Eritrean Unity is too Big to Fail

Solomon Haile

November 28, 2011

It is evident that since the founding of our county, Eritreans have regarded and nurtured “unity” as a backbone upon which all our strengths, hopes, and aspirations rest. It is a belief and principle unique to Eritreans that existed for centuries and enabled Eritreans to determine their destiny. This “unity” for Eritreans is about their freedom, equality, and justice and about building Eritrea. Eritrea’s unity is rooted and born out of defying all forces of oppression, colonization, and other polarizing entities. Fact, unity created the vision of Eritrea, and it built and expanded a formidable relationship between Eritrean diverse cultures and traditions. Unity transformed Eritreans to focus on a common and united struggle that overtime cemented the path to their statehood.

Yet, the force of unity in Eritrea has been a phenomenon of division, civil war, and destruction, sometimes among Eritreans, and at other times against foreign forces. Take for example, the 40s or the 50s that saw some of the menacing schemes to the unity of Eritrea and its people when the colonial forces proposed to divide Eritrea in two: Western Eritrea to be annexed to Sudan and the rest to Ethiopia. Eritreans fought back and aborted the plan. Not only that but also the political circumstances that preceded the federation era was also focused and revolved around decimating the unity of Eritreans in order to deny the viability and existence of the Eritrean statehood. All this remarkable account of struggles shows how Eritreans are deeply committed to their unity as a cornerstone to their common survival and statehood. If you will Eritrea’s unity is built in blood oath.

It is historic – every time Eritreans faced challenges to their unity, they fought it and always came out better and stronger than the preceding times because Eritreans have always understood and saw unity to their struggle not only achievable and sustainable, but also crucial as a guardian of their independence and sovereignty.  

Yes, there were challenges to the unity of Eritrea that at times seemed antithetical to the vision of unity itself. In our history of liberation, we know we raised guns at each other that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Eritreans. This is especially true in the civil war that broke out between the two main organizations in the 70s. But just as in the 50s, the vast majority of Eritreans quickly realized that the unity of the country and its people was falling apart in the face of the then big colonial Ethiopia and acted in unison to stop the civil war. And they did.

Today, our unity has continued to weld an overwhelming power over our intellect, nationalism, culture, and thinking that overtime became an Eritrean brand too powerful to fail. One can argue the doubts and benefits of our unity but unity of Eritrea and its people has proven to be an all-powerful political and cultural identity of Eritreans that no bet can undo it.  Yes, Eritreans have made many failures in our unity, but what counts is we have always mastered a way to achieve it because unity has never been a matter of choice for Eritreans or a matter of if but a matter of Eritrea or no Eritrea.

True, Eritreans have preserved and maintained their unity over the last many decades in spite of unparalleled challenges and hurdles thrown at them. But the bets against their unity do not seem to go away. Today, as in the era of federation, we see our unity constantly being threatened by our former colonial power and its Eritrean cohorts. We have PFDJ tyranny falsely portrayed as a Tigrinya political system rather than a repressive regime, we have an ethnic/religious-torn opposition relentlessly dancing to the tune of chaos, fear, and conflict between Eritrean society, and in-between we have a small group of Eritreans (so-called intellectuals) who use their status to beat the drum of Meles regime’s plot. But such obsessive view of Meles regime or its predecessors is not new to the vast majority of Eritreans because scores of Eritreans have done that in our history, albeit unsuccessful.

All this pervasive assault on our unity is to undermine our independence and sovereignty; this is not against PFDJ regime by any stretch of imagination. But Eritreans are not bystanders in this struggle, nor are they strangers to the hegemonic political culture of Ethiopian regimes – a journey that has taken Ethiopia from one crisis to another. Eritreans know it and those against their unity know it that “unity” of Eritreans is a lethal force. To put in another way, the unity of Eritreans is like owning a nuclear weapon. Therefore, there is nothing that Meles regime and its collaborators would not do to crash such a formidable unity in order to subjugate Eritrean people.

But this is a strategy that did not help a bit Meles’ predecessors to squash Eritrea’s unity. At some point Meles regime is going to realize that it is engaged in a war that it cannot win – even those Eritreans (EDA, commission ...etc) that it has listed as its supporters to sharpen its messages will soon find out that they are not in any moral, political, or strategic position to strip Eritreans of their rights to a united Eritrea.

