I speak, therefore I exist.

The very origin of language has to do with the very existence of Humanity. The variety and diversity of languages and cultures in the world implies how fast human development has spread linguistically.


Migration and displacement of people for different reasons has indeed contributed in that respect. God knows how many languages and dialects currently exist but to say thousands is an understatement.

Language has certainly existed as long as we have existed in different forms, shapes and levels of civilizations. Communication and understanding each other through language is something that is taken for granted but the cultural aspect and multidimensional parameters of its impact are often unappreciated.

There is a limit for the scope of the ambition and aspiration to achieve a certain goal both in the public and private sphere. The significance of language to enrich our lives and reach out others is beyond anyone´s doubt.

In African philosophy, “Language is a mirror of thoughts. Vocabulary and grammar help in the understanding of the conceptual frameworks and logical thought patterns of people.” (Seminar on African philosophy1976: 317).

My mission as a human-being is first and foremost to socialize, contextualize, deconstruct, humanize, rationalize and universalize in all my relationships with all creatures. These endeavours to make the world a better place would be fatal without language thereby I speak,  therefore I exist.

Too many eggs in the basket :-)

Time goes very fast as usual but nothing is running out of it for me right now at the same time. My patience and endurance here in Eritrea is paying off. I have been conducting my own research about nation-building in the country for some time. I have also studied some basic Arabic in the short time I have been here. I am currently working to fix a driving license too.


I am also engaged in a short project held by the ministry of health which tries to update the general situation for Malaria in Eritrea. We are trying to study the socio-cultural patterns among all the nine groups of people of the country in terms of their use of bed nets and tendencies to seek early treatment once affected by mosquitoes. We are interested in the change of behaviours or lack of it. What factors lie behind peoples ‘approach to Malaria, seen from an anthropological perspective is the main question?

Teaching “sociology of education” at SMAP College here in Asmara is in my calendar too. I shall start doing that in a few months time but I have to prepare the entire student material on my own which is very exciting and mesmerizing. Too many eggs in the basket right now but they do not have to be fetched simultaneously. I love it anyways.

By the way, I am quite used to the life here in Eritrea now to the degree that I sometimes miss the power cuts which still occur but it is much better than before. I feel it is a relief from constantly updating ourselves from TV and other electronic apparatus.

Eritreanska själar och eldsjälar sätts i brand i Sverige.

 Att sätta eld i lokaler som tillhör Eritreanska föreningar i Sverige är ett hot mot samlingsfriheten som alla medborgare är berättigade till i landet. Alla demokratiska krafter som värnar om rätten till oliktänkande bör fördöma dessa avskyvärda angrepp oavsett vilka individer och organisationer som ligger bakom den anlgada branden.


Det finns ingenting som skulle kunna rättfärdiga dessa handlingar. Man kan spekulera om vad som driver människor som beteer sig på detta vis men det faktum att allt fler Eritreaner inte känner sig trygga i Sverige kvarstår och är obehagligt oroväckande.

Motsättningen mellan Eritreaner som sympatiserar med sin regering i Asmara och de som är mot den, har tilltagit ännu mer på sistone. Det hotfulla klimatet har också kanaliserats genom svensk media som ensidigt tagit oppositionens sida utan att kolla sanningsanhalten i vad som sägs av folk som klär sig ut för att vara ”representanter” för olika intressegrupper.

Många Eritreaner i Sverige har svårt att boka hotell och samlingslokaler för olika aktiviteter eftersom de anklagas för att stödja sin regering i hemlandet som om de har gjort sig skyldiga till brott mot mänskligheten.

Den svenska polisen och det Svenska etablisemanget har dock inga problem att tillgodose nazister och rasister med samlingslokaler och polisskydd. Jag vet inte hur man kan förklara denna hyckleri från Svenskarnas sida.

Svensk-Eritreaner har rätt som alla andra medborgare att visa solidaritet med sitt folk i hemlandet oavsett vilken sorts regering man har där. Det är upp till Eritreanerna själva att välja sin färdinriktning.

Eritrea befinner sig i krigstillstånd och så länge detta tillstånd inte förändras, kommer majoriteten av Eritreaner runt om i världen att stå bakom sin regering som är den mest självständiga i den Afrikanska kontinenten. Eritreas situation liknar inte något annat land på Afrikas horn och behöver därför studeras noga innan så kallade ”experter” ger sig på detta land som försöker att stå på egna ben på alla fronter.

