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Ali Salim
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Original spelling: Ali Salim. No reviewed aliases or translations have been assigned.
13 unique documents. Authored by: 1; Mentioned in source: 12. Role counts can overlap within a document.
For decades I never followed Eritrean politics seriously, but every now and then I do browse different Eritrean websites to quell my curiosity. I’ve read many articles written by different people, some that I agree with, some that I don’t agree but have great respect for and some that make you say what was he thinking. But given the nature of the Internet, since there are no rules, no moderators or judges, we all have accepted every irresponsible Loose Cannon has every right like everybody else. And that’s a good thing. After all if one person’s right to speak-up his mind is not protected, no body’s right is. Last June when I read Ali Salim’s article, I was shocked beyond belief because I’ve never seen these kinds of articles in my life. I felt so bad I started writing a conciliatory and brotherly article but before I finished my article, Ali Salim wrote another one again, and others added some more, and more, and more, then my Tegadalay Instinct kicked in, looked for pattern and I said, aha, got it. And I decided to respond to his challenge with a very simple straight talk that you can display as a bumper sticker. And I’m going to share my Bumper Stickers to Ali Salim and to the whole world so everybody can see. Trust me he is going to have all the beef he can chew and some more. If Ali Salim wants to challenge back, which I believe he will and he should, I’ll listen with respect, open heart and open mind. And you will be the judge.
That was during normal days, but every day was not a normal day. When the Ethiopian army was about to attack, there would be a code change followed by a lot of chatter, nonstop messaging on the bigger communication radios followed by nonstop communication on the mid-sized radios, because moving a large army involves a lot of things, from troop movements, logistics, unit positioning, war planning,…. and so on. Then you can bet your last penny, few days later the logistics and planning phase would be completed, the Ethiopian army would make a move and the small radios in the war theatre would jam the airwaves. Therefore whenever there was too much chatter and whenever the airport was busy with frequent taking off and landing of airplanes, our Tegadalay Instinct taught us to be alert, spread out, dispatch reconnaissance teams closer to the enemy, break the code and make a counter move. The moral of the story: if it was one emotional article filled with anger from Ali Salim, I would have taken it at face value any time. But Ali Salim, Mohammed Ahmed and Hamid Salman all at the same time jamming the cyber wave, with identical message and tone for five months straight: my Tegadalay instinct tells me that’s too much chatter, something is on the move, break the code and find out what makes Ali Salim et al tic. Now, let’s break the code and unveil the message behind the chatter:
...stand up and say I AM …….I want an organization that defends my ancestral land against the Land Grabbers (Christian Tigrignas) that have over-flown to Gash and Barka, and an organization that will defend my right to stand in the middle of Kombshtato to preach my beautiful faith (Islam) to others (Christians)… Ali Salim - Sep 03, 2009
To all of us Tigrigna Christians, even though Ali Salim’s angry, emotional, threatening and divisive articles are shocking, equally it is a blessing. Since we don’t know how to read and speak Arabic, it will give us an idea what some of our Muslim brothers are saying on the other side of the isle. I’m saying some because every Muslim doesn’t agree with Ali Salim. Once we are informed, we the Tigrigna Christians will be on the same page with our Muslim brothers to ask the tough questions that will lead us into finding lasting solutions to our challenges. And these are some of the critical challenges. How should we distribute power, resources, services and wealth on proportionality based equality among ourselves in a way that is fair and balanced? How should we live and prosper with trust, respect and peace as neighbors, schoolmates, co-workers, employees and employers without erecting fences and walls among us? After all, we sweat, bleed and died for this country at every square inch of the land equally to our proportion, unified without creating walls and fences as Eritreans first and then as different ethnics, regions and faiths. I believe Ali Salims arguments and challenges don’t pass the test of these principles. But we have to remember there are segments of our population that feels Ali Salim is speaking for them. The way to deal with his argument is not to ridicule him but challenge his ideas. Weak people attack people from the shadow of darkness while confident people who are comfortable under their skin challenge their opponent ideas face to face in public with a real name, and return address, because they have nothing to hide and nothing to fear.