It should be a lesson for the EDA that the opposition coming from Eritrean people against its establishment is no accident. Eritrean people do not revere PFDJ as a saint of unity either. But Eritrean people know the EDA has dedicated itself to supporting a foreign power, one that has a disastrous agenda for Eritrea: removing the PFDJ regime and transforming Eritrea into Somalization or Lebanonization of the 80s. Of course, cloaking in the narrative of struggle against the PFDJ regime, we see EDA roars democracy to the sky, talks about justice and struggle for democracy, and unity …etc. But without reservation, every step it has taken is intended to sow the seeds of conflict in the unity of Eritrea – all behind the political instrument of Ethiopia. The truth is Eritrean people hardly see EDA as an alternative, but a dangerous establishment to Eritrea. To Eritreans, the cooperation/assistance or the mantle of neighborly coexistence with Ethiopia that comes from the mouth of the EDA is simply a relentless pursuit of Meles regime for its belligerent policy on Eritrea. Eritreans know there can never be such thing as ‘neighborly coexistence’ with a regime that recklessly keeps pushing Eritrea and its people down the hill.    

Although Eritrean people have long suspected the danger of Ethiopia in the internal unity of Eritrean opposition, it only became reality in August 2010 ‘national conference’ when it moved to own the conference by barring Eritrean national forces from participating in it. This is an all-out war on Eritrea’s unity. After taking ownership of the conference, Ethiopia seized the opportunity of putting its agenda together with a plan of forming a government in exile and drafting an Eritrean constitution. This is another watershed moment how far Meles regime is determined to the ground to slice Eritrea and undo its unity. Eritreans are not going to allow such an evil to happen in Eritrea.

Meles regime is not simply limited to pushing its agenda through the spineless EDA leaders. It also deputized a group of ‘Eritrean intellectuals’ to deliver its message and influence Eritrean people by branding the PFDJ as a totalitarian and chauvinist Tigrinya political system. Spinning this new definition, Meles regime is hoping to obscure the real motive behind its agenda – weaken the ‘unity of Eritrea and its people.’ Instead of reassessing the motive of Meles regime’s policy with intellectual deliberation, the new intellectuals of ours bought it and began immediately drumbeating about this new characterization of PFDJ regime. These intellectuals may revere Meles regime as an advocate of democracy. But over the last 20 years, Meles regime has made a radical shift, positioning itself around policies that Eritreans should not determine their own fate.      

No doubt, the move is not helping Meles regime. The vast majority of Eritrean people and the forces of ‘unity’ have rejected Ethiopia’s belligerent policy by going public. And these forces continue to warn that the Ethiopian agenda would turn Eritrea to a period of crisis that Eritreans have never seen in the history of their country unless a bold action is taken to end Ethiopia’s dangerous and hostile policy towards Eritrea. The birth of the Eritrean National Democratic Forces (ENDF) is a positive move to our ‘national unity strategy’ as well as to the struggle for democracy. It is also a departure from the two-decade long menacing policy influence of Ethiopia on the Eritrean opposition. I am not here to preach what the ENDF should do and not do. But I believe this endeavor for Eritreans is to trek their way out from the present predicament and it comes at a time when their unity faces a monumental danger from many corners. It is therefore essential for the vast majority of Eritreans that this new movement/networking (ENDF) becomes inclusive, transforms Eritreans into strengthening their unity, and fuels their struggle against both tyranny and disunity forces.

In all, I believe unity is a foundation for everything that Eritreans dream and hope for their country. Eritrean independence and sovereignty is written in unity; the continuity and security of Eritrea is written in unity. The justice, democracy, and rule of law we strive to achieve is also written in our unity. And any political legitimacy of any opposition/entity that shouts about bringing democracy to Eritrea should embrace both the unity of Eritrea and its people. Yes, the EDA and other quarters see the “unity of Eritrea and its people” controversial in order to fracture the country. They are trying to assert their disagreement with the “Eritrean unity” in many ways, primarily by operating under the tutelage of Meles regime. But Eritrean people are not going to lose sight of the fact that their unity is a prerequisite for bringing democracy in Eritrea as well as for defending their hard-won independence. After all, our unity has survived powerful forces and it is too big to fail.