“demeNa Sela’i” (bloody enemy) is the name that is given to Ethiopian and Sudanese governments by our embarrassing president (of Eritrea), as if they did not help us to realise our dreams of independence, as if they were not PIA’s ardent allies (for noble and hostile causes) and as if they did not pay dearly by doing so. Though they are being called demeNa repeatedly, these countries never failed helping our citizens who are in distress. They might have committed some mistakes in the past but they did so in the interest of their own country and people when a crazy neighbour starts picking on everyone that borders his property (that is what PIA considered us and the country – his own private property).

When last time my Eritrean colleague went to the Sudan for business, the Sudanese people greet her, “welcome back home our dearest sister!”  They consider us as their brothers and sisters. I do think the same too although not so many Eritreans agree with me. However, whether we like it or not, it is a fact that Sudanese people and governments were and still are our sympathisers. There was a camp for disabled fighters in Port Sudan during the liberation struggle. International connections were made via Khartoum. EPLF offices were all over the Sudan. When Jebha went out of the field, it is in the Sudan that they took refuge. We used them, until one bright morning, after a nightmarish night, Isayas decided to offend them profoundly. Then the drama started. Brother Tourabi and brother al-Bashir became ‘demeNa Sela’is.’ We were told that Sudan’s interference in our affairs is not a recent event. They told us that even in the past the Sudanese governments tried to sabotage our struggle. “Against all their conspiracies, we ‘bSfrna’ prevailed,” they elaborated. Yet, the land and the people of the Sudan are still giving shelter to those who cannot take the abuses of PFDJ and decide to try their luck in exile.

Flip-flopping is the nature of all politicians. But this suicidal retorts were ways over the line. The Ethiopian and Eritrean alliance was used for un-holy purpose once again (I will explain a little while later how the alliance was used negatively in the past) – discrediting the Sudanese government. USA, with its eyes fixated on the Sudanese oil, closed the triangle by mixing with this alliance promoting it into tripartite axis. PFDJ hooligans began to bite the hands that fed them. They bleed the people that protected them. They began to work to destabilise the Sudan by helping the opposition. They provided training to the opposition. In some cases, they even went so far as involving in the conflict directly. The Sudanese government is left with no option but to retaliate. When Aleqa Gebrehana’s (a witty Coptic priest of the 19th century Ethiopia) wife threatened to burn a baby which was left in a haste by a female neighbour after having a secret affair with Aleqa who also left his baby in his mistress’ house, he told his wife “don’t forget that there is a fire in our neighbour’s house too.” The Sudanese government retaliated by helping Eritrean opposition groups. You might want to challenge me here with regards to chronological order of events. The only source that contradicts mine is PFDJ’s. However, since the PFDJ crew has been caught more than once crying foul when in reality they were the ones who were committing the foul, I will stick to my version of the truth. Eritrea is the first in interfering in the neighbouring country’s affairs. The Sudan followed in retaliation.

Woyanes (Ethiopian ruling party’s affectionate or derogative nickname depending on who is using the term) were our heroes as well – at least between 1991-97, when the romance between Asmara and Addis Ababa was on its peak, when Meles Zenawi used to come down to Asmara for a weekend retreat, and when we were told to love our brothers in the south. The good old times indeed – when the speech was about love and friendship. Of course the “family” did a great job with regards to ousting the Dergue (the military junta who ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991). It made us euphoric then. It steel does. The objective of their alliance was not always noble though. It is been used to clear contestants from Tigrean and Eritrean struggle fields. Have you ever heard about the fate of TLF (and ELF), and how they were pushed out of the field? It was the result of ill-conceived objectives of the alliance.

When the love went stale, the romance faded, and the marriage fallen apart, the wannabe movers and shakers of central and east Africa run against each other.  To our surprise and horror, the seemingly strong brotherhood was soon disbanded. Eritreans and Ethiopians suffered a great loss. Tens of thousands of people from both sides died. Hundreds of thousands displaced. Eritreans residing in Ethiopia who was told by EPLF to embrace TPLF were imprisoned, put on concentration camps and those who are “lucky” got deported – only to be sent to military and concentration camps in their own country very soon afterwards. The story of the nightmare is long and ugly. Eritreans were called to fight the evil this time – the evil is the then lover – WOYANE. Ethiopians were also deported from Eritrea. They were man-handled, stoned and roughed up by the people of Eritrea. Especially, Tigreans were the target of unleashed fury of Eritreans. The government does nothing to stop these atrocities. The then brothers, Ken and Abel, are now at each others throat, riddled with contempt and inferiority (or superiority) complexes.

It is possible that the two governments fall out of favours and possible that their lost love can make them irreparable damage to one another. But as people, we should have known better. Any people cannot be enemies permanently. Otherwise, the result would be messy – inviting Rwandan like genocide to oneself. I know if the bloodhounds of PFDJ were given the chance, they would have turned to be monsters like the Hutus – by trying to solve the problem at hand through cleansing Ethiopia of Tigreans. To many Eritreans, who are brainwashed by PFDJ’s propaganda, Tigreans in general are considered worst enemies – worse than Tutsis were to Hutus. Their favourite word which is intended to degrade the Tigrean is either “woyane” or “Agame.” These names are not even insults. I do not have to tell anyone that Woyanay means a patriot (or revolutionary) while Agame is the name of an Awraja (sub-province) in Tigray.  Yet as if they were some kind of swearing words, Eritreans of PFDJ influence use them to mean lots of things. Nowadays, both the two words are being used synonymously with hate terms such as enemy, traitor, ‘tHte Hagerawi’ (sub-national), un-Eritrean, etc.

Whether we like it or not, we cannot scrape Eritrea off the surface and take it away from its present location. We cannot force any of our neighbouring countries off their present location either. The people of both countries are going to live around us forever. We’d better use to the inevitability of this fact and get used to live with our neighbours in harmony. The fight between the government of Ethiopia and Eritrea or between the governments of the Sudan and Eritrea is not our fight. It is not the people’s fight. It is only a fight between leadership, power and control and those in power should rather settle it either in the court of law (responsibly) or in a boxing (wrestling) ring. When most of the Eritrean youngsters choose to escape the hellish fire in Eritrea, it is the people of both the Sudan and Ethiopia who hosted them. It has been them who hosted us in the past and it is them who are hosting us now. There is no alpha and omega in worldly power. Those in power will come and go. It is us who will remain here forever through our children, grand children and great-grand-children. It is about time to start and learn to respect and love each other because this is the only way to peace and prosperity.

God bless our people!
God bless our neighbours!