Meftih Newspaper-Oct2013

7/22/2019 Meftih Newspaper-Oct2013

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Meftih The Life Line of Eritrean Community Award Winning Independent Monthly Newspaper

www.meftih.ca email: [email protected] 9 Issue 2 October2013 -

Printed the rst Friday of every month Tel: 416-824-8124 Fax: 416-783-7850

please see page 2

Proud to be your RealtorVince Thomas, MBA

Cell: 416-832-4980

Tel: 905-793-5000 / Fax: 905-793-5020

Email: [email protected]

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If you want to buy or sell your home

contact the professional

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Malcolm Ilelaboye (Charles)Sales Representative

Cell: 647-864-9191

Dir: 416-590-2444

[email protected]

17 Church Ave., Toronto, ON. M2N 4E7

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At least 133 people,

including a pregnant

woman and two chil-

dren, died when a boat

capsized and caught

re off the island of

Lampedusa, the Italian

coast guard told CNN

on Thursday.

The coast guard has been

able to save at least 151

people, and the rescue op-

eration is ongoing.

Lampedusas boat people:

One mans story

The boat is thought to have

133 Refugees Died in the

Mediterranean Sea


2/24

Meftih October 2013 Volume 9 Issue 2: page 2

* Car Accident

* Slip & Fall* Insurance Claim

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3/24


Do you know whom to contact

when you wanted to buy a house

of your dream?Yes, you are right!

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been carrying up to 500

people. Those aboard in-

clude Somalis, Eritreans

and Ghanaians, the coast

guard said, and the boat is

thought to have launchedfrom Libyas coast.

Lampedusa, the closest

Italian island to Africa, has

become a destination for

tens of thousands of refu-

gees seeking to enter Euro-

pean Union countries.

The head of the U.N. refu-

gee agency, Antonio Gu-

terres, praised the efforts

of the Italian coast guard

but said he was dismayed

at the rising global phe-

nomenon of migrants and

people eeing conict or

persecution and perishing

at sea.

133 Refugees Died , , ,

From page 1

Another 13 men drowned

off Italys southern coast

Monday when they at-

tempted to swim ashore,

the U.N agency said in astatement.

It is working with countries

in the region to nd effec-

tive alternatives so people

dont risk their lives trying

to make perilous journeys

by sea, it said.

Popes prayers

Lampedusa, a tiny island

off the coast of Sicily, was

in the news this summer

when the pope went there

to pray for refugees and

migrants lost at sea.

Source: CNN


4/24


6

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Licensed by Immigration Consultants of Canada

Regulatory Council (ICCRC),

416-850-9851

Member # R420343


5/24


To advertise on-

line at

(www.meftih.ca)

or

Offline on Meftih

Newspaperplease call

416-824-8124or

Email: infomeftih@

gmail.com

!

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An estimated 80,000 peo-

ple took part in a street

demonstration against

Ethiopias anti-terrorism

law on 29 September in

response to a call from

Unity for Democratic Jus-

tice, an opposition group

that spent more than three

months rallying support

for the protest.

Adopted in 2009, the

much-criticized anti-ter-

rorism law enables the

government to justify arbi-

trary arrests of journalists,

members of the opposition

and human rights defend-

ers.

The urgent need to amend

this repressive law was of

one of the recommenda-

tions that Reporters With-

out Borders included in itssubmission on Ethiopia to

the United Nations Human

Rights Council for the 19th

Universal Periodic Review

session to be held between

April and May next year.

The anti-terrorism law is

one the biggest obstacles

to freedom of informa-

tion in Ethiopia, Report-

ers Without Borders said.

Ever since its adoption,

the government has had analarming legal tool that it

uses to gag dissidents.

Without taking any posi-

tion on the politics of the

demonstrators, we urge

the government to hear the

popular demand for imme-

diate reform of the anti-ter-

rorism law. We also call on

the government to respect

the freedom of expression

of all news and informa-

tion providers, regardless

of their political views.

According to the organiz-

ers, the demonstrations aim

was not only to condemn

the law but also to demand

the release of opposition

members and journalists

who have been jailed under

it. They include Eskinder

Nega, an activist and blog-

ger detained since 15 Sep-

tember 2011 for alleged

terrorist activities. Reyot

Alemu, winner of the 2013UNESCO/Guillermo Cano

press freedom prize, and

Woubeshet Taye, the dep-

uty editor of the Amharic-

language weekly Awramba

Times, have been detained

since June 2011 in appall-

ing conditions. They are

serving jail terms of ve

and 14 years respectively

on charges of participat-

ing in a terrorist organiza-

tion and preparing a ter-

rorist attack (http://en.rsf.org/ethiopia-columnist-s-

sentence-on-terrorism-08-

08-2012,43175.html).

Two Swedish journal-

ists working for the

Kontinent news agency,

reporter Martin Schib-

bye and photographer-Johan Persson, were

arrested on 1 July 2011

while doing a report

on human rights viola-

tions in the southeast-

ern Ogaden region and

were sentenced to 11

years in prison on a

charge of terrorist activ-

ities (http://en.rsf.org/

ethiopie-two-swedish-

and-three-ethiopian-08-

09-2011,40944.html).

They were released af-

ter 450 days in detention

thanks to pressure from the

international community.

In an interview for Re-

porters Without Borders,

Schibbye said: The mere

fact that these demonstra-

tions are taking place is a

positive sign in Ethiopia.

This shows the growing

implication of the youth,namely through social net-

works, and their refusal

to live in a society where

journalists and dissidents

can be jailed arbitrarily.

One of the biggest prob-

lems with the anti-terror-

ism law is its extremely

vague denition of what

constitutes terrorist ac-

tivities.

Ethiopia is ranked 137thout of 179 countries in the

2013 Reporters Without

Borders press freedom in-

dex (http://en.rsf.org/press-

freedom-index-2013,1054.

html).

More information about

Ethiopias anti-terrorism

law: http://en.rsf.org/ethio-

pia-journalists-are-not-ter-

rorists-24-01-2012,41764.

html.

Reporters Without Bor-

ders (www.rsf.org)

Big Demonstration Against Law used

to imprison journalists


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Editors: Grace Cherian

Photographer : Mulugeta Zergaber

Contributors: Mohamed EdrisNaza HasebenebiMedhin Ghebreslasie, Amleset Tesfay, Bode Odetoy-

inbo, Mimi Chandy, Ken NtiamoaSubscription Costsin Canada $39 for a year and $59 for two years. In USA, it costs $45 fora year and $69 for two years.

Articles appearingin assorted columns of Meftih newspaper are intended to generate civil

& informed public discussions. You dont have to agree with opinions expressed by the writers.However, that should push you to express your own views. Through that way we generate lively

& civil discussions in the community. Rejoinders are not forums for personal insults & we want

readers to adhere to these principles.

Editor-in-chief

Aaron Berhane260 Adelaide St. E. Toronto,

ON. M5A 1N1 # 192

Tel: 416-824-8124Fax: 416-783-7850

[email protected]

www.meftih.ca


9/24



10/24


Debt Advice

Yes. By law, all actions against a person ling a bankrupt-cy or a proposal must cease once the documents are led.

However, this does not apply to secured creditors such as

banks holding, for example, a lien on a car or a mortgage

on a house.

If your creditors do not stop harassing or calling you it is

best to inform your trustee in bankruptcy

Will my creditors stopharassing me?

What happens if my em-

ployer just went Bankrupt?

Employer declares Bankruptcy Q&As:

1. What happens to my wages?

Not only is your wage protected under the Wage Earner

Protection Act. but you are also a preferred creditor in any

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Human Resources Canada Website: Wage Earner Protec-

tion Program: rhdcc.gc.ca

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As mentioned above, not only is your wage protected un-

der the Wage Earner Protection Act. but you are also apreferred creditor in any future asset distribution by the

Trustee. In relation to the payment of wages and vaca-

tion pay in Canada, an employee working in Canada, le-

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declares bankruptcy.

