ሓወልቲ ፑሽኪን ኣብ ኣስመራ፡ ኣስከሬን ኤርትራዊ ኣብ ምድረበዳ ሳህራ

America the beautiful,I get butterflies in my gut when I see the diverse protests that is sweeping through the nation and sending its ripple across the world,toppling and dismantling statues and symbols of racism everywhere,America the trend setter,when she sneezes the rest of the world catches cold,when sh..t hits the fan America shows up in a big way,all you have to do is look back at the history of this nation,its heroes and heroins symbolized and standing tall everywhere some carved in the face of a mountainside and some immortalized in museums and the pickle heads in Asmara have to import history from outside and claim ancestry from the Russian Bolshoi,makes me wonder what aboy Asghodom murmur when they walk past the statue, the chairman of HGDEF’s party never identified himself as Eritrean nor African anyway calling them everything of the ape family in the book and the rest of his gang follows him,its hard to decolonize the mind,it is self loathing and identity crisis in steroids and he takes the little nation to gutter with him.

Dear Tsilal and K.tewolde,
I am really alarmed and embarrassed by what you have said regarding the statue of Alexander Pushkin in the heart of Asmara. You probably do not know enough about Pushkin, and (more importantly for us) his grandfather through his mother ie, Major-General Abraham Hannibal of the Russian Army .in charge of the military fortifications in the country at the time. That Pushkin has an Eritrean ancestry is well researched and you can read on this further if you Google “The Eritrean Ancestry of Alexander Pushkin”, Ysilal says that the Ethiopians claim Pushkin for themselves as well. To settle this issue, please read Richard Pankhurst’s book: The Economic History of Ethiopia which is referenced in the Google article I mentioned.
I am no supporter of the Eritrean regime, but as they say,- “give the devil his due”. They did the right thing to allow the erection of the statue. It is a reminder to all friends and enemies what an Eritrean can do when given the opportunity. It is also not bad to link Eritrea with the world of literature. Don’t you think that this will remind the Eritrean youth how far they can go – that they have the potential to excel? Moreover, is it not pleasing to see such a fresh and pleasing monument .in the midst of decay and despair? How about tourism attraction?
The question of why there have not been monuments erected for Eritrean heroes is a separate issue.. Pushkin’s monument in Asmara was probably proposed and financed by the Russians. Should the Eritrean government have declined the offer? I do not think so! It seems that you would have been happier if the monument did not exist at all. Indeed, the Eritrean regime should have built many monuments up to now.. But, this is no good reason to consider the Pushkin monument as a source of shame and campaign for its removal. That would be really stupid.
I have read many of Tsilal’s articles. I find them sensible, and I would like to thank you for that. But, your article on Pushkin’s monument was ill judged.
Now about Ktewolde.. Most of your comments over the years seem to have been off the cuff without bothering to give yourself enough time to inform yourself sufficiently and think. But, your ability to write is remarkable., and I guess that you are capable.. Why don’t you put all this to good use?
You seen to also be highly impressed by America. It is probably not as good as you think, and its unrivaled hegemony may soon end with the emergence of a multi-polar world and the rise of China.
With my regards and best wishes to all!
Dr Solomon Ghebre-Ghiorghis

Dear Dr. Solomon,
As always, “history is written by winners”. But as winners, have we written our history? Who and why is our history intentionally being put six feet under? Why is it people like you could not see the big picture being played? Doesn’t it disturb you that there is no single statue of our past history, resilience, sacrifices, heroes (armed struggle, militants and diplomats) glittering and momentous war triumphs, etc. No matter how juvenile it may be, you are entitled for your opinion, but you do not have the moral casket to talk about people like Tsilal and K. Tewolde.

Dear Woldegabriel,
My remarks were quite well considered. I probably feel more than you do about the fact that there are no monuments for all our heroes whom you rightly listed.

It is not in my hands to erect monuments for our many heroes. There is a dictatorship that does not allow the presence of such monuments in our own country. Therefore, what are we to do? If there were a choice, I would go first for the construction of our own heroes first, and then perhaps Pushkin. But I would not leave out Pushkin because his ancestor left Eritrea long ago. By the way, Alexander Pushkin’s grandfather was taken away from Eritrea by the Turks as a slave – which is reminiscent of what young Eritreans are now facing, as Tsilal eloquently described. In fact, Pushkin’s monument is a metaphor for young Eritreans who are long lost but finally found.
Please try to free yourself from the mistaken assumption that Pushkin and his predecessor are not Eritreans with a tragic story behind them. Pushkin himself was killed by a French aristocrat if that means anything to you. – another Eritrean tragedy..
I am now tempted to pay you in kind and say what think about your unfair remark, But, I am not going to be dragged into that.
Please remember that the absence of civility in such m0stly needless dialog is the reason why many people do not wish to be embroiled in such acts.. You certainly do not seem to be a good judge about whether or not Pushkin’s monument should be in Asmara.