Sverige och många andra länder i väst har inga problem att sympatisera med länder som Tjetjenien, Georgien och de baltiska länderna i kampen mot Ryssland men när det gäller Eritreas kamp för självständighet gentemot Etiopien är det inte många stater som står och har stått på vår sida.

Anledningen till detta är att Eritrea har alltid betonat sin vilja att föra en självständig socio-ekonomisk politik utan att tvingas att göra avkall på sitt oberoende. Man betalar och har betalat ett högt pris för detta men det är värt det eftersom Eritrea inte är till salu.

Man kan hoppas att de skyldiga till de här anlagda branderna kommer att ställas inför rättan och förklara sig och får sitt straff. Det är helt onödigt att yttra sig på detta våldsamt sätt när det finns andra medel att kommunicera och visa sitt missnöje med.

Att ta till våld är bara ett uttryck för desparation och frustration. Våld föder ännu mer våld. Jag är bekymrad över denna utveckling och tror att det inte kommer att dröja länge innan människors liv sätts i fara.

HOMEAGE TO ERITREAN CYCLISTS

HomEage and tribute  to Eritrean cyclists who are the champions of Africa and indeed the world as they are free of any doping unlike cyclists from the west. Tour de Eritrea has taken place across the country and Eritrea has prevailed once again.


The Algerians have given the Eritreans a good match but Eritrea remains number one in this continent. The cultural and traditional legacy  from the Italian colonial era might explain why bicycling is a national sport in here but the success of Eritrea as a nation is merely the result of hard-work and dedication of our beloved cyclists who train under meagre conditions.

The mountainous and barren/dry landscape makes training even harder but nothing is impossible if you have the will and determination to move mountains. “Never kneel down” is the Eritrean motto which has brought us amazing results in all aspects of life. Bicycling is no exception.

West Bromwich-Tottenham verse Nigeria-Ivory Coast

Why should a football match between West Bromwich and Tottenham matters more for Eritreans than a quarter final between the giants of West Africa Nigeria and Ivory Coast in the African cup of nations? I am enjoying the African cup of nations which is taking place in South Africa right now. Our neighbours, the Ethiopians, have participated in the tournament for the first time after 31 years. I was not able to see any of their matches as it was not sent on Eritrean TV but I have followed the other matches and teams attentively.


The Ethiopians had a pretty mediocre tournament in this 29th edition of nation’s cup. They drew one all to Zambia but lost 4-0 and 2-0 to both Burkina Faso and Nigeria respectively. These two teams have made it to the semifinals together with Mali and Ghana which is one of the favorites to win the tournament this time. The other favorite team was Ivory Coast which was eliminated by Nigeria in the quarter finals. I do not miss the host Bafana Bafana South Africa which lost to Mali on penalty shootouts the other day. Mali against Nigeria and Burkina Faso against Ghana are going to fight it out in the semifinals on Wednesday. The nation’s cup has not made any breakthrough in Eritrea at all. People seem to care less about it than the Barclays premier league, to my dismay and disappointment. Pan-Africanism is not the number one priority among the population as yet. They have other issues of like making ends meet instead.

The premier league should not be as big as it is here in Eritrea. You will find cinemas and TV-places where they show the English league even in small communities and villages. It is amazing how English football is engaging many Eritreans. It was frustrating to find a place in Keren yesterday as they were showing West Bromwich against Tottenham everywhere instead of the quarter finals between Nigeria and Ivory Coast in the nation’s cup. I was very much worried not to miss the match between the African giants and walked throughout Keren looking for bars and restaurants to see the match but it was entirely in vain. I thought that the TV in my hotel room did not have the sport channel except for the national Eri-TV. I did not even figure out that I could search it on the TV but I and the restaurant steward at Keren hotel where I stayed went up to my room and searched for the right sport channel two and found it after some efforts, to my relief and joy. The quality of the pictures was not of a world class but I could follow the match reasonably well even if I was a bit sleepy.

The question of why Eritreans care more about English teams in general and Arsenal (the gunners) in particular is the million dollar question. I keep on asking them what the special thing is with this team. Their answers of course vary but many say Arsenal plays the best football in the world and it is the team which is deprived of justice by the referees as much as Eritrea lacks that stuff in the international arena. Diverting your attention from everyday stress and worries is a normal human behaviour but why the English league is supposed to be the best and the most exciting in the world is a bad joke and a mysterious myth for me. The answer is probably nowhere to be found. Some things just fascinate us without any tangible reasons especially when it comes to favourite teams in football. What I do not like most is the preference for a foreign league instead of encouraging the domestic league which is barely attended by that many people these days. The English league is killing Eritrean soccer.