3. What am I entitled to?

This is a case-by-case scenario and it depends on whether

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ness, sell the business or liquate the assets.

Jordan Rumanek, B. Comm., CIRP, Trustee,

Rumanek & Company Ltd

By Jordan Rumanek

sentation by saying, it

is a lie. He tried to deny

that the huge exodus of

Eritreans from Eritrea was

not due to the repressive

regime but rather because

of economic reasons.

Fenan Araya Desta, the

son of the Eritrean Ambas-

sador to the United Na-

tions and the leader of the

YPFDJ (Young Peoples

Front for Democracy and

Justice), tried to twist the

facts. He said that there

used to be only one univer-

sity in Eritrea before but

now there are about seven.

He continued to paint arosy picture of the regime

thats known for its ugly

reputation. But most of the

attendees were students of

Political Science, History

and International Studies.

They are smart people who

simply do not take things

at face value. Theyll do

their own research andlearn that the only univer-

sity in Eritrea was closed

for good years ago. They

will also study the reports

of Amnesty International,

Human Rights Watch and

many independent orga-

nizations to learn more

about Eritreas issues. One

of the students said to me,

I knew nothing about Eri-

trea but now I am curious

to read more.

Though the uncivilized

manner of the members of

the PFDJ shocked the stu-

dents, Connell was not sur-

prised at all. He patiently

and calmly listened to their

senseless arguments and

responded to them with

more concrete facts whichsatised students.

Professor Connell is one of

the most renowned schol-

ars of Eritrean Studies. He

is the author or editor of ten

books and has published

many academic articles in

journals.

Please click here to listen

his lecture: http://www.

youtube.com/watch?v=rDU9Af32UPA&feature=yo

utu.be

Lecture by Professor Dan . . .From page 20

Diane Young authored See

No Evil which is published

by Ocra Books Publish-ers, PO Box 5626, Station

B Victoria, BC Canada

V8R6S4, 2006, 103pp.

ISBN 10:1-55143-619-1.

$9.95 CDN.

See No Evil is a book about

two best friends who strug-

gle to reveal the secret they

observed or not. The main

characters are two best

friends Shawn and Daniel.

Shawn and Daniel, wit-

nessing a gang crew beat-

ing behind a local mall on

someone who is harmless

and cant defend himself.

As the attack was going

on Shawn and Daniel rec-

ognize one of the attack-

ers. However were busy

on looking at the attacked

person as they learned that

he was in a critical condi-

tion. While Shawn wanted

to witness the attack to the

police Daniel was just too

terried and also convinces

his best friend that they willbe in a dangerous position

if they witness the attack.

As life moves on for Dan-

iel and Shawn they started

getting threats from the

specic gang crew and that

pushed the boys fear from

fear to an extreme fear.

Things got too far at once

when Daniel was attacked

by the gang members and

Shawn had to keep the se-crets for his friends sake.

While Shawn is behind a

crime that he is trying to

solve he also has a respon-

sibility to take care of his

little brother as their father

works to earn money. And

as of their mother, she does

not live with them due to

divorce between her and

her ex-husband.

In general , when you see

the title of the book it does

not seem interesting, and it

lacks preface and summary

that could encourage youto read it. However, when

you read the rst page you

will instantly be interested

in the book and will want

to read more. I enjoyed it

very much.

I would denitely recom-

mend this book to be read

especially by teenagers. It

is full of mysteries and its

content is very relevant tothe teenagers life as we

read more about Shawns

personal life.

The author did a ne job. I

would rate the book 4/5.

Mussie Berhane is a 15

years old who likes to read

and review books.

Children Book

Review See No EvilBy Mussie Berhane


11/24


It feels like it happened just

yesterday. It was 7 a.m. on

an average day in Septem-

ber in Asmara, Eritrea. My

brain was still reshufing

the information I had gath-

ered about the terrorist at-

tacks on the World Trade

Center a week earlier. I

was writing an article on it

for the next issue of Setit,

the twice-weekly newspa-

per of which I was editor-

in-chief.

I was in bed when my wife

turned on the radio to lis-

ten to the morning news.

Starting today, September

18, 2001, the government

has ordered all private

presses to stop their pub-

lications. The disturbing

words of the presenter of

Dimtsi Hafash Radio, the

government station, sud-

denly froze my train of

thoughts. The ofcial state-

ment went on to accuse us

of violating press laws and

ignoring the warnings we

had been given. I felt as

if I was dreaming. I didnt

move my head. I was still

under the blanket.

In those days, our country,

jammed between Ethiopia

and Yemen on the shores

of the Red Sea, was Afri-

cas youngest nation with a

private press that was even

younger. Like America,

Eritrea had fought a war of

independence (ours was 30

years long), and enacted a

constitution guaranteeing

a free press. Some of us

in the media were former

ghters in the liberation

struggle or in the bloody

conict with Ethiopia that

had ended a year earlier.

As a result, many of uslooked to the future with

great hopes and a dream

of seeing a democratic

government established in

our beloved country. For

instance, I remember all

of us writing in our edito-

rials about the implemen-

tation of the constitution

one week, ghting corrupt

generals another, and thegovernments policy of

compulsory work imposed

on Asmara University stu-

dents the week after that.

However, because we had

challenged the government

or its policies, we were fac-

ing increasing hostility and

enduring police harass-

ment. By September 2001,

the once-united ruling elite

who led us to indepen-

dence with the promise of

democracy split over rebel

leader President Isaias Afe-

workis resistance to the

fulllment of this promise:the implementation of our

constitution. We covered

both sides of this debate in

the columns of our news-

papers.

That September morning, I

saw the last edition of my

newspaper being sold on

the street as I drove down-

town and uptown throughAsmara. I spoke with my

sources and learned some

more shocking news: Elev-

en senior ofcials who had

criticised the president in

an open letter published in

Setit had been thrown in

jail!

At our ofce, the staff was

sitting in the front yard de-

bating that mornings de-

velopments.

September 18, 2001, in Eritrea:

A memory that never fadesBy Aaron Berhane Association of Eritrean Jour-

nalists Press Release

17 September 2013

For many Eritreans Sep-

tember is remembered as a

month of pride and sorrow.

It was a month that marked

the start of Eritreas armed

struggle that ultimately cul-

minated in its independence.

It was also a month that

marked the start of an era of

one man rule and political

liquidation. However, for the

Association of Eritrean Jour-

nalists in Exile (AEJE), its a

month remembered in bitter-ness every single day with a

double tragedy. In one way, it

was a month where the thriv-

ing private newspapers were

made to be shut down on

September 18, 2001 and to

make things even worse the

regime decided to incarcerate

all the editorial board mem-

bers thereby to vanish in the

wilderness of EraEro prison,

a prison regarded by many of

us, as the modern day Nazi

Concentration Camp. Conse-

quently, according to a cred-

ible eyewitness account of a

former prison guard, several

of our colleagues are pre-

sumed dead, as a result of

their torture wounds and lack

of proper medical attention.

Fighting to change this un-

bearable state of affairs

should not be a matter of a

passionate political activ-

ism, it is rather a struggle for

a person in a death row, for

our colleagues are not in de-

tention to serve their prison

sentence, but to die a slow

painful death. Even though

far from home, we are haunt-

ed by the constant thought of

the nightmarish fate of our

colleagues in particular and

our country by in general. As

time goes by, we are increas-

ingly feeling helpless and

desperate, as every second

counts for our colleagues.

Hearing their legs and hands

tied from their back 24/7 for

13 years, is something be-

yond any sane persons com-

prehension. At the same time,

it is something that we should

all feel ashamed of, because

seeing fellow human beings

being treated in such an in-human way, at a time when

animal rights are respected

is inexcusable and intoler-

able. The international com-

munity should never allow

such an act of barbarism and

heinous crime to go unpun-

ished, hence, again we call

upon the United Nations Hu-

man Rights Council, African

Commission on Human and

Peoples Rights and the Eu-

ropean Union foreign Affairs

Commission, to interveneand pressurize the regime

through all possible means,

as it is time to say, no more

business as usual, enough is

enough. We also call upon the

UN Special Rapporteur ofce

to investigate the deaths and

disappearances of Eritrean

journalists.

