As Ethiopia boils, Minnesota's Ethiopians feel the heat
Sultan Fowsi Mohamed Ali, an Amnesty International “prisoner of conscience,” disappeared from an Ethiopian prison last Saturday night.
Ali Abdifatah is out of his mind right now, understandably so.
He is desperate to discover the fate of his brother, who was abducted by men with guns last Saturday evening. Since then, his brother hasn’t been seen or heard from and Ali has sat by his telephone and computer at his home in Fridley, calling and emailing, gathering small scraps of information.
But that’s a difficult task because his brother, Sultan Fowsi Mohamed Ali, is a clan elder in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, a half a world away from Minnesota. A renowned peacekeeper in the troubled Horn of Africa, whom Amnesty International has called a “prisoner of conscience,” Sultan Fowsi has been held in the giant Ogaden Jail in the town of Jijiga since last August.
Then, last Friday afternoon, according to Minnesota Ethiopians who have spoken to eyewitnesses in Ethiopia in cell phone conversations, Ethiopian troops barged into the jail and shot several prisoners. They then left, but on Saturday evening they returned, grabbed Sultan Fowsi and one other prisoner and vanished into the night.
Razor’s Edge
As a result, this week in Minnesota hundreds of immigrants from the Ogaden region of Ethiopia are firing up Internet sites and spending hours on their cell phones every day, trying to learn the fate of a beloved leader.
“It’s shocking, it’s bad,” Ali said, thumbing through stacks of human rights reports written over the years, many of them praising his brother as one of the few figures capable of negotiating peace in the Horn of Africa.
Yet as bad as it is, Ali’s story is only one of hundreds of similar tales told these days by Minnesota’s nearly 20,000 Ethiopian immigrants, who come from all across the country and not just the Ogaden region.
What is happening in the Ogaden region is the most immediate, urgent, and largest-scale atrocity occurring in Ethiopia today.
But simmering conflicts that have been brewing for many years are flaring up today all across Ethiopia, and these are keeping Minnesota’s Ethiopian community, composed of many ethnic groups, on a razor’s edge.
U.S. Citizens
“What’s going on in Ethiopia is the government is trying to silence all opposition,” said Robsan Itana, director of the Oromo American Citizens Council, based in St. Paul, which represents immigrants of the Oromo ethnic group, the largest in Ethiopia. “They are killing people.”
When the present Ethiopian regime came to power in 1991 under the banner of “ethnic federalism,” there was widespread hope that Ethiopia’s nine major ethnic groups – and dozens of smaller ones – would for once begin to live in harmony with Ethiopia’s central government.
Instead, today, the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi finds itself fighting counter-insurgency campaigns against “liberation fronts” across the breadth of the country.
Fleeing these violent counter-insurgency campaigns, immigrants from virtually all of Ethiopia’s major ethnic groups came to live in Minnesota over the past decade. Many are now U.S. citizens.
But as they still have families and loved ones back in Ethiopia, when violence flares up over there, tempers and temperaments get riled here in Minnesota, and Ethiopian troubles soon become Minnesota’s.
Attacks-by-Proxy
Another example that is having repercussions in this state is a bloody clash that occurred in May between the Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups in western Ethiopia, that left more than a hundred people killed.
On the surface, the inter-tribal nature of the Oromo-Gumuz conflict left little trace of Ethiopian government involvement.
Yet Oromo in Ethiopia and in the Minnesota diaspora have charged – as one or another party nearly always does in such cases – that the Ethiopian government instigated the conflict by various means, such as ceding land belonging to one party to another, as a way to foment violence and launch a brutal attack-by-proxy on a targeted ethnic group.
“It’s a nightmare what Oromos are subjected to in Ethiopia,” says Lencho Bati, a professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, and a native Oromo. “It’s exactly what blacks in South Africa suffered under apartheid – lack of access to resources, education, power, cultural enrichment and the right to self-determination.”
