We have for a long time been making an effort to publicize our revolutionary stand and our views on the political conditions of our country. We do realize, however, that our statements have not been reaching all appropriate audiences due to the shortage of funds and other means necessary for the task.
We are thus taking advantage of the favorable conditions and the convenient time at our disposal to present this historical exposition entitled "Our Struggle And Its Goals." Whereas what we have to say is most directly concerned with our country, Eritrea, and our Eritrean people, it is of utmost importance to our supporters in particular and the people of the world in general.
We would like to firmly remind all concerned not to take this position paper lightly, since it goes beyond an exposition of our revolutionary struggle; we assure the genuinely interested that our country Eritrea, its people and their struggle can be explained clearly and adequately. We, who are expressing our views through this exposition, are Eritrean liberation fighters who separated from the administration of the -"Kiada el Ama", "General Command", in March 1969.
It is true that almost all of us or a majority of us are Christians by birth, cultural and historical background. Those who view our makeup superficially may regard our struggle as religiously motivated, an assessment that we do not desire to overlook even if it may be the result of a lack of insight into our objectives. Instead, we urge anyone who seeks to understand our position and ideology to road all our publications.
Further, we hereby state our readiness to meet with and openly clarify our stand to those who might entertain doubts as to what the nature of our struggle is.
Although we deeply understand the complexity of the reasons which caused us to take our stand, that is, to separate, we are fully cognizant of the fact that some of those who look at us with interest or concern ask themselves questions such as "Why did the Christian elements separate? How did they separate? When did they separate? What is their goal? What do they seek? Are they religiously or nationally motivated? Are they revolutionary fighters or Christian crusaders? Are they reactionary or progressive? Etc...". We also know that they may not find satisfactory answers within themselves. On the contrary, they may get distorted information and blame or even oppose us.
Thus, it is not only questions that are asked about us, opinions are also voiced. Many have pretended to be on our side and have been known to applaud our supposed "separation from Moslems". Others may similarly applaud our separation on the ground that it "has been long overdue". Others still merely declare that we are "religiously" inclined, and so on.
All such opinions are illusory. It seems that there are more opinions addressed to us for the purposes of deception, praise, threat, defamation, criticism, bribery and the giving of different goals to our struggle than we can constructively use.
We fully recognize the fact that it is our duty and ours alone to give a satisfactory answer to those who seek to know, to discourage those who seek to deceive us, to thank those who praise us, to assure those that are bent on bribing us that we do not compromise our aims to accept comradely constructive criticism and to remind those who attempt to buy us that we are neither commodities nor animals.
The nature of our struggle and its objectives is better known to us than anyone else, especially the news-shoppers and gossip-mongers. Based on this awareness and hoping that our position will be clearly stated, we have embarked upon this exposition.
A Brief Description of Our Country: Eritrea and Its People
It is a matter of common knowledge that we Eritreans are the nationals of a country with distinct boundary economy, political evolution, history, culture and traditions. It is equally well known that, for the past several decades we have been subjugated by foreign conquerors and pro-imperialist African expansionists.
These very oppressors have erased our boundary lines, confiscated our economic wealth, arrested the high level of political awareness our society had reached, distorted our history, obscured our languages, replaced our culture and traditions by alien ones and totally robbed us of our human rights and dignity.
Our present struggle against Ethiopian oppressors is nothing more than an extension of our militant Eritrean struggle against foreign oppression. We are sacrificing our lives to free our people from the shackles of Haileselassie and his masters, to attain independence for our country and to realize the self-reliant progress of the Eritrean people.
Oppression does not come from foreigners alone. Neither should it be associated with foreigners alone. There is also oppression and struggle within a society. The rich over the poor, the master over the slave, the powerful over the weak, the chief over the village, the old over the new ...:'etc., are types of political and economic oppression found within class societies. But in time, oppression is invariably met with resistance.
The impoverished and the workers rise against the rich, as do the slaves against the masters. The village militates against the chief, the weak unite against the powerful and the new erupts over the old. This is a historical truth. It is evident that when contradictions in society reach a breaking point, the forces of the oppressed rise up to destroy the various forms of oppression.
