On the unprovoked assault on the people of Tigray by the Ethiomedia editors

Mulu GS (1-19-2008)

I wonder if all of us understand how the "aradas" are using whatever pretext they could find to reveal their bed rocked hatred of the Tigray people. Fekade Shewakaena is a case in point. He is not by any means alone. Almost everything that I write below applies to the main actors in Ethiomedia and their editorial contributors. I will focus on Fekade for now. He finds a fool in Siye and tries to use him as a cover to write on his deep-rooted beliefs of ethnic hatred. He refers to a certain American Professor in Mekalle to complement his hatred toward Tigrayans. He uses his anonymous friends as his sources to further his hate agenda. For me, all these crap enables me to see what the identity of those like Fekade (who day in day out preaches to us that they are the superior Ethiopians who are above ethnic politics) is. As much as I am alarmed by the naiveté of the certain Abigail for her insensitive remarks about the people from Tigray, I am more disturbed by Fekade quoting her to promote his hate agenda. I am sure this so called Professor at Mekalle University probably does not care about the consequences of her words. If she has said something like this in her country, for instance in Southern Los Angeles on the black community, we know what could have happened to her. Shame! Ironically, instead of resenting her racial slurs and inflammatory words, Fekade uses Abigail's statements to promote his agenda. I hope people in Mekalle are civil enough not to assault this lady rather engage her in dialogue.

I do not have any qualms with Fekade's opposition to the imprisonment of fellow Ethiopians, but to interpret it as the imprisonment of the Oromo population is clear ethnic conflict instigation. Fekade deliberately references his statements to other people (may be to avoid responsibility and elude the naïve reader) especially on those very sensitive aspects of his writing. Look at what he says about the prison guards referencing to a certain anonymous source, "They are all from Tigray and this is done by design to instigate ethnic hatred". We never heard that from the Kinjit prisoners or others who have been to any of these prisons but I would think Fekade is deliberately misquoting Siye to convey his message (I hope Siye would be able to respond himself on this issue in time!).

Fekade's rumbling has both good and bad news to me. The good news is that his friends or informants visit their home country now and then while he agonizes about his self made restrictions from US cities. And the bad news is that his sources are these same people he calls his friends that would feed him gossip about, what he refers "dirty public secret", the ethnic representation of prison cells which he absurdly puts it as a fact. Here is what he said "As a friend who recently came from Addis Ababa told me, this is one dirty public secret of Meles Zenawi that everybody in Addis Ababa talks about when the TPLF spies are not around". I would not necessarily expect him to have better sources, but at least he could have tried to elude us as usual by mentioning some weirdo institutions as his "key informants". Interestingly how much ever he tried to hide his motive by referencing to his alleged sources, he has miserably failed to do so. For instance, I do not know what "everybody" in his statement above refers to but I can guess; how about every Addis Ababan! I could have understood him better if he has at least been modest and said most people in Addis Ababa. More disgusting is the last part of the sentence "when the TPLF spies are not around". According to his informants everyone knows who is a spy and who is not. Or would that also probably mean when there are no people who look like Tigraway around? These are the type of stereotypical words used by the Kinjit leadership a few years back to call upon the public to avoid or boycott Tigryans.

Fekade's despicable mind is also very quick to find a parallel in history to the magnitude of the problem in Ethiopia that he just learned from his friends visiting Ethiopia. This is not from reading books or doing a quick research, it is just from Gossip. But at the same time he has the audacity to claim to have looked all over history. Look at what he wrote, "I tried to look all over history to find parallels to this kind of a disproportionate imprisonment of ethnic groups in any country. Believe it or not, the only similar parallels in history where you see these kinds of ugly features are only in countries under colonial rule, under Nazi Germany and in systems of apartheid. It is that troubling". He does not need to do comparative analysis or fact finding to come to this grandiose conclusion of a parallel event that happened in human history. I am not surprised that he left academia for just cheap propaganda writing willingly. This reminds me of Watson's (the DNA helix) recent remark about the black race that cost him his job and reputation. I know Fekade does not have any reputation to worry about, but at least for the sake of the people around him (for the respect of his comrade Abraha who is form Tigray), and as there will be eyes out there reading his rumblings he should have been careful with statements of this magnitude.

I will digress a little bit here. When I read the statements by this certain lady from Mekalle University called Abigail, it reminded me of one thing. It was in 2000 when the Ethio-Eritrean war was at its peak. I had American couples visiting me at my home in Addis for a dinner and by chance there was this breaking news from the war front. In the news there was footage of dead bodies and guess what? The lady had the moral high ground to tell me that showing that kind of footage by ETV was savage and they would never do that in America. I did not have any answer except to say oh yeah! Remember this was also the time when the satellite TV dish was flourishing in Addis and it did not need any brainier to know what is broadcast on CNN or other networks.

Back to Fekade. I admit that this man writes very well and could have used his pen for a very constructive agenda. Instead he uses it to promote ethnic hatred and malicious propaganda. Ironically, he like all his other friends, always tells us that he is above the fray on ethnic politics while in reality this is what he preaches to us: here is what he wrote "An entire people that constitute the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia are prisoners in their own country; in a country their fathers have fought and died defending against multiple foreign aggressions, in a country they literally feed. Oromia is the most fertile region that literally feeds the northern half of Ethiopia much of which is arid. It is very ironic that the Oromia region that more than 90% of the cash crops, the export earnings, the mineral wealth and electric power of the nation also feeds 99% of the prison population to the jaws of Meles Zenawi’s filthy prisons. It is a breath taking irony." I do not see this any different from inviting our people to become like cats and rats and go against each other. I do not know why is it hard for Fekade and co to help bring harmony instead of calling for ethnic strife? I wish he would have any way to start looking inward.

I am not going to comment on the parallel he tries to make with Kenya as I do not have any first hand information or accurate information except the things I hear from the Western media (which I lost all my trust on). But to allege that the problem is only on the Kibaki's side because it fits into the rhythm of his story is non-sense at worst and ridiculous at best. I have Kenyan friends and that is not how they read what is unfolding in their country now. I am sure Fekade is not a dummy and he is entitled to his opinion on this, but to make a parallel between what happened in Kenya and the Ethiopian situation is unfathomable to me. For me, the Kenyan saga is a very good testimony for why the preventive actions and measures taken by the Ethiopian Government during the 2005 riots were crucial. I wish it were done without or with minimal collateral damage. I believe that, the action has indeed salvaged the country from spiraling into the abyss situation that we see now and read in Kenya, which has already claimed over 600 lives by now.

Regarding the call he made to all ethnic groups (he must have come a long way to use the phrase "ethnic groups" or it is a fluke) I hope people will heed to his call and come out in their ethnic dresses ready for the fight. We have seen Ethiopian farmers of all ethnic back ground coming together celebrating their identity and showing their determination to fight poverty and inequality. That is the type of fight I am talking about unlike what you would like to see from your call below: "I think we will all serve a great common purpose if all of us across ethnic groups rise up together and condemn this horrific crime against the Oromo people."

Finally, I am encouraged that there are some signs that people are starting to appreciate the reality in Ethiopia. Ethnic identity is at the core of the country's fabric in terms of politics, economic development as well as other social endeavors. Our diversity is strength not a weakness and it is only through the respect and recognition of our diversity that we could come out to be one! More over, it is very interesting to see people coming to their senses and looking up at the TPLF hero Siye to salvage them from the TPLF regime. They must have lost their hopes on their Kinjit idols. Sorry!! I am sure I will be called names for writing this, but hell let it be. I am just trying to defend my people from the unprovoked assault.