Thursday, 18 September 2014

The Ethiopian Diaspora and consciousness

eptember 18, 2014
by Yilma Bekele
The Bay Area that currently is home away from home for thousands of Ethiopians is nothing like any other place that I have known. I was born in a small village on the southern part of Ethiopia and have resided in Addis Abeba, Oregon and Seattle Washington before moving here. The Bay Area is unique. I thank the Gods and celebrate my luck whenever I have a chance.Ethiopian products imported by TPLF
The place where I originated from is not known for such movement of people from one location to another. As much as I remember the majority of the people I know were born, grew up and die within a few miles of their home. A trip to the next town a few miles away was talked about days from departure. My journey to America was definitely a mind boggling experience and by any stretch of the imagination not an understandable act by most of my family and neighbors for the period I came to America.
The same thing cannot be said today. As I drive to go to work every day the sight of elderly Ethiopian mothers and grandmothers walking down Telegraph avenue, gray haired grandfathers sitting outside Pete’s coffee, taxi drivers silent greetings from the next lane is always a welcome sight to start the day. It looks like no one is left at home. They are all here. They make me feel at home.
Of all the places I have lived it is the Bay Area that gives me a sense of belonging and the absence of that feeling of being stranger in a new land. This is so because this corner of the world is where the world comes to prove that American concept of ‘the melting pot’ phenomena. No one asks you ‘where are you from?’ in the Bay Area. There is a restaurant for every food type, a worship place for any religion, a market for all ethnic product and court appointed translator for any language of your choice.
If you have a relative coming to the US from the remotest corner of Ethiopia, please send them to the Bay Area where they can be made to feel at home In no time. Chances are he/she will find someone from the same village to welcome them and remove that feeling of fear and anxiety as they say in a ‘New York minute’ and that is faster than a blink of an eye.
This experience probably can be said of most metropolitan areas where we congregate due to abundance of jobs and that sense of comfort we get when we are with each other. This situation of finding ourselves in a faraway place although not out of choice has also got a silver lining where good can be harvested from the bad situation. Our elderly parents get to spend the last days of their life with their children and grandchildren and experience a dignified living. We have a choice of schools to go to and there is no limitations on what we want to achieve in life. From what I can see it is fair to conclude we are one hard working people that excel in the professions we choose.
Is it fair to ask what else do we learn during our stay in this land? We definitely learn the value of hard work and honest living. We also notice the wonderful way the different cultures manage to live in peace and harmony without sacrificing their uniqueness. Respect for others and show of empathy to those that find themselves in challenging situation is a lesson we cannot avoid. Any time there is a natural catastrophe anywhere in the world we see people giving what they could, being stressed to no end and going out of the way to help. Most of the time they don’t even know where the heck the location is but that does not stop them from wanting to help.
The news that has been in the headlines the last few days is the trouble two football players are in for a behavior not appreciated in this time and age. One was caught hitting his fiancé and another was charged for disciplining his young son in a harsh manner. How the incidents were dealt with by society is what I want to focus on. It looks like folks were not happy to witness such behavior from individuals that have attained success in the field they choose. The damage to the victims in my opinion does not seem long lasting but what bothered people was the fact that it took place. Both victimizers took responsibility for their transgressions and by the time the news came out they have made peace with their prey.
What I noticed was the civilized way the ugly situation was dealt with society in general. Some wanted harsh punishment to be administered but it was not the general consensus. The overwhelming desire was to use the occasion as a teachable moment and shine a bright light on domestic violence and the issue of discipline and the role it plays in raising our children. The discussion that is ongoing at the moment is doing great service that could help avoid such behavior to be acceptable and that would not be tolerated in the future. The fiancé and the little boy were the immediate victims but society reacted as if the crime was committed against all. They showed empathy and identified with the hurt feeling of the two victims.
Today there are calls for the two teams to punish the football players. There is also a consorted move to force their corporate sponsors to disassociate themselves from the two clubs until appropriate action is taken. The commissioner of the football federation is hanging by his finger nails and there is a strong possibility he might lose his job. Politicians such as the Governor of the State and Senate representative are calling for suspension. As you can clearly see it is all about taking responsibility for one’s action and paying the price when one comes short of expectations. That is why I said earlier every cloud has a silver lining. Out of this ugly situation something good is being born in front of our eyes.