Thus, so long as freedom is not equally and universally extended to all members of society, i.e., so long as there is oppression, there is struggle.
The above holds true for Eritrea. Inasmuch as we constitute a society, we have various contradictory characteristics. This in so in spite of the fact that Eritreans as a whole share a common history, economy, political tradition, culture, and similar or related languages or folklore. One may erroneously see the religious differences as the major contradiction in Eritrean society.
For example, our separation may be understood as having been based on religious differences. Similarly, one may be tempted to look at Eritrean society primarily in terms of division between Moslems and Christians. In any event, let us first carefully investigate and analyze the nature at theEritrean society and its people.
A. Geographical Location
Eritrea is bordered by Ethiopia, the Sudan and the Red Sea. Geographically, it is generally divided into highland and lowland areas. Whereas the lowlands consist of the plains along the Red Sea coast and those along the Sudanese border on the west, the highlands consist of the plateaus bordering Ethiopia.
Religious affiliation in Eritrea roughly corresponds with the geographic characteristics of the country. Thus, Eritreans who inhabit the lowlands (Metahit) are mostly or almost wholly of the Moslem faith. Following the demarcation drawn by the Italian colonialists, Eritrea is divided into eight provinces.
The highlands consist of Hamasien, Serae and Akele-Guzai. The lowlands along the coastal plains are called Semhar, Sahel and Denkel, whereas those in the western plains are known as Senhit and Barka. The lowlands constitute about three-fourths of the land surface of Eritrea, with the highlands making up the remaining one-fourth. It la well known that because of the strategic importance of its geographic location, Eritrea has been the focus of the greedy eyes of foreign colonialists.
B. Economic Conditions
Although Eritrea is rich in natural resources and has enough agricultural, mineral and animal resources to make it economically self-sufficient, its people are still in the early stages of development.
They live as farmers and nomads. Since our country´s wealth is stolen by foreigners and exported abroad, the Eritrean people are forced to live in poverty, deprived of their country's economic wealth. Those who live in the highlands lead a relatively better life due to their settled farming occupation, whereas those from the coastal plains and the lowland areas live the roaming life of nomads.
The basis of all social oppression is economic. Thus, foreign oppressors motivated by the greedy desire to rob Eritrea of its wealth, have used and are using our people's religious, ethnic and regional diversity in order to divide and continue to exploit It. This is a historical fact.
C. Population
The people of Eritrea are about three million. Their distribution, however, does not correspond to the country's geographical divisions. Though the highlands constitute a smaller part of Eritrea's land surface, they contain more than half of the Eritrean population. The lowlands in the western areas are predominantly arid and, therefore, are sparsely populated. Although no recent census has been taken, a 1957 census gives the following provincial population distribution:
1) Hamasien 24.7%
2) Serae 15.7%
3) Akele Guzai 15.3%
4) Barka 17.5%
5) Senhit 8.3%
6) Sahel 7.9%
7) Denkel 5.4%
8) Semhar 5.2%
D. Political Development
A close look at our country's political development shows that foreign colonialists and their puppet shave used religion as the weapon through which they achieved their goal of easy access to economic gain.
From 1940 onwards and in response to foreign oppression, the centuries-old struggle of the people of Eritrea started to divide into two political groupings. Most Christians demanded "Union" with Ethiopia, while most Moslems wanted "Union" with the Sudan. It fell on the United Nations to make the final decision that has thrown the people of Eritrea into an ocean of suffering. Another fact of the history of our political development.
E. Languages
Although more than nine languages are spoken in Eritrea, the main languages are Tigrigna and Tigre. These are Semitic in origin and are the offerings of the Geez language. Other languages which do not descend from Geez are Bilen, Beja. Baza, Saho and Denkel. In general, highland Eritreans speak Tigrigna and those of the lowlands speak Tigré, but they are more specifically distributed on linguistic lines as follows:
Tigrigna: - Mostly spoken by the inhabitants of the highlands (Kebessa) of Eritrea, the majority of whom adhere to the Christian faith. But it is also spoken by some Eritreans of Moslem faith, such as the Jeberti. Tigrigna is not spoken only in Eritrea. It is also the language of the people of Ethiopia's northernmost province known as Tigrai.