Locked Out
Like Ali Abdifatah, Lencho Bati also has a brother who was “disappeared” by the Ethiopian military.
“My brother was abducted in 1992 by the then-new regime of Meles Zenawi,” Bati said. “He has been missing since then. My family is living this trauma that has left a big hole in our hearts. It’s a single story but it is also common among so many Oromos in Minnesota.”
Bati spends much of his free time researching conditions in Ethiopia and working on behalf of Oromo rights. He is a member of the Oromo Liberation Front, a political opposition group highly active in the Ethiopian diaspora.
The Anuak of Ethiopia are another case in point. A black African tribe of only 100,000 living in Ethiopia’s western Gambela state, roughly 1,000 Anuak today live in Minnesota. They came here after fleeing ethnic cleansing attacks carried out both directly by the Ethiopian army, and in proxy conflicts instigated and then left unpoliced by Ethiopian troops, often pitting the de-armed Anuak against armed groups of the Nuer tribe.
Fertile Land
“Pushing the Anuak out of the region is part of the Ethiopian government policy,” said Apee Jobi, a Minnesota Anuak who lives in Brooklyn Park. “A government official once called the Anuak ‘scum.’ Gambela is a fertile land and if it was developed it could help feed all of Ethiopia. So the government likes the land, but it doesn’t like its people.”
The Ethiopian military has conducted four major attacks on the Anuak tribe since the Meles regime took power in Ethiopia in 1991, Jobi said. The largest one took place on December 13, 2003 when uniformed Ethiopian troops killed some 425 Anuak men in a massacre that Human Rights Watch called “crimes against humanity” that targeted the Anuak tribe specifically.
Employed at a local bank, Jobi devotes virtually every weekend to Anuak causes, organizes meetings, helps raise money for Anuak refugees, and edits a web site, Gambela Today, which runs news stories almost daily.
Stark Contrast
In stark contrast to the picture painted by Minnesota’s Ethiopians, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, in interview after interview, portrays Ethiopia as a country that has its problems but is inevitably marching towards peace and democracy.
“A peaceful, strong, viable opposition is part of any vibrant democracy,” he told the Washington Post in 2006. “We wish to have a vibrant democracy and therefore we wish to have a vibrant, strong, peaceful opposition.”
But of the dozen Ethiopian immigrants interviewed for this article, only those quoted in the story above were willing to give their names for publication.
The others said that the Ethiopian government pays spies in Minnesota to report the names of people here who criticize the government, and that family members who still live in Ethiopia would be punished.
A former reporter for The New York Times, and a London and Hong Kong bureau chief of Bloomberg News, Doug McGill now writes from a home base in Rochester, Minnesota. Doug says, “I’m a journalist in Rochester, MN who is trying to practice my craft in a way that helps me and my fellow citizens understand our place in the wider world.”
workaround
Comments
Good work
Doug – THANK YOU! GOD BLESS YOU.
any statement, information from the other side?
I have been following your reports about Ethiopia recently, looking for any statement from Ethiopian government officials. You seem to base all your articles on political asylum beneficiaries or refugees who fled from Ethiopia. It is like using the thousands of Palestine refugees in Syria to tell you about the Israel government. Nobody expects the Palestinian refugees to say anything positive about the Israeli government. The same way, it is important and basic part of journalism to find out what the other side of the story is.
if you say there are opposition groups in ethiopiia, then have you contacted them?? What are the claims and accounts of events from the other side? Or, do you have any statements or accounts from the government or from any other side of the story?? Did all of this problem start today? what is the historical background according to this or that warring ethnic group and according to the government? So much is missing.Thanks
Not only information, need to ask permission!
