The Eritrean Mass Movement and the Global Initiative ( GI) are two distinctively different Eritrean Movements. The Eritrean Mass Movement is the outgrowth of the insanely unbearable life conditions in Eritrea. It was sparked by the tragedy of some 360 Eritreans, consisting of men, women, children and infants, seeking to escape the horrors of life in Eritrea and find freedom in Europe, vanishing in a sinking ship in the Mediterranean Sea, by the shores of the Italian Sea coast of Lampadusa, on October 13th, 2013. This event horrified many Eritreans, the world over, and moved them to rise up, raise their fists high, and sing their slogans of “Isayas must go.” It is the Movement “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” which sees itself only as a task force, emanating at a city level, and then driving a national, and finally, a global task force, under a single leadership.
The Global Initiative Movement, in contrast, was started by some individual Eritreans in the United States, who started recruiting potential members, globally, around the year 2015. That approach clearly tells us that GI did not start at the local level, by the members of the involved communities. Its role in the Eritrean political dynamics is of advocacy or empowerment. Therefore, these two Movements are not, in any way, the same. If the two were the same, there would be no need for them to be two.
The purpose of this disclosure is that the Eritrean people need to know about the true nature of each of these two Eritrean Movements that sound the same , but are categorically different. As a devout supporter of the Eritrean Mass Movement, I would also like to add that its main ingredients are: 1) Equality in ownership of the Movement, by its members, 2) The principal that the Movement should start at each locality and 3) the recognitions that it is only a task force , whose power progresses from the bottom up. I strongly believe it is important , for clarification purposes, to explain vaguely perceived political philosophies, especially at this critical phase of the Eritrean struggle, to let the Eritrean people know about those differences, so that they will make informed decisions, as to which school of thought to support and embrace.
Thank you very much.
Berhe Desta / Seattle, USA
