Some times it is necessary to sift, through rational observation, to separate, so to speak, the wheat from the chaff. I have raised here on this site a number of times the nature of the Saudi regime and the nature of its relation with the Abyssinian dictators. Though extremely brutal, there is nothing new in its inexcusable recent treatment of foreigners. No doubt that the protests against its violence are timely and legitimate. Yet the Amhara chauvinist crowds on the streets of western cities have used the occasion to stage a theatrical tour de force not only to mobilize their supporters at home and abroad in the defence of their old myths concerning their empire, but also to blackmail others, especially, Oromos, into accepting their caveat.
Their propaganda organs such as ESAT TV and the website Ethiomedia, for example, were in full swing. Their war cry is both from their throats and bellies. In this they are not alone. We are strangely in the same boats even though their concern is not ours. Their concern is apparently caused by the supposed historical enemies of Ethiopia. They have chosen to denigrate not only the Saudis but all Arabs in general. This is the usual classical Abyssinian projection of problems of their own making onto others. At one point I saw, to my chagrin, one of the Amhara crowds that kept shouting throughout the demonstration the slogan that says Woyane is alqaeda. Who does not know that the TPLF is at the forefront of countries in Africa fighting alqaeda? That is the main reason why the Anglo-American alliance ignores its records of blatant violation of human rights and its ethnic cleansing in broad light.
In Amhara political narrative there are only flashes back, and no forward in time. Even the death of the great African leader, Nelson Mandela is misused now by one of Oromo subscribers to Ethiomedia who is saturated with the Abyssinian perspective to establish its claims and its myth. Accordingly, General Taddesse Birru, symbolizing Ethiopia, gave Mandela military training. Facts, fantasy and lies merge in the tale. It does not matter that Taddesse Birru, having become politically aware of his Ormonness, rebelled against his Abyssinian masters to initiate a movement of Oromo self-awareness, ultimately paying for this with his life. The author of the article glides desperately between the present and the past appealing to typical Abyssinian emotions.. But he utterly fails to draw convincingly the diverse threads of his story together to grip the attention of the reader in imitation of the Abyssinian style of pomposity that needs to be punctured. He conjures up a dense atmosphere of false glory to bring into focus his main message: the Oromos should give up their struggle and ambition for independence. He attempts a deliberate manipulation of the Oromo reader’s perception of historical facts. He says if blacks and whites in South Africa are able to reconcile their differences, why do “the tribes” in Ethiopia who are intermarried and are of the same colour fail to do the same? I think his postulate is clumsy due to overeagerness to please his Abyssinian audience- unfolding itself, as it does, by manipulating both reality and the myth. Of course he may have other personal reasons for his prognosis that I do not know about.
To his comparison between Ethiopia and South Africa let me say this. To my mind both black and white political elites in South Africa were and still are generally more humane, more rational and realistic than the self styled feudo-democrats of Abyssinian opposition today who he tries to impress.
Interweaving dreams and reality can be a creative act at times provided that the dreamer has integrity trying to find the whole truth impartially. Mostly Abyssinian elites, unlike most Oromos, love the traumas of their political project even though it is based mostly on spreading destruction and hatred. Most Oromos have learned to associate struggle with suffering and defeat. Abyssinia associates it at least in its collective imagination, with creating a new reality on the ground, with myth and triumph, with present and past glory, with power and privilege. To end our mental conditioning and unlearn our passive fatalism is a herculean task itself. But unless we do that we will remain the underdogs of this world for a long time. Somalis dazed by their clan stupidity may join us soon.
I know many Oromos avoid this site; if they did not do so, it surely would be trash. We avoid not only confronting our enemies face to face but we also avoid confronting one another with the truth and facts hard to swallow, without insulting one another personally. I wish I could throw into relief our psychological conditioning and reality in better terms without a digression, without authorial intrusiveness and pretensions. Our Abyssinian rulers have no culture of unveiling their true intentions even to their most loyal subjects before they embark on a new adventure. But they are perfectly capable of using skilfully and ingeniously its surprise effect to convince the Abyssinian masses that they are acting on their behalf. No one can predict when they fly into their periodic rages and cruelties. They seem to enjoy in a special way the thrill of their inconsistencies and its dangers as no other rulers in today’s world. They can always bring without a hitch the supernatural or religious or historical factors into full play, creating, each time, an ascending series of dramatic moments of tension that reaches its climax mostly in destruction and self destruction.
Let us not underplay the complexity of Amhara political culture. Definitely their recent furore is not as irrational as it appears from outside when we look at the logic behind it. Their message is simple. It is that the Amhara political elite can serve western interest better than woyane. They want to be helped to political power the easiest way possible again under the cover of Ethiopianness which has always served their class and ethnic interests best while amharization by imposing their language and culture went ahead smoothly.
Today, they refuse to accept the clear fact on the ground that Tigrayans in TPLF are serving American agenda better than they ever imagine. Having lived for centuries on the fat of the land conquered with unspeakable brutality, part of the Amhara political elites are like fattened ducks, unwilling to move and confront the woyane in the battlefields. Yet the possibility that Oromos may do that on their own is no doubt unacceptable and unbearable to them. Mostly they are moved with grim finality by manipulating undeserved pride in the legends of their past glory, and by fiery temper, combined with indiscriminate hatred for all those who expose their intrigues and oppose their increasingly aggressive political ambition.
