Migration against the season – Awate.com

Dilemma: Do we welcome those who have abandoned the People’s Democratic Justice Party, forget the pain they have caused us because we dared to oppose the regime, and move on, or should we insist that they be held accountable for their past actions? Many people are facing a dilemma today because Abdulkader Hamdan, a journalist and veteran of the struggle era, seems to have abandoned the regime. This is a recurring development that we face and will always face, and it will repeatedly test our principles if Isaias continues to rule Eritrea.

As traumatized people, we were hurt and hurt others because of our different views on one-party rule. Hamdan tarnished my name and the name of awate.com, which I built with my blood and sweat. He subtly set the tone of confrontation against awate.com and me, a sentiment that still prevails among Popular Front supporters. How do I feel? How should I address the issue of Abdulkadir Hamdan? I decided to do it both ways: welcome him sincerely and at the same time vent the grievances in my chest for the harm he has caused me and others. And, because it represents my sense of responsibility and the principle of magnanimity; my main motto has always been to help build an Eritrea that reconciles differences. An Eritrea that is at peace with itself and others. Therefore, I congratulate Hamdan for accepting his old position and speaking out. I welcome him with all my heart.

However, the habit of welcoming anyone who abandons the JEM holy sites may not be a good strategy; magnanimity must be combined with a sense of responsibility. But I still hope that Hamdan realizes the harm he has caused to others and has a guilty conscience; he was not careful in providing false arguments to the JEM propaganda machine operators, and they are still upset about it.

Disagreements persist

Young people may think the sharp divisions we are experiencing are a new phenomenon. Some older people may deliberately forget about it, dismiss it as insignificant, or describe it with prejudice and stereotypes. Yet enough people know that our divisions are a continuation of our social ills and political divisions.

The 1960s were an eventful time, and the outbreak of the Eritrean armed struggle was just one of many. While there were political upheavals during that era, the one that had the greatest impact on the Eritrean struggle was the 1967 Israeli-Arab War. The defeat of the Arabs in 1967 closed the Suez Canal, with severe economic consequences for the region; in 1968, the only Marxist state in the region was established in South Yemen, and many influential Arab businessmen left Eritrea for Aden; from 1963 to 1976, the Marxist Dhofar Liberation Front fought against the Omani Sultan Said bin Timor and declared a struggle against British interests in the Gulf countries; in 1969, Jaffer Numeri led a military coup and took control of Sudan, ruling over a one-party state, the Sudanese Socialist Union, which he himself founded.

In 1967, French Somaliland was renamed “Afar and Issa” until it voted for independence in 1977 and adopted Djibouti as its country’s name.

In 1968, Gamal Abdel Nasser was still trying to turn the tide of the war through a war of attrition in the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula. Perhaps exhausted by the aftermath of the war, he died of a heart attack while attending an Arab League summit in 1970.

In 1969, Somali National Army Commander Ziad Barre launched a coup and established a single Marxist-Leninist party, the Supreme Revolutionary Council.

Also in 1969, Muammar Gaddafi overthrew King Senussi and ruled the country, which he renamed the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, until he was killed by Libyan rebels in 2011.

Scorched Earth Policy

The Eritrean countryside came under heavy attack from the Ethiopian military, the Ethiopian government implemented a scorched earth policy that affected many parts of Eritrea, and Ethiopian fighters strafed villages with machine guns, followed by frequent military operations by Tor-Serawit and commando soldiers, which led to the destruction of the lowland areas. Beginning in 1967, tens of thousands of Eritrean lowland villagers fled to Sudan and still live in refugee camps today.

The rank and file of the Ethiopian Liberation Army was demoralized, believing that the struggle was lost and would not be resumed. Fighters defected, fled, or surrendered to Ethiopia. Low morale led to divisions within the army. It was in this context that the Adoba Conference of 1969 was held.

At that meeting, 38 members of the General Command were elected, including Isaias Afwerki and Abdelkader Hamdan, the current president of Eritrea since 1991. But after Abdelkader Hamdan, disagreements and divisions continued, including the split of the late Osman Saleh Sabeh. It is widely believed that the split was based on the rivalry between Osman Sabeh and Idris Graudeos, both respected senior leaders of the struggle. Abdelkader Hamdan’s resentment and discontent were rooted in that era.

