Do you know eritrea?

It’s in Africa, somewhere in the North?

I learned about Eritrea few years ago, and I was fascinated by the people and their amazing history of struggle for independence that lasted for over 30 long years facing an enemy (Ethiopia) 23 times larger in size, that was armed, funded and supplied by the then super-power - the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, in 1991 Eritreans won their hard earned independence against the overwhelming odds and formed a new nation that has since become a beacon of hope for the African continent.

In 1998, seven years after the Eritrean independence, Ethiopia invaded Eritrea in an attempt to “undo” or to “reverse” the hard won Eritrean independence and to re-colonize Eritrea. This time around Ethiopia has a new super-power ally that armed and funded its invading forces and was confident it could conquer Eritrea “within 72 hours” as the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zanawi had said days before the invasion begun. But the war lasted 2 years, not “72 hours”, and Eritreans once again outsmarted the Ethiopian war generals and skillfully managed to annihilate the massive Ethiopian forces which outnumbered the Eritrean forces 23 to 1 ratio.

That is David against Goliath, and we all know who killed who. Ethiopia suffered 123,000 dead and another 120,000 wounded soldiers, whereas Eritrea had lost 19,000 determined young men and women who defended and foiled the Ethiopian invasion.

The west, and the united Nations in particular, were in support of Ethiopia throughout the 2 years bloody war and they were crossing their fingers and legs to see tiny Eritrea (population 5 million) gets defeated by the much larger Ethiopia (population 80 million), but they were very disappointed when Eritrea not only won the war but it destroyed the massive Ethiopian forces skillfully with amazing determination and bravery.

The reason to why many “rich and powerful” nations in the west didn’t want to see an independent Eritrean nation exist and are now supporting the food-aid addicted, poster child of man-made famine Ethiopia is only because Eritrea has become a threat - “a threat of a good example” a beacon of hope in a continent filled with misery and despair, and where Africans, despite their abundant resources, because of corruption and greed, and most of all because of economic programs prescribed by self-serving external forces, have been relegated to live on handouts from the “generous” west.

In order to have a clear and a deep understanding of who Eritreans are and how they had managed to survive against the overwhelming odds stacked against them, I suggest the following quote that was printed on TIME MAGAZINE… “By logic, the Nation of Eritrea (pop. 3 million) should not exist. The secessionist province’s independence fighters ought never to have defeated Ethiopia in their 30-year-long struggle. They were outmanned, outgunned, abandoned or betrayed by every ally; their cause was hopeless. They won by force of character, a unity and determination so steely not all the modern armaments, super power support or economic superiority of Ethiopia could withstand it. The spirit that saw the Eritreans through 10 years in the trenches of their mountain redoubt at Nakfa has built them a Nation from scratch; since independence was finally consummated in 1993.” TIME Magazine - March 30, 1998

Thank you. May God continue to bless Eritrea, a beacon of hope for the African continent.