From: mafewor@erenj.bitnet (MOBAE)
Subject: Re: Ethiopia /non racist Italians, a joke!!
Followup-To: soc.culture.african
Organization: Exxon Research and Engineering, New Jersey
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 14:53:51 GMT

In article <Bxs1AH.7u3@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>, demoz@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (demoz
belay) wrote:
> 
> mafewor@erenj.bitnet (MOBAE) writes:
> 

> >In my earlier posting titled "Ethiopia/Colonialism/civil war" I said that
> >colonialists came to Eritrea in all colors. It doesn't make sense to me at
> >all to say that the Italians were not Fascists. It is true that Asmara (the
> >capital of Eritrea) was segregated into zones. Eritreans were not allowed
> >to
> >go into the downtown area, at all. Sure, the Italians built roads,
> >railraods,
> >cinemas....But anybody who thinks they did this to be "nice" to the
> >Eritreans
> >is at best naive; otherwise they are distorting the truth.
> 
> >None of the colonizers: Egyptians, Turkish, Italians, Ethiopians helped the
> >Eritrean people. Instead, they all made life harsh and very intolerable
> >making
> >Eritreans to be very determined people to get their INDEPENDENCE, at all
> >cost.
> >After more than 300(yes, 300)-years of colonization by different powers it
> >seems like soon Eritreans will have a say in their destiny.
> 
> >Mobae
> >______
> >Opinions expressed above are mine, not of any party nor any organization.
> >_____
> 
> Thanks Mobae! 
> I  would like to let you know that your opinions are correct.  Any one
> who believes the Italians were not Facists is far from the truth.
> 
> Mobae, could you post references for the "300 years" of colonalization
> you mentioned.  you could send it to my e-mail
> 
> Thanks in advance. Keep up the good work in educating us.
> 
> FREE AT LAST       FREE AT LAST!                    
> 
> 
> BBD
> 
> _

There are quite a few references that I can suggest. Those that come to
my mind at the moment include:

Eritrea: Never Kneel Down by Firebrace and Holland(UK, MP)
Conflicts & Intervention in the Horn of Africa by B. Habte Selassie
Eritrea: the Unfinished Revolution by ??? 

The first of these details the struggle of the Eritrean people in the
very recent past, with emphasis in the social and economic contributions
of the Eritrean freedom fighters. These book has the documents of the UN
resolution of the 1950, EPLF's offer of referendum (1980), and Ethiopia's
Peace Plan of ~1977.

The second one has a brief summary of the complicated interrelationships of
the people of the Horn of Africa, with accounts of colonial intervention
dating back to the Turks; it also has very brief statements on how Islam
was introduced to the region.

The third one started as a Ph.D. thesis and the author later expanded it
into a book. I am not an expert in the field, but it sure is a very, very
impressive book. It is one of the few books which supports its claims by
actual data. It has details such as the economic viability of Eritrea
which completely nullifies the arguements by some "educated" Ethiopians
which rumble a lot on how poor Eritrea is. (somebody asked them ones "if it
is as poor as you say, why don't you leave them (the Eritreans) alone?") 

I read these books some six years ago, and I am sure they have quite a
lot more to offer than I stated above; my apologies to the authors.

 
And Travaski's "Eritrea: a colony in transition" is an excellent book. This
book, written sometime in the 1940's(?) explains how difficult it is for
Ethiopia to handle the very delicate Eritrean question.

Hope the list will help you. Thanks for the interest.

Mobae

********************
The contents of the above comments are mine only. I do not represent,
nor am I a spokesperson of, any party/organization!

The contents of the above comments are mine only. I do not represent,
nor am I a spokesperson of, any party/organization!