Recently, I saw the beauty and spirit of that simple yet powerful email
put in practice by one group of Eritreans and trashed by another. Three leaders of the Eritrean Community in
Santa Clara, California, with the best of intentions paid a personal visit to the
regime-affiliated group in San Jose to deliver an invitation for civilized
dialog1.
That is the “thinking” part. Unfortunately, this noble step was harshly rejected
and boycotted by the San Jose group2.
That is the part where people are willing to let others do the bad
thinking for them – remotely from Asmara. Both are listed below for your
reference. Read them and judge for yourself.
To the best of my knowledge, I will describe the dynamics of what took
place. Although obvious, I must also mention this is only my opinion and I alone
am responsible for any errors or other shortcomings.
There are two Eritrean communities in the South Bay – one in San Jose
and the other in Santa Clara. The Eritrean Community Center in Santa Clara is open
to all Eritreans including regime supporters.
In other words, no litmus tests. The same cannot be said about the higdef group in San Jose as illustrated
by their abrasive reaction to an otherwise friendly and timely call for action.
One of the services I like that is provided by the Santa Clara center is bringing
Eritrean and non-Eritrean speakers to share their knowledge and diverse experiences
with the community. On top of being educational, these sessions tend to bring the
best in people where ideas are shared freely. Windows are opened to a much bigger
world with its infinite possibilities. And that is why I support the Santa
Clara center.
The regime in Eritrea and those who serve it have routinely used fear
and fabricated stories to demonize, intimidate and eliminate free-thinking Eritreans
for decades. In line with these practices, the Santa Clara center is falsely
painted as being “anti-Eritrea” for simply refusing to exclude anyone.
Some have privately admitted they actually like what the center stands for but
they are afraid to be seen in an “anti-Eritrea” establishment for fear of
losing visitation privileges to Eritrea. Although this is a poor justification
for inaction, the fear is not totally unfounded. Regime informants in the Eritrean
Diaspora have been instrumental in getting innocent Eritreans jailed during their
visits to Eritrea. Why? For exercising their individual rights to think for themselves
and for attending gatherings the regime in Eritrea doesn’t approve of.
Unwilling to accept this disempowering status quo, the Santa Clara
center leaders took the initiative to reach out to the community at large and
to the San Jose group specifically. The three gentlemen from the Santa Clara
center who took this worthy initiative have no problem with the existence of multiple
community centers. They fully accept any individual’s right to think freely. As
a result, the San Jose group’s right to affiliate itself with the regime is not
in question. (I also agree it is their right but that does not mean it is the
right thing to do. In my opinion it is a huge mistake to give unconditional
support to a failed regime whose primary trademarks are total and
complete abuse of power, active promotion of poverty and ignorance, unparalleled
cruelty against its own citizens, mind-numbing propaganda and massive national
robbery where no one outside a handful few know how Eritrea’s resources are
being squandered. Support should only be given if and only if such feudal
practices are absent).
The leaders of the Santa Clara center found the divisive environment and
lack of communication among Eritreans to be unacceptable. As a gesture of
goodwill, they took the admirable step of going to the San Jose group in person
to explain what they are trying to accomplish. Unfortunately, their noble call to
come with “open mind and softened heart” fell on deaf ears. Worse, without a shred
of evidence to support their claim, the good deeds were dismissed as “dirty
tricks”. Unwilling to reciprocate the courtesy and respect paid to them in
person, the San Jose group posted their rejection publicly in dehai instead. Of course they have the right
to do that, but not a civil response.
By boycotting the event, the San Jose group actually deprived themselves of a good opportunity. If finding the truth was their objective, they could have used the genuine call for civilized dialog to ask questions and to clear their doubts about hidden motives and dubious funding sources they seemed to be concerned about. The motive was pure and it was explained to them in detail and in person. The venue was donated through the tireless efforts of an Eritrean who passionately believes in the culture of dialog. The cost of the water offered to participants was $15 or less. That is all -- no dirty tricks, no hidden agenda and no CIA funding as they are so fond of accusing anyone who dares to think independently. The regime’s long history of sowing mistrust and ignorance in our communities has blinded us from seeing genuine acts of goodwill occurring right in front of our own eyes. Isn’t it time to stop asking for permission from others to confirm what our own eyes are seeing in real time?
The San Jose group mentions “true identity” and “dialog with whom” as
if they don’t know the identity of those who came to them with the olive branch.
I will have more to say on this insanity about identity another time. For now,
it is sufficient to mention they know exactly who came to invite them – three
thoughtful gentlemen any level-headed Eritrean would be proud of, ready to address
the problems they see in their community. So why knowingly perpetuate the
regime’s culture of division and backwardness? The undeserved harsh response will
only strengthen the resolve of those who are determined to build the culture of
civilized dialog. Efforts to build the much needed common ground will go on,
the fear will be defeated and the healing process will continue.