When you are dealing with Ali Salim’s “shock therapy” articles, the first thing that comes to mind is why now? What is different today? What is the motive behind these articles? What is Ali Salim smelling this time that wasn’t there before? What’s cooking in the house today that is making Ali Salim salivate? Why is he giving us I HAVE A DREAM …CHANGE IS….. TIMES HAVE CHANGED..….. Back to back speeches now, not last year, not five or fifteen years ago? You ask these questions not because of their relevance to the issues that he is raising but to understand the motive, the timing and the sincerity behind these messages. And the motive, the timing and the sincerity of these messages is hard to miss. Let’s look:
It is true, Ali Salim may have blown a lot of steam when he brought the plight of his aggrieved people to the fore. But this much is also true—he single-handedly raised some pertinent issues, which many preferred to defer till after the eventual removal of the dictator. But deferring those burning issues would have been like asking your children to tip-toe through a minefield, hoping that they would make it to safety. Only fools would take that chance.
Also as I mentioned before, these are the folks who pretend to be defending ALL ethnic Tigrignas against the perceived attacks by Ali Salim, even after Ali Salim clearly defined his target group as the hopelessly bigoted section of the Tigrigna community and not necessarily as the entire ethnic group.
9. The same F. Nair has the habit of asking demeaning questions. This time he wanted to know who I am and on whose behalf do I speak, politically that is. The latter question was the same one I asked him few years ago that he never answered. To answer his questions: I am some one who believes that the unity, survival and success of our country can only be assured through a national democratic secular movement. There may also be other reconcilable similar programs. Anything less is settling for religious and ethnic politics a guarantee for the free fall of our nation. Now, I know the merchants of division will jump to conclusion by labeling EPDP as an anti religion. No one is advocating for communism; please do not be bamboozled by those who wish to see us divided. There is no reason why the two cannot live side by side peacefully. The talking heads in the websites and the EDA zealots flooded the broadcast and cyber media with the notion that historically, Muslims have been oppressed and excluded from the govt. employment. That is true to some degree. But there is one fact these guys don’t want to reveal. Generally, Muslims in Eritrea were by trade business owners and would not go for a meager government salary. That is to say, they were better off than many so-called employed Christians. Again I am not saying there were no Muslims who needed employment by the State. The sure way to secure justice and equality for our people is to be united and work towards creating a democratic system. Bottom line: that government must be one that respects the collective will of the governed. The second question was on whose behalf do I speak. To be brief, I do not speak on behalf of any particular group, ethnic or religion. I speak and do along with those who strive to realize the points espoused above. Mr. F. Nair also assumed I am afraid of Ali Salim and awate. As ridiculous his notion is, I must remind him that they should be afraid of themselves for the monster they created in the body politic of the Eritrean resistance. Rest assured I have nothing to hide and nothing to be afraid of. History will judge us who was right and who was wrong. Polorizers can never be proven right anyway.
The last few weeks, Ali Salim turned us out with his abrupt punches and spat on our nasty faces. The horror of it for Ali is that he understood the entire story, he (along with a few established writers) could read both sides of the coin, those of us who couldn’t read or wouldn’t like to see the bloody storm approaching the nation might blame Ali Salim, and scream “who allowed this sharp-tongued guy to run his mouth on awate.com?” They might never ask themselves whether he is telling the truth or just lying. I would quote a Tigrigna proverb I recieved a few month months ago: “Haba’E Quslu Haba’E Fowsu.” How true!
Ali Salim was reluctant to frame the issue as a Muslim/Christian concern preferring instead to tackle what he considered to be more “negotiable” items of highland/lowland differences. But eventually (I don’t know if he was aware of it), he ended up doing exactly that by exonerating the Sahos and the Jebertis from “highlanders” or “ethnic Tigrignas” (as Selam alluded).
Fourth, Ali Salim said democracy is “a protracted process that took centuries”. This is true but it is truer for the pioneers who didn’t have democratic models to follow and had to resort entirely to trial and error. Fortunately for us, there are now many fully functional democracies we can study and learn from. Moreover, in contrast to old democracies, emerging democracies have the added advantage of operating under a new paradigm where democracy has become increasingly popular around the world. This gives new democracies an added boost and increases their chances of success.
