Eritrea: Born 1890, put on death row 1941, eluded death 1991
23
May 2005
EDnews
Staff
An indelible geo-political history
is the trademark and essence of that what makes Eritrea what it is, what has
always been and will be, and the reason why Eritrea did not, cannot, and won’t
vanish or be made to vanish.
Humans are forgetful and politicians take advantage
of it in order to obfuscate the past; but history is cruel for it persists, and
what the human eye captures electronically or otherwise (call them pictures,
photos, maps, etc.) tells it all. And Eritrea, the former Italian colony, has
been about all of that.
On May 24, Eritrea will celebrate its 14th
Independence Anniversary. Hence, it is only right to recap where it all started
for Eritrea by way of setting the record straight in the face of endless and
malicious misrepresentation of the meaning and significance of Eritrea’s
national independence and as a humble reminder and pointer that one cannot mean
Eritrea if one does not speak of Eritrea as it was first established and known
as such, for Eritrea or any another African country for that matter did not
exist prior to the advent of European Colonialism in Africa?
History has it that 19th Century colonial
“Scramble for Africa” annihilated Feudalism and with it feudal territories
called fiefdoms, kingdoms, and imperia that were ruled by war lords then known
as Chiefs, Dukes, Kings, King of Kings, or Imperators, and gave birth to and
brought about the rise of irreversible geo-political realities (polities) as
determined by colonial treaties, which thence constituted the norms and basis
of international law: The birth and rise of all African countries (Nation
States) as we know them since and today including Eritrea and Ethiopia
(Abyssinia).
Although all African Nations share the same evil
creator (colonialism), they were not created equal, identical, according to the
will/wishes of their respective inhabitants, or with the same provisions. Consequently,
while some countries were created landlocked like Ethiopia, others were created
as coastal states, like Eritrea. It is, therefore, evident that Eritrea’s
national independence is not the reason why Ethiopia is landlocked but a lazy
excuse to perpetuate Ethiopia’s expansionist claims over Eritrea.
While Africa and the rest of the world have
accepted, recognized, and acknowledged the geo-political consequences of
colonialism including the geopolitical reality of Eritrea, Ethiopia alone
remains in selective chronic state of denial of the geopolitical reality of
Eritrea (A psycho-psychiatric disorder characterized by breathless negation of
reality, and in the case of Ethiopia, breathless negation of the total demise
of Feudalism).
At the time, an Italian colony
that bear the name ERITREA was born, first established, and founded as a
distinct Nation State with distinctive territorial boundaries secured by
distinct colonial treaties like all other colonial territories as a result of
colonialism (Italian) on January 1, 1890. The Italians picked ERITREA as a
political identifier of their colonial possession because of the colony’s
proximity to the Red Sea (Mare Erythraeum).
After being born and established as dependent Nation
States, colonial territories were disposed of to pursue an independent national
existence of their choice at the end of colonialism. Unlike other colonial
territories, Eritrea was instead sentenced to an incremental death at the end
of Italian colonialism in 1941 for standing up for its right to an independent
national existence just like any other so-established colony. Accordingly,
Eritrea’s legitimate quest for national independence was first denied by the
allied forces (British occupation, 1941-1951), then it was thwarted when
Eritrea was subjected to a UN imposed “federation” with Ethiopia against the
expressed will and wishes of the people of Eritrea (UNGA Res.390 A (V),
1952-1962), and lastly Eritrea’s legitimate quest for national independence was
prevented forcefully when in 1962 Ethiopia unilaterally voided and annulled the
“federative resolution”, dissolved the “federation”, forcefully annexed Eritrea
and declared it to its “14th Province” similar to
|
Eritreans demonstrate demanding Independence for Eritrea
during the British occupation- 1941
|
the way Iraq attempted to annex Kuwait and declare
it to its province,1990, Indonesia’s forceful annexation and declaration of
East Timor (former Portuguese colony) to its 27th province in 1976,
and the persistent annexation of Spanish West Sahara (former Spanish colony)
first by Morocco and Mauritania, 1975, and now under the sole occupation of the
kingdom of Morocco. With that the legitimate quest of a former Italian colony,
Eritrea, for national independence remained forcefully denied until the dawn of
May 24, 1991 when Eritrea escaped death by destroying and demolishing the last
obstacle, mighty Ethiopia’s occupation forces, totally and emerging as a
politically independent and self-governing state de facto and de jure.
Though not by design, Eritrea gained independence at
about the same time as Eritrea’s Centennial: 1890 – 1990. Congratulations and
happy centennial Eritrea!
Let there be no mistake that
“Ethiopia’s final act, 1962 annexation” was not the beginning but an escalation
of Eritrea’s struggle for national independence to an armed struggle after all
peaceful means from 1941- 1961 had failed.
May
24, 1991 marks inter alia the Day
- When after 50 years of
peaceful and armed struggle (since 1941), Eritrea crushed the last
forceful obstacle to its legitimate quest for national independence and
emerged as a self-governing and politically independent State de facto and
de jure
- When the world was
witnessing with a great sigh of relief how Eritrea’s national independence
led to the demise of communism in one more African country and the
crumbling of one of the most brutal communist regime of Ethiopia.
- Yes, when the world
witnessed how Eritrea’s national independence led to the liberation of the
people of Ethiopia from the grips of the fascist Mengistu Regime.
A
hundred and one (101) years after being born and founded as a distinct Nation
State (see colonial map above) and 50 years of peaceful and armed struggle
against death, Eritrea emerged as a politically independent and self-governing
State on 24 May 1991 de facto and de jure. It is the 14th
anniversary of this day that Eritrea is celebrating on 24 May 2005.
Nations
celebrate Independence Day among other things by waving and displaying the
nations single most important national symbol, the national flag, as a symbol
of national pride and allegiance to the mother/father land. Eritrea’s national
flag that was first adopted on 5 December 1995 and then incorporated into the
1997 constitution has a central red triangle with a golden wreath
surrounding a golden olive branch, located off-center, towards the hoist side.
Above the red triangle is a green triangle; beneath the red triangle is a blue
triangle. There is no
mention of variations of the colors Red, Blue, Green, or Gold. That aside,
today Eritrea’s national flag is presented officially and otherwise in multiple
variations of red, blue, green, and gold and an additional color, Yellow, as a
decorative seam. As such, Eritrea appears to be one nation with one
free-to-color national flag (see below)? They all look beautiful and there is
nothing wrong with all of the current variations of Eritrea’s national flag
except that it constitutes arbitrary deviation from what has been nationally
adopted and enshrined in the national constitution – sort of “Flag Anarchy”!
It,
therefore, behooves the government of Eritrea to bring an end to this “Flag
Anarchy” for it is bizarre, to say the least, for the people of one country to
display/wave different flags as a national symbol of one and the same country.
Eritrea’s
adopted
National
Flag
< …………………………Arbitrary Variations of Eritrea’s
national flag ………………….>
< …………………………Arbitrary
Variations of Eritrea’s national flag ………………….>
Eritrea: 1890 - 1990, Happy Centennial
Eritrea: 1991 - 2005, Happy 14th Independence
Anniversary