I brought this up because it is a perfect example for us Ethiopians to learn the concept of ‘I am my brother’s keeper’ and that it is my business to protect those that get hurt due to circumstances beyond their control. It is not considered meddling in people’s affair but shielding the weak and the poor from the rich and strong. Tell me my Ethiopian brethren do you see a situation where such injustice occurs on a daily basis in our old country? Can you tell me the reaction of those that are in a position to right that which is wrong but washed their hands like Pontius Pilate?
That is what the Roman governor of Judea did when they brought Jesus to face justice. He did not want to crucify Jesus thus it is said that he washed his hands in front of the mob and declared ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood, it is your responsibility.’ Sounds and looks familiar don’t it? How so you might ask?
I will go over it slowly. There is no rule of law in our land. The government currently in power uses coercion to stay in power. There are no democratically elected officials anywhere in our country. All affairs of the government is run by a few individuals recruited from a single ethnic group. Simply put the system can be defined .my way or the highway.’ Thus logically any decision taken by the few with gun is always meant to help perpetuate the group’s self-interest. Anybody working closely, associated with such organization accepts the dictates and rules set by those in power.
Today the regime that is misgoverning our country collects money from the Diaspora we mentioned earlier by peddling illegally acquired products. It is not only luxury items that are being exported to collect dollars but basic necessities that are crucial for the survival and well-being of our people. We their children that have managed to escape from this misery are the consumers of such products. When we purchase Teff that is stolen from our people’s mouth, when we drink Beer that is exported to get dollars when we fly Ethiopian Airlines that is the personal bank of TPLF we are making a choice like Pontius Pilate. One can wash ones hand but it is not easy to wash ones conscious.
Why do you think these Americans went up in arms due to a conflict between individuals in a family setting? Simply put unlike us they do not place bad deed on a scale to balance one evil with another. Evil is judged all by itself for the damage it does to one or many. The average person does not require a cue from others to respond. They seem to have acquired this ability to make up their own mind without checking with their neighbors and friends.
That is why we do not meet someone making excuse for the transgressor. That is why they do not come up with such pathetic line like 1) If I don’t go to the game the venders will be laid off 2) If I boycott my team will suffer 3) If I don’t buy ticket my home team will go bankrupt etc. etc. That is called abdicating responsibility to challenge evil where ever it rears its ugly head.
That is why it is absolutely baffling to see those that escaped from prison helping the evil warden to keep their family and friend back behind Ethiopian regime companies bars. We came over here to experience life to the fullest by living in peace, raising a family and live without fear. We acquire knowledge and pick new habits from our generous hosts. Do you notice a number of us fail to absorb that beautiful quality called empathy, which simply means the presence of mind to care for others that are not fortunate like us.
It does not mean there is smoothing terribly wrong with us. There are many explanations for our failure to care. It could be lack of education, may be the result of tumultuous upbringing we went thru during the dread Derg period and the backward culture that is hindering our thinking process. Those are all excuses and do not absolve us of our indifference to the plight of our people.
As we witness the American public is using different means to force change in the behavior of the team, the individuals and society in general. They are forcing the politicians to intervene, pressuring the sponsors to lean on the football league and the teams to do what is right if they want their money and love. All are paying attention. That is the power of the people in all its glory.
I hope this is a teachable moment for us Ethiopians regarding the use of our economic power to bring change to our beautiful land and people. It is the responsibility of each one of us to teach by example. It is our duty to patiently explain to our friends and family the importance of personal responsibility and the satisfaction of doing something good. I will come back to this subject over and over again. It is too important not to be done. I have no vested interest more than any one of you but I thought may be if I act as your conscious sooner or later you will pay attention and do the right thing. I know you are capable of that my beautiful cousin. Our country and people are waiting for you to act.


