About 1962 some kid tells me with mixed fear and emotion that he saw jebha members passing by at night. I asked him: what is Jebha? He had no clue about the word Jebha nor did he have a clear idea about their purpose. However, from there on it didn’t take me much time to fully understand what it was all about. In fact I took a full membership in the summer of 1965.

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AN ERA THAT WAS: ABU RIJELA PASSES AWAY

If our country did not have dedicated individuals like Abu Rejela to fight for liberation, the concept of the armed struggle born in Cairo by a handful Eritrean students would not have been probably translated into action. When I read the passing away of Abu Rejela yesterday from awate website, emotion ruled over me. Not so much that I personally knew him but it took me back to the era of my youth when names like Hamed Idris Awate, Abu Shaneb, Abu Tiara, Abu Ajaj, Abu Rejela and many others were revered names. It is appropriate to remember that it was  Mohamed Ali Idris(Abu Rijela) who led the successful mano amno Togoruba  battle against the Ethiopian forces.

Regardless of their individual( history) achievements, these legends were the old face of our armed struggle. In that era rumors had it that no enemy bullet could penetrate through Hamed Awate’s body. That made him even more legendary fighter feared by the enemy. I remember mothers telling their kids to lower their voices specially at night so that the boys(QuraQur wasgninkum) may not over hear them. The word “tegadelti” was not yet used at that time. “Jebha,” meaning Ginbar was not fully understood but it was used by the fighters themselves anyway.

About 1962 some kid tells me with mixed fear and emotion that he saw jebha members passing by at night. I asked him: what is Jebha? He had no clue about the word Jebha nor did he have a clear idea about their purpose. However, from there on it didn’t take me much time to fully understand what it was all about. In fact I took a full membership in the summer of 1965. Even though the going has been tough, despite the sickness of the opposition the spirit remains strong to this date.

Many of us may not know or neglect the hardship the pioneers had to go through to introduce the armed revolution to the Eritrean people, Lowland and Highland equally. They had to fight at least two fronts to convince the people: a) Ethiopia, b) the enemy within. To show you the severity of the period: if a tegadalai wanted to lit a cigarette at night he had to cover himself with a blanket not only not to be seen by Ethiopian soldiers, but also not to be noticed by the indigenous people. No one was to be trusted at that time.

That is why finally Jebha had to come with a brilliant idea. That is the start of the Fedayeen period as a result of which Eritreans of all stripes flocked to be organized in city cells or join the armed struggle. The point is the Abu Rijelas of yesteryears fell in the hands of an ungrateful nation for which they gave their lives. The tragic part is they finally became stateless veterans and joined the refugees they fought to free. The good news is that Abu Rijela accepted the situation he ended up in and died while at peace with his creator. My heart goes out to his family. May he rest in peace.

Glory to our martyrs

Asfaha Woldemichael, USA

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