And yes we are in prison with

the journalists, if not physi-

cally, mentally. Had it not

been fate, many of our col-leagues in exile today could

have vanished in EraEro

prison. Some lucky ones

escaped after years of de-

tention, now suffering with

post-traumatic stress as a

result. But, in spite all these

challenges, we should all

be determined to ght back

the dictatorial regime to re-

lease our colleagues without

any precondition. We should

never be silent until justice

prevails and all those culprits

held accountable.

The harrowing unprecedented

massive attack on the private

media happened, at a time

when we had least expected.

Eritrea; unlike many other

African countries is a coun-

try born out of 30 years bit-

ter war against Ethiopian co-

lonialism. By a conservative

estimate it paid 65,000 of its

youth to realize the dream of

being free and independent.

And the launch of the private

newspapers in the early 1997

Please see page 15

Silence is betrayal


12/24


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13/24


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developing free port. Instead of

reporting on his progress, PIA

tells us that the world has been

conspiring to render Eritrean

ports useless. It is a well known

fact that a Norwegian company(negotiated by high ranking PFDJ

ofcial) had presented in 2007 a

negotiated nal proposal to de-

velop the Port of Asseb but PIA

dismissed the proposal without

even looking at it saying that he is

in talks with Chinese companies

to develop it. Six years later

nothing!

Road and transportation sectors:

After telling for so many that he

has achieved so much in build-

ing road infrastructures in Eritrea,

now PIA tells us that most of the

existing road infrastructures are

inadequate. Moreover he tells usthat train network must be estab-

lished and that we should endeav-

our to connect Port of Massawa to

Sudan through alternative routes

in Eritrea. But these are pipe

dreams for a regime operating on

few dimes of foreign currency.

While PIA is dreaming for all us,

Djibouti and Ethiopia just agreed

to commence connecting the Dji-

bouti-Ethiopia train line to Sudan

at the cost of $ 600M USD. PIA

dreams, others do!

Housing Projects: In 22 years of

power, PIA has not built a single

affordable housing for Eritreans.

As such, Eritreans havent beenable to lead normal family life,

which is the most basic building

block of every society, and by

extension a country. In contrast,

the Addis Ababa Administration

alone has built and delivered to

local residents over 80,000 apart-

ments and houses in the last 10

years, and is currently under-

taking another 130,000 houses

within the Growth and Transfor-

mation Period all again, for or-

dinary folks in Addis Ababa, not

Diaspora Ethiopians with USD$.

Even the Dergue regime, with its

limited resources, allowed localAsmara residents to build houses

in Mai Chehot and many other

areas.

Economy in General: PIAs ar-

gument is that natural resources

are a curse (Resource Curse) un-

less some factors, only known to

him let us call them enabling

factors, are put in place to fully

exploit these resources. Obvi-

ously, one can only deduce that

these are enabling factors are

non-economic factors, as PIA has

done everything to destroy them,

and must be some socio-political

factors. We can also deduce it is

not about building social, eco-nomic, legal or political institu-

tions. After eliminating many

factors, one is left with two fac-

tors: maintaining power as he

may think that his power survival

is Eritreas survival (delusions

of all dictators) and/or social re-

engineering (yet another delusion

of all dictators). Throughout his-

tory people have tried to destroyreligions, ethnicity and other

sources of human divisions for

greater good by attempting to ho-

mogenize their subjects. All have

failed without exception! PIA is

taking a path proven throughout

history as failures. PIA leaves us

with the impression that Eritreas

resources are insufcient to pro-

pel its economic growth. When

asked about mining, he tells us

that it doesnt generate sufcient

foreign currency. When asked

about marine resources, agricul-

ture, tourism and other endow-

ments, PIA keeps reminding usthat he doesnt want to give us

false hopes by telling us that we

can achieve economic growth by

exploiting these resources. Of

course, we get no data. In reality,

a nations wealth is the aggregate

of all the various activities, and no

one sector is examined in isola-

tion. For instance, the Ethiopian

government tells us that it earned

$670M USD from tourism alone,

and whatever amounts from cof-

fee, hides and other merchandise

exports (all data are available on

its websites) all add up to signi-

cant hard currency earnings. It is

the aggregate of all exports thatmakes a country economically

viable. Eritrea, with its small

population, should be rich with

relative small efforts by export-

ing minerals (gold, silver, copper

not just from Bisha but other

parts of Eritrea, marble, granite,

etc...), sh, salt, agricultural prod-

ucts, port and bunkering services,

tourism and many other activities.

Eritreans are resourceful enough

to built Eritreas industrial sector

and undertake business ventures

in other countries, as they are do-

ing now, and bring back the prof-

its back home.Non-economic Policies: PIA can

lecture all he wants about world

politics but it is sufce examining

PIAs total failure pertaining to

Somalia Policy. Seven years af-

ter turning Somalia his proxy war,

PIA & Eritrea are under world

political and economic sanctions,

and PIA is now forced to accept

the current Somali government

as legitimate. PIA has allowed

Ethiopia and the West to nd an

excuse to impose sanctions on

him for gross violations of human

rights in Eritrea. Lifting the UN

sanction will require more than

just refraining from interferingin Somali affairs but will require

PIA to accept full restorations of

human rights in Eritrea. It is dif-

cult to pass UN sanctions because

all ve veto holders must agree,

while withdrawing a UN sanc-

tion can be held up by one veto

holder. Even if Russia and China

want to lift the sanctions, US, UK

and France will ensure that PIAcapitulates on many political re-

forms before they let him off the

hook. In other words, PIA cant

agree to political reforms because

he has burned so many bridges

behind him that it would be po-

litical kamikaze to agree to the

Wests demand. As such, Eritrea

is headed for political, social, le-

gal and economic abyss. It is also

mentioning that Eritrea and Chi-

nas diplomatic relationship isnt

as strong as Eritreas State media

suggest. China has allowed the

UN to impose sanctions on Eri-

trea. While Ethiopia has forgedstrong relationship with China by

borrowing signicant funds and

granting most of the infrastructure

projects to Chinese rms, Eritrea

has slowly kicked out Chinese

rms which were more involved

in the rst 15 years of indepen-

dence. Chinese rms built some

of the road projects, Keren Phar-

maceutical factory and the ce-

ment factory. PIA needs China

to stash away Eritreas hard cur-

rency reserves under his and his

sons name.

PIA belittling Private Sector

It is pure politics! In reality, for

those who heard Mr. Kubrom Da-as, PIAs ventures have been ut-

ter failures. Before blaming the

private sector for PIA induced

failures, it is worth reiterating

Mr. Kubroms observations. A

regime unable to uphold the rule-

of-law, to provide the most basic

services, failed in diplomacy, and

failed in business ventures cant

be credible enough to belittle the

private sector as failure.

Some of PIAs ventures have

failed (besides failing to provide

the rule of law, which is an utter

breakdown of a civil society),

Ghindae Marble Factory: estab-

lished with modern equipment

and with millions of dollars, it has

barely produced marble and gran-

ite although Eritrea is endowed

with these resources.

Nuovo Sasbre: a brake lining fac-

tory is defunct.

Gas Cylinder Factory: is func-

tioning at a loss and minimum

production as there isnt enough

fuel gas to supply.

Sawa Agro-industry: which had

started to export to Italy was later

scuttled. Gerset/Farko is also a

failure as a venture, except it is

relabelled as an agricultural ex-

periment to avoid the stigma.

Eritrean Airlines: its operations

have scuttled due to PIAs contin-

ued interference

Keren Pharmaceutical Factory: it

is operating well below its capac-

ity. Compared to EPLF Pharma-

ceutical Factory in Sahel, Keren

Pharmaceutical Factory is back-

pedalling to insignicance.

