Reflections on the Eritrean People Struggle for Independence

On the occasion of the commemoration of the 50 anniversary of the beginning of the armed struggle for national liberation, this paper argues that the Eritrean people's struggle for liberation was not started 50 years ago on 1st September 1961 but in 1958. Even though the ELF and EPLF leaders have tried to persuade the public that the Eritrean struggle started on 1st of September 1961, by commemorating it every year on 1st September, the Eritrean people's struggle for independence goes back to the flourishing of political parties in the 1940s, and in the 1950s. Pool (1983) also mentioned that the political roots of the Eritrean struggle for independence from Ethiopia can be traced back to the formation of parties and organizations which sprang up during the period of British military administration which lasted from 1941 to 1952.

In the 1950s  the Eritrean people's struggle for independence was revived during the formation of the following youth and professional associations: Shabab which was the Moslem Youth League, Partite Giovanile Federalists Eritrea (The Young Federalists) and the Eritrean Youth Peace Council); professional Association ( the Asmara Teachers' Association; Mah'ber Memheyash Hagarawi Limidi (Association for the Development of National Culture M.M.H.L) and trade union (The Workers Syndicate of Eritrea).

The above associations and the workers' syndicate of Eritrea played an important role in organizing the 4 days general strike in 1958 to protest against the violation of UN 390(AV) Resolution by the Ethiopia government. However, the 1958 peace demonstration was violently suppressed by the Ethiopian army that caused 88 deaths and 440 wounded.  As a result of this atrocious crime the Eritrean people began to search for an alternative way to challenge the Ethiopian policy of coercion leading to the rebirth of the Eritrean people's struggle for independence in 1958 by the Eritrean Liberation Movement (ELM)/ [Harakat Atharir Al Eritrea]

For the full article, press this: http://www.ehrea.org/19591.php

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