Dear Dr. Solomon,
I still think you didn’t get the point. We are talking about the travesty of our past and contemporary history being dismantled and rewritten by the imposter in Adi-halo. Some people try to pull a straw from a heap and try to make a big deal out of it. What we are doing is not a leisurely academic exercise but a struggle for our survival. Unfortunately, some people, without understanding the whole picture, just come out of the blues and make summary judgments and then become thin-skinned when confronted. I have heard many times this ” civility ” smokescreen as a license for disseminating heinous disinformation ( definitely not in your case). Please do not get me wrong that I am against Pushkin or I don’t know about him. We are talking about context, priorities and history. I hope you will not be easily discouraged by any scratchy comments and join the fight.

Dear Woldegabriel and K.tewolde,

Aye gado! I am really done now, and this is a turning point for me! I will now let you into a secret. I am one of those who published an article recently in http://www.asenatv.com to which you responded and another one under an assumed name. The title was “I am fed up, but I won’t give up”. Now, I am really, really fed up and on the brink of giving up!. I will explain why.

More than twenty five years ago, I was doing research on a subject related to Eritrean history. On reading Dr Richard Pankhurst’s “Economic History of Ethiopia”, I discovered that Alexander Pushkin’s great grandfather was taken away by the Turks from present day Eritrea as a child slave. On further research, I confirmed this – and it was one of the happiest days of my life. Those who are interested in history and literature would appreciate that.,

Subsequently, I wrote a lot on the subject, and even held an exhibition on the Eritrean ancestry of Alexander Pushkin at Asmara University, the Eritrean National Museum and Cinema Roma. in 2001-2002. My role was not to create history, but to popularize anything good that comes out of Eritrea. Seb bizelewo yisilef kem zibehal, that is what I could do under the circumstances. After I left Eritrea, the subject seems to have been taken up by the Russian Embassy that was invited to the exhibition – that apparently resulted in the construction of the Pushkin’s monument.

Why is the monument significant for Eritreans? It is one of the things that can link Eritrea and the Eritrean people with important events in world history in good light, and suggest Eritrean prowess not only in military matters, but also in the intellectual domain.. Everybody knows that Pushkin was an important playwright, at the world stage and a key figure in the development of the Russian language. His ancestor – Major-General Abraham Hannibal (Ibrahim) was a distinguished figure in Tsarist Russia.. Therefore, for me, Pushkin’s statue in Asmara means a lot. It is a symbol of what Eritrea could have been – and may possibly be in the future. It is a harbinger of hope, especially for the young generation of Eritreans who now see no hope but only despair.
Despite all this, there is now an emerging cabal of confused and desperate protesting Eritreans who probably would dismantle the statue. If they have their way, they would gather about ten or twenty of their followers and bring it down.. I have already heard that someone has cut the right hand of the statue.
Sorry, as I have done before, I will again quote from the Bible: Do not “cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them, under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”: Maybe I made a mistake in putting all the time and effort to promote the truth that Pushkin’s ancestry was from Eritrea.
I wish to finally say that there is always a happy home for any statue of Pushkin if Eritreans wish to orphan it – Addis Ababa, where there is already a square with the great name and a plaque.
Thanks and farewell!.

,

ዝኸበርካ ዶር ሰለሞን:
ስቅታና ቀቢርና ኣብ ሃገራዊ ጉዳይናን መንነትናን
ምዝታይና ኣዝዩ ኣገዳሲ ኢዩ። ኤርትራውያን ሓደ ካብ ቀንዲ ኣበሳናን ንህግደፍ ኣብ ርእስና ክሸይን ዕድል ሂብዎ ዘሎን: ቀዳምነታትና ዘይምንጻርናን ኣብቲ ዘየሰማምዓና ጉዳያት ተጸዋዊርናን ተኸባቢርናን ዘይምስራሕናን ኢዩ። መብዛሕትኡ ኤርትራዊ ንፑሽኪን ብሕማቅ ይኹን ብጽቡቅ ዝፈልጦ ኣይመስለንን። “ኣዲኣ ገዲፋስ ሓትናኣ ትናፍቅ” ከምዝብሃል: እቶም ንህዝብናን ንመንነትናን ንመሬትናን ህይወቶም ዝኸፈሉን ዝደመዩን ክብሪ ይኹን ቀዳምነት ከይሃብካ: ንብርሑቅ ኤርትራዊ ትብሎን ኣብ ሕብረተሰብነሰ ቀጥታዊ ኣበርክቶ ዘይብሉን ሰብ ኣብ መሬትና ሓወልቲ ምስራሕ ዕሽነት እምበር ልቦና ኣየደብሎን ኢየ። ብቀዳምነት ንነብስናን ሰብናን ታሪኽናን ነኽብር። ብወገነይ በጻሕቲ (Tourist) ንምስሓብን ኤርትራ ምስ ዓለም ክትተኣሳሰርን ኢልካ እንታይነትካ ምዝንጋዕን ወለዶና ብናይ ገዛእ ርእሶም ታሪኽ ከይሕበኑን ባብ ምኽፋት ኮይኑ ኢዩ ዝስምዓኒ።
ብርሃነ