Massawa Cement Factory & Hir-

gigo Cement Factory: are both

failures.

But these are not the only fail-

ures:

Elaberid Agro-industry: which

had been producing so many ag-

ricultural products is in ruins

Asmara Glass Factory: which was

closed down to make way for new

factory in Ghindae remains just a

pipe dream

Coca Cola, Beer factory: arelargely failures despite solid de-

mands for their products.

PIA has failed not only operating

industries that should be left to

private sector must in every other

endeavour:

Education system is in ruins. De-

spite new colleges, instructors are

not fully qualied, no libraries, no

modern electronic systems, and

demoralized student population.

Health system is in ruins. Despite

Orotta Medical School (possibly

the only success story), the new

graduates are demoralized and

prone to ee the country. Inade-

quate mediation, lab and medical

equipment, and absence of pri-

vate clinics (which PIA berated),

has meant poor health service in

Eritrea. PIAs logic is that as the

vast majority of rural Eritreans do

not have access to health services,

the urban population shouldnt

be privileged with better health

systems. An excuse for fail-

ure! Few years ago, a top North

Korean ofcial boasted that his

country achieved equality al-

beit through poverty. Equality

in poverty! Instead of trying to

pull people gradually into betterliving, easier to destroy the little

one has.

Law and Order: before PIA belit-

tles private sector which he delib-

erately destroyed, a government

should do its primary job, which

is dispense the rule-of-law, which

the most basic building block of

any civil society. PIA has utterly

failed!

Agriculture: Despite 22 years

of government efforts to build

the agricultural sector, we are no

closer, in his own words, to be-

coming self-sufcient. So what

are we doing? In fact, PIA tellsus that food production for do-

mestic production isnt justied

(cost of operating farming trac-

tors in USD if a form of subsidy

the regime cant afford) because

consumers pay in Nacka for their

foods. Moreover, as PIA pointed

out, agriculture isnt just about

barley and wheat, but about grow-ing fruits, vegetables, meat and

dairy products. Most of these are

grown or produced in negligible

amounts, and their prospects are

even dimmer.

In the NUTSHELL, PIA is in a

dire predicament that he cant es-

cape. He needs investments and

cash infusions from abroad (UN

institutions, Western public and

private investors, the Chinese,

Indians, and Mining Companies)

and others but doesnt want to give

any foreigners a political leverage

to demand political reforms. The

UN sanctions WONT be lifted

unless PIA agrees to political re-forms, address the exodus of Eri-

trean youths, and free all prison-

ers-of conscious. But PIA cant

undertake political reforms with-

out major political consequences

for him as he had chosen to burn

all his political bridges behind

him. It is catch 22! It is a hole, or

a nightmare, he cant escape. It is

an irreligious person waiting for a

miracle, waiting for a world po-

litical tsunami that will bail him

out.

The latest news of PFDJ reorgani-

zation, shifting power to the youths(who are as much damaged from

PIAs cruel policies, Investment

Conference, playing with names

(from Eritrean Defence Forces,

to Warsai Yikealo, to Peoples

Army), or any other shreds and

dramas wont change the PIAs

ominous predicament. Wecho

Entegemtelkayo Wecho! PIA is

still running a defunct liberation

movement, NOT a nation!

A Nation, a people are born out of

hope! Hundreds of thousands of

Eritreans sacriced their lives for

the hope of peaceful and prosper-

ous Eritrea. We dont need any-one telling us about false hopes

(or mitibar). Eritrea was born

against all odds. We overcame

everything because of our hopes

and we dont let anyone take it

away from us be it colonizers

or temberkektis. We shall over-

come!

September 18th, 2001 - lest we

forget!!!

Berhan Hagos

PIA Compliments Ethiopia's Growth . . .From page 17


15/24


was a testament to humble Eri-

treans, the price paid was not

ended up in vain, for they had

come to enjoy and cherish the

down of an Era with the newly

found freedom of expression.

Many ordinary citizens began

to constructively criticize to

the transitional government

in an effort to help create a

prosperous and democratic na-

tion. But, after so much sacri-

ce and struggle, and after 13

years of imprisonment of our

colleagues, today we ask, what

have we achieved so far? Today

the dream of many of our citi-

zens have evaporated into the

thin air, today we got neither

prosperity nor liberty; today

we got neither the trial of our

colleagues nor their immediate

release. Today we got nothing,

but lost everything. All what

we got today is a country that

ranked rst on the list of coun-

tries with the worst record on

press freedom violations, sur-

passing North Korea.

Today we also got the

massive ight of our

colleagues to seek

refuge elsewhere, in

an effort to spare their

lives.

But, today we still

have hope that one

day, this manmade

disaster will become

history, that one day

we will all sit and

reect back how we

had failed and let

this massive disaster

to happen in front of

our own eyes and that

one day we will take a

bold measures to pre-vent such kind of an

adventure from ever

happening again.

Our message to fellow Eri-

treans

The regime doesnt attempt

to kill the messenger by ar-

resting our colleagues, but the

intention was the message. A

message is far more danger-

ous than an individuals threat

for a regime that has so much

to hide from the rest of the

public. Hence, imprisoning

a journalist is silencing the

rest of the population from

speaking up against injustice.

Therefore, silence is betrayal

and we call upon all justice

loving people in general and

Eritreans in particular to raise

their voice in unison in spite of

their seemingly big difference

of opinion. We should always

remember it is our collective

failure that led to the deterio-

ration of our present situation.

Over the last years, we havefailed to see the big picture, by

concentrating our effort exten-

sively in attacking and counter

attacking with each other, as if

we had the monopoly of pow-

er to shape the destiny of our

country alone. And a minute

spent on such endeavor really

hurts, it is like empowering the

very regime to continue tortur-

ing our citizens back home un-

abated and in the process our

people back home feel increas-

ingly hopeless and helpless.

Therefore, our main focus

should always be the regime;

we cant always expect to re-

solve our difference of opin-

ion, but we can only discuss

them, however, that shouldnt

pass its limit and turn into out-

right animosity. With no dem-

ocratic atmosphere in place,

where such opinions could

only be judged by the wider

public, their importance seems

irrelevant at the moment.

Our strategy to ght the regime

should be based on the realis-

tic objective situation on the

ground, other than on super-

cial idealistic aspirations. We

should always remember not

only our opinion, but equally

others opinion also matters

as much as ours in building a

pluralistic democratic state.

Hence, on this occasion our

association would like to call

upon all our political opposi-

tion groups and civic organiza-tions, to create and embolden

a united front in spite of their

differences of opinion. Once

a liberated democratic Eritrea

is created all our differences

could easily be discussed and

if possible resolved through

democratic means. Once again

our private papers are expect-

ed to play the crucial role of

minimizing the gaps and in

facilitating to heal the wounds

sustained by generations old

oppression. And thereby cul-tivate a culture of tolerance,

which is a cornerstone for

sound democracy.

Finally, we would like to plea

again that the focus of our en-

ergy should be mounted to-

wards ghting the real enemy

at home and everyone who

throws a single stone towards

this objective should thus be

regarded as a friend, regardless

of his/her political opinion.

Association of Eritrean Jour-

nalists in Exile (AEJE)

Silence is . . .From page 11


16/24


Please see page 17

OPINION

PIAs latest lecture is yet another

conrmation that Eritrea is fur-

ther backsliding into economic

obscurity and the worst is

yet to come. It is bafing how

self-respecting intellectuals and

even those with basic school of

life can support and regurgitate

PIAs circular reasoning. Many

cyber articles have already been

written analyzing or satirizing

PIAs lecture. This article ana-

lyzes PIAs lecture from slightly

different perspective.

