Editor’s Note: On Sunday September 22, 2013, the Ginbot 7 leadership had a very revealing and open discussion in Washington DC meeting like it has never had before . As you know, the issue of working with Eritrea has been a bone in the throat for G7 as well as for its supporters around the world. Many have argued against using Eritrea as a spring board to wage an armed struggle against TPLF.
Opponents claim that Eritrea can not be trusted based on their experience with Isayas Afeworki so far and his public rhetoric as it relates to Ethiopia. They may have a point. But the problem is that they don’t practice the position they defend or argue for. They don’t provide an alternative and actually implement that alternative. For example, they don’t answer to the question of where to wage an armed struggle and show us the way by an example. They don’t. For instance, what don’t they find a place within Ethiopia and wage an armed struggle? What do they go and practice what they preach instead of simply analyzing and arguing from the comfort of their homes in the West. What they do is simply disagree and sometimes with bitterness and even animosity against G7 position towards Eritrea.
Instead of making an honest and logical attempt to convince and win our support, those who oppose G7′s position in Eritrea use intimidation, name callings, insults, put downs and inuendos to impose their opinion on G7 and its supporters. But the irony is that these forces claim to believe and fight for democracy in Ethiopia and yet they impose their position on others. G7 has repeatedly expressed the right of any political entity to follow a path it believes in without imposing its policy or belief on any one else except asking their support. G7 has often made clear that it does not oppose other political parties who pursue a political path different than its own. It is interesting whether we know how to win support with a clean logical argument backed by results in the ground instead of an endless ineundos and name callings.