The comparison between arsenal and the Eritrean struggle is pretty funny and ironic because the ball is round and anything can happen on a pitch in a football match unlike the politics of the belly on a global scale. I say Glory to the African cup of nations. I hope Mali takes it for the first time!

Free Palestine; free west Papua and free Western Sahara now.

The demand for freedom, liberation and independence for the people of West Papua from Indonesia, Western Sahara from the kingdom of Morocco and Palestine from the Jewish state of Israel must be intensified. The yoke of colonialism and apartheid is over and every nation has the right to self-determination up to secession if the will of the people is to be respected.


The former colonial power of West Papua was, the Dutch that paved the way for the Indonesian brutal occupation of West Papua since 1969. The people of west Papua lack the support of the “international community” as their struggle for independence has barely been reported. Indonesia continues to harass torture and kill the entire population. West Papua has gold, forest and even oil which has exasperated the situation in the country as Indonesia is not willing to allow the population to hold a plebiscite about the future state of the land.

The people have therefore taken arms and are waging low scale guerilla warfare. The Indonesian government has allowed hundreds and thousands of Indonesians to move into West Papua from the mainland in order to weaken the independence movement and realize the annexation of the land without any attention from the outside world. There is no secret these days and the Melanesian island should and would get its freedom sooner or later. They need our support in that struggle though.

Morocco does the same with the population of Western Sahara which was a Spanish colony that was annexed by Morocco in 1975. Western Sahara faces the same reality as West Papua. There are a lot of minerals especially phosphor in the land and Morocco does not have the will to give up this wealth any time soon. France and the USA support Morocco. Polisario has been fighting for independence for decades but has held a cease fire for years now in the hope of being able to hold a referendum in the near future.

Morocco is though frustrating the whole process and is doing everything possible to delay and dismantle the aspiration of the people of Western Sahara for a total independence. Thousands of Moroccans have been encouraged to move to Western Sahara through special beneficial deals that puts the existence of Western Sahara as an own entity in jeopardy.

Israel gets away with whatever violation of human rights it practices against the state of Palestine or any neighboring country as the “international community” suffers from the guilt feeling of the Jewish genocide during the Second World War. The holocaust of the Jewish people as a crime against humanity shall never be denied and downplayed in its significance to understand the dark sides of humanity but that issue should be held separately from Palestine. Anti-Semitism is not the concern here but the right for self-determination for the Palestinians.

The creation of the state of Israel in 1948 caused the exodus of the Palestinians in their hundreds and thousands. The Palestinians rightfully refer to that year as Naqba meaning catastrophe. They still live in refugee camps in the region under dire conditions. I wonder why some people and states enjoy a total impunity without taking responsibility for their actions. The British should take their part of the blame for the way Palestine has been handled by the United Nations and the Arab world. I do not see any reason for the continued occupation of Palestine by Israel in the name of “security concerns”.

Over six hundred thousands of Israeli settlers are spread throughout the holy land of Palestine now. They are not going to leave their “homes” without an armed resistance even after an eventual peace deal is struck one day. Jerusalem shall be the capital city of a free Palestine. No compromise in this regard.

The same policies of racial oppression and suppression are taking place in all the three colonies mentioned here. They call for the assistance of citizens of the world with some conscience and decency left in their minds.

Namibia, Eritrea, East more, South Sudan and many other territories have succeeded to gain full independence in the last 23 years or so after decades of bitter struggle. I am sure Palestine, West Papua and Western Sahara shall achieve that in the near future. It is not a question of if but when. Only time will tell. What if that could be realized soon enoughInsha’Allah!

Enough is enough!

Free Palestine; free west Papua and free Western Sahara now.

NAKFA

Welcome to the place of Resilience. These words welcome you on the slogan board on arrival to the historical and garrison town of Nakfa. It is located roughly 210 kilometers from Asmara and lies in the north red sea region of Eritrea where the landscape is full of barren land and Rocky Mountains.


I felt the same way as I did when I came to Timbuktu, in Northern Mali in 2003 for the first time. A feeling of bewilderment and awe for the unknown in a way. My imaginations and the reality I faced there did not match each other. Nakfa like Timbuktu is not any vibrant and prospering town.