Tigre: - Spoken by Eritreans inhabiting the north-eastern plains and the western lowlands, the majority of whom have adopted the Moslem faith. But it is also the language of Christian Eritreans, such as the Mensa of eastern Senhit. Tigre is also spoken by many Sudanese in Eastern Sudan
In the same way, Eritreans inhabiting the areas bordering on the Sudan may be religiously, linguistically and by virtue of some common cultural and traditional characteristics be related with some of the peoples of eastern Sudan.
Lastly, Eritreans who inhabit the coastal areas may, by virtue of their proximity to the sea, be susceptible to and influenced by the culture and traditions that come to them across the sea from the Arab world.
However, the internal relationships and unity within the country have a much broader and a stronger base. The surface similarities with neighboring peoples along the borders can never be a rationale for the slicing up of a nation. It in for this reason that Eritrea must remain a single nation. It is not a country that will acquiesce to its division between Ethiopia and the Sudan.
Besides, if the Eritrean people along the Sudanese border are viewed within the context of the people of Sudan as a whole, we find they are hardly related. In the same way, Eritreans along the Ethiopian border are very different if related to the people of Ethiopia as a whole. What is more, just as there are geographic, economic, religious, linguistic and folklore differences in our country Eritrea, there are equal or even more pronounced differences amongst the peoples of Ethiopia and the Sudan.
If we remember ancient history, we find it almost unrelated to what we have in this modern age. If we were to re-establish nations and determine borders based on ancient history, we would have to create a new world consisting of new nations. In the case of Africa, we do not even need to go back to ancient history. For, if we were to attempt to create new nations based on the conditions that existed a few centuries ago, we would form a continent consisting of thousands of parts and division. In short, the differences amongst the Eritrean people are a phenomenon found in many other countries and, as such, our recognition of them is neither a source of shame nor a hindrance to a united Eritrea. What we are trying to clearly state is that religion by itself cannot be a basis for any struggle for national liberation. It is rather a tool of oppression and personal gain.
Can we contend, for example, that all the religious and social differences we have already listed are merely religious? The truth is that religion in one of over ten characteristics peculiar to the Eritrean make-up. As such, to say that it is the basis of all the differences, oppression and struggle within the Eritrean society is nothing more than injustice.
As we have seen, the Eritrean society could, very broadly speaking and if the various differences are overlooked, be divided into two major groups. Since each of these major groups has its own religion, (Islam or Christianity), it could conceivably appear as if the social differences in Eritrea are religious. Such an assessment appears more pointed whenever foreign oppressors and opportunistic Eritreans exaggerate it in order to promote their own selfish interests.
The main objective of the above exposition is to clearly state that it is wrong to divide the Eritrean people on the basis of religion and to stress the fact that Eritreans are a united people. Anyone who denies the truth of what we have said, be he an Eritrean or an outsider, either does not know what he is talking about, or is an opportunist or expansionist.
Let us now return to our main topic. If the situation is as we have described it, why have we decided to separate? The reason and basis for our separation goes back to the formation of "Jebha", the movement for the liberation of Eritrea. This goes back to 1961 and involves many events. We will, therefore, try to relate it as briefly as possible.
The progressive forces in the world know that a revolution that is based on a struggle without a clearly defined political line cannot be crowned with victory. As has been made clear by the Eritrean experience, the mere fact of roaming around with arms and sporadic shootings, if unaccompanied by a clear political direction, is vain and futile.
That the armed struggle which started in 1961 had no political direction and did not take into account the objective conditions in the country has been commented upon by many Eritreans. The Eritreans who founded "Jebha' proclaimed the advent of the armed struggle without making sufficient study and analysis of the concrete conditions of our country and society. They simply proclaimed the "revolution" without a revolutionary line or organisation, and with no delineated program of action, nor did they have a defined political objective or direction.