The challenge to the community at large and specifically to the silent
majority is this: do we have sufficient courage and self-respect to overcome
the fear and to embrace good ideas no matter where they come from? Are we ready
and willing to mend the fractured trust? It is time to go beyond empty
slogans to solve the complex problems Eritrea and Eritreans face jointly. Mr. Awuah’s goal of cultivating ethical
leadership and innovative thinkers is not only good
for Ghana. It is also good for Eritrea -- or any place for that matter. Everyone
should be able to say “I am thinking now!” because enlightened
societies got there by rewarding their citizens to think. Why is thinking a
punishable crime in Eritrea?
=== References
[1] – All-inclusive invitation by Eritrean Community
Center in Santa ClaraPLATFORM FOR CIVILIZED DIALOGUE AMONG ERITREANS
Dear Eritreans in Bay-Area
The purpose of this letter is to invite you to attend civilized dialogue among Eritreans
Upon private conversations we, Eritreans everywhere, discuss issues concerning Eritreans. However, our private discussions are limited to small groups that we rarely share our ideas outside of our inner circles. We tend to enjoy discussions with those who have opinions like ours. As a result we have refrained from coming together and have civilized and open discussion with those who disagree with our opinions. This undesirable behavior is forcing us to live in a divided society and hence it is preventing us from solving common problems for our common good. The division is so bad that we have two community centers in San Jose who hardly talk to each other. Our new Eritrean immigrants are disoriented and try to survive in their new countries without the support of a strong community. The list is too long and we feel it is time to stop this destructive behavior and come together for civilized dialogue
We
are, therefore, inviting all Eritreans to an open and all-inclusive forum to
share ideas on how we can focus our energies towards
1)
Solving
real problems that are common to all Eritreans2) Bridging the gap and bringing harmony among Eritreans by cultivating a genuine sense of cooperation
We strongly believe we can do great things together. And it is with this spirit we invite everyone for a free exchange of ideas. Please come with an open mind and softened heart to share your ideas and to listen to other voices.
[2] - Rejection of above invitation by higdef group in San Jose posted
in dehai.org
21
መጋቢት 2013
ዘተ ኣብ ሳን ሆዘን ከባቢኣን ብጉዳይ ኤርትራን ኤርትራውያንን ምስ መን ?
ኩልና
ፈሊጥናዮ ከምዘሎና ጸሓፊኡ፡ ኣዳላዊኡን መዋሊኡን ኣብ ዘይፍለጥ ኩነታት ንጽባሕ ቀዳም፡ 23 መጋቢት 2013 ኣብ ሳን ሆዘ፡ ካሊፎርንያ ኣኼባ ኤርትራውያን
“ንምርድዳእን ምምያጥን”
ዝብል ንክትሰምዖ ደስ ዘብል ዝመስል
ግን ካልእ ኣጀንዳን ሸርሕን ከምዘለዎ ምርዳእ ዘየጸግም መደብ ተዳልዩ ኣሎ። ሓድነትና፡ መንነትናን፡ ተጻብኦታትናን ልዕሊ ኩሉ እዋን
ዝንጸረሉ ኣብ ዘለወሉ ግዜ፡ ዝኾነ ኤርትራዊ ኣብ ከምዚ ዝኣምሰለ ምድንጋርን ዘየርብሕን ጉዳይ ብምእታው ክቡር ግዜኡ፡ ጉልበቱን፡
ገንዘቡን ከየባኽን ንሕና ደለይቲ ሓቀኛ ፍትሒ፡ ሰላምን፡ ሓድነትን ዝኾ’ና ኤርትራውያን ብትሕትና ነማሕጽን ኣሎና።
ሓቀኛ
ሓድነትናን ረብሓናን ብመንነትናን ጽንዓትናን ይደልድል !
ዘልኣለማዊ
ዝኽሪ ንሰማእታትና ! ወትሩ ዓወት ንሓፋሽ !
ኤርትራውያን
ካብ ተኸታተልቲ ጉዳይ ከባቢና
March 21, 2013
“Platform for Civilized Dialogue Among Eritreans” with whom ?
We all know what is going in
Eritreans’ affairs these days. In light of this, we would like to alarm and
warn all true peace loving and justice seeking Eritreans not to fall for the
dirty tricks of those who are pretending to broker peace among Eritreans of San
Jose and environs, scheduled this Saturday, March 23, 2013, in the name of
“Solving Real Problems” and “Bridging the gap and bringing harmony among
Eritreans by cultivating a genuine sense of cooperation”. So far no body has
openly disclosed where this “Civilized Dialogue” initiative has come from and
who is sponsoring it.
Peace can only be achieved
through true identity and perseverance !
Eternal Glory to our Martyrs ! Wetru Awet n’Hafash !
Eritreans who follow up real
developments
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