The irony is some websites such as http://www.awate.com/ (in 2009) had been posting articles under the author name of Ali Salim, that the Tigrigna Christians are criminals and that the Muslims have suffered by their criminal acts citing Shifta Ghebre Tesfazion but when it comes to shifta Hamid Idris Awate, they are threatening the Kunama movement for calling Awate shifta and they are trying their best to cover up the crimes of Awate. Not only that, they are calling shifta and criminal awate, a national hero and they are imposing their will on the rest of us. But Ghebre Tesfazien’s crimes are far less than Awate’s. Awate’s crimes have no match at all. It is not me or the Kunama movement who are saying this, but the British administration.
I have included the interview conducted by the British Administration police officer with shifta Ghebre Tesfazien in order to be able to compare and contrast between the nature and scale of the crimes committed by both shiftas. As we can see from the interview, first and foremost Ghebre tesfazien was driven to turn to shifta because of the extreme hate he had against the Italians resulting from the injustices he suffered by the Italians and the denial of justice under their rule. As the result, he decided to be a shifta to avenge the Italians. His targets were the Italians. From the Interview, it is clear that he killed many Italians and a British officer. He admitted proudly for the killing of the Italians and he apologized for the killing of the British officer. Leaving aside the British officer, the crimes he was accused of were for targeting civilians (Italians) and the British are right to pursue him as criminal because though the Italians were foreign settlers but still they were innocent civilians. We can also deduce from the interview that shifta Ghebre was a religious and God fearing person and a nationalist who advocated for Eritrean freedom. Some people may argue that he was advocating for the unity of Ethiopia hence he did not stand for freedom. But for him as it was the case with the majority of the Christian highlanders of his time, he believed that the Eritrean and Ethiopian people are the same people who need to unite and be governed under one flag. Furthermore, from the interview, we can understand that shifta Ghebre Tefazien had no hatred or negative attitude against any ethnic groups, race, religion and region except the Italians. But as long as he was a shifta, we can neither prove nor disprove allegations of looting animals and property from the Tigre/Beni-Amer community in the western lowland of Eritrea as it is claimed by Ali Salim (Awate team). The essence of this comparison is to show that nobody has come to defend shifta Ghebre Tesfazien when he was accused of crimes by the Awate Team and others, the very team who is defending Shifta Awate.
We Kunama therefore, wonder whether such quarters, individuals or groups of individuals, within and outside of the PFDJ regime's circles, do have a pinch of salt in their brains to think that Eritrea, in its present ethnic and culturo linguistic diversities and minorities, has not yet reached that level of the national territorial and economic identities which could accommodate such theories, claims and rights of communal ownership and usage of the Eritrean land. The Territorial identities of the Eritrean different nationalities are just as different and exclusive as their ethnicities, languages and cultures are. The Eritrean nationalities, including the Eritrean-Tigrians, who are in fact, well-known to be extremely and fiercely protective of their own land property rights, identify themselves fully with their own and respective native and ancestral homelands or regions. Surely, no one is contrary to and rejects the idea that all Eritrean citizens have the right to live wherever they like, but not either forcefully expropriating the native populations' lands or systematically ejecting them from their homes, villages and countrysides. At the present times, it is of very prominent importance and of utmost priority that the native populations are left to maintain and enjoy their native lands' exclusive property rights, for, infringing upon such traditionally and very eagerly protected rights, may mean a real launching of the Rwandan type of ethnic conflicts, hatred and violence. The land issue is also the ethnic-groups' issue and therefore it is just as sensitive as if an ethnic-group were to wage war against another ethnic.-group. The Kunama and the other Eritrean refugee populations of the western lowlands, still languishing in Ethiopia, in The Sudan and in other countries around the world, are longing to get back to Eritrea, one day, and reclaim their own respective native and ancestral lands' property rights. Who is going to deny them such rights? What if those resettled populations were to refuse to dislodge from those native homelands? Will therefore, ethnic conflicts likely to rise, as Ali Salim and others are fearing and warning us of? Serious questions!
