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Organized by International Network against Repression and Injustice, Ethiopian held the third worldwide rally today to mark the May 15, 2005 elections, and remember the innocent citizens massacred by Meles Zenawi regime (Pictures by Abebe Belew & Tewodros Mekbib, ).
In a letter handed over to the Whitehouse and American embassies in Europe, the protesters have also asked the Obama administration to stop supporting the genocide regime of Meles Zenawi. Read the letter to president Obama below.
International Network for Human Rights & Justice in Ethiopia (INHJE)
1334 9th st., Suite # 1, NW, Washington, D.C. T: 202-462-0556 F: 202-462-0557
President Barack Obama
President of The United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington DC 20500
Date: 15 May 2009
RE: REPRESSION AND INJUSTICE RAMPANT IN ETHIOPIA
“To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” President Barak Obama.
Dear President Barack Obama:
The above words were inspiration to millions of people around the world yearning for freedom and liberty, including Ethiopians living under the iron fist of a repressive and ethnocentric regime. These words of yours also sent a strong message to dictatorial rulers like Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, whose hands are drenched with the blood of thousands of Ethiopians.
Dear Mr. President,
On 15 May 2009 Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia are holding a rally outside the White House and Embassies of the Unites States of America in cities around the world. May 15 marks the fourth anniversary of the national election held in Ethiopia in 2005 where the incumbent authoritarian regime rigged the election. But the ruling party the TPLF/EPRDF refused to accept the will of the people as expressed through the ballot box by overwhelmingly voting for opposition political parties. The regime forces under the direct command of the Prime Minister Meles Zenawi massacred nearly 200 innocent civilians on the streets of Addis Ababa. Thousands of opposition political party members and supporters were also sent to concentration camps across the country.
Consequently, the hope of millions for a new era of freedom and justice was dashed as a regime found on the wrong side of history turned the clock back on the democratisation process in order to maintain its undemocratic grip on the levers of state power and society at large. Ever since, Ethiopia has been steadily descending from a nascent democracy to an authoritarian state. Indeed getting closer to that of a totalitarian one.
The lack of unequivocal condemnation and resolute action on the part of the western democratic world against the most egregious crimes committed by the security forces of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has only emboldened him to commit even more horrendous crimes. The state Department Report of 2008, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, among many others, have extensively reported the catalogue of gross violation of human rights committed by the regime.
On 23 March 2009, in a letter addressed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Genocide Watch has called on the organization to initiate an investigation against the government of P.M. Meles Zenawi. Genocide Watch cited the atrocities committed in Gambela region of Ethiopia against the Anuaks and ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden region as examples of the crimes against humanity that have not been seriously investigated by the UN body.
In an open letter Genocide Watch President Dr. Gregory Stanton wrote to the Commissioner, he commended the International Criminal Court for indicting the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan Al Bashir, but noted that “one of the first leaders to defend Omar al-Bashir and condemn the warrant was P.M. Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, whose government has also been implicated in a pattern of widespread perpetration of serious human rights atrocities in Ethiopia and in Somalia.”
Mr. President,
Human Rights Watch and other credible international human rights organisations have reported time and again that thousands of innocent Ethiopians are incarcerated in prisons set up in different parts of the country. These prisoners find themselves behind bars under horrible conditions for expressing dissent to many of the ruling party’s unpopular policies, while those living outside prison gates are not allowed to exercise their basic and inalienable rights to speech, assembly and the right to elect their leaders freely and without duress from external forces. Membership to the ruling party has become a condition to get a college education and job opportunities. In a country with six million people requiring emergency food aid from donor countries including the United States of America, food aid is being used as political weapon to starve people in dire need of assistance. This is done so that people are cowed and desist from speaking out for their basic rights for fear of government reprisal in the form of starving them to death.
The recent draconian civil society law which punishes dissent and the bill restricting the activities of charity organisation (both local and foreign) are designed to silence independent voices from reporting repressive activities of the regime and the plight of innocent citizens. This is a regime heavily involved in controversial rendition activities and detention of foreign citizens in subhuman conditions on its soil in the name of supporting anti-terrorism.
Mr. President,
The latest causality of Mr. Meles Zenawi regime’s gross violation of human rights is Ms. Birtukan Midekssa - Chairperson of Unity for Democracy and Justice Party ( UDJ, aka Andenet) a new popular legal opposition party. Ms. Midekssa , a former High Court judge, who has been hailed as Aung San Suu Kyi of Ethiopia, has been re-arrested on 29th December 2008. The re-arrest of Ms. Midekssa, also considered prisoner of conscience have drawn chorus of condemnations by human rights organizations, members of the US Congress, the European Parliament and other parliamentarians.
Ms. Midekssa has been in solitary confinement for nearly 140 days denied her right to be visited by a legal representative or the International Red Cross. The re-arrest of Ms. Midekssa is not about inaccurate statements or rules broken, but shows the intension of the ruling regime to curb a credible democratic opposition party emerging in the country. This is done to kill the aspiration of Ethiopians for genuine democracy, liberty, and the rule of law. Thus, allowing the continuation of the authoritarian grip of the Zenawi regime on all aspects of Ethiopain life unchallenged by any credible and strong political opposition.