First, PIA has one valuable asset

faking sincerity. He tells us

about our limited capacity, the

need for accountability, transpar-

ency, wider consultations with

senior government ofcials andwith the public, socio-economic

experiences of other countries,

his concerns for human life, and

his aversion towards giving false

hopes (mitibar) through un-

workable socio-economic poli-

cies. He tells us that we should

work towards attaining sustain-

able development. To add in-

sult to injury, he tells us while

addressing health issues that

no medical expense should be

spared to send patients, i.e. his

top yes men, abroad for medi-

cal treatment because - hear this

- human life is precious. Af-

ter telling us every Eritrean life

is weighed in the hard/foreign

currency it generates and know-

ing fully that he has imprisoned

thousands of mothers, elders,

and prisoners-of-conscious for

no political motive other than

out of vindictiveness and to in-

stil utter fear into the population,

it is mind boggling the audacity

of making such blatant lies. For

a regime totally averse to trans-

parency, PIA keeps telling us

how important transparency is

for economic growth. Lies told

often enough dont become the

truth!

But reality is totally different.

PIA tells us that there is no need

to provide socio-economic data,

except the regime is spending

$320 Million USD on energy

imports. Indeed it is not im-

portant when ordinary Eritreans

need no ofcial data as they are

experiencing it bitterly every

day. Prohibited from earning

honest days wages, skyrocket-

ing prices, no electricity or wa-

ter, forced to attend Sawa Rape

Factory, and imprisoned incom-

municado, people are eeing

the country en mass these are

the only data they need. On per

capita basis, and even on abso-

lute basis, Eritrea is the single

biggest producer of refugees

and human misery in the world.

If it is about sacricing oneself

for the future, then it is about

equal sacrice not few livingin luxury while most live in mis-

ery. It is about those in Diaspora

who speak and campaign for

Eritrean sacrice except sac-

rice is meant for those in Eri-

trea, not themselves. It is also

about justice not few above

the law, while vast majority are

being abused by the few who are

above the law. Todays Eritrea

is suffering a disconnect among

idealism, hodgepodge politics

and reality just as PIAs latest

lecture clearly shows.

So what is PIAs sustainableeconomic growth? Mr. Kubrom

Daas interviews with assenna.

com give us valuable insight

into the state of economic af-

fairs in Eritrea. If we are to re-

duce PIAs economic rationale,

it would that if an economic ac-

tivity doesnt generate hard/for-

eign currency (such as US dol-

lars) then the activity should not

be undertaken. Yet again, PIAs

economic philosophy is deeply

intertwined with his sadistic

political philosophy. After all,

after telling us that economic

growth must precede democ-

racy, the sure way to extinguishany hope of democracy in Eri-

trea is to strangle its economy.

Moreover, PIAs, as is true for

other dictators, false campaign

for self-sufciency is designed

more to avoid interaction

through insular policies with the

rest of world which may demand

accountability, transparency, and

the rule of law.

What are Eritreas Development

Projects? What does PIA mean

by sustainable economic devel-

opment?

In the nutshell, PIAs circular

reasoning goes like this lack of

electric power (energy) impedes

us from realizing economic

growth - then goes the circular

reasoning - and we can not in-

vest in electric power expansion

because our economic growth

doesnt justify it. It is like

the chicken and egg question

which one comes rst?

As stated above, PIAs sole

economic formula is that every

activity must generate DIRECT

hard currency. Examining PIAs

logic, for instance, increasingsh export to generate hard cur-

rency and then using that to buy

fuel for tractors to farm land for

farmers is a waste of resources.

According to PIA, every non-

hard currency generating activ-

ity in Eritrea be it food, elec-

tricity, water, education, health,

justice, etc... - is a waste if itdoesnt eventually lead to ex-

ports that generate hard curren-

cy. Wow! Eritreans in Eritrea

who worth only in Nakfas are

doomed!

Examining PIAs underlying log-

ic, his feigning of concerns for

human trafcking beguiles a de-

liberate and cruel policy which

is to forcefully exile Eritreans to

generate foreign currency. For

instance, Eritrean exiles in Is-

rael have been remitting signi-

cant amounts to Eritrea which,

according to PIAs economicphilosophy, makes them more

valuable because they are worth

in USD, not Nacka.

According to PIA, every penny

of hard currency should be used

to undertake sustainable eco-

nomic development. As such,

electricity, water and other in-

frastructures that are currently

available in the urban centres

simply consume hard currency

without generating any long-

term economic benets while

exhausting dwindling hard cur-

rency. As such tells us PIA,

the urban population shouldnot get any more benets than

the rural population. In other

words, Eritrea must regress rst

economically, socially, and po-

litically before proceeding for-

ward. Equality in poverty rst

before prosperity! It is a mili-

tary equivalent of withdrawing

or retreating into your base, or

reverting from a conventional

army to guerrilla warfare. At

least during the war of indepen-

dence, everybody pretended that

there was equality in sacrice

but not in todays Eritrea.

Throughout the lecture PIA

keeps reminding us about Eri-

trean development projects. Yet,

one is forgiven if bafed at what

point in his ve hours of lecture

he spoke in any detail of these

projects. One moment he tells

us about agricultural projects,

water reservoirs, roads, ports,

electricity, etc..., and then the

next moment tells us that most

of these projects are worthless

because they dont generate hard

currency. All these road projects

dont even meet anticipated de-

mands.

The only so called develop-

ment project in Eritrea is PIA

s pet project Gerset/Farko,

which is about 20,000 hectares.

Twenty two (22) years of in-

dependence later, we have one

20,000 hectares of commercial

farming which is more used forexperimental purposes than

any serious effort to meet the

countrys food need. In fact, fol-

lowing PIA singular obsession

of hard currency, Gerset/Farko

would only be considered a suc-

cess if it can generate cash crops

for export (such as cotton). Ac-

cording to PIA, why should he

waste hard currency to produce

food for domestic consump-

tion because ordinary Eritreans

pay him in Nacka. The self-

sufciency campaign, which

we took to mean self-reliance to

produce domestic food needs, is

totally misguided. Rather, self-

sufciency has a new meaning,

which is to generate hard cur-

rency by producing cash crops

for export, and which in turn is

deposited in Fubon Bank.

Deciphering PIAs ominous

message:

The worthiness of people or

consumers will be determined

by their abilities to generate hard

currency. Exporting people, al-

beit through cruel policy of forc-

ing people to ee the country by

demoralizing, is a deliberatepolicy designed to generate hard

currency. In contrast, and as

potential source of hard curren-

cy, Diaspora Eritrea should be

courted in order to dip into their

hard currency laden pockets.

Worse will be education, health,

and any institution which will

not be allocated hard currency.

Dwindling hard currency means

that electric outages, water

shortages and other urban ser-

vices will deteriorate for years

to come. The biggest victim is

the City of Asmara.

With cement factory unable toproduce cement, and PIA telling

us that there is no electricity to

power the factory, the recently

announced Housing Bank proj-

ect might not be built or may

take much longer to construct.

Without affordable housing,

normal life for Eritreas youths

is a pipe dream for the foresee-

able future.

PIA Complimenting Ethiopia

Despite a broad range of issues

addressed, albeit supercially,

during PIAs lecture, the under-

lying message was designed to

demoralize the Eritrean popula-tion by, in his own words, not

give Eritrean any false hopes.

At the same time, PIA made a

conscious effort not to be com-

pared to Ethiopias booming

economy telling us that it is all

illusion.

Probably no part of PIAs lecture

fell apart as much as when he

talked about Ethiopias Millen-

nium Dam (Grand Renaissance

Dam /GRD). When completed

in 2017, it will produce up to

6,000 MW of hydro electricity.

PIA attempts to belittle GRD by

comparing Ethiopias electric

production to Israel and then to

Europe and that can only be

a compliment when one starts

comparing a third world country

to First World Countries. Why

not compare Ethiopias progress

with Eritrea, or other third world

countries instead of rst world

countries? Kudos to Ethiopia!