EPRDF today is not just a party, they became the country itself…the only power in the poor country called Ethiopia. Any one talking about the country should ask their permission or at least inform them. They wish the voice of single EPDRF/TPLF to count more than that of the Ethiopian poeple: the Oromos, Amharas, Somalis etc. How one publish an artikle without asking the other side(the superpower TPLF)? Dave used a diplomatic word “information” instead of calling it “permission” as the publisher of the article is not in Ethiopia. This is the main aim of “Ethiopian press rule”, you should ask permission if you live in Ethiopia and you should include information from the great TPLF if you are outside. The superpowers will never go to prison, and will never ask asylym, and if they do for some kind of financial benefit they do that with the name of oppressed Ethiopians. Therefore I am not surprised by opinion of Dave about refugees/aslym. According to TPLF, if one is forced out of his beloved country he cannot comment about Ethiopia, and it was copied to Dave’s mussle mind. The dictionary in their mind say Ethiopia means TPLF, any body else has no power and can be: prisoned, killed or flee out. AND NOBODY SHOULD PUBLISH THIS IF NOT THE GREAT TPLF/EPDRF SAID IT IS TRUE! KKKKKKK.
Information from the gaint side, THE SUPERPOWERS!
Nowadays it is common to hear comments like you should ask information from our side EPDRF. I have no problem with that but is it the sole criteria for the neutrality of an article? The Newsweek do not ask comment from OLF when interviewing Meles Zenawi and OLF never said you should ask information from my side. One can clearly undersand that it is the view of Meles and it is important for anybody interested in politics of the Horn. According to Dave information cannot be balance without the comment from the ruling party(the superpowers in the region). The other thing I am concerned about is Dave’s oppinion for refugee’s. Anything they said should not be considered as true. Powerless poeple forcefully driven out of their beloved country cannot be trusted as powerful EPDRF. Dave! do not try so hard because the world know that Ethiopians should ask permission from the ruling party to write/say anything about thier country ( as the NEW PRESS RULE caim that) and it is understandable when you say information from our side to foriegn journalists.
Dear Doug McGill . Thanks
Dear Doug McGill . Thanks for sharing this indept article to the public.
We only knew Jeffery Gentleman of New York Times, and his outspokenness of crimes against humanity committed by America’s Alley (Ethiopia) in the war on terror – a government fighting against its own people with the help of US tax dollars.
Even those who would want to be brave enough to post you wonderful article on their websites will have to think twice before acting it – whether they live in US or Europe – as this may also backfire their families back in Ethiopia and the consequences of suffering would only create more life threatening treatment and as known to Males’s administration, more disappearances as this is practice known by Ethiopia’s government.
The saddest part of all of these atrocities committed by the Ethiopia’s government is that US tax payers (except those whose families suffered the consequences) are not aware that Bush’s admin has tripled the aid that it provides to Ethiopian government since Sept. 11, 2001 which sadly only proves to help much more suffering to Ethiopians and more crimes of humanity has been committed under this proxy war.
President Bush, US Senate, and these honest US Tax payers have little or no knowledge of the atrocities committed on a daily basis in Ethiopia. Unless the US aid to Ethiopia is “no strings attached to it” a responsible nation would want to know the military and humanitarian aid that is provided to Ethiopia to be used wisely and appropriately. Not to help government that slaughters its own people.
Below please find links from Human Rights Watch and what they had to say about the Human Rights abuses committed in Ethiopia in general and Ogaden in particular:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/ethiopia0608/12.htm
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/110/payne100207.pdf
Ethiopia’s ‘own Darfur’ as villagers flee government-backed …
http://www.newsweek.com/id/98033 – Ethiopia’s Dirty war
Will have to leave here for now.
Peace on Earth!
Thank you
Dear Sir,
I would like to Thank you for your wonderful piece of article that shows the true color of Ethiopian regime. It is indeed frustrating when towns and villages been burned down and mass killing become a daily routine and media at large failed to show the world what is taking place in this part of the world. YOU ARE THE VOICE FOR THOSE ARE VOICELESS. Keep up the good work.
