The Dignified Life & Death of Musa Mohammed Nur

Mr. Musa Mohammed Nur, the Board President of Al Dia Islamic School in Asmara, died in prison on March 1, 2018.  He was arrested on October 27, 2017, shortly after a video surfaced of him chairing a meeting of parents and students where he expressed his views that he had no intention of surrendering the school to the government and, if it intends to confiscate the school, it would have to do it over his dead body.

Mr. Musa Mohammed Nur, who is variously described as in his late 80s or early 90s, was in failing health and the government offered to release him but he insisted that all who had been arrested with him without due process also be released.

Musa and his brother Taha are considered some of the earliest activists for Eritrean liberation.  Musa started out as urban activist, hosting “Fedayeen” fighters on recon and military missions in Asmara; his brother Taha, who also died in prison after he was arrested without due process, was one of the founders of the Eritrean Liberation Front, the first armed group to wage the struggle for liberation.

The following is an announcement shared by a She.Mu.Me, whose reports on the events that led to his arrest have been reliable.  We are publishing an English translation of its report, along with the original release in Tigrinya and Arabic.  

Video updated on 3/13/18

Urgent News
Regarding developments of today, 3/3/2018

While we heard of the sudden death of martyr Hajji Musa Mohammed Nur, we haven’t found clear information on how he died. What everybody is repeating is: martyr Haji Musa died on March 1, 2018 at the 5th police station [in Asmara]; then he was taken to Orota Referral Hospital where the coffin stayed overnight because they [the authorities] calculated that if they turn over the body to his family on a Friday, it may result in an unwelcome civil disobedience.

On Saturday morning [March 3], his family heard of his death and, upon hearing this tragic news, everybody felt sad. Before the mid-day prayers of Al Zuhr, the coffin was moved from Orota Referral Hospital to his residence. Preparations were made for the burial. When the time for mid-afternoon prayers of Al-Asr was approaching, all headed to the mosque near his residence, Mesjid Abubaker Al Sidiq. All prayed inside the mosque, with the overflow crowd praying outside the mosque.

As they were heading home, the authorities targeted only the youth and ordered them: Disburse! Halt! and surrounded them. Many shots were fired; some youth were arrested.

After the prayers, all headed to the residence of Haji Musa to pick up the casket and escort the coffin to its resting place. The coffin was carried by courageous youth via Idaga Arbi, Cinema Hamassien until they reached the street where Enda Aini [optometrist] is located: that’s where the police attempted to create a barrier and fired [warning] shots in the air. Undeterred, the youth carrying the coffin broke through them and the police ran in the direction of Medeber. Still without losing hope, the youth continued, calling out tekbir [the glory of God] past the 2nd police station. Upon reaching Mai Abashaw, i.e., Minibus Station, the police attempted to stop them for the second time. Some asked (the police), “What are you doing? We are carrying a coffin.” Now escorted by the police, the crowd took the route from Idaga Hamus towards Sheikh Alamin Cemetery. And the Prayer for the Dead was performed.

Most of those who attended the prayer started their trek from the residence of the dead: they numbered in the thousands, including youth, adults and elderly. Following the prayers, they returned to his residence to give consolation to the family. As they were heading home, the authorities targeted only the youth and ordered them: Disburse! Halt! and surrounded them. Many shots were fired; some youth were arrested.

May God have mercy on Haji Mussa. He lived a dignified life and his death was marked in a way not seen since the funeral of Martyr Abulkader Kebire. Thus, many came to know about the death of martyr Haji Musa. And as we know, heroes start the struggle and the path heroes trail is followed by others.