Todays Ethiopia is a thorn on the

side of PIAs Eritrea not so much

militarily but because Ethiopia

has managed to formulate short

and long term economic policies

(e.g. 2010 2015 Growth and

Transformation Period (GTP)

which incorporates the Mil-

lennium Development Goals),

which enables it to slowly and

in controlled manner to build its

political and other institutions,

and to transition into post-Meles

Ethiopia.

During the 2010-2015 Growth

and Transformation Period,

Ethiopia will have added over

10,000 MW of sustainable hydro

and wind power to its power

grid. In 2015, Eritrea will have

lost most its 120 MW of capac-

ity to less than half i.e. in PIAs

own admission that the existing

electric generators are getting

old and in much need of repair

but that nothing can be done in

the near future due to lack of

hard currency. Moreover, it is

worth distinguishing between

capacity and actual production.

Electric production is measured

in MWh or mostly in GWh, i.e.

how many hours the electric

generators operated in a year.

In Eritreas case, due to lack

of fuel and maintenance issues,

the generators are operating less

than 50% of the time (based on

estimated electric blackouts in

Asmara), thus the 120 MW of

capacity at 50% operation is

equivalent to 60 MW operat-

ing at 100% (theoretically, as

no generators ever operate at

100% due to scheduled mainte-

nance, but sufce for illustrationpurposes). Instead of belittling

Ethiopia over its 10,000 MW,

PIA Compliments Ethiopia's Growth and

Transformation


17/24


PIA should answer how he can

achieve sustainable economic

growth with 60 MW.

Every project in Ethiopias

Growth and Transformation Pe-

riod is what PIA envies and talks

about for Eritrea infrastructure

developments, generating hard

currencies, balanced growth all

over Ethiopia, etc...

Comparing the sufciency of

Ethiopias electric output to De-veloped Countries is highly de-

ceiving:

Most developed countries are

located in colder climates where

electricity, along with gas, is

used to heat homes in winter and

air conditioning in the summer.

Most of Ethiopia is blessed with

moderate climate that doesnt

require articial air control.

Most households in developed

countries have many kitchen

appliances, washer/dryers,

dishwashers, hair dryers, mul-

tiple televisions and many otherelectric goods. Todays Ethio-

pia needs basic electricity for

households mostly for lighting

and electric stoves. In todays

Eritrea, even urban areas arent

served with basic electricity.

Signicant portion of daytime

electric consumption in devel-

oped countries is made by com-

mercial and industrial establish-

ments. Ethiopia has not yet

reached that level yet.

The 10,000 MW of electricity

enables Ethiopia to:

Provide basic electricity to

households which PIA cant do

for its own population other than

to tell people to go and live inrural areas (sadistic),

Provide sufcient electricity to

its growing commercial and in-

dustrial establishments. As an

Eritrean, it is embarrassing when

Ethiopia is able to run 3 or 4

massive cement factories while

PIA is complaining that he cant

even run one small sized cement

factory and we are endowed

with so many raw materials for

cement production.

Provide Ethiopia with a clear

and well dened economic path

that it can build on. As they say,

Rome wasnt built in a day andthat incremental growth is what

gets us to our destination. What

isnt here today surely wont be

there in 5 or 10 years. PIAs Eri-

trea has no plan to expand elec-

tricity in the near future, which

means that Eritrea will remain in

the dark for the next 10 years.

Provide Ethiopia with hard/

foreign currency. Although

Ethiopia needs every MWh of

electricity it produces for its do-

mestic consumption, it must sell

electricity to Djibouti, Kenya,

and Sudan for the same logic that

PIA took 5 hours to lecture us

i.e. every venture must generate

hard currency just like his yet toproduce development projects.

Ethiopia may buy crude oil from

Sudan in exchange for electric-

ity. Ethiopia may pay Djibouti

for its port facilities with elec-

tricity, and the same for Kenya.

What Ethiopia is doing is every

bit consistent with PIAs lecture

yet PIA has no qualms belit-

tling Ethiopia.

Power Ethiopias rail system,

thus alleviating its transporta-

tion system from relying on im-

ported fuel, which in turn saves

foreign currency (consistent

with PIAs philosophy). TheAddis Ababa-Djibouti, Mekele-

Djibouti, and Addis Ababa LRT

will all be electried.

PIAs Kamikaze Policies

First it should be noted when-

ever PIA says, ... Our policy/

policies ..., or ...This gov-

ernments policy/policies...,

it should be taken to mean his

policies. There are no parlia-

ment, PFDJ Central Committee,

or cabinet ministers to consult.

During his lecture, PIA keeps

returning to a couple of decien-

cies that are holding Eritreas

economic growth

Agro-industry: when asked

about agro-industry, PIA lec-

tures us that selling raw agri-

cultural products will not yield

sufcient foreign revenues and

that these products must be pro-

cessed further to fully realize

our potential. The drawback: no

electricity to run our factories.

Mining: after telling us min-

ing isnt producing sufcient

income but then tells us that

mining products cant be further

processed locally because of

lack of electricity.

Alternative energy: PIA tellsus Eritrea must obtain alterna-

tive local energy resources to

power its electrical outputs. At

the same time, PIA alludes to the

fact alternative energy sources

too expensive and cant be justi-

ed under current circumstanc-

es. Not satised with hydro and

wind energy (Ashegoda Wind

Generator alone in Tigray pro-

duced over 120 MW), Ethiopia

is undertaking feasibility stud-

ies with Icelandic consulting

company to explore geother-

mal power in Ethiopia which

potentially produce over 5,000MW. Eritrea should have simi-

lar potential.At the end of PIAs

lecture one is left with the im-

pression that electricity is some

supernatural phenomenon that is

beyond the capacity of Eritreans

to produce and that we, including

PIA, must pray to Apollo or Ra

(Sun gods) for our energy needs.

It appears that PIAs pinning his

hope, in his own words during

the latest lecture, in eventually

normalizing relationship with

Ethiopia and buying electricity

from them. Kab Seb Zitesebey

bdewu beleye!

Port and Free Port: For 22 years,PIA has been talking about ex-

panding Eritreas two ports and

PIA Compliments Ethiopia's Growth . . .From page 16

Please see page 14


18/24


AP: Bayern Munich and Real

Madrid produced dominant per-

formances in the Champions

League on Wednesday as the

likes of Arjen Robben and Cris-

tiano Ronaldo found the net on

a good night for Europes top

forwards.

Robben helped Bayern outclass

Manchester City 3-1 away, a

demonstration that Bayerns de-

fence of the title is right on track

with two wins from two games.

We controlled the match and

that is important in the Cham-

pions League, Bayerns coach

Pep Guardiola said.

Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria

scored two goals each for Real

Madrid in a 4-0 rout of Copen-

hagen, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic

notched a brace for Paris Saint-

Germain in a 3-0 demolition of

Benca.

They were all outdone by Kos-tas Mitroglou, who scored a hat

trick to lead Olympiakos to a

3-0 victory at Anderlecht.

Manchester United was held

to a 1-1 draw at Shakhtar Do-

netsk, while Citys former coach

Roberto Mancini steered Gal-

atasaray to a 2-2 draw at Juven-

tus, just two days after taking

charge of the Turkish side.

Ronaldos two goals against Co-

penhagen raised his total for two

games to ve following a hat

trick in a 6-1 win at Galatasaray

on the opening matchday.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti

said he was pleased with the

game, saying it had a good be-

ginning, intensity and balance.

We tried to carry on scor-

ing right into the last minutes,

there was a good attitude in the

team.

Copenhagen coach Stale Sol-

bakken praised Ronaldo, saying:

He is the man of the match with

his two goals.

With 10 goals in two matches

and six points Real is rmly in

control of Group B, ahead of Ju-

ventus with two points.

Drogba salvages draw

Juventus nearly picked up all

three points on the night when

substitute Fabio Quagliarella

made it 2-1 with an 87th min-

ute header only for Didier

Drogba, who had earlier put

the Turkish side in front, to nd

Umut Bulut for an immediate

equalizer.