Mohamed
California
Ethiopia Boils
This is more Oromo propaganda. The Oromo are not suffering any more than any other ethnic group in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is an impoverished country. What it needs is unity in rebuilding, not the constant drone of certain opportunists looking for sympathy from Americans. The history of Ethiopia shows that Oromos were not kept from education, resources or opportunity. The claim of an apartheid system in Ethiopia is ridiculous.
To the author of the article, I ask that you check your sources before publishing such nonsense. A good rule of thumb is, if your source spends his days and evenings at Starbucks, he is probably bitter at the way his life is and is looking for something to blame. Another rule, if the “professor” you are quoting got his advanced degree online or from some community college, its probably a good idea not to hold him out as some expert.
Online professor vs Dedabit ganmen
That is how you value education in Ethiopia, which community college or online college award professor? I know a college called Civil Service College which award watever degree they want to officials from the ruling party and you are assuming the same worldwide. If education is the only criteria to say someone is expert to which expert to ask for comment about the article, may be to professor Meles Zenawi, because everything is possible in EPRDF ruled Ethiopia. God bless Ethiopia and justice for Oromo poeple.
Thankyou
Thanks for being a voice for the oppressed and the voice less.
Peace
Thank you Doug for telling "them" an inconvienient truth
Ato Alemayehu,
Please do not try to hide the true face of your brothers. It’s time to call a spade a spade!
What do you mean when you advise the author to double chech his sources of information before publishing it? Should he consult the so called “Debtera” or Amhara professors? Please get over and come to your senses. The issue of Oromo people and for that matter other oppressed Ethiopian nations can not any more be “shelved” or ignored by the chauvinists. Your time is over my brother!
If you want to save the so called “Ethiopia”, the time is now and only now. Admit the facts and let’s work out together. That country belongs to all its citizens.
The Professor you quoted- as far I know is a graduate of one of the well known universities in the US. Currently, he’s a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota.
Ordinary people have extraordinary stories to tell. You do not need to go to a college to tell facts. Also I do not think there’s a second side of the story. They lived it. That’s fact.
None the people Doug talked to are asylees. It’s my assumption. A friend of you (Dave) call these people asylum beneficiaries. Rediculous!
Replying to Dave's Questions on "The Other Side"
Dave,
Over the years — I’ve been covering Ethiopian immigrant issues in Minnesota since 2003 — I do sometimes call the Ethiopian embassy in Washington for comment and explanation.
For example, I did so in my
article last month about the defection of an Ethiopian government official to the U.S.
More often, though, I reflect the Ethiopian government position by reporting on statements its leaders make in the press — and there is really only one leader in Ethiopia today, namely the Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi. As an example, in today’s article I quoted from Meles’ recent interview with the Washington Post.
The problem is, the Ethiopian government basically only says one thing to the press on human rights matters — denial of atrocities on the one hand, and assertions of peace, justice and good times on the other. It becomes rote and unhelpful to just plug that one response into every single story.
Plus, in the context of the many articles I write on this theme, it is only right I believe to stress reporting from the aggrieved side, where incredible cruelty and violence is suffered. To absolutely require that “the other side of the story” be reported in every instance and article is an example of the
objective fallacy in journalism.
Doug
As Ethiopia boils, Minnesota's Ethiopians feel the heat
Dear Doug,
Thank You very much.
It is nice to see people of your quality become a voice of the voiceless Oromos, Ogadenis and others who are continuously suffering from the cruelty and violence perpetrated against them by the current Ethiopian government. Everyone, including the US government, knows that Meles and his war making machineries, paid for by the US taxpayers, are murdering children and elderly, torturing innocent people, raping women and girls, yet everyone else who could have spoken up have chosen to turn their back. I want to thank you so very much for showing the courage to speak up for those who forced to silently succumb to an untold types of human misery. Like everyone else, these suffering people in Ethiopia would like to peacefully work and live freely in their own country, but their fate is determined by the guns that Meles is holding against their heads.
Feeling the heat allright
Hi Doug,
I appreciate all the effert you are exerting to shed light on the atrocities the Ethiopian government is commiting against Oromos, Ogadenis and other under represented minorities in the state of Ethiopia.