ኩቡር Dr Solomon Ghebre-Ghiorghis

ኤሪትራ ፥ ቀጻልነታ ከም ሃገር ፥ ኣብ ሕቶ ምልክት ኣቲዮ ኣብ ዘለዎሉ ግዜ ፥ ካባኹም ብቀዳምነት እንጽበዮ ኣበርክቶ ፥ ኣገዳስነት ሓወልቲ ፑሽኪን ዘይኮነስ ፥ ሃገርናን ህዝብናን ከመይ ነድሕን ዝብል ምኽሪ እዩ ።
ኩነታት ሃገርና ፥ ካብ ማዓልቲ ናብ ማዓልቲ ፥ እንዳ ገ
ባኣሰ ይኽይድ ምህላዉ ፥ ካባይ ንላዕሊ ትፎልጡዎ ሓቂ ሙዃኑ ኣይጠራጠርን ።
ሓወልቲ ፑሽኪን ኣብዚ ግዜ’ዚ ፥ ህግደፍ ፥ ካብቲ ቀንዲ ዉራይና ንኽንቦክር ዝገብሮ ዘሎ ፥ ኣቃልቦ ህዝቢ ንምስሓት ካብ ዝግበር ሜላታት ሓደ እዩ።
ስለዚ ኣገዳስነት ሓወልቲ ፑሽኪን ይጽናሓልና ፥ ሃገርና ቅድሚ ጨሪሻ ምዕናዋ ፥ “ኣሎኹልኪ” ክትብሉዋ ደስ ምበለና ።

Dear Dr. Solomon,
I had thought that I have rested my case and it would be up to you to reconsider your views on the matter. But now you brought a new dimension to the discussion, which I believe, should be put into perspective. First, I share your pride on Pushkin being Eritrean, but wondered, rather angered, what you mean if Eritreans don’t want him he has a place in Ethiopia where he would be remembered. This attitude is self-evident that it doesn’t require further interrogation.
May be your PhD dissertation is linked to Pushkin or the peripheral Ethiopian history that it took you to Addis Asmara. And maybe that is the reason why you are adamant not to listen to all rational arguments given by various commentators on this website. That is my hypothesis and maybe I am wrong.. However, regrettably the source of your inspiration for Pushkin’s research is Dr. Richard Pankrust, the mythical royalist historian of King Haileselassie. I know Dr. Pankrust because he was my teacher (As students, we all doubted his PhD and thought he was highschool dropout who has the right connections due to his mother- Silvia Pankrust’s good friendship with the King and the royal family). The Pankrust family, originally British citizen are all naturalized Ethiopians. They have been writing all fictitious Andy distorted history including the Solomonic dynasty and many more bullshit. Of course, as you mentioned in your last post, you might have diligently done your research on Pushkin’s ancestry. But your primary point of reference remains questionable.

“Dr. Richard Pankrust, the mythical royalist historian of King Haileselassie”

Woldegabriel

Did he say something about “3000 years of civilization”, “Queen Sheba and King Solomon”, “Menelik born near Maibela ” … etc.?
All the cooked up history that unfortunately even many Eritrean were conditioned to blieve it’s true.
And then there are also some who think Ethiopia was created by God himself as a Christian nation.

“Maybe I made a mistake in putting all the time and effort to promote the truth that Pushkin’s ancestry was from Eritrea.”

Dr Solomon Ghebre-Ghiorghis

‐———

ኩቡር ዶክቶር ሶሎሞን
ኣብ ጻዕረ ሞት ንዝርካብ ፥ መጻወቲ ገዚእኩምሉ።
እዚስ ከመይ ቁቡል ይኾውን ?
እስከ ህድእ እልኩልም ሕሰቡሉ ።