We acknowledge that within the last 100 days of your administration you have taken remarkable decisions to undo the foreign policy blunders of the previous administration, which have been inconsistent with the values of the United States of America. This will surely help regain the respect and moral stature the United States of America deserves across the world. We would like to see these changes translated to specific policy measures touching the lives of millions around the world fighting for freedom and democracy. Millions in African countries such as Ethiopia are gagged by authoritarian rulers masquerading as democrats due to the support rendered to them by successive US administrations based on narrow and short sighted considerations of purported national interest.
Inspired by the audacity of hope for freedom your inspire people around the world and the strength of your moral principles based on the rule of law and the rights of human beings, we appeal to you and respectfully urge you in the strongest possible terms to allow the passage of a law that holds the Ethiopian regime accountable for its gross abuse of human rights and make meaningful democratic governance a condition to any non-humanitarian financial support from the people of the United States of America. As a champion of civil rights and an advocate of democratic governance, we humbly ask your good office to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Ms. Midekssa, the popular artist Teddy Afro and the thousands of all political prisoners who have been incarcerated with out due process in Ethiopia. It is time for the United States of America to invest in a true and lasting friendship with people of Ethiopia by acknowleging the aspiration of the Ethiopain people for genuine democracy, liberty, and the rule of law. .
Please accept the assurance of our highest considerations.
Yours respectfully,
International Network for Human Rights & Justice in Ethiopia (INHJE)
May 15th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
my beloved heros ethiopian people DC and surrunding . we proud of you what you done for us. those we coudn’t make it . NO matter what we will win , weyanee power are in days . we must work hard support G7 ,and others . GOD bless ethiopia and the people !!!!!!
May 15th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Unity is the only solution!!!
May 15th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I am proud of my fellow Ethiopians so courageously and colourfully demonstrating against tyrannical rule in their motherland.
God bless Ethiopia.
May 15th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
EMF,
You guys are very great!!! keep up your hard work. I appreciate your hard work. It will pay off.
LONG LIVE ETHIOPIA!!!
May 15th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Dear my fellow Ethiopians in DC area and all over the world I am very proud of you guys for being the Voice for all Ethiopians who are slaved and dogged under the brutal TPLF regime. The Sun will rise for Ethiopian people soon, all we need is to keep up working together on one agenda, which is to get together against TPLF regime with a united power; to do that all different opposition groups, who are strongly against this regime have to come together to work for creation of united force by leaving to the side all their political differences, which make them throw stones each other, instead of standing up against their enemy that is in front of everybody. When opposition groups are fighting against each other the only benefiter is the TPLF regime, who is brutally killing and torturing the Ethiopian people, and also extending the time of this regime, and the miserable life of Ethiopian people. Finally I want to say something for all opposition groups, please focus on one thing, which is, working together to fight TPLF regime ones and for all, the political differences you have now will be judged by the Ethiopian people after the victory of Democracy and peace in the country. With out winning TPLF,all your political agenda is nothing other than keeping you cry the rest of your life with out any political change.
May 15th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Just like most Ethiopians these days,i am out of work, therefor i got nothing good to do but join the protest.
Long Live Ethiopia !!
May 15th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Maybe someone has said it. Let me put it this way. We have to make Ginbot sven a holiday like one of our national holidays. In this way we protest the regime until it goes away from the Ethiopian political landscape. This will attract a large international audience.
Blessing be to organizers of this protest!!!!!!
May 15th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
It was hands-dug a cave called Nakfa;in it,the venomous egg was laid by the enemy and was stained from years of storage in a dark and damp spot where it was left;The egg hatched and was deffective.But,the link was intact.The twin enemies were hatched from that bad egg and were nourished by the care-givers in the desert accross the sea.
What were those the dispatched thousands, and thousands of shabya agents who were spread out all over Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa, in every village, in every kabale, towns, cities, public institutions, in Military Acadamy, Hospitals, Musemems, Defense, in universities, Ministry of Educations, it is just countless, and you name it, what were actually doing? What was their actual mission?
These spies and informers were there pretending to be Ethiopians on the surface and yet clandestinely were passing on absolutely crucial information to Shabya head quarters every second of their life. Most of all, inside Ethiopia, they were passing on ethnic virus through a mouth-to-mouth contact to every individual that they came into contact. This has been done for the past 50 and so years.
Shabya picked up ethnic virus from Italians and meticulously worked out being invisible, day and night sowing the seed of ethnic hatred amongst Ethiopians.
When the tplfwoyane invaders came into Ethiopia via invasion they were broke and barefoot but had a lot of guns and bullets to loot and murder Ethiopians.As they moved into the city,towns,villages,and communities,killed many citizens at random;and did not stop there;they moved quickly into the neighboruhoods, broke into homes and vandalized the lives of the families.Being single-minded and devious and armed with a lot of guns and bullets,they built the court system around themselves and took everything for themselves.
Embassies and consulates were opened and became homes to the Spies,agents,bankers,informers,finaciers, and priests.All of them held the positions they were assigned to. Largescale looting operation began and the killing continued in parallel.Today,everything and anything that is available below and above the land they invaded twenty years ago is owned,operated, and controlled by members of the crimefamily.