The Truth Behind Elias Kifle & Ginbot 7 By Rosa Abadir

There is no doubt that Elias Kifle has been widely known for being one of the most vocal critics to the TPLF gangsters and had been a voice for the voiceless. Aside from his continuous outrageous critics; he had organized my successful groups and had proved and showed his passionate to defend human rights respect in Ethiopia. He had invested his time, energy and money than most Ethiopians in order to expose the savage TPLF gangs and their ruthless action against the poor Ethiopians.So during those days Elias was partially even-tempered and engaging but lately he has become something of a nuisance. He used to preach the possibility of armed struggle and importance of waging the struggle from Eritrea is the only resort to Ethiopians to overthrow the TPLF tribal gangs. He also praised President Isayas Afewerki’s generosity in support of the struggle and had made him best man of the year two years in a row. However after his unsuccessful attempt to work with the Eritrean government; he has been categorizing every group or individuals who doesn’t share his motto and working with the Eritrean government as Shabia minions which is impolitic as well as clear blackmailing. Evidently; he doesn’t even have another alternative excepting mocking individuals.



Anyhow, the reason that I am writing this portion is not with the intention to show a personal bitterness or to demonize Elias Kifle. Unlike that, I still believe Elias can be a power for good, with his personal motivated strength towards the struggle as well as his well-known informative media-ER; as it could be a reliable means of transport for unity but before any of that happens; Elias has to choose which way he is heading now. He can go down the slippery trajectory he is on right now and marginalize his dedication talent in search of earning money from Google AdSense or with some humility and self-deprecation he can go back to his old ways of being a force for good.
Sadly, we have witnessed that spreading fabricated rumors and making fictitious dramas has been a day to day activity to Elias for the last few years. Even his recent allegation & blackmailing of Ginbot 7 and ESAT is absurd as well as laughable; nonetheless it is expected since he is no longer providing a trustworthy report in courtesy of independent media while his highest priority has been driving traffic to his website so that he can be earning money via Google Adsense by attracting a lots of visitors. So no one would be amazed to hear such kind of deliberate lies from Elias except some gullible Ethiopians.
Actually, Ethiopians who have already discovered Elias’s twisted objective will very soon provide you a tangible evidence how much money with average could Elias is generating pre click. Though Google would not reveal how much money website owners are earning for each ad that is clicked from their site. Seemingly, this method of generating income has been a major scheme to numerous other Ethiopian website owners and editors to easily earn incomes than editorial principles, indeed Sad!
For that reason, Elias has identified where the traffic currently goes within the Ethiopian politics and also recognized how he can make keeping his visitors coming back for more. As a result, since his choice of topic is very sensitive he has been easily positioned to capture the traffic flow. However, he painfully unsuccessful to prepare for resources to answer some follow up questions, let alone he is indirectly becoming a tool for TPLF. Therefore, from now on; I doubt if he can maintain the traffic flow because obviously it will be reduced significantly once Ethiopians realized his motivation.
Regardless of his money driven enthusiasm; it is really funny to see how desperate Elias is creating such specious information and expecting us to believe it. In fact, for many rational Ethiopians it shouldn’t take too long to figure out what drove Elias to reach to this kind of laughable conclusion; but at least what we know is that his entire fabricated conclusion is invalid, of course not supported with substantial evidence, but an intended lie that is encircled by assumption & paranoia in order to gain significant visitors traffic flow to achieve his cash earning target as the topic he selected is very timely. But his kind of rhetoric seems simple libel and of course cause more damage to the popular struggle.
Indeed, Elias reminded me the story of “The Liar Shepherd” that we most of us had learned during first grade education. If you recall the story, one day the Shepherd had a bad idea to lie to the villages and cried out as if the wolves ate his goats. However, when the villagers arrived to save the goats there was no wolf at the scene, but they had noticed that the shepherd was laughing at them. Then the Shepherd had repeated his trick for another couple more times and the villagers responded same way & rushed to save their goats.
But one day, a pack of wolves actually came over to the goats. The shepherd shouted for help, but when the villagers heard they thought surely it was a prank shepherd boy again & they remained silent. Apparently, all the goats devoured by wolves. Truthfully the fate of Elias would not be different from the fate of the naïve liar Shepherd because for example he allegedly told us that Ginbot 7 point’s man Ato Zemene Kassie detained in Eritrea while we saw after a couple days Ato Zemene spoke directly live from Eritrea. Let alone his contradicted fictitious story & distortion about ESAT & abduction of Andragachew.
