one way of resolving Eritrea’s issues?  Where does the debate take place before we can all be hade hizbi (one people) and speak with hade libi (one heart)? The minute you suggest any alternative to the official position, PFDJ supporters (clappers to be exact) will give you that condescending look and lend you an advice about “belt tightening”. In their twilight zone only the mentally insane and the yellow bellies dare question the official line. But this is not merely a difference of opinion, it is a repeated lie designed to paralyze all of us into indecision and inaction. 

What makes this a lie is that the defenders pretend that they or their elected representatives participated in the debates when decisions were carried out for Eritrea hard-headed policy of border conflict resolution; the national service; the meddling in Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia; relations with the UN and the United States; and everything else. In the age of globalization and information, flexibility is more important than arrogant hard-headedness. I for one am tired of hearing that self righteous comparison of the camel and the dog or the hare and tortoise. Does it occur to them that you can easily make another story whereby the smart dog barks to warn the blind camel about a pack of wolves ahead?  Would it be the same hard-headed “the dog barks, but the camel keeps going” reply or would they come up with another parable whose moral of the story is to defend the regime at any cost? 

Lie #6. “Ethiopia finds it morally hard to demarcate the border unconditionally.” 

Let us switch gears and deal with another equally paralyzing big lie. When it comes to implementing the Border Commission’s ruling Ethiopia’s intransigencies have been described as lame excuses. But all the excuses are nothing but lies designed to force the Eritrean regime out of power. This lie, like many great lies, relies on half truths and the perpetual confusion of the main issue with unrelated ones. The leaders in Ethiopia may have succeeded in wining some political and diplomatic battles but they have paralyzed Eritrea’s democratization process by lending the Eritrean regime the same set of lies (albeit for a different purpose) to justify its iron grip.   

It is easy to see what kind of fissure this lie is deepening in the long term relations between the people of Eritrea and Tigray in particular. Anyone who can envision beyond the tip of their nose should be concerned. The small chance of returning to normalcy even after all the bloodshed is waning away everyday. The Ethiopians think that by frustrating Isaias they are wining the hearts and minds of Eritreans. On the contrary, most Eritrean view Ethiopia’s no-war-no-peace policy as the bottleneck that has chocked all their aspirations. The PFDJ regime has milked this issue and used it to chock the people even more. It does not take a rocket scientist to come up with terms and conditions to which Isaias Afeworki’s pig-headed pride would not allow him to compromise on. So, no one should be impressed by Ethiopia “border markers will divide a road, a big house….” lies. The real genius that we all would happily admire will be in achieving a breakthrough that will set the people of both countries on the right path. 

It would be great if this biggest excuse to Eritrea’s democratization would be removed tomorrow. Instead of holding our breath for both parties to stop lying to each other and the rest of us, we should continue to expose their lies for what they are and pressure them to look at the bigger and more important issues. 

Lie #7. “Government supporters are from Mars, the opposition is from Venus.” 

In the Eritrean political viewpoint-counterpoint exchanges, we have heard all sorts of religious, fictional and astrological metaphors to describe the opponents from the other side. Out of sheer frustration, raw emotions sometimes surface that leads many commentators to use such words such as “devils”, “witches”, “Satan” and “demons”. Some of them even wonder if supporters of the Eritrean regime are fully human or some kind of mutated humanoids from anther planet. Sometimes it makes you wonder if the battle we are engaged in is to win the hearts and minds of our fellow Eritreans or a scene from some intergalactic war between good and evil written by George Lucas. 

We all exaggerate (and I just did it), but there is a danger here. By bestowing political adversaries powers of the devil himself we tend to overstate their actual capacity and leave no room for compromise or persuasion. By telling ourselves that the opponents from the far side of the political spectrum are impossible to educate, inform and convince; we quickly conclude that it is mission impossible. 

The number of avid supporters of the regime in power is fast dwindling. However, most ex-PFDJ supporters are not necessarily jumping on to the opposition train either. Most of them have thrown themselves into the no man’s land of the “undecided” or “wait and see” camp. It is a testament to the failure of the organizations in the opposition to systematically and skillfully engage them.   

But who are these current or ex-PFDJ supporters anyway? Definitely not big-eyed aliens from Mars. They are our brothers, cousins, good friends, spiritual leaders, sons, daughters, uncles and teachers. To pretend otherwise is to feed a lie that keeps us in the comfort of inaction. For the supporters of the one-man-rule system it should be easy to dismiss anyone who does not agree with them. But for anyone who is striving to build an all inclusive democratic system in Eritrea, the luxury of a lying to ourselves is simply not affordable..

Conclusion 

The lies that emanated from the regime and its supporters have been for the most part rendered useless.  But the lie machine remains potent. For every exposed lie they have to invent a bigger lie that not only repeats the first lie but reinforces it as well. As the lies grew bigger and bigger, the regime seems to be forced to use mercenary liars -masquerading as independent commentators.  

Take the case of Ms. Sophia Tesfamariam and her venomous attacks and character assassinations of members of the G-15, arrested journalists and other notable citizens. By twisting some lies and half truths she attempts to defend the indefensible. In the ever growing pack of lies, she not only claimed that she knows the whereabouts of the G-15 who are probably rotting in secret jails but she had the audacity to suggest that we should be thankful to Isaias and his regime for protecting them from the “merciless” Eritrean public.  

Irritated by these and other grotesque lies one writer dubbed her “gual hdrtna” (loosely translated – a witch). In defense of the many respectable witches, I beg to differ.  She may have the matching evil intent but she is just a hypocrite who lies from the comfort of living in a Western democracy. I doubt she has the black magic power of witches, but this past Halloween, I can almost swear seeing her uptown trying to parallel park her broom. 

Enough about lies for now. Let’s end with a positive note and talk about the truth.  This article is being brought to you by ERI-TV, serving the truth. Now, in Bumper Harvest flavor. Yummmy!...the truth never tasted better.  Except for that odd aftertaste… 

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