On that day,in 2005 the invaders suffered a complete defeat;the constant anxiety drove them into insanity and murdered many citizens.Guns and bullets don’t vote;people do.The invaders lost the election to Ethiopians;angry and insane,the invaders committed capital crime on Ethiopians who rejected them through a united voice.
On that day,in 2010 election the ivaders will definitely lose the electin to Ethiopians and will be removed permanently from the land they invaded 20 years ago.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
YAGERE LEJOCH ZELALEM KURATE
I am so pround of my ethiopian brave people keep up the presure i am with you all the way
YE WOYANE KENU DERSUAL
May 15th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I can recognize from the picture some of the particpant are Eritrerans which I konw them since childhod.
May 15th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
selfe,selfe,selfe………………………We have to support an armed struuggle. Those stupid parasites never understand peacefull stuggle so kill them or die like a women period.
I AM GINBOT 7!
May 15th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
ሙላት:
Mulat, you are stupid woyane! you sound like your boss Meles Zenawi. That means you could be able to tell who has eriterians eys who has ethiopians? can you tell the weyane’s eyes from far? Yes they look like hangry flies! Right? Right!
We Ethiopians very soon we will arange a demonstration with our beloved brothers and sisters of Eritera! What is worg with that? Anybody is better than woyanes!
You knight mare is coming soon!!!
May 16th, 2009 at 6:46 am
WEll done Truth Ethiopian!!! Our unity must continue with strong spirit to save our country, people……
May 16th, 2009 at 7:03 am
Abebe….you racist woyanne…..you pretend to be Ethiopian but you stab true ethiopians! saying that they are out of work and their work is only to protest! You and Meles are big idiots!
May 16th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Mulat there nothing which is not better than the ugly woyannes in the planet
May 16th, 2009 at 9:17 am
The Opposition should show it’s altdrnative policies. You should be able to expose the giving away of ethiopian sovereign territories to Sudan. You should oppose the ethnic federalism. You should oppose the secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia. You should oppose the preferential treatment of Tigreans. You exposed that Axum belongs to Ethiopia, not to Tigray province. You should oppose and expose Egypt and the Arab league for supporting anti-Ethiopia element. You should show to the world the poletical map of Ethiopia as is pre-1991. You should demand for mengistu to be brought to justice etc
Crying about Human Rights and showing a slogan for the release of individual prisoners does not make sense and shows how immature the political Opposition is. No body willl take the Opposition seriously, if it continues to drum only issues of Human Rights, which the Woyanes would adjust if necessary. Demand for a policy change by presenting alternative. Oppose Shaebya, Woyane and Dergists. Oppose EPRP, a terrorist group who has been bleeding Ethiopia in the name of revolution. Expose all forces that have allied with Shaebya and Woyane.
Stand for a democrartic united Ethiopia ! Show this every day you demonstrate. Otherwise you are nothing as you have been up to now for 18 years. Persons like Hailu Shawel, MESFIN wOLDEMARIAM, WHO WERE HENCHMEN OF MENGISTU SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO LEAD THE MOVEMENT etc, etc
May 16th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Do not allow Dergists like Hailu Shawel, Hailu Araya etc to lead the movement. The Opposition should distance itself from Dergists. Oppose Woyane , Shaebya, OLF, ONLF and other anti-Ethiopia elements.
It is high time that the Opposition demonstrates for Mengistu to be brought to justice. You can not be pro-Mengistu and be against Woyane and Shaebya.
Demonstrate for a pre-1991 political map of Ethiopia. Demonstrate against the secession of Eritrea. Oppose the monarchists who come with the Lion of judah. The Lion of Juda was buried in a toilet.
Generally the opposition has to show a better alternative to the group in power. Up to now we do not see that. It is high time the opposition defends Ethiopia as a whole and stands for Ethiopia’s history.
May 16th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Mulat , your sound is like weyane. we like it, if Ertirian stand with us to defeat one of the world worst weyane. you will see Somalia, Ertira and Ethiopian stand together to defeat our enemy weyane after that we live together.Good job the cordinater and we participater.
God bless Ethiopia
May 16th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
abebe
አንተ ድንጋይ ትግሬ ምን ለማለት ፈልገህ ነው:: ነጻነት እንደፍለከው መንገዱ ክፍት ነው ኢትዮጵያዊ አይለምንህም እቅጩን ነው የምነግርህ:: እዚህ ብሪክስተን የሚባል ቦታ ገና መጠጥ ቤት ሲከፈት አንስተው ሲለጉ የሚውሉ ከዚያም ወጣ እያሉ የአውቶቡስ ትኬት ልመና 10 ፔኒ(የእንግሊዝ ሳንተም) ለሚቀጥለው መጠጥ መግዣቸው እየለመኑ ሰውን የሚያስቸግሩ ስንት እንደሆኑ ብቅ ብለህ ጎብኘት አድርጋቸው:: በሰላም የእለት ኑሮውን ለመኖር የሚባትለውን ሌላ ኢትዮጵያዊ በግድ ስላምታ እያቀረቡ የአዞ እንባ አይነት ሊያነቡ የሚቃጣቸውን ወዳጆችህን ብትመክር ሳይሻልህ አይቀርም:: በጥሁፍህ መጨረሻ ያስቀመጥከው ቃል ዘረፋህ እስከቀጠለ ድረስ መሆኑን ማንኛውም ኢትዮጵያዊ የሚያጣው እንዳይመስልህ::
The Eritrean and Tigrean Ascaris War in Defense of
A Colonial Boundary: Badme
By Tilahun Yilma
The international press, including that of Ethiopia (e.g. Tobia, and the Review) describes the current conflict at Badme as a war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no war between Ethiopia and Eritrea; the war is being conducted by two former allies belonging to the same Tigrean ethnic group: the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF).
