This day in 1970: The Ona and Besikdira massacres by by Ahmed Raji
1 December 2015, source https://www.facebook.com/ahmed.raj
On the morning of November 30, 1970 (which also happened to
be the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha), Ethiopian troops entered the village of
Besikdira, 15km north-east of Keren, rounded up the population and crammed them
into a mosque. The soldiers were on a mission of revenge following the killing
of an Ethiopian army general by Eritrean Liberation fighters the week before,
and had already burned several villages in the area in the preceding days. The
soldiers positioned their machine guns at the entrance to the mosque and on
windows. They opened fire indiscriminately, killing 118 innocent civilians,
including women and children.
(Despite the Ethiopian officers' attempts to separate the
population by faith, people stuck together. After all, they were family. Hence,
the victims included Muslims as well as Christians). However, Besikdira was
only a prelude to a bigger massacre. On the morning of the following day,
December 1, 1970, soldiers stationed in Keren descended on the nearby village
of Ona and proceeded on a killing spree never seen before in Eritrea. Soon the
the entire village was in flames. Those who were not burned in their huts, were
gunned down as they attempted to flee. An estimated 700 villagers and their
guests (there was a funeral in progress) died. My own memory of that day (I was
in 2nd grade) is one of utter terror hearing the seemingly interminable sound
of machine guns and of the slow-moving shower of soot and little pieces of
charred straw that were scattered by winds over parts of Keren.
[The picture shows the ruins of the mosque in Besikdira,
which still remains in the same state of ruin as a reminder of that terrible
day. Photo is courtesy of Dr. Kiflemariam Hamde]
A Book Review. Paulos Tesfaldet (2013). በስግዲረዲንርቍርዲ.
Besikdira and Its Children.
Författares Bokmaskin, Stockholm, 102pp. Written by By
Kiflemariam Hamde, Umeå, Sweden
Besikdira and its children, በስግዲረዲንርቍርዲ is the latest Blin literary
work, in the fiction genre, mainly based on historical, real events in Eritrea
since 1960s. The book consists of 21 chapters opening up with a Preface and
Acknowledgement. In this review, I find only point out the main story lines.
The narrative is centred around, but not limited to, the massacre in the
village of Besikdira, 15km east of Keren town. After burning seven villages the
previous days, the uninvited Ethiopian army visited Besikdira in November 30,
1970 only to destroy it. The officer (ሻምበል) Teshome, and his Amharic-speaking
troops, also including Eritrean-born Kumandos, posed two immediate questions to
the people in Tigrigna (only 5 adults could speak it) as the people did not
understand Amharic: (1) if the village is free from bandits (ሽፍታ, shifta)[i],
in his own words bedbugs and fleas), and (2) if they were either Muslims or
Christians. Mr Mender Beimnet, the village chief, and Mr Tesfu Almedom responded
that they did not know of any bandits and that the people belonged to both
Christianity and Islam. Upon learning that the people did not want to get separated
along religious lines, the troops forced the inhabitants into the village Mosque
and shot them down indiscriminately, killing 118[ii] civilians 11 of whom were
pregnant mothers, 20 were children, and the rest were youngsters and adults[iii].
The author narrates in his fictional work about the details in the killing.
The next day, December 1, 1970 was the turn of Ona village,
only 4-5 Kms north east of Keren, when the military forces headed by Colonel
Welana massacred almost 800 civilians indiscriminately, and without any notice.
There was no question that the people supported the liberation movement since
1962. The story starts off with the general political instability since the
1960s when the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) confronted Ethiopia’s domination
after the latter had annexed Eritrea as its 14th Province, revoking the UN
arranged Federation (1952-1961). As the ELF was active in the Western lowlands,
Ethiopian atrocities increased heavily and the apex of that came in the fall of
1970 when the ELF ambushed and killed General Teshome Ergetu, head of the
Second Military Division in October 1970. He was heading toward his new
headquarters in Keren town to crash the ELF and the people, to ‘dry the sea in
order to catch up the fish’, i.e., to target the civilians in order to weaken
and consequently destroy the ELF. Those massacres are put in this context, and
one man’s life was to be compensated for by around 1000 within less than 24
hours in Besikdira and Ona. Interestingly enough, the author accounts for how
the atrocities became catalyst and intensified struggle for independence.
In his fictional
description, the author exemplifies the events in a life of a nuclear[1]and
extended family members, the inhabitants of Besikdira, its environs, the Sekwina
district, the Senhit Province, events all over Eritrea, the fate of youngsters in
their yearning for freedom, justice and equality, and finally, the inflicting
cruelty of Ethiopian soldiers. The centre stage actor becomes the family of
Fickak and his wife Afiet, their only son Terexbe[iv] who got married to the
beautiful Melika and begot two sons, Aybu and Abbe. Unfortunately, on the
bloody Monday massacre at Besikdira where the people were forced into a small
mosque only to be shot down, ((እልላ, ኣጣቅዕዳ,
p. 57-60) the young wife of Terexbe, and the mother of the two, Malika, fell
dead alongside the other 117 victims in the mosque. Survivors discovered that
it was her bold that they were covered by, and that her younger son suckled her
dry breasts for milk.
