Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 12:56:42 +0200
<http://erigazette.org/?p=8044> 40th Anniversary Bologna- Response to
Keleta Kidane
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On Sunday, June 15, 2014 12:32 AM,
Amanuel Tseggai
As everyone is entitled to his opinion on this or any subject matter I find
Mr. Keleta's view on the upcoming Bologna's 40th anniversary a bit
misconstrued and his attack on the organizers and the Eritrean government
somehow misguided and out of line.
Here's why.
1. As we all know Bologna is a historical place where Eritreans from across
European countries used to gather annually to show their solidarity to
Eritrean liberation movement and to lend both moral and financial support in
the fight against Ethiopian occupation.In 1984, forty years ago, the first
Eritrean festival was held in this Italian city. It's within such context
that the Ertirean community in Italy in collaberation with the government is
commemorating this important day. That been the case, hw's this linked to
the unfortunate tragedy that happened off of Italian shore about a year ago?
It's disingenuous on the part of Mr. Keleta trying to politicize the
situation and act as if he (and what ever organization he represents) is
more geniunely concerned about the victims of Lampedusa than others. To
observe such event on the same date the boat tragedy occurred is one thing
and his views may "hold water". However, to criticise something simply
becauseyou can and , in a process, for gaining some political score, is not
only wrong but will defeat the political objective(s) one sets to achieve
long term. In a simple term: it turns people off. The people who are
organizing such anniversarry, while as much are traumatized by the deadly
tragedy as the next Eritrean, would have no knowledge before hand about the
accident. But, it's highly likely that they have been making all the
preparations for the success of the event way before the occurrence of the
tragic accident.
2. The Tragedy at Lampedusa: People of all walks of life, irrespective of
their religion, political affiliation, have been struck with sadness when
they first heard about the boat accident that consumed the lives of hundreds
of Eritreans off the coast of Italy. People accross the world gathered at
churches, community centers to pay respect for the victims and extend their
condolences to the families. These are facts that any one can testify and
one can check on youtube for verification. Here is another fact that Mr.
Keleta Kidane attempted to sway aside: The government of Eritrea repeatedly
called on the government of Italy to send the remains of the victims for
proper burials, as requested by the families. So as not to seem another
government propaganda, one may also refer to the report by a group of
Italians who visited Asmara shortly after and spoke with the victims
families, who painfully begged for the return of their children's, wive's
and husband's remains. The response by the Italian government to such humane
request was a mixture of arrogance and duplicity. The situation, for reasons
Mr. Keleta could better explain, was highly politicized. And what was so
irony and have difficulty contemplating to this day was when the Italian
government decided to grant citizenship to the dead while denying entry visa
for those who survived the deadly boat accident. What we have learnt later
on was that the Italian government, despite protest by the families of the
victims, took it upon itself to carry out a burrial service somewhere in its
soil. These been the facts, one is curious to learn as to how Mr. Keleta
thinks the government of Eritrea should have handled the situation
differently?
To summarize, regardless of how it was misrepresented, the 40th Anniversary
of Bologna Mr. Keleta seems to strongly object, is a noble one whose sole
objective is to commemorate and to acknoweledge the positive roles and
contribution Eritreans in diasporas played during the struggle for
independence. There's no politics in it. As for the case of the boat
victims, Mr. Keleta, as an Eritrean national, could play a critical role in
convincing the Italian government to expedite the release of all the
remains of the victims and send them home to their families for proper
burial. That's the right thing to do.
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