Typical of Amhara political duplicity, the other more active and younger part of their educated cadres is working with TPLF/EPRDF. At least they constitute 60 % of the so-called federal bureaucracy. The Tigrayans in power have no better choice, whether they like it or not. Apart from themselves and some loyal Eritrean highlanders, Amhara bureaucrats are the only people to be trusted with important positions in the government, when it comes to positions that require absolute and blind loyalty to the empire their emperors jointly created mainly at the expense of the Oromo people.. Top OPDO figures and other Oromos, no matter how they make concessions to the Abyssinian thinking, cannot aspire to this position, never ever. Nor do the Somalis, the Sidamas and the Afars etc.
All the exclusively Abyssinian demonstrations on the streets of western capitals give the much needed fillip or boost to our cause, in my opinion. Only if we rise to the occasion independently. As a matter of fact, one unintended by-product is that it is making clear to the entire world as never before that Ethiopia is a euphemism for the domination of Amhara and Tigray minorities.. Anglo-American circles have always known the fact, but not their peoples and the rest of the world.. The rulers did not and still do not care. Actually they are using to some extent all the anomalous situations in the world, as always, in their own global best interests no matter what happens to those nations at the receiving end who constitute the majority.
Again, that is one more explanation why the Tigrayans and the Amharas will never opt for democracy. As usual here I am not talking, let me repeat tirelessly, only of the elites but also the majority of ordinary Abyssinian women and men- unless their political awareness and their interpretation of the history of their empire completely is transformed which is not possible in a foreseeable future.
The conspiratorial essence of Abyssinian political thinking has not changed at all from the establishment of the empire up to now. And it is not going to change voluntarily because our Lenco Latas, Bayan Asobas and Dima Nagos wish so..
On the contrary, the Tigray ambition is greater than most of us imagine. Today, they are deeply involved in Somalia as no other Abyssinian rulers had ever done since the days of Menelik. Tigrayans are certainly bringing the leaders of Somali Land under their direct influence. Meles Zenawi did say cunningly, in an interview once with awate.com, his government would recognize Somali Land had it not been for a veto from the African Union. Above all, the leaders of the Somali Land, known for their separatist craze, and clan hatred, may be easily lured step by step to the inglorious so-called federal arrangement in Ethiopia, which amounts to annexation. If that happens in some way, however superficial, it would boost woyane popularity in the Abyssinian heartland and prolong its days in power while we, Oromos, persist in our expensive, cherished standstill. Such may be the thinking of the TPLF. It seems determined to outstretch itself to make history in its own way. It seems well prepared for the gamble, at least militarily. The Nile dam may be too complicated or by contrast even too small for its ambition.
The scene is already unrolling before those who can see or want to see. Most of us, Oromos, Somalis and other oppressed people live in clouds, mostly of our own making, that are thickening, which blur our vision. We may one day bitterly regret our ignominious defeatism and opportunism. The leaders of Somali Land have been attending woyane celebration in the capital of the Somali region. The politicians in Mogadishu and the commentators of all Somali TV channels seem determined not to raise the issue properly. The otherwise natural inclination of most Somalis to freedom of expression, which is unknown to the nations under the Abyssinian yoke, has succumbed finally to the advancing intimidation that is slowly eroding journalistic freedoms globally. It is really sad to see how the Somali channels are becoming almost indistinguishable from those of Ethiopia.
Oromo self-appointed leaders who are making conciliatory gestures with different sections of the Abyssinian militaristic feudo-bourgeoisie are in a hurry these days. Yet they know too well that Ethiopia cannot be democratized. Even so, some are trying hard to convince their followers or, failing that, to instill doubts into their minds by saying that they are making tactical decision or retreat or temporary alliance with the Abyssinian elites, or part of them etc. I, for one, would never make at this stage tactical decision or compromises that are not reciprocated on a strategic question such as the liberation of an oppressed nation.
Indeed, those of us Oromos who are not in a position to struggle for the freedom of our people, for whatever reason, must stop at least facilitating the Abyssinian agendas by trying to restrict the perspectives of our people to our selfish interests and perceptions. However, the crucial factor is not what hired Oromos and our present lame leaders do or do not do. What matters is the degree of basic elementary interaction among the rest of Oromo elites and people. I am thinking of interaction by building democratic organizational structures and institutions at different levels of our society both open and underground. If we raise the level of our organizational awareness to the maximum degree possible even under the present conditions, I do not rule out the possibility that we can win our independence without much bloodshed or even a single shot. I do not need to be emphatic about this. The world does pay attention to self-respecting people not frozen in stasis or immobility. I do not know why we fail to see this. Why do we behave always like horses with blinkers preventing us from seeing sideways? I have said many things on this in other articles but they need not be the last word on our prevailing mental state of being psychologically conditioned and blocked by a long history of oppression and humilation.