Bayern also has a perfect record

at the top of Group D, while

CSKA Moscow pulled level

with City on three points with a

3-2 victory over Viktoria Plzen,

with Zoran Tosic scoring one

goal and setting up another.

Bayern took a 1-0 halftime lead

after City goalkeeper Joe Hart

let Franck Riberys shot slip

through his grasp in the seventh

minute, before Thomas Mueller

and Arjen Robben piled on the

misery with goals in a four-min-

ute span just before the hour.

On a sobering night for City,

substitute Alvaro Negredo

grabbed a 79th-minute consola-

tion before Bayern had defender

Jerome Boateng sent off for a

professional foul on Yaya Toure

with four minutes left.

United stayed true to its stutter-

ing start in its rst season after

Alex Ferguson by conceding a

late equalizer in Donetsk.

Danny Welbeck gave United the

lead in the 18th as he slid in be-

tween two players to nish off

Marouane Fellianis low cross,

but Shakhtar levelled in the

76th from Taisons volley after

Nemanja Vidic failed to clear a

cross.

Both teams have four points in

Group A.

In the groups other match, Bay-

er Leverkusen substitute Jens

Hegeler scored from a free kick

in injury time for a 2-1 victory

over Real Sociedad.

Paris Saint-Germain also hassix points at the top of Group C,

with Benca and Olympiakos

both on three points.

What was good tonight was

that we controlled the game

from the rst to the last minute,

PSG coach Laurent Blanc said.

We scored when we were on

top and caused them problems

throughout.

The biggest players are raring

to go in the Champions League.

(Ibrahimovic) has never won it.

His performance was very, very

good tonight, Blanc said.

Shakhtar Donetsk.

Bayern, Real Madrid cruise to

easy wins: Champions LeagueGetting Drake on board as

an ambassador for the To-

ronto Raptors might not

have been the only reason

ofcials with Maple Leaf

Sports and Entertainmentwere smiling this week.

It turns out the Ontario

government gave $500,000

to the company that owns

the Raptors, as well as the

NHLs Maple Leafs, the

Toronto FC and the Air

Canada Centre, to help

host the 2016 NBA all star

game.

The provincial govern-

ment never issued a news

release to announce the

half-million-dollar cheque

for MLSE from its Cele-

brate Ontario Blockbuster

program.

The Canadian Taxpay-

ers Federation says Maple

Leaf Sports and Entertain-

ment was recently val-

ued at $2.25 billion, and

doesnt exactly need cor-

porate welfare.

CTF Ontario director Can-

dice Malcolm says the

Liberal government has

no shame when it comes

to wasting taxpayers mon-

ey.

Maple Leaf Sports and

Entertainment announced

Monday that it had hiredhomegrown rap star Drake

as a new global ambas-

sador, and predicted the

NBA all star game would

generate around $100 mil-

lion for Toronto.

Ontario gives MLSE $500K

for NBA All Star game

Kobe Bryant is heading overseas

to have a medical procedure un-

related to the torn Achilles ten-

don he sustained in April.

The Los Angeles Lakers said

Thursday that Bryant is expect-

ed to return early next week.

He went to Germany twice in

2011 for a procedure on his sore

right knee and a sore left ankle

that bothered him at the time.

The Los Angeles Times on

Thursday cited people with

knowledge of the situation as

saying that Bryant was going

to Germany this time. He was

having a knee procedure that in-

volves removing blood from the

affected area and spinning it in a

centrifuge. Molecules that causeinammatory responses are then

removed to create a serum that

is injected back into the affected

area.

Lakers coach Mike DAntoni

told the Times that Bryants trip

and ensuing procedure had been

planned, and that the team had

no concerns about it.

The 35-year-old guard has been

recovering from his Achilles

injury and subsequent surgery.

He did some shooting at train-

ing camp on Wednesday, but

hasnt been cleared for running

or jumping.

The Lakers havent provided

a timetable on Bryants return

from the Achilles injury other

than saying in April that he

would be back in six to nine

months. The overseas procedure

wont affect his recovery time

from the tendon injury.

The Lakers open the season Oct.

29 against the Clippers.

Lakers Kobe Bryant headsoverseas for medical procedure


19/24


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20/24


Editors: Grace Cherian

Photographer : Mulugeta Zergaber

Contributors: Mohamed EdrisNaza HasebenebiMedhin Ghebreslasie, Amleset Tesfay, Bode Odetoy-

inbo, Mimi Chandy, Ken NtiamoaSubscription Costsin Canada $39 for a year and $59 for two years. In USA, it costs $45 fora year and $69 for two years.

Articles appearingin assorted columns of Meftih newspaper are intended to generate civil

& informed public discussions. You dont have to agree with opinions expressed by the writers.

However, that should push you to express your own views. Through that way we generate lively

& civil discussions in the community. Rejoinders are not forums for personal insults & we wantreaders to adhere to these principles.

Editor-in-chief

Aaron Berhane260 Adelaide St. E. Toronto,

ON. M5A 1N1 # 192

Tel: 416-824-8124Fax: 416-783-7850

[email protected]

www.meftih.ca

Please see page 10

please see page 21

Kuala Lumpur

By Grace Cherian

In sojourning back to the

past, I ew into Perth on

May 29 of this year. I want-

ed to spend some time with

my very dear friend, Judy.

We had studied together in

After Mass I looked around

for my cousin but couldnt

nd him. However Saviour

sought me out. I hadnt

seen him for 42 years! But

he looked almost the same

as I remembered him all

those years ago. The only

difference is that his hair

had turned a little grey.

I also met some of Aunt

Celines grandchildren.

Aunt Celine was Moms

sister.

Malaysia for eleven years.

But we hadnt seen each

other for forty-two years

because my family and I

had emigrated to Canada.

Judy and I had a delight-

ful visit catching up with

each other and reminisc-

ing about the past. As with

all good things, my stay

with Judy and her family

quickly came to an end.

The next leg of my trip

took me to Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia, where my old-

est brother James lives. I

arrived in Kuala Lumpur

late at night. But I was so

exhausted I went straight

to bed.

The next morning I phoned

my cousin Saviour and

asked him if he would be

in churchthe Churchof the Assumption where

James and I would be wor-

shiping.

After Mass James sug-

gested we go out for non-

vegetarian lunch. Im not

much of a meat eater so

that suited me just ne.

At this restaurant, meals

are served in tiny metal

containers. This is known

as a thalia selection of

a number of eight or nine

different curries, rice, pap-padum and even a des-

sert. Patrons wash eat their

meals with their hands.

Of course you wash your

hands before and after eat-

ing.

It was interesting because

in this restaurant you

mixed your rice and cur-

ries not on a plate but on

a banana leaf. That makes

for easy dish washing. Youjust throw out the banana

In a lecture he delivered

at Ryerson University on

September 19, 2013, Pro-

fessor Dan Connell, Se-

nior Lecturer in journalism

at Simmons University in

Boston, presented rst-

hand information about

how human trafckers tor-

tured Eritrean refugees in

Sinai.

The International Issues

Discussion (IID) series at

Ryerson University spon-

sored the lecture in con-

junction with PEN Canada

on the topic of Trafck-ing and Torture in the Si-

nai: Rights Denial and the

Eritrean Exodus.

Professors, activists, Eri-

treans, and members of

the PFDJ (People Front

for Democracy & Justice)

as well as about30 students

from the departments of

History, Political Science

and International Studies,

attended the event.

Connell addressed the

issue of trafcking and

torture in Sinai and the

challenges the Eritrean

refugees faced in Sudan

and Ethiopia. He described

in detail that the dictatorial

regime in Eritrea was the

cause of the suffering of

Eritrean refugees.

In referring to the UN-HCR (The Ofce of the

United Nations High Com-

missioner for Refugees)

document, Connell stated

that about 3000 Eritreans

ee the repressive regime

of Eritrea every month at

great risk to their lives.