A. Hamdan’s Dissatisfaction

The Eritrean Liberation Front arrested Hamdan and other members of the so-called Red Sea Group (ELF-PLF) founded by Sabé, in which Hamdan was also a member. Gradually, an alliance was formed between the PLF groups (PLF1 and PLF2) and the Selfi Natsenet (led by Isaias Afwerki after the death of Abraham Twerde). In 1977, the group formed the Eritrean Liberation Front. After Eritrea’s independence in 1991 and 1993, the Eritrean Liberation Front was absorbed by the People’s Democratic Justice Party.

In the 1990s, Hamdan was one of the few staunch critics of Isaias and the People’s Democratic Justice Party. He caused unimaginable damage to Isaias and his party through a newsletter he issued. In 1998, when the Ethiopia-Eritrea border war broke out, Hamdan switched to supporting the regime and became a staunch enemy of the opposition. He ruthlessly attacked many people, even those he did not know at all, and destroyed all political bridges and many ties needed for reconciliation.

But Hamdan’s unprovoked attack brought a counterattack commensurate with his brutality. However, he became more radical. My colleagues and I sought explanations from people in PFDJ circles through Gedab News.

Soon, his leaflet published in Germany became an official newspaper and was widely distributed around the world through PYD embassies and community centers.

The late Professor Tekie Fessahatsion once taunted and suggested that we follow Hamdan’s path and become “loyal opposition.” This was a running joke in our circles. However, loyal opposition meant submissive, unconfident opposition, which many did not find attractive.

According to several Eritrean government officials, “Hamdan’s supporter in the PDJP was (the late) Alamin Mohammed Said, who convinced Hamdan to mend ties and become a ‘loyal opposition’. The gambit worked. Hamdan benefited from funding provided by German NGOs for the development of free media in Eritrea. So, as Hamdan gained prominence in PDJP circles, he was branded as a ‘loyal opposition’ and most journalists and editors of the free media in Eritrea were arrested and kept incommunicado since 2001.”

Hamdan explains that Isaias appointed him as an advisor to the Eritrean Popular Front embassy and head of Eritrean Popular Front media in Europe (a controversial claim). He was also appointed Eritrea’s representative to UNICEF. However, local Eritrean Popular Front officials, embassy and party staff ostracized him; they “treated (him) with suspicion.” His frustration was evident in his interview with Abu Bakr Saike (who, by the way, I must thank him for a great interview).

I have never met Hamdan, although I read his newsletters a few times in the 1990s. However, after I founded awate.com in 2000, Hamdan participated in a defamation campaign against awate.com, myself and my colleague Saleh Younis. His prejudices and empty accusations were exposed in December 2001 in an interview with the local Eritrean community TV program in Sweden, “RahwaTv”. I have a VHS copy of the program, and I will try to digitize it if I can save it. But you can find a link below to the Awate team’s response to the defamation charges.

Welcome Hamdan

Finally, that was in the past and is now history. Hamdan finally returned to the correct parking spot he abandoned and he was welcomed. I felt relieved that I explained my doubts, not to mention the credulous PJP supporters who still chewed and repeated Hamdan’s accusations against me. But the nature of PJP supporters is to parrot what they hear without verifying whether it serves their narrow interests. Now that Hamdan has made pointed remarks about the inner workings of the PJP, the timid character of its illusory senior officials and the forces that pulled them out from behind the scenes (similar to the deep state), I hope that the regime’s supporters will steer clear of propaganda, social skepticism and false ethnic representation.

I want to congratulate Hamdan for finally returning to work as a journalist and for abandoning the PYD. But importantly, I hope this is not seen as an attack, but rather to cleanse the bad aftertaste his attacks left on my taste buds. As for an apology, I personally have no interest in that, but I urge him to talk to those he has unfairly profiled, including those most recently, and repair relations.

Hamdan could also help by forming a “Hagar Etla” movement that would counsel people leaving the Popular Front’s holy sites after the recent pilgrimage. Perhaps this movement would choose a bright color, make T-shirts, and start 3^road WW. Just for a change.