Oromos are yearning for LIBERTY, EQUALITY, JUSTICE, DEMOCRACY and HUMAN RIGHTS but we are facing one of the worst oppressors and exploiters that harass, imprison, kill, torture and proscute us just because we demanded what is fair. We want authonomous Oromia and good governance but the government is starving our people to death and instigating inter-ethnic conflicts to prolong its existance on power. The world needs to see what is boiling and burning over 40 million and Oromos and many more millions of Ogadenese and come to our rescue.
PEACE
Thank you Mr.
Thank you Mr. McGill,
This minority government knows very well that it will not survive even a day if democracy is to be allowed in that country because Meles knows that in democracy, majority rules while it ensures that the rights of the minority are respected. This leaves Meles with the only option -the iron-fist rule. I read a comment above that seems to suggest that Oromos are not treated differently. There is no Oromo who has not been affected by a loss of a loved one in the hands of this brute regime. The Oromo support Group documented over 4500 killings and many disappearances of Oromo men, women, and children in the first 5 years alone since this regime came to power. Meles admitted that there are over 24000 Oromos in jail. Mind you they don’t tell the truth never mind the whole truth. Many more Oromos have been eliminated through indirect atrocities such as restricted access to medicine, clean water, food, spread of diseases such as the HIV etc, etc
Meanwhile, the Tigrayans are living in peace and prosperity. The goal of this evil government is to reduce the number of the members of the majority ethnic groups while helping to increase that of his own. This is truely evil and God willing it will fail.
Why the double standards?
The crimes against humanity currently being carried out in various regions of Ethiopia are occuring right before the eyes of western governments who have chosen to overlook the massacer of numerous Ethiopians for the mere fact that they consider the brutal regime of Meles Zenawi an ally. It is especially painful to see these same western governments crying foul about issues in Zimbabwe while at the same time turning a blind eye to the atrocities being committed in Ethiopia. In the case of Ethiopia the regime is unpopular with the people and is merely afloat because of the money and weapons from western countries, I hope the leaders of the western countries will come to their senses and start practicing the ideals of democracy that they are always preaching and help the people of Ethiopia as well as all those living under the brutal yoke of dictatorship.
Hi Doug; I thank you for
Hi Doug;
I thank you for taking the time to speak the truth
Ethiopia is Determined to Conceal The Ogaden Plight From the World Community
I can’t put into words, as I know what Ogaden people are facing daily..
Regards
Ali
Sir, You are not as
Sir,
You are not as deeply versed on the inter tribal politics of this distant and comp,licated land. buit i do not blame you. i just want to point one thing out to you. you called the Anuak people of Gambella african. thyis implies that president meles or his tigray tribe or the amhara tribe are not africans. How can this be? You are extremely wrong. Ethiopia is a land of pure ancient african people. We do not claim any arab or foreign blood. we are not sudanese who pretend to be somethign they are not. All of ethiopia’s people are african. As an amhara with an ormo grandfather and a half tigray aunt and a gurage uncle, i say to you please do not fall for false propaganda. do not think ethiopia is like sudan. we are all one people. one blood. we are all africans.
Brave historian
Your article remaineded me the so called “biologically produced food”, you have created an ethinic combination that looks like not by chance but in scientific laboratory. Let me ask you one question, how much of the Ethiopian population does such ethinic combination represent? Even if this represent the majority, could it be the reason to deny the right of Oromo poeple to live as oromo?? It is like saying to Mr. Obama, you have white mother and you cannot live as balck or vise versa. Mr. tiqour please undersatand onething, TO BRING PEACE IN THE HORN WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE OUR DIFFERENCE AND ENCOURAGE SIMILARITIES; NOT DISMISSING EACH OTHERS IDENTITY THROUGH ANY MEANS:
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE RIGHT OF POEPLE, THERE IS NO SENTENCE ABOUT ETHNIC ORIGIN. IF WE TRY TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER AS WE ARE...OUR DIFFERENCE COULD BE A RESOURCE FOR WHAT WE COULD BUILD IN COMMON: the unbrocken bonding force.