Source: She. Mu. Me.
Original in Tigrinya and Arabic: see below

ህጹጽ ዜና

ሓጺር ዘብጻብ ብዛዕባ ናይ ሎሚ ዕለት 3/3/2018 ።
ሃንደበት ሞት ኣሸሂድ (ስውእ) ሓጂ ሙሳ መሓመድኑር ሰሚዕና ዝኾነ ንጹር ሓበረታ ኣማውታኦም ኣይረኸብናን። እታ ኩሉ ሰብ ዝደጋገም ዘሎ ሓበረታ ኣሸሂድ ሓጂ ሙሳ ብሓሙስ ዕለት 1/3/2018 እዮም ኣብ ቤት ማእሰርቲ 5ይ መደበር ፖሊስ ሞይቶም ብድሕሪኡ ናብ መወከሲ ሆስፒታል ኦሮታ ወሲዶሞም ጅምዓት ማዓልቲ ነቲ ጀናዛ ኣብቲ ሆስፒታል ኣሕዲሮሞም ምኽንያቱ ጅምዓት ነቲ ጀናዛ (ሬሳ) ንስድራ መዋቲ እንተሂብናዮም ዘይተደለየ ሰላማ ሰልፊ ከይልዓል ብምባል። ሎሚ ቀዳም ንግሆ ከምዝሞተ ስድራ ቤት ሓጂ ሙሳ ሰሚዖም ድሕሪ ነዚ ዘሐዝን ወረ ምስ ተሰምዐ ኩሉ ሰብ በዚ ዘጋጠመ ኩነታት መሪር ሓዘን ተሰምዖ። ቅድሚ ዙህሪ (ፍርቂ መዓልቲ) ጀናዛ (ሬሳ) ካብ መወከሲ ሆስፒታል ኦሮታ ናብ መንበሪ ገዝኦም ኣምጽዮሞ: ብድሕሪኡ ድማ ኩሉ ዘድሊ ናይ ምድላዋት ምሕጻብ ጀናዛ (ሬሳ) ተፈጸመ። ሰላት ኣልዓስር ምስ ኣኸለ ኩሉ ሰብ ኣንፈቱ ናብ ጥቃ መንበሪ ገዛ ናይ ሸሂድ ሓጂ ሙሳ ትረከብ ጃምዕ አቡበከር ኣስዲቅ ኣምረሑ። ሰላት ኣልዓስር ምስ ኣኸለ ኩሉ ሰብ ኣብታ ጃምዕ ሰገደ ። ኣብ ውሽጢ መሊኦም ኣብ ደገ ከይተረፈ ሰጊዶም። ብድሕሪ’ዚ ኩሉ ሰብ ናብ ገዛ ናይ ሓጂ ሙሳ ጀናዛ ከውጽኦም ናብ ገዝኦም ከዱ። እቶም ሸባብ ብትብዓት ነቲ ጀናዛ ኣብ መንኮቦም ተሰኪሞም ብዕዳጋ ዓርቢ ገይሮም ብስኔማ ሓማሴይን ገይሮም ኣብ ጽርግያ ዓይኒ ሓኪም ምስ በጽሑ ፖሊስ ክኽልክሎም ፈትኑ ናብ ሰማይ ዓሰርታት ጠያዪት ተኮሱ ሸባብ ብዘይ ፍርሒ ብማእከሎም ሰንጢቆሞም ሓለፊ: ፖሊስ ድማ ናብ መደበር ዝወስድ መንገዲ ሃደሙ: መንእሰያት ድማ ተስፈ ብዘይምቁራጽ ጉዕዘኦም ቀጸሉ ብትብዓት ድማ ብኣፍደገ 2ይ መደበር ፖሊስ ብተክቢር እንዳ ጨደሩ ሓለፊ ኣብ ማይ ኣባሽው ማለት እንዳ ሚኒባስ ድሕሪ ምብጻሕ ካልኣይ ግዜ ፖሊስ ከልከሉ ድሕሪኡ ገለ ሰባት እንታይ ትገብሩ ኣለኹም ጀናዛ ኢና ሕዝና ዘለና ብምባል ከሉነቶም ፖሊስ ኣጠንቀቁ ብድሕሪኡ ብቅድሚት ፖሊስ ዓጂቦሞም በቲ ኣቶቡስ ናይ ባጽዕ ገይሮም ናብ መቅበራ ሼኽ ኣልኣሚን ገጾም ኣኣንፈቱ ብዕዳጋ ሓሙስ ገይሮም ናብ መቅበራ በጸሑ ብድሕሪኡ ሰላት ኣልጀናዛ ተሰጊዱ ኣብ ሰላት መጽዮም ዝነበሩ ሰባት መብዛሕቶም ካብ ገዛ መዋቲ ዝተበገሱ እዮም ብዝሖም ድማ ብኣሽሓት ዝቁጸሪ መንእሰያትን ዓበይቲ ሽማግለታትን ይርከብዎም። እዚ ኩሉ ምስ ኮነ ድማ መንእሰያት ጀናዛ ሕዞም ናብ መቅበሪ ቦታ ከይዶም ቀቢሮሞም ብድሕሪኡ ድማ ሰብ ናብቲ ተዓዝያ ዝግበረሉ ቦታ ድሕሪ ምኻድ ብድሕሪኡ ድማ ነናብ ገዛውቶም ክኸዱ ዝደለዩ ሸባብ ነቶም ዓበይቲ ሽማግለታት ገዲፎሞም ነቶም መንእሰያት ፋሕ በሉ‼ ደው በሉ‼ ኢሎም ኣካባብዎም ብዙሕ ቶኽስታት ብምግባር ገለ ሸባብ ኣሲሮሞም ይርከቡ። ረቢ ይርሓመሎም ሓጂ ሙሳ ክቡር ኮይኑ ኣብዛ ዓለም ነቢሩ ኣብ ግዜ ምማቱ ድማ ብከምዚ ዝመስል ኣገባብ ኣቃባብራ ኣብ ኤርትራ ብድሕሪ ሞት ናይ ኣሸሂድ (ስውእ) ዓብደልቃድር ከቢረ ኣይተራእየን ። ብእኡ ድማ ኩሉ ሰብ ብዛዕባ ሞት ኣሸሂድ (ስውእ) ሓጂ ሙሳ ፈለጠ ። ከም ንፈልጦ እቶም ጀጋኑ ቃልሲ ይጅምርዎ ብድሕሪኡ ድማ እቲ መንገዲ ናይ ጀጋኑ ካልኦት ይቅጽልዎ።
ምንጪ/ ሸ ሙ መ