Connell added that as soon

as they enter the refugee

camps run by UNHCR, the

refugees face a new threat

from human trafckers.

They are kidnapped in Su-

dan and tortured in Sinai

until they pay ransoms of

$40,000. Some of them are

murdered for their organs.

Connells lecture was

based on the extensive eld

research he has conductedinterviewing refuges and

torture survivors, activ-

ists, relief ofcials and aid

workers. The slide show he

displayed of some of these

victims of torture was very

disturbing to watch. You

felt the pain keenly.

Connells comprehensive

presentation gave a com-

plete picture of Eritrea in

the past and present. Inthe mid-1990s, Eritrea was

a bright spot on the Afri-

can horizon, said Con-

nell. Despite the impact

of the devastating war of

the last 30 years, it seemed

to be a model of multi-eth-

nic and religious harmony,

growing gender equality,

corruption-free adminis-

tration, and debt-free de-

velopment.

However, under the ad-

ministration of Isaias Af-

worki today, the country

is moving backwards. The

president has refused to

implement a constitution;

has arrested thousands of

critics; shut down the inde-pendent press and arrested

tens of journalists and

banned non-governmental

organizations and reli-

gious institutions. Connell

highlighted how Afworkis

highly repressive police

state has forced tens of

thousands of youth to ee

their homeland.

The one and a half-hour

lecture was very touching

and left the audience feel-

ing optimistic. Connell

said the diaspora move-

ment is gaining momen-

tum and playing a crucial

role in challenging the re-

gime from both inside and

outside the country. The

diaspora youth movement

makes robocalls to Eritrea

and sends radio broadcasts

to inform the people who

are denied from listening

to the opposition voice.

Connells presentation was

very powerful. He vividly

conveyed the image of Af-

workis repressive regime.

Its Natural to see the

members of the PFDJ (an

ally of the terrorist group

Alshabab that vowed to

attack Canada) yelled like

crazy, barking like dogs

and behaving like animals

in a zoo. One of the loyalmembers of the PFDJ, Be-

reket Asefaw (Kuchi), tried

to denounce Connells pre-

Lecture by Professor Dan Connell El-

evates Students' CuriosityBy Aaron Berhane


21/24


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leaf. Unfortunately, the

practice of eating from ba-

nana leaves is dying out.

Banana leaves are expen-

sive because banana trees

are becoming scarce even

in a tropical country like

Malaysia. I really enjoyed

eating out of the banana

leaves with my hands be-

cause Im a very tactileperson who enjoys touch-

ing and feeling things. I

had forgotten what this

was like because I had last

eaten with my hands when

my family and I lived in

Malaysia. We had no cut-

lery in the house but we ate

out of plates.

I must confess that when I

arrived in Canada, I found

it very confusing to learnhow to use knives, forks

and spoons. It seemed so

much easier just to pick up

my food with my ngers

instead of daintily cutting

the food with a knife and

a fork and lifting it into

my mouth. But eventually,

after some practice, I did

learn in which hand I was

supposed to hold the knife

and fork and how to use

them to eat my meals.

However, sometimes when

I was invited out, life wasnt

so simple. I would be con-

fronted with an entire ar-

ray of cutlery. Somewhere

along the way, I learned a

rule: Use the cutlery from

the outside in. That rule

helped me a great deal.

The other trick I learned

was to wait and watch my

hostess. Which utensil did

she pick up rst?

Eating that non-vegetarian

meal was abso-

lutely delight-

ful. You see I live

alone and Im

quite lazy about

cooking meals for

myself. I generally

make a huge batch

of food, divide it

up in small, store

them in the freezer

and take it out as

I need it. But to

have eight or nine

different dishes in

one meal? What a

treat!

Here you see my

brother James re-

ally focusing on

his food. Eating

requires intense

concentration es-pecially when the

food is so deli-

cious.

Kuala . . .From page 20

Vatican City, 3 Oct. (AKI)

Pope Francis on Thurs-

day described as shame-

ful the shipwreck off the

southern Italian island of

Lampedusa in which near-

ly 300 migrants are fearedto have drowned.

The many victims of the

umpteenth tragic ship-

wreck today off Lampedu-

sa cause me deep sorrow.

Shameful is the world that

comes to mind: it is shame-

ful, Francis said.

Lets join forces to make

sure other such tragedies

never hap-

pen again,

he added He

was address-ing delegates

at a Vatican

conference to

mark the 50th

a n n i v e r s a r y

of Pope John

XXIIIs 1963

Cold War era

Encyclical Pacem in Terris

or Peace on Earth.

Lets pray to God or the

men, women and children

who lost their lives, fortheir families and for all

refugees, the pontiff said.

In a message from his

Twitter account earlier on

Thursday, Francis urged

Catholics to offer prayers

for the victims of the ship-

wreck.

Many thousands of mi-

grants have drowned or

died of dehydration during

Pope condemns shame-

ful migrant drownings

off Lampedusathe dangerous

sea voyage to

Europe across

the southernM e d i t e r r a -

nean, often

crammed into

unsafe people-

s m u g g l e r s

boats.

Lampedusa is

the main arriv-

al-point for mi-

grants heading

to Europe by

sea and Italy

wants Europe-an Union poli-

cies to help it

handle the

inux of tens

of thousands

of people ar-

riving on its

shores annu-

ally.

Source: Adnk-

ronos.com


22/24


Technology & Science

Mayor of Brampton, Su-

san Fennell celebrated

the National Seniors Day

last week.

On behalf of the peo-

ple of Brampton, said

Mayor Fennell, I join

with our entire City to

celebrate the important

and lasting contributions

made by local seniors on

National Seniors Day.

Whether as veterans

who fought for our na-

tions freedom; entrepre-

neurs who started suc-

cessful companies from

the ground up and cre-

ated good-paying jobs;

engaged residents and

committed community

volunteers; or as devoted

parents raising budding

families; Brampton se-

niors have helped build

our City, our province,

and our nation for thebetter.

On Wednesday Octo-

ber 9th, 2013, the City

of Brampton will once

again host its annual

55+ Information Fair at

our Flower City Seniors

Recreation Centre.

I encourage residents

to participate in this im-

portant and informative

Brampton event. Its an-

other opportunity to in-

crease awareness about

services, programs and

products available for

seniors in our communi-

ty. Visit to discover waysto stay independent,

healthy and active.

And as always, addi-

tional information about

community programs

available for seniors can

be found in our Fall &

Winter 2013-2014 Rec-

reation Guide.

Bramptons MayorCelebrates National

Seniors DayFacebook users should

check their privacy set-

tings if they want to limit

the people who can search

every post or status update

they have ever made, on-

line security and technolo-

gy bloggers say, following

an upgrade to Facebooks

Graph Search.

Facebook announced Mon-

day that its Graph Search

a search tool available

to some English-language

users, mostly in the U.S. has been upgraded to al-

low users to search status

updates, photo captions,

check-ins and comments.

Previously, the feature

could only search people,

photos, places and inter-

ests.

Suddenly everything

weve written on Face-

book isnt just clunkily

navigable from our pro-

les. It can be searched byanyone with permission to

see it, wrote blogger Josh

Constine on the technol-

ogy news site TechCrunch,

following Facebooks an-

nouncement.

Your bitter posts from

your college library, silly

comments on friends wed-

ding photos, and dispatch-

es from distant vacation

check-ins can all be dis-tilled from the rest of your

content.

Facebook noted that us-

ers will only be able to

share content that has been

shared with them that is,content shared with friends

only can only be searched

by those friends, but posts

that are shared publicly can

be searched by people you

are not friends with.

Facebook said the expand-

ed search will be rolled out

gradually, and will initially

only be available to some

of the people who current-

ly have Graph Search.

However, you can still

swab the deck in prepa-

ration for whatever mess

might spill over once ev-

erybody gets the ability to

s

Meftih Newspaper-Oct2013

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