In the late afternoon yesterday,
I heard the breaking news about the liberation of Mekelle on ATV with my mouth widely
open and my tiny eyes bulging out, letting warm tears of joy flow down my
cheeks. In the morning hours of Nov. 4, 2020, I had experienced the same open
mouth and budging eyes when I heard about the tragic news of the invasion of
Tigray. At that devastating moment my eyes dropped cold tears of grief. I was
not alone then, and I am not alone now. Millions of Tegaru were and are in the
same mood and even much higher. Why not? This is a matter of survival, not of
an individual, not of a political group, but of an entire people. The victory
is nothing less than rising from the dead. For most of us Tegaru, who have
become stateless in a country we trusted as a motherland, the resurrection of
Tigray is a matter of having a homeland we can call your own. This is the
pinnacle of human identity. What happened yesterday is in a small part a
miracle; but a larger part of it is the logical outcome of the invincible army
of Tigray and its battle hardened, patriotic, determined, and skillful
commanders. The swift counterattack on a vast scale and the victory, by a
comparatively small and poorly equipped army of Tigray, against a multinational
force armed to the teeth with heavy weaponry and air power, is unprecedented in
world history. It could dwarf the heroic feat of the smaller number of Spartans
at Thermopylae against the countless Persians.
