THE ETHIOPIAN CHURCH JOURNAL

Eritrea has been involved in clashes with neighbors near and far since its independence in 1993. Let's see if we can count few of them (not including violent measures to subdue local dissent and in support of insurgents to destabilize Ethiopia). 1. Clash with Yemen over Hannish Islands (1995) 2. Border Skirmishes with Sudan (1996-1998) 3. Intervention in Congo War (1996-1997) 4. War with Ethiopia (1998-2000) 5. Border Conflict with Djibouti (2008) 6. Eritrea sent about 400 fighters to Yemen in support of the Saudi -led Arab coalition during the Yemeni civil war (2015). Eritrea got direct cash payouts and fuel supply, etc. in return (according to UN Monitoring Group report)  7. Intervention in War in Tigray (2020-2022) 8. Currently brewing clashes with Ethiopia , siding with Egypt (2026) In other words, Eritrean leadership has proven itself totally incapable of resolving internal dissent or external disputes through dialogue and cooperation, that is, without resorting to war of...

for Tirunesh Dibaba (after Coleridge) The shadow of the dome of pleasure Floated midway on the waves; Where was heard the mingled measure From the stadia and the caves. It was a miracle of rare device, A sunny pleasure-dome with hooray thrice! An Antelope with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw; It was an Ethiopian raid, And on her dulcimer she played, can't you see Singing of GaraSero Bekoji. WARNING: Samuel Taylor Coleridge [1772 -1834] was said to have received “Kubla Khan” poem in an opium-infested dream! We, therefore, caution you, dear viewer, to not be found reading our paraphrase of the original poem within the precincts of the (2012) London Olympics.:) Reprinted from 2012 London Olympics post

Sisi is trying to distract Egyptians from his corrupt leadership. He seems to have a short memory, Tahrir Uprising only a decade-and-half ago. How does he distract this time? Start a proxy war connected to the Nile, the lifeblood of Egypt. Tell the public that Ethiopia is emptying the Nile (quite a feat), or as his predecessors long ago  feared, was planning to poison the waters! It's all nonsense, of course. Now, consider spending $56 billion on spanking new military city (The Octagon) at a time of high unemployment, human rights abuses, economic crisis, and Sisi government making profit from Palestinian suffering.  The "Coalition of Seven" that Isaias organized on behalf of Sisi is supposed to serve two purposes: first, by fear-mongering both Isaias and Sisi hope to subdue their respective publics from rising up against their dictatorial rule; secondly, Isaias would benefit in cash and in steady supply of armament (a supply he could never get enough of).  Nearly two dec...

ድንኳናችንን ሌባ ይዞብን ሄደ እኮ! ሁለት ጓደኛሞች ቀኑን ሙሉ ሲጓዙ ውለው ጭው ካለ በረሃ ላይ መሸባቸው። ድንኳናቸውን ተከሉና እራት ቀማምሰው ጋደም እንዳሉ እንቅልፍ ይዟቸው ጭልጥ አለ።  ሌሊት ላይ አንደኛው ከእንቅልፉ ነቃ። ነቃና ሌላኛውን ቀሰቀሰው፣ የተቀሰቀሰው “ምነው ቀሰቀስከኝ?” አለው። “ቀጥ ብለህ ሰማዩን እይ ልልህ ነው” የተከናነበውን ገለጠና:-  “አየሁት … እና?...” “እና ምን ይታይሃል? ምን ታስተውላለህ?” “ምን ዓይነት ጥያቄ ነው? ከዋክብት ነዋ!” “ታዲያ ምን አስተዋልክ?” ለጥቂት ደቂቃዎች ዝም ብሎ አሰበና፣ “በሚሊዮን የሚቆጠሩ ደማቅ ከዋክብት አያለሁ፣ … የከዋክብቱ አሠላለፍ በዚህ በግራ በኩል የማንቸስተር ሲቲ አሠላለፍ ይመስላል፤ የባሎቴሊ ጠጉር ቁርጥ ይታየኛል፤ … ጊዜው ዘጠኝ ሰዓት እንደ ሆነ እገምታለሁ፤ … በመንፈሳዊ ዐይን እንየው ካልክ ደግሞ፣ እግዚአብሔር በኃይሉ ታላቅ አምላክ እንደሆነ፣ ሰው ግን ትቢያ እንደሆነ እገነዘባለሁ ...”  ጓደኛውም ተቀብሎ፣ “አይ ወንድሜ ... ተኝተን ድንኳናችንን ሌባ ይዞብን ሄደ እኮ!...” አለው።