After the fall of Mengistu’s regime and with diplomatic and logistic support by Western Powers, the TPLF/EPLF leadership was ushered in to power in Ethiopia. It immediately reconstituted itself as a colonial power, and began a campaign of destructive ethnic politics that aroused angry resistance in the Ethiopian people. The pressure of this resistance and quarrels over the spoils of war has now led these former allies into the current conflict.
In this article, I will describe the root causes of the hostilities between the Tigrigna-speaking peoples of northern Ethiopia. This war is one more legacy of the colonization of Ethiopia’s northern territory of Mereb Millash, renamed Eritrea by Italians in the late 19th century, who converted the Eritreans into colonial soldiers (ascaris) for Italy. The Italian occupation led to a three-pronged assault upon Ethiopian society that has left the country the most impoverished, war-ravaged nation in the world.
Rinderpest
The first and perhaps most grievous assault, which many Ethiopians of the time believed, was the deliberate introduction of rinderpest, the most devastating viral disease of cattle, to facilitate the colonization of a starving and exhausted populace. Just prior to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1888, a devastating epizootic of rinderpest was ignited by the introduction of three infected Indian cattle through the Ethiopian port of Massawa. Rinderpest quickly engulfed the herds of Ethiopia, killing over 90 percent of the cattle and causing great mortality also in wild ruminant populations of buffalo, hartebeest, and antelope. As a consequence, an estimated 30‑60 percent of the population of Ethiopia starved to death (Pankhurst, R., “The Great Ethiopian Famine of 1888‑1892: A New Assessment.” The Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, (1966) Part I, pp. 95‑124; and Part II, 271‑294).
The story of the devastation of rinderpest is commemorated on the Ethiopian calendar as ye-yekkatit ilkit (the Annihilation of [the month of] Yekkatit). Shortly thereafter the disease spread like wildfire to the entire continent of Africa, killing hundreds of millions of cattle and wild ruminants. Rinderpest still remains the number one cattle disease in Africa.
It is at this juncture that Italy advanced from Massawa to conquer Ethiopia. But Emperor Menelik rallied his starving nation to confront the Italians at the Battle of Adwa; amazingly, he was able to defeat this European colonial power despite its modern military machine. More miraculously, he did it while his people were struggling to survive the famine caused by rinderpest. In addition to other political difficulties, rinderpest also sapped the energy of Menelik’s army, and he was prevented from crossing the Mereb River to dislodge the Italians from all territories of Ethiopia. Thus, Mereb Millash remained occupied by the Italians. They renamed it “Eritrea” on January 1, 1890, thereby creating for Ethiopia an enduring cancer that would eat away at the nation. According to Donald L. Levine, the key to Menelik’s success was the strength of an army derived from multiethnic cooperation; it becomes obvious why the TPLF/EPLF has unleashed a divisive ethnic war in Ethiopia as soon as it grabbed power.
The Legitimization of a Colonial Boundary: Badme
The second assault on the nation of Ethiopia was the fabrication of meaningless colonial boundaries, leading to separation of peoples that had been historically homogenous by culture, ethnicity, and religion. The divisions created by this action have fueled an intractable state of civil war, dragging Ethiopia into perpetual poverty and utterly destroying its ancient cultural heritage. For 30 years, the Eritreans, supported and financed by foreign powers, waged a war of “independence” to liberate themselves from their own rich heritage and fertile land. They ruled as a colonial power when they gained ascendancy in Ethiopia. And today they cry “foul” and complain of “ethnic cleansing” as they are deported from Ethiopia back to Eritrea.
Today, the TPLF is sacrificing the lives of thousands of non-Tigrigna speaking Ethiopians and draining meager national resources in defense of the colonial boundary of a piece of God-forsaken, rocky desert called Badme, Zalambessa, Bada, etc. Most distressing, Ethiopia’s glorious victory at the Battle of Adwa has been smudged, and its citizens have been relegated to the lowest form of life; they have now become ascaris for the TPLF defending Italy’s colonial boundary at Badme. These non-Tigrigna-speaking Ethiopians are forced to fight on the front lines, absorbing the brunt of attack and the highest war casualties, thus serving as cannon fodder “for the stupidest of Africa’s stupid wars” (Africa Today, April 1999). Meanwhile, the Ethiopian soldiers are segregated into ethnic groups to ensure there is no unified Ethiopian army that might threaten the TPLF grip of power.
After Badme was recaptured from the Eritreans, the TPLF grabbed the entire credit and celebrated by hoisting its flag to the disgust of tens of thousands of non-Tigrigna-speaking Ethiopians who actually made the real sacrifice. Thus, this event clearly demonstrates that the TPLF has not abated an inch in its contempt and enmity toward Ethiopians. Later, the Ethiopians demanded the replacement of the TPLF flag with the Ethiopian flag.