خبر عاجل
علمت مصادرنا ان المناضل الشهيد موسى قد توفى يوم الخميس الفائت 1/3/2018 فى مركز الشرطة الخامس ( جوار معرض اكسبو ) لكن سلطات الهقدف اخفت خبر وفاته حتى لا يتم دفنه يوم الجمعة فيخرج الناس فى مسيرات سلمية من المساجد . وقد تم التحفظ على جثمان الشهيد فى مستشفى اروتا وتم ابلاغ اسرته بوفاته صباح اليوم السبت.وتم نقل جثمان الشهيد من مستشفى اروتا قبل ظهر اليوم الى منزل الشهيد فى اخريا وتمت مراسيم غسل الجنازة ، وعند العصر اتجه جميع المشيعيين الى مسجد ابوبكر الصديق المجاور لمنزل الشهيد موسى لاداء صلاة العصر وقد اكتظ المسجد بالمصلين حتى امتلا ساحته الخارجية والمحيط ،ومن هناك اتجه المصلون الى منزل الشهيد لاخراج الجثمان وتشييعه الى مثواه الاخير فى مقابر الشيخ الامين ، وتدافع الشباب وتسابقوا فى حمل الجثمان طوال موكب الجنازة الذى سلك طريق عداقا عربى مرورا بسينما حماسين وعندما اقتربوا من محطة الحافلات الشهيرة باسم عيدة العيون ( عينى حكيم )اعترضتهم قوات الشرطة وحاولت منعهم من التقدم واطلقت الرصاص فى الهواء للتخويف لكن الشباب الملتهب لم ترعبه هذه الاساليب فواصلوا سيرهم وهم يهتفون مما اضطر قوات الشرطة الى التراجع الى مقرهم فى المركز الثانى للشرطة، واصل موكب جنازة الشهيد المسير من امام بوابة مركز الشرطة مرورا بمنطقة ماى اباشاول..ومرة اخرى حاولت قوات الشرطة اعتراضهم فى هذه المنطقة لكن اصرار المشيعيين اجبر قوات الشرطة ان تضطر الى مرافقة الموكب من الامام ، ومر الموكب عبر موقف مصوع ثم اجتاز حى عداقا حموس وصولا الى مقابر شيخ الامين، اقيمت صلاة الجنازة التى شارك فيها ألآلاف من الشباب والشيوخ .
بعد انتهاء مراسيم الدفن وتوجه المشيعيبن الى منزل الفقيد قامت السرطة باطلاق النار وتوقيف الشباب واعتقلت اعداد كبيرة منهم .ويقول سكان اسمرا انهم لم يشهدوا تشييع ضخم كهذا منذ تشييع الشهيد عبدالقادر كبيرى