DOWN TO RECISIM AND JUSTICE FOR OROMO POEPLE!
Doug's story: well researched, well told! Thank you!
Doug, thank you so much for this report. The impact of well researched and balanced articles like yours will significantly influence the respect for human rights in Ethiopia. It does also educate people in the US, who may have no idea what is going on in this part of the world.
I read many articles everyday, but I honestly find yours told from an insider’s perspective. You do understand the issues and I do respect you for that.
Some readers were Ethiopian spies or supporters of the regime, trying to muzzle you up because you spoke the truth to power. May be they will kill you or imprison you if you were in Ethiopia for that. That’s what we mean when we say there is no ‘press freedom in Ethiopia’
We are proud of you and so should Daily Planet be! Keep up the good job on behalf of the voiceless! I would love to read many more articles like this from you and Daily Planet.
Fred
I am the niece of Sultan
I am the niece of Sultan Fowsi and I just finished reading this article. I would like to thank Doug McGill for his time in posting this article about my uncle. You are really doing a great job speaking for all ethnic Ethiopians who are under brutal regime. Thank you so much!
Two Wrongs in
Two Wrongs in EthioMedia.com’s Accusations of Lencho Bati’s Two Rights
This note is in response to a “Letter to the (EthioMedia.com’s) Editor” from one Lemlem responding to Professor Lencho Bati’s comment in an article titled “As Ethiopia Boils, Minnesota’s Ethiopians Feel the Heat.” The content of Lemlem’s response is weak in its argument. However, the two wrongs in that letter are being committed not only by Lemlem, but by a majority of Ethiopianists, proponents of the Abyssinian System of Domination. Therefore, it is important to take up the task and show how Lemlem and other Ethiopianist camp mates make two wrongs – consistently and shamelessly.
Wrong #1: Individual Oromos Were Part of Abyssinian System of Domination, So the Oromo People Were Not Oppressed.
Here’s how they start giving examples for this line of wrong argument: “Many Oromos were generals, ministers, senior government officials, etc. during the _____ regime (in the blank space, fill in Menelik, Haile Sellasie, Derg or even Zenawi); so, the Oromo people were not subjected to become second-class citizens.” Some may even try to list out those so-called Oromo generals and senior government officials of the Abyssinian repressive regimes.
As expected, Lemlem mentioned that history was the witness that many Oromo individuals were part of Ethiopian regimes for the last 100 years; therefore, the Oromo people were not oppressed by these regimes. Lemlem even got the gut to tell us Dr. Negasso Gidada was Zenawi’s “first President” and he was Oromo; and that meant the Oromo people were not persecuted by Woyane during Dr. Gidada’s term. Well, Lemlem failed to hear and watch Dr. Gidada himself apologizing and taking responsibilities for the human rights crimes committed against Oromo during his term (Watch the video here). The fact that Dr. Negasso Gidada is an Oromo with the title “President” does not translate into 40+ million Oromo people having freedom, equality and justice.
Lemlem and other Ethiopianist mates failed to recognized the difference between being Oromo and becoming Oromo. As far as the individual “is” just a mere government official that follows the orders given to them by those benefiting from the Abyssinian System of Domination, he or she can remain part of the regime. In other words, the fact an individual is “an Oromo” is not a threat to the Abyssinian System of Domination. What is a threat to the Abyssinian System of Domination is the transformation of an Oromo individual from being a “mere” Oromo targeted for forced assimilation to one embracing and becoming Oromo.