Nevertheless, Elias has proved to Ethiopians & clearly exposed his inflexible attitude along with his ego, megalomaniac and self-serving behaviors. Unlike to his personal previous courageous effort, his records shows that he has never shown any willingness to work with anyone to coordinate the struggle instead he prefers to apply senseless techniques of splitting words & widen the bridge among us. He always preach about democracy while he is the one who is always destroying the possibility of democratic process. He always uses an awkward way of settling differences in order to silence others.
Regardless, if Elias had the integrity and the courage he would present his case in civil manner and challenge the Ginbot 7 instead of spiting his fabricated filthy all over the planet. His entire statement about ESAT and Ginbot 7 is impotent & doesn’t have even have an ounce of sense, but a simple character assassination. His fabricated allegation about ESAT & Ginbot 7 is baseless and not supported by any facts; instead it seems that his judgment is biased by his narrow minded ideology & obsession towards Ginbot 7 & Shabia. He should have presented his case with cogent manner & support his report with evidence if he wants to the audience to know, instead of denigrating individuals in order to draw a temporary money flow from Google AdSense. Anyway, he mistakenly assumed that by posting his filthy debacle he would convince other rational Ethiopians, but instead he is exposing his own self-centered & incompetency character. No sensible freedom lover Ethiopian would be deceived by his tall filthy story.
Anyhow, Elias should embrace inclusive political agenda instead of fixating and adhering to his self-interested business target & political dogma. What Elias did is not benefiting anyone but serving the interest of TPLF indirectly who are using divide and rule as a tool. The enemy would love to exaggerate this fabricated drama in order to keep us divided. But, we Ethiopians have learned that Ginbot 7 & other groups coordinated struggle that is based in Eritrea is not a political suicide as Elias or other gullible Ethiopians portrayed, but a smart move to challenge a well-armed tribal gang.