UNGRATEFUL CITZENS,(part 1..)
HIS EXCELLENCY , PRESIDENT FOR LIFE, ISAYAS AFEWORKI,
May god protect you from ,hamshay mesrii, menkai/ hayka , and religious fanatics from the low lands.
you have about 500.000 supporters / worshipperas : although 3.000.000 people think you are a DICK this has never stopped you before, it should not stop you now. By the way most of us are from kebesa / highlanders. We like your´´ forced´´ dumeniale/settling of highlanders to lowlands.thank you. my relatives are now eating fiber. If you thought we kebesians/highlanders were full of shit, you should see us now . Thanks to the fruit fiber, we really are full of shit now. LITERALLY!!!!!!
1) God forbid, if any thing bad happens to you, who is capable of ruling the way you do it!!! Is it the akeleguzay (whom we know from the KAGNEW experience ), even a fly from Hamassien or seraye COULD NOT LAND A JOB WITH THE AMERICANS.!!!!. Of course, mazagaja bet & police force was full of hamasien & seraye respectively.
2) Or could it be ALI SALIM of AWATE:COM,who tries to reintroduce ....Critical thinking, peaceful co-existence & respect to all nationalities. What a pathetic intellectual, where does he get such un-Eritrean mentality? Is he trying to make us sissies/weaklings. True Eritreans believe in HEROISM, regardless of the consequence or validity of the principle.We, TRUE Eritreans, are even scared of your name.
And reactionary/medharharti individuals like Ali Salim & other wogenawyan,trying to get into our conscience, the joke is on them, WE DO NOT HAVE ONE.
As a young boy I remember my brother in law was teaching in Ingerne...Agordat . The TOR SERAWIT did not kill him. You know why? because he was wearing a cross - neck lace.Do not you have cross in your area ? I also want people like ALI SALIM , to know that former comandis/fetno derash relatives of mine have joined after derg started burning mereb*at / brick houses in the highlands & killing all kinds of people.
I WILL CONTINUE TOMMOROW part 2!!!!!!
cc. Asmarino/comments
cc.ALI SALIM / awate
The 2010 opposition camp conferences were one of a kind. They were the first step to embracing democratic culture and the start of civil dialogue in Eritrean civil society. Every entity is doing what it can to sell its ideas to the public. Even some extremists are seasoning their rhetoric by civility and tolerance and change of heart to buy credibility in the civil societies that are emerging at an alarming rate. The EDA has adopted a new insignia, possibly with Ali Salim’s finger prints on it. But what the heck, the “unforgivable sin” doctrine is a sin that a believer should not commit if he is to inherit the Kingdom of God according to Christian doctrine. Fortunately for Ali Salim politics does not operate that way. So, if Ali Salim and his entourage make a change of heart and decided not to chase off any Eritrean who they believe has no right to live in what they call “our ancestral land”, and have transformed themselves so radically to the point of designing an insignia showing an Eritrea map cuddled by a dove with a “peace sign” and Noah’s olive branch, I must say this is one of the most remarkable turnaround to be chronicled in the annals of Eritrean history. How better can it get than this when we don’t have to worry about our skulls being chopped off by the swords of overzealous and territorial extremist activists for just being at the “wrong place” at the “wrong time” somewhere in the lowlands of Eritrea? But thanks Ali Salim anyway, whoever you are, for the interesting climax and anticlimax that you created that kept everybody talking for a good eight seasons. You certainly know how to stir the hornet’s nest. And you are forgiven during this upcoming Thanks Giving Day.
