Joe_Weintraub
Aug 6, 1998
(From CNN forum)
I would like to say hello to my Ethiopian and Eritrean Friends. I am returned from a three week trip to your region. I went to the Sudan on business but had the opportunity to go to Ethiopia and travel as far north as Axum.
There is a lot of displacement of people occurring. A lot of families have been seperated between reception camps. The people seem to have retained their usual innocence even in their suffering. It is during this time that it becomes real hard to understand border differences when the people that live in those regions feel no bitterness to those who wrought such havoc on them. The spirits in Addis and in the parts of Ethiopia I visited including Axum was quite martial. It was funny to see a friend of mine, formerly in the Imperial Aier Hayl, back in uniform he had sworn never to wear. It is not true that there are no Aier Hayl, they do flyovers of the city everyday. I am sure things are the same, preparedness, confidence etc. in Eritrea.
The important thing is that a decision has been made to exhaust all peaceful options. That gives calmer heads a chance to reason out a course of action. I would have loved to have visited Asmera, I have a lot of dear friends there. But I contented myself with sending them my hello's through the grapevine, this amazingly still works. Not all Eritreans I spoke to support the Eritrean Government, and not all Ethiopians I spoke to supported the deportations, though they admitted they felt safer and chose deportation rather than the type of bomb attacks launched on the capital in the past by Moslem Fundametalists from Somalia.
All in all it was a surprisingly peaceful but determined populace that I found. I am sure peace will pervail, neither side wants the alternative.
For now, take care
Joachim A. Weintraub