So it’s advisable for Elias to disregard his senseless rhetoric about Ginbot 7 & Eritrean government with the goal of collecting money from Google AdSense and reconcile with Ethiopians to rejoining the struggle in order to focus on common enemy. Otherwise sooner or later his wish would be an illusion or like chasing the wind.

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

የቦሌ ክፍለ ከተማ መምህራን በትግላቹህ ኮርተናል (የኢትዮጵያ መምህራን ድምፅ ይሰማ ጊዜያዊ ኮሚቴ

የኢትዮጵያ መምህራን ድምፅ ይሰማ ጊዜያዊ ኮሚቴ
አዲስ አበባ ኢትዮጵያ
በመጀመሪያው ተቃውሞ ካድሬዎች እርስ በእርስ ተጣሉ::
ዛሬ በተጀመረው የመምህራን ስልጠና አዲሱ የትግል ስልታችን ተግባራዊ ሆኖ ውጤቱን ከመጀመሪያው መታዘብ ችለናል::
ትላንት ከየኢትዮጵያ መምህራን ድምፅ ይሰማ በተላለፈው የትግል ስልት አንድ መሰረት በቦሌ ክፍለ ከተማ ቦሌ አጠቃላይ ሁለተኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤት የተሰበሰቡ መምህራን ምንም አይነት አስተያየት ከመስጠት በመቆጠባቸው ምክንያት ስብሰባው ሲጠናቀቅ በመምህራኑ ድርጊት የተበሳጩት ሰብሳቢዎች እርስ በእርስ ተጣልተው በፖሊስ ሊገላገሉ ችለዋል::
በሌሎችም ክፍለ ከተሞች ተቃውሞው ይቀጥል ዘንድ ኮሚቴው ጥሪውን ያቀርባል::
ድል ለሰፊው ህዝብ
ክቡራት እና ክቡራን የሙያ ባልደረቦቻችን መምህራን ሰላሙ ይብዛላችሁ:: የእናንተው የኢትዮጵያ መምህራን ድምፅ ይሰማ ጊዜያዊ ኮሚቴ የእኛን የመምህራንን ድምጽ ለማሰማት የተለያዩ ስራዎችን እየሰራ መሆኑ ይታወቃል:: እስካሁን ባደረገው ትግል በርካታ ማስፈራሪያ እና ዛቻ በሰልጣን ላይ ካለው መንግስት ቢደርስብንም ትግሉን ስንጀምር ጉዟችን ረጅም እንደሆነ በማወቃችን በየጊዜው የሚደርሱብንን በድሎች ተሸክመን እዚህ ደርሰናል ሆኖም የህወሀት የደህንነት ሀይሎች በኮሚቴው ላይ እያደረሱት ያለው ኢሰብአዊ ድርጊት አካሄዳችንን እንድንቃኝ አስገድዶናል::
ከአሁን በኋላ ትግላችን ወደ ኋላ ሊመለስ አይገባም ትግላችን ከመከላከል ወደ ማጥቃት ሊሻገር ይገባዋል::
በዚህም መሰረት ከነገ ማለትም ከመስከረም 5,2007 አ.ም ጀምሮ በአዲስ መንገድ ለመንቀሳቀስ ጊዜያዊው ኮሚቴ የተለያዩ የትግል ስልቶችን ቀይሶ የሙያ ባልደረቦቻችንን ለማንቀሳቀስ እቅድ ነድፎ ወደ ስራ መግባቱን ይገልጻል::
በዚህም መሰረት ከነገው ከመስከረም 5 ጀምሮ የሚካሄዱ የተቃውሞ አካሄዶች:-
1. ከማንኛውም የኢህአዴግ አባል መምህር ጋር ያለንን ግኑኝነት ማቋረጥ::
የኢህአዴግ አባላት እንደሆኑ የምናውቃቸውን ግለሰቦች እየመረጥን ከማንኛውም ማህበራዊ ግኑኝነቶች ማግለል ማለትም ሰላምታ አለመለዋወጥ: በተሰበሰብንበት አካባቢ አባላቶቹ መጥተው ሲቀላቀሉ መበተን ወ.ዘ.ተ የመሳሰሉትን የማግለያ መነገዶች በመጠቀም ከህዝቡ እንዲገለሉ እና ብቻቸውን እንዲቀሩ ማስቻል::
2. ነገ በሚጀመረው የመምህራን ስልጠና ላይ ተቃውሟችንን ለማሰማት ስበሰባው ላይ በተደጋጋሚ ሰበብ እየፈጠሩ መውጣት: ስብሰባውን መከታተል አቁመን መጽሀፍት እና ጋዜጣ ማንበብ እንዲሁም በስብሰባው ላይ ምንም አስተያየትም ሆነ ድጋፍ ከመስጠት መቆጥብ ይኖርብናል::