2. Another recognizable trait is that many educated Moslems have come to adopt the Islamist position. Considering their earlier roles, this is a very surprising position. However, Moslem intellectuals did not simply flock towards the Islamist trend that followed the Rasai coup. The progressive role they played during the struggle for independence was so strong and alive that their aspiration for democracy for all Eritreans did not die easily. Despite the grudges that most felt in the aftermath of the eviction of the ELF, Muslim intellectuals still hoped to play an active role in the country once a constitutional government and the rule of law were established. But, things went wrong and we know what followed. As a result of this frustration, and combined with the pressure and incentive that may have been coming from organizations like the Eritrean Muslim Council and other external bodies, more and more Muslim intellectuals adopted the position of Islamist groups thus further polarizing and endangering the national question. Today, we have former communists gone Islamist and ‘moderates’ attacking Christian intellectuals just because they are Christians. We have seen a barrage of articles re-writing the records of history and accusing Christian highlanders for practices for which only the PFDJ government is responsible. An extreme example may be the ‘Ali Salim’ brand, but actually the common aim, conscious or not, of all this was two forked: One is to make Christian highlanders feel guilty of ethnocentrisms and the abuse that Moslems have been subject to, thus effectively diminishing the role of Christian highlanders and their problems. The second is to get, if possible, the support of Christian intellectuals and, in the event that this was not achievable, to render them completely disturbed, disintegrated and ineffective. The result is a scenario of Islamist groups successfully controlling the EDA and imposing their choices. Moreover, the timing was incredible. A torrent of Islamic issues did fully engage the web for a scope of a year or so in order to subdue other national issues and render them of little consequence at the just concluded EDA National Conference. The uncompromising nature of the ‘Eritrean Covenant’ (which should rather be renamed Eritrean Islamic Covenant), the different calls intending to sell it to Christian intellectuals, and the hurried nature of the proposal for a ‘Harmonized Constitution’ were all intended to fit together. The call for reconciliation was therefore a window-dressing. First because the Islamists avoided all reconciliatory tones and accepted no negotiation; secondly because whatever there is to reconcile comes only after the required change of government is put in place (as the wise Tigrigna say: ‘MerAwi keyHazas Arki Haza’). Needless to say, this strategy is doomed to failure because it throws the stone at the wrong person. Yet, it has bred tension and sown distrust among Eritrean Christians and Moslems in the Diaspora. This, I am afraid, will not benefit either side.
But we have to be very careful and very selective about the formation of the leading members of opposition groups. Ages ago, our grandfathers said: arki sebar neka'e, the friend of the broken is the cracked. There are some opposition leaders who absconded the PFDJ regime when they failed to win handsome diplomatic portfolios from Isaias. Those individuals shouldn't come to power for their selfish ambitions or personal interests. Indeed they kept quite for many years while Isaias tortured Eritreans and they fled when Isaias demoted them. Moreover, in order to resolve our past and present problems, we have to be transparent and accept different points of view from our patriotic writers and groups. I wonder when some writers accuses Ustaz Ali Salim as a regionalist, racist and Islamist writer. I wholeheartedly endorse the majority of his views. Considering that Awate.com is open for all of us without discrimination, why should it be closed for the articles of Ustaz Ali?
It is difficult to differentiate between the writers who are acting as a bottleneck on the journey towards freedom of expression and the PFDJ. It would be nice if those writers avoided their halowlow and brought their evidences to challenge Ustaz Ali. If they prove their point that Ali Salim is lying, we will fight him together. Ustaz Ali has become a headache to many writers because he tells the truth that is bitter to admit.
I paused reflect after reading Semere Tesfai’s article (Ali Salim's Land Argument: A Mirage of Power Ambition (awate December 10, 2009), in which he challenges Ustaz Ali Salim who have been debating about the mother of all our issues and problems, with transparency and clarity that most Tigrigna intellectuals (the likes of Semere) are not used to. They went mad and published a lot of articles in an attempt to discredit the legitimacy of Ali Salim’s arguments with the intention of preventing those issues from being elevated to become a popular opinion, which wouldn’t help those who are all-willing to keep the status quo for their own interests at any case.