In the Eritrean struggle which then was not based on a correct political line the few opportunists increased their ranks in number and embarked upon a struggle for personal power. They cultivated differences and discord and aggravated them increasingly. They became increasingly preoccupied with the devising of schemes aimed at gratifying their lust for power; and they decided that they sound an effective tool in the ethnic differences among the fighters in the field.
Thus in an effort to capitalize on them, they magnified these minor contradictions and then used them to manipulate the liberation forces. This corrupt pursuit of personal aggrandizement eventually led to dissensions within the front.
The bosses who enjoyed a luxurious life outside of Eritrea had the capacity to conceal their true selfish interests. Nevertheless, they felt the need to make empty gestures to solve the problem. For that purpose they temporarily left their seats in the foreign countries and went to the fields where, around the end of 1965, they divided the forces into four groups. Their main purpose behind this measure was to quell down their agents in the field who instigated the ethnic dissensions, and to further expand their followings and consolidate their forces.
The professed reason for dividing the forces was that it would facilitate the setting up of more zones of operation and would enable more Eritreans to come into contact with the ideals of the movement and join it.
But this kind of operational framework could be soundly divised only after a thorough study of the concrete conditions of Eritrean society, the accurate identification of the opportune timing and the careful consideration of all political and military strategies.
This was the kind of undertaking which required serious and thorough study and planning; it was thus meaningless to assign a division for Barka a division for Senhit, another division for Hamasien, Seraeand Akeleguzai, and another for Semhar and Denkel. Such a division of an already small force, without making the requisite study, serves no nationalist or revolutionary purpose. It is thus clear that this measure was intended to promote the selfish interests of those few individuals.
Wrong Measures of Correction: Even though there was a continuous flow of highlanders into the armed struggle, their number did not still equal that of the Moslems. Highlanders joined the various divisions of the front in the course of fulfilling their role as Eritreans; however, they came to sense the tint of ethnicism and regionalism in the set-up of "Jebha".
With the idea that an ethnic group can most effectively be dealt with by those who are its members, it was decided that the various divisions should be headed by individuals who are natives of their respective regions of assignment.
But the division for the Christian highlands of Hamasien, Serae, and Akele Guzai was led by a Moslem from the Saho. The Christian highlanders thought that this was not in accordance with the adopted policy: this awareness led to their discontent and complaints.
The bosses of "Jebha", true to their tendency to put their selfish interests in the forefront, decided that the discontent that prevailed among the highlanders in the field would be quelled by setting up a division of Christian fighters under the leadership of a Christian.
Thus in 1966 they organized the Fifth Division by extracting forces from the four divisions, chopping the Third Division in Hamasien province, and installing a Christian lackey as its head. By compounding their mistakes, they only aggravated the problem they had caused a year earlier.
Religious Convulsions: The setting up of the Fifth Division was a further extension of the policy based on ethnic differences; it certainly could not be a solution to the problem. As stated above, the measures taken by the bosses were not guided by true revolutionary principles; they were military strategies opposed to the people's interest and based on religious, ethnic, regional and reactionary considerations.
Those opportunists in the two separate divisions were waiting precisely for a confused situation which they could exploit. Realizing the problems in the administration of the United Front and hoping to exploit these problems, those opportunists declared their willingness to join it. All those who, from the outset, aspired the unity of all the forces, welcomed them believing they were sincere. Thus, the fighters met in a place called Adobha where they agreed to unite all the divisions under the common leadership of "Kiada El Ama". It was then decided that a National Congress would be held within a year, that is, sometime before September 1970.
The Second Phase of Oppression
It is said that "the offspring of a cat follows its mother's nature". These religious fanatics who did not previously find the chance to carry out a religious war now found opportune conditions with the leadership of the "Jebha" in their hands and they started to roll up their sleeves and sharpen their knives to murder the "Christian" fighters whom they always viewed from a religious standpoint.