If in fact Badme, Zalambessa, and Bada were that significant, why have millions of malnourished Eritreans and Tigreans (including my grandfather, Wolde-Ab Felema) historically abandoned this inhospitable place to flock barefoot and in rags to better their lives in the rest of Ethiopia? According to Africa Today (April 1999): “observers likened the conflict to two bold men fighting over a comb. What economic or strategic benefit could be gained from the control of the 400-square-kilometere rocky triangle of land that these two former allies are now locked in battle over? Eritrea already has enough rocks, says one analyst, adding that if rocks were worth money Eritrea would be the richest country in the world.”
The TPLF served as the right arm of the EPLF in conquering and dismembering Ethiopia, and subjugated millions of non-Tigrigna-speaking Ethiopians in Mereb Millash. Having played a major role in Eritrea’s war of secession from Ethiopia and its appropriation of Ethiopia’s Red Sea coastline (including its two ports), the TPLF is now sacrificing the lives of tens of thousands of non-Tigrigna-speaking Ethiopians and pouring millions of dollars into legitimizing a colonial boundary in the name of “defense of Ethiopian territorial integrity.”
A Hostage Mentality
The third assault by Italian colonial powers was upon the psychology of the countless Tigrigna-speaking people of Mereb Millash, the “mind-rape” that led to their self- rejection. Their identification with their masters, the so-called hostage mentality, is a pervasive mental condition often observed in people who have been subjected to long-term capture, slavery and/or colonial rule. Acceptance and glorification of the foreign culture of Italy caused the Eritreans to deny and degrade their own birthright and that of their neighbors. The EPLF and TPLF, composed of these psychologically affected people and aided by the West, undertook the colonization of Ethiopia and the systematic destruction of Ethiopia’s ancient culture, language, and literature. If they succeed, the permanent scars of a colonial mentality will be impressed upon the virgin minds of future generations of Ethiopians.
The TPLF/EPLF continue to be a cancer eating at the vital parts of Ethiopia, with no relief in sight. Ethiopians must ask themselves what benefits, if any, they have received from their association with the EPLF/TPLF and the Tigrigna-speaking people of Tigray and Mereb Millash who support these two vicious groups. The record shows only war, famine, poverty, greed, racism, and misery brought by the millions of ungrateful “immigrants” from the north who have dominated Ethiopia’s economy. According to the World Bank, Ethiopia is the poorest nation in the world today; the Economist (September 6, 1997) ranks it number one on the misery scale and fifth in the ratio of expenditures on bullets versus books (July 4, 1994).
The TPLF has dismantled the Ethiopian education system, imprisoned and killed Ethiopian leaders, forced the educated to flee their country as refugees, and pillaged resources for the building of Tigray. Starving families have been forced to offer their children in exchange for food money; and ancient Ethiopia, which once drew foreign tourists with its rich historical heritage, has now become a popular destination for those seeking child prostitutes and hunters of souvenirs of ancient and historical artifacts. In short, the TPLF has launched a devastating war against the future of Ethiopia, its children.
In collaboration with the EPLF, the TPLF has been involved in the massacre of the proud Afar Ethiopians who occupy the region stretching from Djibouti in the south all the way to Massawa in the north. Their crime was an unwavering determination to defend their Ethiopian heritage and territorial integrity. While thousands of non-Tigrigna-speaking Ethiopians have fought and died for Badme’s colonial boundary, few, if any, have come to assist the Afars in their lone struggle to secure a real Ethiopian boundary: the coastlines of the Red Sea.
On March 9th, one million Ethiopians marched in the streets of Addis Ababa to celebrate the defeat of the Italians by Menelik at the Battle of Adwa and the Eritreans at Badme; astonishingly, there was not a single representation at these ceremonies from the Meles regime. When the TPLF entered Addis Ababa in 1991, Meles discarded the Ethiopian flag as a “piece of rag,” and denounced Menelik as an Amhara colonialist who committed such atrocities as amputating the breasts of the women of Oromo and subjugating other ethnic minorities.
Ascaris to the core, Isayas and Meles and the EPLF/TPLF organization orchestrated a barrage of propaganda to discredit Menelik’s historical achievement at the Battle of Adwa, which had become a mantra for all freedom-loving people of Africa: for the first time an African nation had humiliated a European colonial power. Now, however, the TPLF is waging war against its former ally; they wrap themselves in the Ethiopian flag, and resurrect Menelik as a great Ethiopian hero.
Ethiopians should not denigrate the memories of Menelik and the heroes of Adwa; let only the Tigrean and Eritrean ascaris annihilate each other at Badme in honor of their colonial master, Italy. Ethiopians should treasure this moment. It is an opportunity for respite and relief for the Ethiopian people, a chance to gather strength to fight the cancer that has been eating away at our nation.
Ethiopians should never support the TPLF in Badme’s colonial boundary conflict. It is an insult to our heritage and to our glorious legacy and to Ethiopia’s great victory over a European colonial power at the Battle of Adwa. There is a worthier goal — let us liberate ourselves and the entire non-Tigrigna-speaking population of Mereb Millash, who are enslaved against their will by those that worship their former colonial masters. Let the Tigreans and the Eritreans annihilate each other in their own killil or tribal homelands, where Badme-Zalambessa belongs.