To become Oromo means to feel the oppression imposed on the Oromo people – the destroyed Gadaa System, the barred language, the barred & destroyed culture, the barred expression of self-determination, the barred access to Oromia’s vast opportunities, the barred access to education – AND to do something about it. In short, becoming Oromo is about bringing about an Oromo renaissance in the Horn of Africa. On the other hand, the core goal of the Abyssinian System of Domination is to strip Oromo off all human rights and subject them to forced assimilation; otherwise, the Abyssinian System of Domination will cease to exist – it can not be THE Abyssinian System of “Domination” without dominating others. In contrast, the Oromo renaissance is about reclaiming lost heritage and power; it has never been about dominating others.
A good example here is the story of General Taddasa Biru, the commander of the police force during the Haile Sellasie regime. General Taddasa Biru was an assimilated Oromo government official posing no threat to the regime until he transformed himself into one of the modern-day Oromo national freedom movement leaders. (Read more in detail here) He was promoted to the top of the echelon as far as he had not become an Oromo; however, as soon as he embraced and became Oromo, he was executed in broad daylight in the middle of Finfinne.
Therefore, Lencho Bati’s comparison of the situation of Oromo people in Ethiopia to the situation of blacks in South Africa during the Apartheid era was right on. The Abyssinian System of Domination is a “black-on-black” Apartheid system only visible to those living under it.
Wrong #2: Oromos Are Not the Only Ones Oppressed by Ethiopian Regimes, So the Oromo National Freedom Movement Shall Be Stopped.
This one is really funny – and confused. It seems that the Ethiopianist camp has run out of reasons for derailing the Oromo national freedom movement. They just argued in “Wrong Argument #1” that the Oromo people “were never oppressed” since a few Oromo individuals were part of Ethiopian regimes. Now, they turn around and say, “OK, even if the Oromo people were (and are being) oppressed, they ought not to fight against this brutal Abyssinian System of Domination ALONE.” They say, “the Oromo people’s fight against aggression is not justified as far as “we” (the Ethiopianists) are not part of it.” In a way, they want to keep the “black-on-black” Apartheid System in Ethiopia intact (as shown in Wrong #1) and at the same time, they want to join (actually, be the leaders of) the fight against this System of Domination that they want to keep intact. Confused? .... Yes.
Again, as expected, Lemlem made the point as follows: “Is the brutality of the Zenawi regime confined to the Oromo only? And the rest are grouped into the same class as the ruling white minority regime of apartheid South Africa?” To answer these questions: No and No.
The brutality of the Zenawi regime is not confined to the Oromo only; that does not in any way mean that the Oromo people do not have the right to fight against such brutality. It is the Oromo national freedom movement’s strategic choice whether to wage such a fight alone or with meaningful allies. Lemlem and the other Ethiopianist camp mates do not get to choose how Oromo should fight against the “black-on-black” Apartheid in Ethiopia; Oromos themselves do. After all, the largest nation living under this tyranny in Ethiopia are Oromo.
Besides, it was not blacks only that were subjected to Apartheid in South Africa. It was Asians (watch the Ghandi movie to learn how Gandhi fought for equality in late 19th century in South Africa), Arabs and many more. Did that prevent blacks from taking up the fight against the Apartheid regime? Are you out of your mind? No. Did the fight by blacks against the Apartheid regime imply that Asians and Arabs were part of the white minority rule? Hell, No.
Conclusion: No reasoned argument puts two wrongs in the same paragraph, only Lemlem’s does. After stating that Oromos were never oppressed since individual Oromos were part of various Ethiopian regimes, Lemlem went on to deny the Oromo people the right to fight the current “oppressive” regime, which – according to Lemlem’s own argument #1 – must not be oppressing Oromos since this regime had Oromo officials. What is ravaging Ethiopia is the “black-on-black” Apartheid system, which must be done away with by Oromos and all others willing to bring about change to the Horn of Africa. The approach must not be “Oromos must stop fighting alone since they are not the only ones oppressed by the repressive Abyssinian System of Domination”; it must be “let us fight with Oromos since we also want to see the brutal regime and the repressive System removed from Ethiopia”.
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