ማሳሳቢያ ይህንን ስናደርግ የኢህአዴግ ቅጥረኞች እየነጠሉ እንዳያጠቁን ጥንቃቄ ማድረግ የሚጠበቅብን ሲሆን ይህንን መረጃ ለቀሪው ባልደረቦቻችን ሼር በማድረግ ሁሉም የትግሉ አካል እንዲሆን የበኩላችንን አስተዋጽኦ እናድርግ ::

በ 2007 ዓ.ም ለሚደረገው ሃገራዊና ክልላዊ ምርጫ ሚሊሻዎች ልዩ ተልዕኮ እንደተሰጣቸው ተገለጸ

መስከረም ፭(አምስት) ቀን ፳፻፯ ዓ/ም ኢሳት ዜና :-በ2007ዓ.ም ለሚደረገው ሃገራዊና ክልላዊ ምርጫ ህብረተሰቡ ለተለያዩ ተቀናቃኝ ፓርቲዎች ድምፁን እንዳይሰጥ ለማፈን በሚያስችል ሁኔታ በክልሉ የሚገኙ
ሚሊሻዎች ልዩ ተልዕኮ እንደተሰጣቸው ተገለጸ የአማራ ብሄራዊ ክልል መንግስት ሚሊሽያ ጽህፈት ቤት ምክትል ኃላፊ አቶ መኳንንት መልካሙ ሰሞኑን ለታማኝ አመራሮች በሰጡት ድርጅታዊ መግለጫ ላይ በያዝነው
ዓመት በሚካሄደው ምርጫ ህዝቡ የተለያየ ፅንፍ በመያዝ ገዢው ፓርቲ ላይ ስጋት የሚፈጥሩ ችግሮችን በማስወገድ ሙሉ በሙሉ አሸናፊ ለማድረግ የሚያስችለውን ቅድመ ዝግጅት ማጠናቀቁን ሲናገሩ ተደምጠዋል፡፡
አቶ መኳንንት ባለፈው ዓመት ለዚሁ  ልዩ ተልዕኮ ከ360 በላይ ለሆኑ የሚሊሽያ አመራሮችና ባለሙያዎች በሁለት ዙር ፤ በወረዳ ደረጃ ላሉ የሚሊሺያ አባላትም ለአምስት  ተከታታይ ቀናት በሁለት ዙር ስልጠና መሰጠቱን
ተናግረዋል፡፡በክልሉ ውስጥ በሚገኙ ከ3 ሺህ 600 በላይ በሆኑ ቀበሌዎች ላሉ የሚሊሽያ አባላትም ልዩ ተልዕኮውን እንዴት ማሳካት እንደሚችሉ የሚያግዝ ስልጠናዎች መሰጠታቸውን ምክትል ሃላፊው ለታማኝ የስርአቱ
ደጋፊዎች ገልጸዋል፡፡
በክልሉ ያሉ የሚሊሽያ አባላት ከህዝቡ የተወጣጡ እና የገዢው መንግስት ደጋፊዎች መሆናቸው ስለሚታመን ጠዋትና ማታ ከህብረተሰቡ ጋር በመገናኘት በየቀበሌው ካሉ ልዩ ልዩ የወጣት፣ የሴቶች እና የአርሶ አደሩ
አደረጃጀቶችን  በመጠቀም የመራጩን ህዝብ አመለካከት የመቀየር ስራ እንዲሰራ መታዘዙን፣ ይህ አሰራር ህዝቡ ታማኝነቱንና ድምጹን ለገዢው ፓርቲ የሚሰጥ መሆኑን የማረጋገጥ ሂደቱን ሊያሳካ ይችላል ተብሎ
እንደታመነበት ለታማኞች ተናግረዋል፡፡
በተለያዩ ጊዜያት የተሰጡትን ስልጠናዎች ለማካሄድ ከ22 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ ወጪ የጠየቀ ቢሆንም፣ ከዚህ ወጪ ውስጥ ከ15 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ ህብረተሰቡ እንዲሸፍን መደረጉን፣  ገንዘብ በእጁ የሌለው ድሃው ህብረተሰብ
ሳይቀር በግ ፣ ፍየል ፣ ዶሮና እህል እንዲያዋጣ በማድረግ ለሚሊሺያው ስልጠና መሰጠቱን ባለስልጣኑ ገልጸዋል፡፡
በቀጣይም ተመላሽ ከሆኑ ወታደሮች ውስጥ የተሻለ የድርጅት ፍቅር ያላቸውን በመለየት ወደ ሚሊሽያው የመቀላቀል ስራ እየተሰራ እንደሆነ በዚሁ ዝግ ውይይት ተናግረው ፣ ወታደሮቹ በየገጠር ቀበሌው ሲሰማሩ ልዩ ልዩ ጥቅሞችን
ከአርሶአደሩ ሊያገኙ የሚችሉበትን አሰራር ለመዘርጋት ግፊት የማድረግ ሃሳብ ወደ አመራሩ ዘንድ እንደወረደም አስረድተዋል፡፡
አቶ መኳንንት የግልና የመንግስት ተቋማት ጥበቃዎችና ሚሊሺያው ከላይ እስከታች የአመለካከት ችግር ያለባቸው በመሆኑ እና ተልዕኮ የሚሰጣቸው ከጸረ ሰላም ሃይሎች በመሆኑ ለአካባቢው ልማት ጠንቅ መሆናቸውን ገልጸዋል።
ተከታትለው አንዳንድ ርምጃዎችን ለመውሰድ በአመራሩ መካከል መግባባት ላይ መደረሱንም ተናግረዋል፡፡
ስማቸውን መግለጽ ያልፈለጉ በዳንግላ ዙሪያ ወረዳ የሚገኙ አንዳንድ አመራሮችና የሚሊሺያ አባላት ሚሊሺያው ከገዢው መንግስት ጥቅም ይልቅ የህብረተሰቡን ጥቅም በማስቀደም ከታሪክ ተወቃሽነት ነጻ እንሆናለን ብለዋል።
የድምጽ መረጃውን ለላኩልን የሚሊሺያ አባላት ምስጋናችንን እንገልጻለን።