The Real Cause of the Conflict between the TPLF and EPLF
The real cause of the conflict between the TPLF and EPLF is best documented in Dr. Assefa Negash’s booklet, The Pillage of Ethiopia by Eritreans and their Tigrean Surrogates, 1966. Simply put, the old Ethiopian proverb has come to pass: “Hoodlums band when pillaging but feud when parceling the loot.” Isayas organized and assisted in the establishment of the TPLF to achieve his long-term goal, the desolation of Ethiopia as a nation and the pillage of its natural resources to build Eritrea to be the greatest industrial and military power in Africa.
The TPLF was to be used as a surrogate in implementing Isayas’s destructive agenda in Ethiopia. Meles, the designated Prime Minster of Ethiopia, has an Eritrean mother who voted in support of the Eritrean referendum for secession. This is probably the first time in history that a “Prime Minister” of a country and his mother supposedly belong to two different, warring nationalities. The master plan, to destroy Ethiopia as an independent nation, was published in 1989 — two years before the TPLF marched into Addis Ababa — in a book in Amharic, Tallaqu Sera (The Great Conspiracy) by Abraham Yayyeh, and a former member of the TPLF.
The two Eritreans, Isayas and Meles, followed a colonial master’s blueprint — to divide and rule Ethiopia by waging ethnic politics, plundering its resources to build Tigray and Eritrea as “industrial giants” of Africa. Isayas bragged that Eritrea in Africa would become as Israel is to the Middle East and Singapore is to Asia, and there will not be such a thing called Ethiopia in a decade.
Initially, it appeared that Eritrea would have its cake (independence of Eritrea and the destruction of Ethiopia) and continue to eat it by pillaging the resources of Ethiopia through its surrogate puppets, Meles and the TPLF, and the thousands of Eritreans in Ethiopia who control commerce and industry. Special privileges were instituted for them to ensure this continued stranglehold. This included appropriating Ethiopia’s major export agricultural products such as coffee to generate hard currency for Eritrea on the world market, and regulating use of Ethiopian currency for Eritrea’s benefit. Eritrea for a period of time became one of the 14 top coffee-exporting countries in the world, although not a single coffee tree grows in that rocky desert and forbidding land. Isayas also made arrangements with the TPLF regime for Ethiopia to pay duties in hard currency for use of the port of Asab, although the inhabitants of the region, including that of Massawa, happen to be Afars, one of the most proud Ethiopian citizens.
In the meantime, the TPLF started borrowing billions of dollars annually from the World Bank and receiving aid from international donors in the name of Ethiopia for exclusive use in industrializing Tigray. Then a rift developed between the TPLF and EPLF, as these two hoodlums fell out over the division of the loot. A sudden massive expansion of development in Tigray precipitated intense jealousy in Eritrea and led to the current conflict at Badme.
In the meantime, the struggle of nationalist Ethiopians against oppression by the TPLF/EPLF gathered steam. By publications in books (e.g. The Pillage of Ethiopia by Eritreans and their Tigrean Surrogates, by Dr. Assefa Negash), the print media (Newsweek, New York Times, Tobia, Ethiopian Register, Ethiopian Review, etc.), and radio broadcasts to Ethiopia from Europe, they succeeded in bringing the attention of the Ethiopian people and the international community to the TPLF and EPLF malignant cancer that was eating away at the nation. In particular, I sent messages in radio broadcasts and print articles concentrating on one issue: Tigreans and Eritreans should be the primary beneficiaries of their own laws of tribal homelands (killil), and Ethiopians should use every means available to enforce their deportation back to their own regions. Tigreans and Eritreans were especially distressed by the publication of my article calling for restoration of Ethiopia’s old boundaries, including its Red Sea coastline, with closed borders around their tribal homelands called Greater Eritrea (See my article: “A New Map for Ethiopia”, Ethiopian Review, January-February 1997 and Tobia, Meggabit 1989 E. C.).
These activities galvanized Ethiopian nationalism, and set off alarm bells among the Tigrean and Eritrean residents of Ethiopia. The Tigreans realized that without Ethiopia’s resources, Badme could not be a Garden of Eden that could feed their people. The articles also exposed the inequity of Eritrea’s special privileges in Ethiopia, and tweaked the ego of Isayas for using his enemy’s currency (Ethiopian Birr) for a country boasting to become the greatest industrial and military power in Africa. He responded by printing his own currency, the worthless Naqfa, assuming that he could exchange it on an equal basis with the Ethiopian Birr. When this did not work, his people began to starve. The rift between the two regimes widened when the TPLF refused to pay hard currency for the use of the Asab Port, and switched to using the Port of Djibouti.
Then the prediction of Dr. Mulay, the personal physician of Meles, that Eritrea will become bankrupt, came true. As was documented in my previous articles in the Ethiopian Review and Tobia, I asked Mulay why Ethiopia was not using the free port of Djibouti instead of paying to use Asab. His answer was, “we would never allow that since it would bankrupt Eritrea.”
