September 11 is a paradoxical date for me. It is a sad and a happy day.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, a gang of 19 terrorists managed to coordinate four heinous attacks that resulted in the deaths of nearly 3 thousand people and injury to more than 6 thousand. Many hundreds died from 9/11 related illnesses…
9/11 changed America as did 12/7/1941 (the attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry in WW II). We shall remember the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001…
9/11/2018 – A date that shall live in glory in Ethiopian- Eritrean history.
Between 1998-2000, Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a war that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 50,000-100,000 people and displacement of nearly million. The Ethio-Eritrean conflict inflicted “substantial damage to the economic growth and development of Ethiopia and Eritrea and has led to humanitarian suffering on both sides of the border.”
On September 11, 2018 (Meskerem 1, 2010 E.C.), Ethiopia and Eritrea opened their borders for the first time after a 20-year no-war, no-peace stalemate.
At the center of the prolonged conflict was a dispute over the implementation of the Ethio-Eritrean border arbitration commission decision which sought to “delimit and demarcate the colonial treaty border based on pertinent colonial treaties (1900, 1902 and 1908) and applicable international law.”
On September 11, 2018, I was privileged to accompany H.E. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, H.E. President Isaias Afeworki and other government officials during the opening of the borders between Ethiopia and Eritrea in the town of Zalambessa and an area called Bure.
It was an incredibly poignant moment for me. After an absence of 48 years from Ethiopia and Africa, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to witness live and in person the official opening of the borders between the two countries.
For 20 years, leaders of the two countries exchanged salvos of bitter and acrimonious words. Their soldiers occasionally exchanged volleys of mortar and artillery rounds. As the African saying goes, “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”
When the leaders of the two countries locked horns for two decades, the people suffered in unimaginable ways.
Families on both sides of the border suffered enforced separation. They were prevented from even attending funerals. All they could do was watch from a distance in sadness and despair. There were mass expulsions and deportations of ethnic Eritreans from Ethiopia in flagrant violation of international human rights conventions.
The Ethio-Eritrea border became a theater of no-war and no-peace, and indeed a theater of the absurd. Fear and loathing characterized the relationship between the two countries for twenty years.
All that changed in June 2018. PM Abiy made a surprise game-changing announcement. He declared Ethiopia will accept a 2000 peace agreement with Eritrea over their disputed borders. In July 2018, he made a historic official state visit to Eritrea and finally broke the ice.
He received a reception fit for a rock star in Asmara. After his three-day meeting with President Isaias, PM Abiy announced [auth. translation]:
We have agreed to have our airlines and ports to start working, our people to exchange [freely], our embassies to open and for us to come to Asmara with our families on the weekends and enjoy ourselves. Eritreans can come and visit their families in Ethiopia. The rest of the little items on the agenda we will solve by tearing down the border wall and building bridges. We have torn down the wall at the border and are building a bridge over it.
He said his core message to the people of Eritrea is “Medemer” (synergistically come together as force multipliers for each other). If we [engage in] medemer, we could surmount all [our challenges]. We have a broad range opportunities in Northeast Africa. We have amazing people who are brothers. What we need is to abandon hatred and come together in love in medemer.
Following PM Abiy’s visit, President Isaias traveled to Addis Ababa where the people gave him a reception fit for a rock star. In his Millennium Hall speech, President Isaias said [auth. translation]:
I wish to express the happiness I feel as I bring the greetings, love and good wishes of the Eritrean people to you. I wish to congratulate you on the historic change you have achieved. Within the framework of our traditional and historic mutually beneficial relationship, we have defeated the conspiracy of those who sought to foster hatred and revenge among us.
We are fully determined to now focus on development, prosperity and stability and march forward together in all fields of endeavor. Who, who will dare to ruin our love, sow discord and instability among us, damage us or thwart and destroy our development and progress? We will not allow anyone to [get in our way]. Together, we will recover our losses, work hard together and achieve victory. We will strive for a better future. I am certain of it.
In just a few meetings, the two leaders managed to dissolve the hardened enmity that had kept their countries apart for 20 years.
On September 11, 2018, PM Abiy and President Isaias made history. They busted down the border wall of hate, death and destruction that had separated them for two decades. I was a witness at the moment the 20-year old wall was torn down and a new bridge built to reconnect the two peoples for ages to come.
The historic moment occurred at Bure, a desolate arid landscape with little vegetation on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea and Zalambessa, a town located in Tigray region on the Ethio-Eritrean border.
In the early morning hours of September 11, 2018, we flew from Addis Ababa to Assab where we met up with President Isaias and other government officials. From Assab to Bure was a short helicopter flight. Ethiopian and Eritrean troops lined the dusty road in Bure. We walked a few kilometers to reach the ceremonial site where a jubilant crowd of hundreds awaited with great expectation.
As we walked by, I tried to read the faces of the soldiers who stood at attention. They greeted us with welcoming smiles. Some waved their hands. There was not a hint of tension. PM Abiy and President Isaias walked at pretty good clips as the rest of us tried to keep up with them. Women ululated joyously. We shared traditional bread and water under the canopy as the border opening ceremony was conducted.
Following the Bure ceremony, we flew to Asmara and then to Zalambessa. The turnout in Zalambessa was incredible. In my estimation, there were at least ten thousand people and possibly more. Women were out in their best traditional dresses ululating, crying, wiping tears from their faces, singing and waving their hands and the flags of the two countries. The crowd shouted out the names of the two leaders. Throngs of young people followed the vehicles carrying the VIPs to the ceremonial site.
It was truly a joyous event. For me, it was absolute sensory overload. It was an overwhelming experience of which I will probably write at length in the future. The border opening event was also a moment of sober reflection and great expectation for me. You can find the full article is found on: http://almariam.com/category/al-mariam-commentaries/
The Ethiopian Herald September 18, 2019
BY PROFESSOR ALEMAYEHU GEBREMARIAM