On the one hand, Paulos beautifully crafts the Blin language
to narrate how the family not only suffered physically the painful events of
the period such as imprisonment (when Terexbe was imprisoned, (ንሽዋ p. 32-37),
continued house burning (48-49), sexual harassment and abuse but also in terms
of psychological inhumation. He also describes in detail some more events, such
as forced displacement (ገዓዳ, p. 49) etc., On the other hand, Paulos depicts how the
Fickak family enjoyed the good sides of life, often highlighting underlying
cultural values and societal norms, entertaining daily communal routines such
as coffee break, child rearing and development, engagement, initiation rite,
Blin-style brethren hood, story-telling (dannar–jigna, p. 12-13), neighbourly
life (gor-dannar, 14-17), wedding festivities (ferwenter, p. 24-28), youth
love, socialization and friendship (wrznet, p. 12-15), pastoral life,
initiation rite ceremonies (Hiche, shngalle, kxan, p. 18-23), wealth-sharing,
development, dreaming for peace, avoiding hatred or disagreement, war and
conflict.
family exemplified
the fate of Eritreans at that time. Terexbe was imprisoned (p. 32) because a
certain informant (ሺኩት)
spied to the Amhara[v] that Terexbe was a member of the village lajnet, with
the responsibility for collecting the monthly dollar per family, qesem, which
every Eritrean adult had to contribute for the liberation movement, i.e., ELF.
Malika was shot dead in the Mosque, and Terexbe’s parents were also dead
because they could not bear the pain. Eventually, once on age, the two brothers
joined ELF and the EPLF, respectively, in order to revenge their mother’s loss
in the Mosque, leaving Terexbe alone in the house (pp 77-80).
The reader also finds a lot of Blin liberation songs,
praising the independence and rebuking the enemy, such as –“Na Shugutl: Shebab
Axnima genjew DeAritl”, literally, aren’t the youth reside in Deari in such a
tender age” (p. 34). +A recurring worry of the author, however, lies in the
never-ending disagreement between the two ‘siblings’, ELF and EPLF, that
“resulted in unnecessary loss of Eritrean lives and consequently, prolonged the
independence day to 1991” (interspersed in the overall text). Paulos also notes
the series of Ethiopian war crimes and major massacres and since 1961 in
Eritrea, narrating the events not only as they occurred but also rhetorically
in their connection to the dreams of people to live together in good or bad
times, peacefully.
Finally, in 1980, the ELF and EPLF clashed in Halhal, the
worst event which occurred to many Eritrean families who sided with the wrong
side (p. 99-100), and Aybu shot down his own brother Abbe ‘simply assuming that
he was the foe. Aybu was not alone in that incident as many other Eritreans
also shared that fate’, narrates the author. The story culminates in an
eventual meeting of the EPLF fighter Aybu and his father Terexbe after the
latter wanted to meet his son, Abbe. Unfortunately, Aybu was forced to reveal
the truth, and finally exclaimed, “Daddy, I will tell you a taboo, (ኤበ, ዲደትድውየከ ግን), I killed my
own brother even I if rejoiced at first when I thought I won over the enemy in
that civil war” (p. 99). “That is the fruit of disagreement among brothers and
sisters”, laments the author (p. 99-100).
Disappointed, sad and frustrated, Terexbe returns home and
continued living alone. Terexbe had only one hope, supporting the even much
more independence movement for which he was imprisoned and waiting for the
return of his only remaining family member alive, Aybu – “as did many Eritrean
parents”, notes Paulos.
The concluding chapter (p. 102) is in fact a methodological
note on the writing process. The author advises potential authors to follow
standard referring system, interview the living witnesses of events in Eritrea,
and coming up with a quality research work: “My advice to potential authors is
that we have to write different kinds of literature because there lies our
cultural capital. We praise those who have already written something, and at
the same time we criticize those who did not write anything (yet). Future
generations need to benefit from our literature as their heritage. Thus, I
encourage you all to write about something” … so that one can improve the style
and content in the literature, to sustain existing knowledge and create new
knowledge – for the sake of future generations” (p. 102).
This unique work in
narrative genre is a welcome contribution to the literature in Blin with its
rich documentation of knowledge of values, norms and daily lives, with substantial
contents as well as presentation. በስግዲረዲንርቍርዲ[vi], ‘Besikdira and its Children’ fills a badly
needed gap about historical events delving into Eritrean/Blin mentality in
coping with problems and bad situation. I only commend Paulos work as one the
boldest contribution so far on the emerging Blin (and other Eritrean) literature
with its deep narration of events that will live for many generations to come.
As a reader, I
enjoyed reading በስግዲረዲንርቍርዲ
and I hope that this work will only be the beginning. ኣጃሀብሪዅይዳን. Well-done a young author!
