On a quiet Sunday afternoon, November 18th, 2007, at the Doubletree Hotel in Crystal City, Virginia, a large meeting space was occupied by a lot of determined Eritreans . It was then that I asked myself, "What makes Eritrea great?". Here, was the answer – the sum of her parts – her people. On this day, undivided, they sat side by side, Christians and Muslims, with one unwavering decision…they either live together or die together, united in their cause, just as they were at the war front which won Eritrea its' independence back in 1991.

On this day, Eritrean people gathered to address the urgent matter at hand – Jendayi Frazer's comment that Eritrea could possibly join the long list of terrorist nations (incredibly, this is the latest news), however - this attempt to outfit Eritreans with such a profile is a dismal, pathetic try to destroy the image of Eritrea on an international level. To say the least, this profile is contrary to Eritreans' plight. Very eloquently, this evening, facts were neatly presented step by step, then systematically analyzed and examined to reveal inconsistent and contradictory statements. Significant to note, not too long ago, the State Department had hailed Eritrea as one of the greatest nations in regards to its' stand as well as fight against terrorism. Secretary General Rumsfeld had stated that a lot could be learned from Eritrea in regards to its' ability to ward off and fight terrorism. Unequivocally, presentation after presentation, ranging from the elders of the community to a well-organized youth task force, several myths were dispelled, easily dismissed due to their contradictory nature. Truths, supported by facts, were brought forth by the youth, combined with words of wisdom drawn from the elders of the community, practically - using today's language, to calmly deliver a necessary message to the State Department and to America itself. On this occasion, Mr. Bereket Tecle, Hizbawi Mekete Task Force Chair, H.E. Ambassador Ghirmai, Mrs. Sophia Tesfamariam, all made strong, short speeches which served to strengthen the unified voice of the Eritrean community.

Three leaders of the Eritrean Youth Media Task Force then delivered compelling and powerful presentations. Yohannes Seyum, a law student at George Washington University, gave a history and overview of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's wishy-washiness, exposing its' contradictions and side-stepping of issues, to finally not taking a stand, although the ruling was clear and resolute in Eritrea's favor as to the demarcation of the disputed land, Badme, between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Bisrat Mesghebe, a student of international development at John Hopkins, passionately addressed the systematic way in which the U.S. targets 'enemies', points fingers and declares them 'terrorist states' and then goes about trying to gather evidence, mostly fabricated, as was done with Iraq, and now being compiled against Iran. She talked about how the American public gets mentally prepared (with the media as a tool for this), to go to war against a threat that does not exist, with a country they know very little about. This done by way of installing fear and insecurity in people to rally around the present 'danger'. How easy it has been to place nations on the terrorist list since 911. Iraq was invaded under these guises although no supporting evidence was found for 'weapons of mass destruction'.

Saba Sebhatu, a graduate in Journalism & Media from George Mason University, gave us a look into mass media and how it controls public thought. She used the important example of how Eritrea is usually portrayed by most media; as a 'tiny' nation although it is actually much larger than several countries in the Middle East and Europe. She explained how the word 'tiny' puts in the mind of the reader, insignificance and defenselessness. She also offered ways we can respond to articles which misinform, correct misconceptions and contribute information that may help journalists better understand our hardly known country; that we can counter any negative images. She also cautioned that there are journalists interested in the truth, which seek clarification and welcome information. These three segments were so well researched and presented by the youth task force in such a way that one could clearly see them as strong future advocates for our community. Additional contributions resounding all of the above comments were made by Dr. Asgede Hagos, Professor of Communications at Delaware State, Dr. Gidewon Asmerom of Virginia Commonwealth University, and Mr. Abdelkadir Hamdan, a journalist and activist of the HornofAfrica.de website.

In this meeting space, in what looked like thousands of Eritreans, was a united voice – remembering the fallen heroes, fallen in the name of freedom, with an eye towards what must be done for a peaceful future. On this day, an unseen torch was passed from elder to younger as a silent commitment was made. The knowing that the blood shed by our heroes, their bones ground into the dust, all for the right of our nation to exist, would not be for naught; and the struggle, at whatever price, to emerge as a self-reliant nation would continue. A self-sufficient African nation, 'tiny' at that…Would this pose a threat to those eager for our demise? Of course, as this would create the possibility of exporting the idea to the rest of Africa. It could be somewhat of a franchised idea, a physical, successful blueprint for self-dependence. Other African nations could follow suit and reject the concept of 'aid' and the enormous debt it inevitably incurs. Would the sleeping African giant finally awaken to the fact that it contains more than half the wealth and resources of the world? That let alone feed its' own, it could feed the world as well – once it learns how to manage its' own resources. Yes, self-reliance would be a dangerous concept. Self-reliance is what we and our leaders propose in order to survive in the long-term.

The atmosphere was charged, the Eritrean spirit had arrived hungry to commune and was fed, encouraged, reborn, and strengthened, as all agreed to renew the commitment to justice, adding to it new voices of a generation filled with enough passion and armed with enough knowledge to separate fable from fact, to cut through mass media and help us understand the power of our hearts and minds. The understanding that we each have to educate others as to who we are; that we are a people that come from a newly independent country which says 'no' to the new slavery of dependence – much like the slavery of the 'welfare' system of America that is neither well nor fair; a system which fosters numbness, laziness and hopelessness in its' people…one which binds and controls, withholds knowledge and encourages ignorance. The same policy being extended to Africans, with 'free' hand-outs as the real power and wealth is extracted and exported through numerous 'aid' organizations cleverly set up to fulfill larger agendas; however, when these countries cannot payback the ridiculous amounts they had 'freely' received, they begin selling their parts, their sovereignty, until stripped of pride, tradition, culture and most of all – Hope.

Towards the end of this meeting, we saw a clip of Ms. Frazer being challenged by a British reporter as to her statement of making Eritrea a terrorist state; Ms. Frazer's eyes wandered as she reached for answers. It was then that I recalled, it is said that in police intelligence handbooks, that glances toward the upper-left reflect that a person is recalling a memory, whereas glances to the upper-right reflect that the person is creating. Ms. Frazer is on the creative side. It makes one wonder, what the real agenda behind the 'terrorist' cloak is.

Gelila Yoftahe
November 30th, 2007

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