Indeed, Eritrea was bankrupt, and Isayas invaded Badme in an effort to shift the attention of his starving people from their very real economic problems. He also hoped that he might intimidate the TPLF into giving way, allowing Eritrea to continue plundering Ethiopia. I recall a discussion I had with a Sudanese Diplomat in Italy in 1997 about the pillaging of Ethiopia by Eritrea after they “liberated” themselves. He responded: “Eritrea is a barren desert; where do you expect Isayas to get food for his people? Now Isayas’s worst nightmare has come true; Eritrea has become truly independent.”
The Deportation of Eritreans by the TPLF
I kindly request the Ethiopian Register to publish the seven pages of court documents that the TPLF presented to justify jailing the four editors of Tobia for publishing my articles advocating the deportation of Tigreans and Eritreans to their Killil. Tigreans and Eritreans drafted and implemented the so-called “New Ethiopian Constitution” that advocated tribal homelands (killil) and ethnic politics. Now that Tigreans find Eritreans a threat, they have had no qualms about implementing my recommendations, and thousands of Eritreans have been deported back to Eritrea. It is important that Ethiopians commit this suggestion to memory: the job will not be complete until we also deport Tigreans who advocate killil policy back to their Killil and make them taste their own medicine. The TPLF has now set the precedent by deporting Eritreans; they are no longer in a position to reject the deportation of Tigreans who swear in the killil system. For Ethiopians, there is no difference between these two poisonous snakes (TPLF and EPLF). One is definitely preferable to two, but each is deadly to Ethiopia.
In our worst nightmares, we never expected Tigreans to collaborate with Eritreans in waging ethnic politics and implementing an apartheid policy of dividing the country into tribal homelands (killil), wiping out a three thousand-year-old nation.
In the past Tigreans and Eritreans have accused me of using derogatory language to describe their rogue behavior toward Ethiopians. In public, Meles has protested that I have called Tigreans and Eritreans the cancer of Ethiopia. Now, I hear them freely hurling the same language toward each other. “In justifying the need for deporting Eritreans, Meles drew an analogy between the expulsion of Eritreans and the amputation of a limb suffering from gangrene.” (Ethiopian Register, March 1999, page 11). Meles has a point; there is no match to the stench of gangrene. The Eritreans are even describing their deportation back to Eritrea as “ethnic cleansing,” an absurd concept since both belong to the same Tigrean ethnic group. I guess they just don’t like being victims of their own treachery.
Eritreans would like Ethiopians to forget that in 1991 the EPLF callously expelled 200,000 non-Tigrigna-speaking Ethiopians (mainly women and children) from Eritrea. Upon their arrival in Addis Ababa — empty‑handed, their homes and property having been confiscated — they were met with a demand by Netsannet Asfaw (Mele’s spokeswoman) that they be banished to their killil and their refugee camps removed from her sight. There was no sense of responsibility or compassion for these displaced persons; The New York Times (November 3, 1993) called them the “Unforgiven Ethiopians.”
A Biological Analysis of the Conflict
The body is protected against invading germs by producing chemicals (antibodies) and killer cells called T-cells. Their attack is selectively directed against foreign invaders (germs): they have been “educated” not to attack the host’s body. They do not normally protect us from cancer, since it cannot be distinguished from our own body. That is why cancer is defined as “the enemy within,” and that is also the reason why I defined the TPLF/EPLF and their supporters who are waging ethnic politics in our country as the cancer, the enemy within Ethiopia.
Systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE) is a condition in which our defense system fails to distinguish “foreign” from “self,” and starts destroying our own body as if it were a foreign invader. In short, our defense mechanisms attack our own body and eventually destroy our organs, ultimately leading to death. I would like to use the metaphor of SLE to describe the mental condition that afflicts people subjugated under colonialism or slavery. They reject their own cultural or historical heritage and adapt that of their tormentors.
A review of the educational policy of Italians in Eritrea by Dr. Adane Taye (former dean of Asmara University) may make my point. In his book, A Historical Survey of State of Education in Eritrea, Asmara, 1991, Dr Adane reveals clearly the slave mentality of Eritreans towards their former colonial master, Italy, that made “Eritrea an educational desert . . . In addition, the color bar was enforced; Eritreans were segregated from whites in schools, areas of residence, dining and sleeping houses. Even in regard to items such as clothing and footwear the natives were limited to locally made products. They were not allowed to purchase western types of suits and shoes.” Dr. Adane goes on to state that, “despite the discrimination, segregation, oppression and exploitation practiced against them for fifty years, in general, most of the Eritreans appear to have no deep rooted hatred or discontent towards the Italians.” On the contrary, we are witnessing today that many Eritreans admire, glorify, and even revere Italians, emulating the Italian way of life in mannerisms, food, and language while nursing hatred and disdain for Ethiopians.
No wonder Isayas and Meles are now waging war over Badme, a colonial boundary line fabricated by their colonial masters, while rejecting their own true heritage. This phenomenon is not limited to Eritreans. One sees the same effect on many other nations as a long-term result of colonialism.
Already, the disease of self-rejection is growing in once-proud Ethiopia. Now that the Tigrean ascaris are in charge, Ethiopian culture is out and western culture is in. The West is providing extensive financial assistance for the destruction of the Ethiopian national language and alphabet. The TPLF/EPLF were assisted by the British in the drafting of the so called New Ethiopian Constitution of tribal homeland (killil) and ethnic politics; a British diplomat has been quoted as saying, “unless the three thousand-year old Ethiopian nationalism is destroyed, the West will be unable to exploit the country.”
