In his March 8, 1944, Weekly Newspaper No. 101, Woldeab Woldemariam (WELWEL)—a visionary Tigrinya nationalist, exceptional intellectual, educator, writer, patriot and proud Zionist who dedicated his life to the Tigrayan people’s struggle for self-determination—wrote:
“Just as the people of Israel believe and expect the resurrection of Zion, so the people of Aga’azian (Tigrayan) believe and expect the resurrection of Aksum.”
He envisioned—or even foresaw—the independence of Israel long before it occurred. For him, the Jewish aspiration for the resurrection of Zion and the Tigrinya aspiration for the resurrection of Aksum were deeply connected, reflecting historical and cultural ties between the two peoples, including their shared Orit/Torah heritage.
King Yohannes IV and Theodor Herzl represent another remarkable parallel in the history of Zionism.
Decades before the modern State of Israel, Yohannes IV, the Tigrinya king who sought to build a Tigrinya nation-state as nationalism and the modern nation-state were emerging, explicitly associated his kingship with Zion.
He ruled across today’s Tigray, northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, defending the Tigrinya homeland against Egyptian, Mahdist and Italian threats and advancing the self-determination of the Tigrinya nation.
In a May 30, 1883, letter to Demosthenes Mitzakis, the Greek consul in Jerusalem, Yohannes identified himself as “Yohannis, King of Zion” and wrote that he acted “by the intercession of our Mother Zion.”
The parallel with Herzl is striking: Herzl would later make the return to Zion the foundation of modern Jewish political Zionism; Yohannes was already defining his kingship through Zion and maintaining a direct connection with Jerusalem.
This demonstrates how deeply Zion and Jerusalem were embedded in the political and religious imagination of the Tigrinya people.
The Tigrinya, we are homogeneous, with no tribal or clan structure, highly homogeneous, with high social trust. We have our own ancient Orit/Torah civilization, written language, and a code of written laws more than 400 years old.
Our religion is centered on the Ark of the Covenant (Tabot) and the Law of Moses (Orit). The Orit, written in the ancient Semitic language Ge’ez, is a version of ancient Judaism.
The Tigrinya identify with and support Israel’s right to self-determination.
Tesfazion (the hope of Zion), Zerazion (the seed of Zion), Habtezion (the wealth of Zion) and Abrahazion (the light of Zion) are common Tigrinya names. The Tigrinya are proud Zionists.
The contrast with the Eritrean dictator today could hardly be more striking.
Although he has not recognized a Palestinian state or entity, nor endorsed the two-state solution, he has turned Eritrea against Israel despite these historical and cultural ties.
The Tigrinya and the Jewish people have significant shared economic interests and security threats. As a tiny minority in the region, surrounded by half a billion Muslims, they are doomed for permanent isolation. Eritrea cannot afford perpetual isolation.
Yet the dictator’s hostility to Israel includes: opposing Israel at the African Union, voting against Israel at the United Nations, cooperating with Iran in the Red Sea against Israel, and backing armed Islamist militias such as Islamists in Sudan, Al-Shabaab and the Houthis.
Wolwel versus a dictator who has isolated Eritrea from Israel while leaving the country vulnerable to Iran, Turkey and Islamist armed movements.
The dictator is old and ill, and the state he has run for decades has collapsed.
But Eritrea will not remain trapped in his destruction. We will industrialize our country, build a prosperous economy, restore our dignity and give our people the future they deserve. Eritrea has a future beyond dictatorship—and we will build it.
To lift our country out of abject poverty, destitution and environmental degradation, we will build a strong strategic partnership with Israel.
Eritrea and Israel are the only countries in the Middle East and Red Sea basin that do not have a Muslim majority and are not members of the Arab League or the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Eritrea is the only place in the region where Israel can develop truly meaningful people-to-people ties.
An official Tigrinya nation-state will need Israel’s technology, expertise, capital, markets and global networks to industrialize, urbanize and digitalize its Red Sea coast.
Israel, in turn, will gain a strategic partner on the Red Sea and a gateway to Africa.
Eritrea will be Israel’s anchor in the Red Sea, a strategic partner in containing Iranian expansion, and Israel’s gateway to Africa.
For Israeli businesses, the industrialization, urbanization and digitalization of Eritrea’s vast coastal areas will create major opportunities in technology, infrastructure, energy, logistics, agriculture, tourism and manufacturing—all within a two-hour flight from Israel.
Eritrea’s transformation will not only benefit Eritreans; it will create a new economic and strategic frontier for Israel.
#Eritrea #Israel @Israel@MOSSADil@yechielleiter@YairNetanyahu@netanyahu@CarolineGlick@AmichaiChikli@IDF@UNDPEritrea
that’s dangerous.
I love you.
There’s food this way.
This is your work.
Do this. Do that.
I’m tired. Let’s sleep.
we evolved way past what we actually need to communicate.. “ You don’t have to know what to say.”