To accomplish their scheme, their first Step was to eliminate those within their ranks who were opposed to them. Thus they placed six members of the "Kiada El Ama" in prison and subjected them to harsh treatment. Further, right in the heart of Kessela, they murdered the two revolutionary fighters, comrades Kidane Kiflu and Welday Gidey, who for many years had energetically worked to redirect the course of the struggle.
They were under the impression that if they killed these valiant and insightful leaders, the rest could hardly accomplish anything. The dead bodies were placed in sacks and put on a taxi to be transported to a trash dump called Hafera. On the way however, as if to plead their case to the world-public, the corpses of the two martyrs fell out in the middle of the street.
After the death of those martyrs an order was passed, similar to that of 1967, to kill all the "Christians" who were in the field. Consequently, more than two hundred revolutionaries were slain throughout the field. In desperation, over two hundred others surrendered to the Haileselassie government.
Besides giving orders to kill Christian peasants, the leaders of "Kiada El Ama" also tried to further their criminal schemes by distributing arms under the cover name of 'Militia' to people who did not understand the concept, and then started to stir up long forgotten feuds that existed between some Christian and Moslem communities.
Moreover, they committed and are still committing savage crimes in the highlands by throwing bombs, opening machine gun fire in public gatherings, looting and raping women. In general, almost all the Christian fighters in the ranks of the "Jebha" were either murdered or forced to surrender to the Haileselassie government.
What alternatives exist?
Conditions being such, should one opt to face butchery in the hands of "Jebha' simply because one was born Christian or should one surrender to the enemy, the Haileselassie government ? Which option is better? Dying at the hands of religious fanatics or giving one's hand to the enemy? Both are abominable; both are poisonous pills to swallow; both mean death. Moreover to make neither choice is tantamount to sitting on the edge of a sharp blade. But rather than choose either of the two alternatives, it is better to sit on the edge of a sharp blade.
Now then we are the fighters who chose to act on the edge of a sharp blade. We are the fighters who made this choice rather than die in the hands of the religious fanatics of "Jebha" or flee to Ethiopia. It is said that he who does not participate in battle belittles its hardships.
Those who did not face what we have faced, those who have never confronted the physical and moral hardships which we have experienced may spread rumors about us and even blame us. It is understandable.
We wish to make it clear that we separated from the fascist administration of "Jebha" and not from fellow freedom-fighters. It is a big shame that there should exist religious, ethnic and other divisions within the Eritrean liberation struggle.
Our conscience does not allow us to tolerate such a state of affairs which subjugates the masses for the benefit of a privileged few. The objective of our struggle is not to foster communal strife but to promote harmony and to win national liberation. We therefore resolutely oppose the opportunistic and divisive elements that work against our national unity and thus, undermine the struggle for national liberation.
Since we are witnessing within our struggle the development of personal power contests through claims and counter claims of the allegiance of one group or another, we unequivocally state that we are opposed to ethnic parochialism.
We wish to remind these tribalists who have tried and are still trying to maneuver us, that their attempts are futile and that they are only exposing themselves. We are freedom fighters who are dedicated to the unity of all progressive combatants without regard to their ethnic or regional backgrounds.
Our Objectives
First, we will share and discuss with our Eritrean comrades the program of action we have designed to reach our final objective. Nonetheless, till we present our full program in our second exposition, we present here a short summary of our goals:
To create a society where no economic exploitation or political oppression of man by man exists;
To build a prosperous nation with educational, agricultural and industrial developments;
To establish a National United Front with no distinction as to religion, ethnic affiliation or sex;
To establish close solidarity with all progressive peoples in the world, especially those in Africa, Asia and Latin America;
To combat world imperialism led by the United States;
To smash Israel Zionism:
To wage armed struggle to gain national liberation from Ethiopian oppression as an immediate goal.
Victory to the Eritrean people!
Victory to the progressive peoples of the world!
Long live the Eritrean Liberation Fighters!
Death to Ethiopian oppression!
Down with imperialist, Zionists and all Reactionaries!
LIBERATION
Published monthly by:
Eritreans for Liberation
In North America
Volume II No3
March 1973
Source: Nordic African Institute Library
Uppsala, Sweden