Definitely, the US has taken heed of that advice and poured in millions of dollars for a program designated as Basic Education Systems Overall (BESO). This program requires abandonment of our national language (Amharic) and our alphabet in schooling, and the substitution of the Latin alphabet and more than 80 tribal languages to teach non-Tigrigna-speaking Ethiopian children. Ethiopia is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa with its own literature in its own language and alphabet, but Ethiopia could not be encouraged to excel, develop, and set a positive example that could be emulated by the rest of Africa. No, instead it had to be destroyed!
The following is a short passage from a report to the Ministry of Education by Dr. Richard J. Kraft, one of the US officials implementing the BESO program in Ethiopia. “Newly Written Languages: To my knowledge, no country in the world is facing this particular curricular challenge. To not only produce new, up-to-date, quality instructional materials is a staggering challenge, but to produce them in newly written Latinized script, which the writers and teachers have only just learned themselves, is something unique in the world. There appears…to be a lack of agreement on spelling, poor quality control on proofreading, no standard dictionaries in many of the languages, little thought about how well these “newly” written languages will be able to handle more advanced conceptual ideas in the curriculum…While it is not my role or that of any foreigner to make political judgments about language policy, it is important to state that literacy is THE basic skill, and unless means can be found to assure genuine literacy in each language, the current curricular experiment could have disastrous consequences.”
Indeed, while Ethiopians have rallied to support Tigreans to defend Badme, a colonial boundary, no one has come forward to protect Ethiopia’s future, its children, from systematic annihilation of their educational system by the enemy. Today tens of millions of Ethiopian children are suffering under the confusion of the new system. In contrast, the TPLF has just completed the building of 160 elementary and high schools equipped with modern computers and facilities in Tigray province that can accommodate over 160,000 pupils (Tobia, Miazia 4, 1991 E. C.).
I highly recommend an article by Susan J. Hoben entitled, “The Language of Education in Ethiopia, Empowerment or Imposition?” abridged in the November 1996, issue of the Ethiopian Review. It is also interesting to note that while Americans are considering the disadvantages of bilingual education for their own citizens, sometimes eliminating it through legislation, they are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into teaching Ethiopian children in over 80 distinct languages and Latinized alphabets. In short, Ethiopia has become a colony, and its children are being forced to reject their great cultural heritage, literature, and a rich national language in favor of enforced “westernization” by Tigreans and Eritreans. The end result will be no education at all, and a population eternally impoverished by their ignorance.
Concerned Ethiopians have worried that it might take a while to recover from the brutal years of Mengistu’s dictatorship and begin to deal with our present archenemies, the TPLF and EPLF. Fortunately, the falling out of these two thieves has given Ethiopians belonging to more than 80 ethnic groups a most unexpected gift; they are annihilating each other while fighting over Ethiopia’s resources and defending their colonial master’s boundary at Badme. And when thieves fall out, just “Ethiopians” will have their due. I hope that this opportunity for unity will not be missed, and that we will join together to overcome our enemies and bring relief to Ethiopia.
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Tilahun Yilma, DVD, PhD, is Director and Professor of Virology at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis.
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http://www.ethiopic.com/ethiopia/tilahun6.htm
Under construction 3/17/02 w
May 16th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
The right way to liberate Ethiopia from etho-fascism is to support Ethiopian political forces like genbot7 who are waging a multi-faceted struggle. The ethno-fascists and their backers recommend the peaceful struggle as the only way ahead because they have interest in the status quo and are afraid of losing their power and priviledges. The ethno-fascists have already closed all the venues for the so called peaceful struggle including the right to assembly. No fascist force has ever submitted to the will of the people by peaceful means and we should not expect the anti-Ethiopia ethno-fascist like Meles Zenawi to give up power this way. The ethno-fascists have told the Ethiopian people that they have sacrificed tens of thousands of their tegaru fighters to seize power. Their leader, Meles Zenawi has urged us to go into the bush and fight our way to the palace as he has done. Now genbot7 movement is ready to talk to the ethno-fascists in the language they understand.
Forward with genbot7 and Ethiopia will be free from Ethno-fascism!!!
May 17th, 2009 at 7:53 am
Ginbot 7 is pro Shaebya and it’s leaders have been working with Woyane. G 7 does not stand for a united Ethiopia and is not against the secession of “Eritra”. Berhanu Nega and Andargachew Tsige are criminals. They have been collaborating with Meles Zenawi.
There is a new group which is underground. This group stands for a united Ethiopia on the basis of the pre-1991 political boundary.
May 17th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Look Fotos from germany at www.ethiogermany.de
May 18th, 2009 at 11:03 am
MULAT YOU ARE NOT LESS ACHBERBARI THAN YOUR GENOCIDER AND WAR CRIMINAL MELLESE
May 20th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Rally agianst human rights violations in Ethiopia are important. And I really appreciate the perseverance of the Ethiopian Diaspora in Europe and North America to express their indignation against the racist Meles. However, I want to convey one mesage: Let’s stop talk and go into action to remove the dictatorship as immediately as possible!!!
August 21st, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Please keep writing more
October 18th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
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