It is much easier task for me now because many of the misconceptions and fallacies that Ustaz Semere Tesfai presented may have been answered in other articles. Why does the mentioning of the facts cause frustration and disappointment? Semere Tesfai declares his frustration and disappointment upon the articles of Ustaz Ali Salim and at the same time describes the articles as a chattering with little effect on Muslims, attributing his shock to the unfamiliar nature of the Ustaz Ali Salim’s articles. For the likes of Semere, the familiar are the silent Muslims who don’t articulate their grievances, those who keep calm when their legitimate rights are sequestered by the sectarian regime. Anyone who exposes and reveals the regime's crimes would be out of Tigrigna familiarity, because they are accustomed to silent Muslims who are patient to injustices and oppressions; Muslims who are temperate to whatever the governor would offer—according to him anyone who spell his grievances is perceived customary nature of silence must be fought and shaped. That is what Semere Tesfai attempts to perpetuate; he never expected that one day someone would come to remind him of the facts of our time, the humiliating and shameful facts which resembles a black spot in their relationship with Muslims. Mr. Ali Salim highlighted the black spot to revealed the magnitude of the injustice and oppression suffered by Muslims at the hands of the ethnic Tigrigna rulers, who crushed the values of dignity, freedom, justice and equality among citizens under their sectarian project (we and our objectives).
Eritreans had passed the stages of submission and subordination which benefited the dictatorial regime. Ustaz Ali Salim is but a people’s arrow that shot at the exclusionists fatally, his articles poured down on them like thunderbolts and expose their secrets and disclosed their crimes, they have fallen prey to frustration, shock, anxiety and insomnia, afraid of what the future might carry for them. It is an abnormal feeling that is the nature of wrongdoers throughout the history of mankind. I would like to advice the likes of Semere Tesfai who suffers from a phobia of an honest open debate not to put challenge lest they expose themselves to more and more bouts of frustration and shock. Oh Semere, isn’t it a courageous act for someone to admits failure? Why the lamenting about “national unity” now? Where were those who are now asking to people to forgive and forget when the regime was destroying the basic rights of Muslims, be it land, culture or religion? And who would trust those who never have apologized for the people after escaping the regime?
Semere Tesfai says (what Ali Salim has brought forth of the aggressions are incitement against Christians, even though they have suffered equally to what the Muslims have suffered) considering what Ali Salim has argued as selective grievances and unpatriotic.
The Arguments of Ali Salim are enlightening and stirs the effected populations. This doesn’t mean an incitement against Christians as Semere would claim, because Christians have their share of the injustices and oppressions under the dictatorial regime, therefore, what Ali Salim has been writing could stir the injured communities, Muslims or otherwise. The likes of Semere are those who incite and drive a wedge between Muslims and Christians, their roles resembles those of Isaias Afwerki and his sectarian group who incited the Christians against the Eritrean Liberation Front ELF, depicting it as the greatest danger that must be destroyed prior to fighting the Ethiopian occupation. The Isaias of our time (Semere Tesfai) has been inciting the Christians against the Tadamun, organization saying it is the greatest upcoming danger for the Christians. In his heart, Semere knows that the survival and continuation of the regime in power is dependent on the national disunity between Muslims and Christians that the regime has created.
Recently, our ears have been familiar to the saying “Christians had suffered equal to the Muslim and even more.” These allegations are mostly heard from those who are in the opposition when they are its rivals. If proofs are required to confirm the theory of equal injustice among Muslims and Christians in general, and between the Muslims and the Kebessa Christians in particular, one needs a reliable proofs in the forms of statistics and numbers. Those who repeat such misinforming lies, are lifting and slogan of “repeat lies until the people believe you.” I challenge Mr, Semere Tesfai to prove the equal injustices in names and figures. Non-Tigrigna Christians have suffered more than the Kebessa Christians but less than the suffering of Muslims. I would refer to the Suwera Center’s report published in April 2007, I found 145 Muslims prisoners against 58 Christian prisoners, I couldn’t figure out the non-Tigrigna Christians from among the 58 prisoners, the reason behind the higher number of Muslim prisoners is obvious, the sectarian project of Nhnan Elamana had directly targeted Muslims and only Muslims since its publication. Non-Tigrigna Christians were targeted for their patriotic attitudes against the sectarian exclusionist project. Muslims highly appreciate such patriotic stance. The saying that Ali Salim is exercising selective grievances is true hundred percent. How true? Since the injustices befalling Muslims are selective, it is natural for grievances to be selective; Muslims have particular suffering and very special pain compared to the suffering of Christians.