I recommend this book to anybody who is
interested to know more closely the situation in Eritrea during (and shortly
after) the war for independence from a local point of view. Those who want to
develop literacy work in the Blin language are also ecommended to read this
book as well as those who want to write and learn in Blin script. A father of
two, Paulos Tesfaldet lives in Oslo, Norway. For any contacts about the book,
mail Paulos at: ptesfldet@gmail.no
[i] When the Ethiopians referred to the liberation fronts as
shifta (ሽፍታ)
as bandits, Eritreans in general (excluding the shikut, jasus, and some of the
wedo-geba) reacted that ‘they did know anything about shifta”, implicitly
protesting that the ELF and later on the EPLF were not bandits but liberation
fighters. Yn shifta aerini, runs in Blin.
[ii] There were more than 50 survivors, including this
reviewer’s close relatives, who still narrate the sad events vividly. The
victims, however were not only from Besikdira village but also from adjacent
villages who were forced to settle in Besikdira in May 1970, including Sanqa,
Hangol, Feledarb and Fissoruxw, victims from the latter two were passersby. The
author mentions other displaced villages in the former Senhit District (p.
48-56).
[iii]There are a couple of historical work on Ethiopian War
Crimes (massacres) in Eritrea, including (1) Abba Teweldebrhan Geberemedhin and
Abba Zerayakob Okbamikael, Capuchin friars (2001): መሪርግፍዒኣብበስክዲራንከባቢኣን (A Painful
Massacre at Besikdira and its Environs), ትምጻእመንግስትከ (Adveniat Regnum TUUM), 44th
Year, Nrs 73/74, 2000-2001, page 1-14; (2) Amina Habte (2001), Ethiopian war
Crimes in
Eritrea: A Case Study of the Massacres of Besik-dira and
Ona in 1970. BA thesis, Asmara University; Kiflemariam Hamde (2004)
“The Impact of war and climatic changes on the environment
in Eritrea: The Case in Senhit Villages”
(www.daberi.org); (3) Downey, Marty & Hugh (1996), On
Heart’s Edge. Arvada, CO: Mikeren Publications, and (4) (Habtu (Fr. Athanasius)
Ghebre-Ab (2013), “The
Massacre at Wekidiba: The Tragic Story of a Village in
Eritrea”, RSP, and (5) “List of massacres committed during the Eritrean War of
Independence”, in Wikipedia.
[iv] In Besikdira and Its Children,በስግዲረዲንርቍርዲ, the main actor Terexbe
sharply contrasts with Salih “Gadi” Johar’s actor, Ghebrebbi in his 2010 book,
Of Kings and Bandits. However, if one looks closely both fiction works, they
complement each other, in many, many respects, in spite of the common
geographical location and the suffering incurred to them by the Ethiopian army
(and their collaborators), illustrating social life in the then Senhit area,
rich in diversity of values, norms and languages. Issues of religion come close
in both readings, Gebrebbi being from a Muslim family, while Terexbe is from a
Christian family. These are shown in the rites of passage, child development,
training, and other issues. It seems to me that the authors communicated with
each ‘in spirit’, without clashing, and thus made their point jointly that
people can live together peacefully only if they accept and respect each
other’s difference, the same way as the Besikdira residents refusing to get separated
in terms their religion (to heaven or hell we got together’, expressed the late
Mr. Meibetot Berih, a survivor in an oral communication with the reviewer, Besikdira,
January 9th, 2007.
[v] Amharu or Amhara in the text is used synonymously with
Ethiopians and Ethiopia, connoting the Ethiopian Military Army.
[vi] The reviewed work is in fact preceded by a dozen
literary works in Blin, for example, the recent books by Medhanie Habtezghi
(2008), Lexen (lekhen) axramewedi, “The Ring which became a sore”, and (2010)
Enkie, (እንከኤ)
translated into Tigrigna as lekas. I hope to review these works also so that
readers who do not understand Blin may be able to get more information on such
literary work. For further works in Blin and on Blin, visit the Blin Language
Forum, www.daberi.org In a review of a
literary book in Blin that is mainly based on the events of Besikdira, Kiflemariam
Hamde gives the following list of related works (under footnote iii):
1) Abba Teweldebrhan Geberemedhin and Abba Zerayakob
Okbamikael, Capuchin friars (2001): መሪርግፍዒኣብበስክዲራንከባቢኣን (A Painful Massacre at Besikdira and its Environs),
ትምጻእመንግስትከ
(Adveniat Regnum TUUM), 44th Year, Nrs 73/74, 2000-2001, page 1-14;
(2) Amina Habte (2001), Ethiopian war Crimes in Eritrea: A
Case Study of the Massacres of Besik-dira and Ona in 1970. BA thesis, Asmara
University; Kiflemariam Hamde (2004) “The Impact of war and climatic changes on
the environment in Eritrea: The Case in Senhit Villages” (www_daberi_org);
(3) Downey, Marty & Hugh (1996), On Heart’s Edge.
Arvada, CO: Mikeren Publications,
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