It felt as being in the middle of nowhere and reaching the end of the world at the same time but the outside appearance with dust and sandy roads is as always deceiving. Looks is indeed deceiving. So much history and resilience embodied in these two places.

It is as the late blues legend Ali Farka Toure once famously said about Timbuktu. It is not in the middle of nowhere but in the centre of the world where life has its alpha and omega. I could say the same about Nakfa despite the boredom and lack of activity.

The majority of the people who live there belong to the lovely Tigre group. Their language Tigre is, in my view, one of the most wonderful one in the world. It was very nice and refreshing for my ears to be exposed to it. It is quite similar to Tigrigna bur more melody and rhythm in to it. It should be the official language of Eritrea.

The significance of Nakfa as a symbol of Eritrean resistance against Ethiopian occupation is beyond the capacity of words to express its real importance. The mountainous town was, at some point in the middle of the 1970s, the only place in Eritrea that was not under an Ethiopian control. The freedom fighters of Eritrea had to make strategically decisive withdrawals after having gained almost a total liberation of Eritrea except for Asmara and some other small towns in the surrounding of the capital at that particular decade.

The Ethiopians never managed to force out our brothers and sisters from the mountains and endless trenches and fortresses ala Vietnam that they had built during the fierce battles. Underground clinics and hospitals were also built in the desert of Sahel. It was mind-blowing to see this place where I and my friend Goitom spent this weekend. We met a former guerilla fighter who acted as a good guide for us. We also stayed in another historical and very important town of Keren.

Eritrea is full of Rocky Mountains and the reason is said to be “the summit of mountains” which took place in the medieval ages between all the mountains of the world here in Eritrea. The mountains from countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan liked it here in Eritrea and never went back “home” but stayed here and sought asylum instead.

We were entirely taken by the heroism and determination of the fighters. It is even rumoured that the Ethiopians could have been able to run over the trenches if they had not waited for the dictator Mengistu Hailemariam´s special force and infantry brigade to make the final entry.

Rumours and hearsays with all respect but nothing could have stopped Eritrean independence. The Americans, Russians, Chinese, Cubans, East Germans and many others supported Ethiopia militarily and politically to no avail. The victory of the Eritrean forces at the battle of Afabet in 1988 singlehandedly signalled to all of us that Eritrean liberation was imminent. It was an inevitable and a priceless victory which humiliated and demoralized the Ethiopian forces for ever. We passed by Afabet and had breakfast on the way to Nakfa and back.

The victory in the port town of Massawa in 1990 was also equally significant. Eritrea was eventually totally liberated on May 24, 1991. Hundreds and thousands of Ethiopian soldiers were taken prisoners of war. A plebiscite was held two years later when 99.8 % of the Eritrean population voted for independence.

I remember the day clearly when I voted at folkets (ABF) Hus in Lund, Sweden in may 1993, for the first time in my entire life. This was the day when it finally dawned for Eritreans across the planet after hundreds of years of colonialism and occupation.

The Eritrean currency is rightfully is named after the historical town of Nakfa. I am doing a freelance research now and have been given the green light by the centre for research and documentation of Eritrea. I am embarking on an exciting journey that would be very enriching and thoughtful for me. I would like to look at the stability and peaceful situation in Eritrea from an anthropological perspective, beyond the surface, through a qualitative study of field work. The questions that are going to be raised are:

 What are the bases of Eritrean identity that have contributed to the national harmony?

 Why do people identify themselves first and foremost as Eritreans and not as different ethnic and religious entities which is the case in many African countries?

 What does being an Eritrean imply to the people of this country: Tigre, Bilen, Nara, Kunama, Tigrigna, Afar, Saho, Rashaida and Hidareb?

 Nation-building and democracy are endless processes which take time. Two decades is pretty short time in this context. Eritrea, being located in a very turbulent region with limited economic resources, has succeeded in avoiding civil war based on ethnic/religious tensions that are usually the undercover reasons of socio-economic and political disenchantments’. What explains this development?

 Is there any unilateral Eritrean culture or mindset that explains the nature of this nation?


In order to answer these questions, I intend to perform an empirical study on the field by interviewing people that would be representative for the research. The methodology and scope for my research is still a work in progress that gives way for flexibility and an open discussion.

I look forward to pursue this research for a long time and not having a deadline is very fine with me at this moment.