Remarks made by His Excellency Mr. ESTIFANOS Afeworki
Ambassador of the State of Eritrea to Japan at the Tokyo Peace Day
Memorial Ceremony March 10, 2019	  	  	  (Thank	  you	  for	  the	  introduction)	  	  Representatives	  of	  the	  diplomatic	  corps	  in	  Japan	  present,	  Governor	  Koike	  Members	  of	  the	  Tokyo	  Metropolitan	  Assembly	  Mayors	  of	  cities	  and	  municipalities	  Citizens	  of	  Tokyo	  Ladies	  and	  Gentlemen:	  	  Konichiwa,	  	  Greeting	   people	   at	   all	   time	   of	   the	   day	   in	   my	   language	   is	   Selam	   and	   it	   means	  Peace:	  	  More	   than	   100,000	   souls	   were	   killed	   and	   more	   than	   1	   million	   people	   were	  injured	   on	   the	   night	   of	   10	   March	   1945	   when	   the	   city	   of	   Tokyo	   was	   blanket	  bombed	  from	  the	  air.	  Homes,	  buildings	  and	  natural	  habitat	  were	  burnt	  out.	  	  	  	  At	   this	   particular	   period	   of	   time	   in	   human	   history,	   one	   of	   the	   ugly	   faces	   of	   our	  human	   past	   and	   the	   present,	   all	   tools	   of	   warfare	   were	   used	   including	   atomic	  arsenals.	  Whatever	  the	  mighty	  powers	  had	  in	  their	  possession	  as	  instruments	  of	  war,	  rained	  on	  the	  heads	  of	  people	  ravaging	  indiscriminately	  men,	  women,	  and	  children	   all	   over	   our	   planet	   –	   in	   Asia,	   Europe	   and	   the	   continent	   of	   Africa	  including	   but	   not	   excluding	   my	   country	   Eritrea.	   Cities,	   towns	   and	   historic	  civilization	   centers	   all	   over	   were	   knocked	   out	   with	   brutality	   during	   those	   bloody	  days	  and	  years.	  	  Hence,	  I	  believe,	  we	  are	  gathered	  here	  today,	  to	  learn	  a	  lesson	  from	  the	  ugly	  faces	  of	   all	   those	   wars	   by	   immortalizing	   our	   memories	   and	   the	   memories	   of	  generations	   to	   come	   by	   highlighting	   the	   meaning,	   price	   and	   sacrifice	   paid	   for	  peace	  all	  over	  this	  planet	  by	  the	  human	  race.	  	  I	  was	  born	  in	  1947.	  This	  is	  two	  years	  after	  the	  Bombing	  of	  Tokyo.	  I	  grew	  up	  in	  the	  capital	  city	  of	  my	  country	  Eritrea	  called	  Asmara.	  By	  the	  way	  Asmara	  means	  in	  the	   local	   language	   women	   united	   men	   to	   fight	   against	   slavery.	   Eritrea	   being	   an	  Italian	  colony	  during	  that	  period	  was	  also	  deeply	  involved	  in	  the	  Second	  World	  War.	   	   More	   than	   160,000	   soldiers	   participated	   in	   this	   bloody	   war	   from	   Eritrea.	  
As	  you	  might	  know,	  Italian	  warship	  named	  “Eritrea”	  served	  in	  the	  Indian	  Ocean	  during	  this	  period,	  which	  came	  during	  the	  war	  to	  the	  Port	  of	  Kobe	  for	  protection.	  
