Several score Eritreans, joined by Ethiopians, people from other African nations, and African Americans marched and rallied in downtown Seattle on May 19. They called upon the UN and the US to actually do something to stop the fighting that erupted between Ethiopia and Eritrea in early May.

Following the breakdown of negotiations over border disputes in early May, Ethiopian troops invaded Eritrea. Many people--soldiers and civilians--have been killed in the fighting. Up to a million of the nation's four million people have fled the fighting. Thousand of refugees have entered neighboring Sudan, which is itself suffering from a prolonged civil war.

The two countries have been in conflict since Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia in 1993, after a thirty year civil war. Ethiopia's government says they have no intention of recapturing the former province. They intend simply to "weaken the Eritrean army in every way" by killing soldiers or depriving them of weapons.

A young woman speaking at the rally, said that the negotiations between the two countries failed "because the UN and the US remained silent. It is their responsibility to speak out."

Speakers also pointed to the Organization of African Unity (OAU), as taking little interest in the negotiations it was mediating. "The US, the UN and OAU are not doing anything. If their mission was to stop the killing, they could have done so two years ago," when the recent conflict began with trench warfare over disputed border territory.

The assembly sent delegates into the Federal building to invite some of the US representatives to come out to the rally. Word came back that somebody might come out, but that they couldn't speak--part of the US government's continuing silence on all things African (until after the fact).

Eventually, a woman did come out of the building, but she stood far enough from the crowd to have a good head start should someone ask her anything. She managed only to smile weakly for a few moments, before slipping away. Which representative's office she came from is unknown, though a good guess would be that she was from the Department of Silence.

This war, while far away from the US, is not far from the hearts of the rally's speakers. "This gathering came about because of fear," said a young Eritrean woman. "We are here because we don't know what else to do. We are all responsible, each of us."

She said that the march had two purposes. "For the people to hear us," and "for us to unite." The first purpose, she said, was attained. "We stopped traffic for one or two minutes. For the first time, Seattle and Seattleites had to stop and take notice of Africa" and African politics. She said that while the people of Seattle weren't at the rally, they could be seen looking out their office windows, and stopping on the sidewalk as the march passed. Inside the buildings, people were talking.

The demonstration was a call for unity, organized by Eritrean students, to call for an end to the killing. In the face of international silence, it is what they could do.

The speakers called on US citizens to contact their representatives and the president and demand that the US government get active in stopping the war. People can send letters and e-mails to the UN security council, asking for a more proactive effort than a nominal "arms embargo."

Our government is not innocent in the history and current bloodshed in the region. What our government's involvement and interest might be is covered by a veil of silence. We the people of the US, cannot remain silent.