A	   modified	   sister	   ship	   named	   “Ethiopia”	   was	   also	   in	   the	   making	   but	   was	   not	  realized	  because	  the	  war	  ended	  earlier	  than	  expected.	  	  	  Hence,	  you	  must	  not	  be	  surprised	  to	  hear	  of	  my	  story	  that	  I,	  as	  a	  toddler,	  grew	  up	  playing	  hide-­‐and-­‐seek	  in	  air-­‐shelters,	  what	  you	  call	  in	  Japan	  “Bokugo”	  dug	  on	  the	  	  1	  side	   of	   a	   mountain	   in	   a	   racially	   segregated	   city	   of	   Asmara.	   “Mai	   Botoloni”	  translated	  in	  English	  “Fountain	  of	  the	  Battalion”	  was	  our	  water	  source.	   Spaghetti	  and	  Macaroni	  were	  the	  rations	  of	  our	  parents	  from	  which	  we	  fed.	  	  Malnutrition	  was	   common.	   The	   misery	   did	   not	   end	   there.	   The	   smell	   of	   war	   never	   left	   our	  neighborhood	  and	  the	  region	  since	  then.	  	  	  Life	   is	   very	   short,	   as	   we	   all	   agree,	   we	   the	   children	   of	   that	   generation	   were	   also	  sucked	   into	   and	   forced	   to	   witness	   half	   of	   a	   century	   of	   proxy	   wars	  ravaging	   our	  people	   and	   the	   region.	   	   This	   was	   a	   war	   that	   took	   the	   lives	   of	   millions	   of	   innocent	  people	   and	   subjected	   our	   region	   into	   cyclic	   massive	   displacement,	  underdevelopment,	   drought	   and	   famine.	   It	   was	   really	   a	   savage	   war	   where	   all	  kinds	   of	   war	   instruments	   were	   used	   including	   but	   not	   excluding	   chemical	  weapons	   and	   Scud	   Missiles,	   which	   knocked	   out	   livelihoods	   of	   millions	   of	   the	  population	  in	  Eritrea	  and	  Ethiopia.	  	  Coming	   out	   from	   the	   ruins	   of	   this	   long	   war	   and	   72	   years	   of	   crisis	   and	   war	  situation	   in	   our	   region	   of	   Africa	   -­‐	   Peace	   Pact	   was	   signed	   between	   Eritrea	   and	  Ethiopia	   witnessed	   by	   Secretary	   General	   of	   the	   UN	   António	   Guterres	   and	   King	   of	  Saudi	  Arabia	  Salman	  bin	  Abdulaziz	  Al	  Saud	  on	  September	  16,	  2018.	  This	  treaty	  of	  peace	   is	   a	   significant	   historic	   events	   for	   world	   peace	   that	   I	   thought	   must	   be	  shared	  on	  this	  sad	  day	  with	  all	  present	  here	  set	  to	  commemorate	  the	  victims	  of	  the	  Tokyo	  bombing.	  	  	  I	  have	  witnessed	  the	  biggest	  battles	  in	  the	  Horn	  of	  Africa	  which	  involved	  super	  powers	   and	   regional	   powers	   which	   came	   as	   far	   as	   from	   Latin	   America	   as	   well	   as	  the	  1982	  Arab	  Israel	  War	  in	  Lebanon.	  As	  a	  person	  who	  had	  witnessed	  wars	  and	  its	  disastrous	  outcomes,	  I	  believe	  humanity	  deserves	  eternal	  peace.	  Help	  us	  keep	  the	  peace	  in	  our	  region	  as	  well	  as	  in	  your	  region.	  We	  all	  deserve	  peace,	  wherever	  we	  are…	  I	  believe	  that	  those	  who	  know	  and	  experienced	  war	  have	  the	  courage,	  vision	   and	   wisdom	   to	   see	   peace.	   	   Peace	   Day	   Memorial	   Ceremony	   in	   Tokyo	   is	  Peace	   Day	   Memorial	   Ceremony	   in	   Asmara	   and	   Addis	   Abeba	   and	   the	   rest	   of	   the	  world.	   	   This	   should	   be	   the	   only	   and	   only	   way	   to	   commemorate	   all	   victims	   of	   war	  in	  our	  planet.	  	  From	  this	  podium,	  I	  would	  like	  to	  call	  upon	  the	  Government	  of	  Ethiopia	  and	  my	  own	   government,	   the	   Government	   of	   Eritrea	   to	   consider	   in	   making,	   starting	  2020,	   September	   16	   a	   public	   holiday	   to	   observe	   Eritrea	   Ethiopia	   Peace	   Day	   -­‐	   a	  day	  to	  commemorate	  the	  victims	  of	  the	  long	  war	  and	  heighten	  the	  understanding	  of	  the	  importance	  of	  peace	  for	  generations	  to	  come.	  	  	  Thank	  you	  for	  lending	  me	  your	  ears,	  and	  look	  forward	  to	  your	  continued	  support	  for	   the	   peace	   building	   efforts	   in	   our	   region.	   Dawn	   of	   peace	   after	   long	   dark	   nights	  of	  six	  decades…	  	  	  Selam	  	  	  	  2