“Can you do addition?” the White Queen asked. “How much is one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?
“I don’t know,” said Alice. “I lost count.”
“She can’t do addition,” the Red Queen interrupted.
Lewis Carrol
Every now and then the Abyssinian political elites do try new songs for their old tunes. Their aim is to destroy the aspiration of the Oromo people to independence.
The threat to democracy from within at the highest levels is becoming clearer with every passing day- an undeniable reality. Despite the Arab Spring, we live in a time when the ability to sincerely express justified indignation and outrage peacefully at the right time and place in effective ways is systematically discouraged and curtailed not only by powerful circles but also by the ever growing general Angst and uncertainty on a global scale. I think this goes hand in hand with our general inability to celebrate life in simple ways beyond consumerism and corporate interests. We cannot blame everything on others alone such as the unofficial global US empire, nor on our ruling elites in poor countries who are selling our lands to foreign companies. Part of the problem is, of course, that politicians and the so-called free media everywhere, including the free press, have mostly developed now for long time too close and cosy a relationship that is not honestly in the interest of democracy and social harmony. I have no answers to the problems I am raising here. But raise I must. I refuse to assume the role of helpless isolated victims. Human solidarity is required and can effect change if we change our own fixed perceptions and attitudes.
Among the African ruling elites there are many unconvincing converts to democracy. They use all kinds of stereotypes and political clichés to conceal their egotistical interests, protected by foreign powers within the artificial colonial boundaries. Their stock phrases must present selfish interests as interests of their peoples. Their expressions appeal to reason and to emotions to cover up the totalitarian nature of their regimes. They make considerable use of the imperative to underscore their appeal to their local and international audience. What makes Abyssinia unique in this context is that it is the only African colonial power in its own right which acquired vast colonies at the expense of non-Abyssinian peoples in what is now Ethiopia.
Continue reading “The end of thuggery in Abyssinian dominated Ethiopia is nowhere in sight”
The news of the death in Yemen of Abdulkarim Ibrahim Hamid- known as Jaarraa Abaa Gadaa- has reached me through a friend who phoned from the Arab Gulf. This is and must be a sad moment for the entire Oromo people. What can we learn from Abdulkarim and what is the best way of advancing the cause of liberation from the iron grip of Abyssinian domination to which he has heroically dedicated his entire life? I met Jaarraa briefly in Mogadishu in 1968. At the time, I was delirious with fever from malaria and was trying to escape inland from humidity in Mogadishu. In that brief encounter I sensed his determination to stand to the Abyssinian arrogance. Among other things he asserted I remember him saying that, to self respecting humanbeings, death is preferable to slavery. Over subsequent years and decades he translated his conviction with exemplary bravery and selflessness to actions that will inform successive generations of Oromo freedom fighters, by fighting first alongside Oromo patriots such as Waaqoo Guutuu, Hussein Bune, Aliyyii Cirrii and Elemoo Qilxu, and finally by reorganizing armed struggle under his own leadership.
Continue reading “The death of Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa, a legendary hero of Oromo liberation struggle.”
When I started bariisa.com, my main aim was to stimulate peaceful discussion of our basic problems. I wanted to make heard the suppressed voice of nations and nationalities who have fallen victims into the abyss of horrible oppression, exploitation and despair since the creation of the empire-state of Ethiopia dubbed now a federal republic…These are peoples who have been numbed into silence becoming sitting ducks for the most brutal form of militarism without parallel in modern times, ignored by the entire world. Among them are the Oromo people to whom I belong. At the same time I wanted to encourage a transparent democratic dialogue for genuine, peaceful and just resolution of our problems.
By now I think we have heard and read enough a litany of explanations about the so-called peaceful transition of power after the Abyssinian dictator died. The new prime minister has proved himself so far a complete puppet of the dominant TPLF faction by repeatedly vowing to follow in his master’s footsteps, dashing the hopes of many opposition cliques including the veteran politicians in OLF who hoped and even now, as I write this article, keep hoping for a dialogue with the regime. I wonder how it could be otherwise, as long as there is the same fascist TPLF as before.
Continue reading “Ignoring the obvious is an old political habit becoming tradition”
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The aim of most champions of democracy in Ethiopia among the Abyssinian Amhara – Tigray political elites and their servants and imitators among us Oromos is mainly to mislead ordinary people for demagogic, selfish reasons. Since the first signs of the death of the dictator Meles Zenawi and the appointment of Hailemariam Desalegn in his place, the chorus of democratization and ‘peaceful’ national reconciliation with the TPLF government has grown louder than ever. |
 by Hadi Kanku |
Continue reading “The ultimate objective of the chorus of democratization of a brutal empire”
On tue un homme, on est un assassin.
On tue des millions d’hommes, on est un conquèrant.
On les tue tous, on est un dieu.
Kill a man, and you are an assassin.
Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror.
Kill everyone and you are a god.
Jean Rostand
Pensèes d’un biologiste
The wraps are off. The secrecy surrounding the death of the Ethiopian dictator is in itself highly instructive to those who do not know the history and the reality of the Ethiopian empire dubbed “the Federal Republic” by the EPRDF/TPLF regime. More instructive is, however, the reactions of some eminent personalities in the west especially in the USA and Britain to his death. Their gushing shameless eulogies in his memory show clearly, if anything, the structural problems of western democracies and global capitalism, an issue which I briefly tried to raise in my last article.
That man should kill man not in anger, not in fear, but only to watch the sight.
(Seneca)
Beasts were made sacred by the barbarians on account of the benefits they bestowed.
(Cicero)
Reports that Meles Zenawi, the Tigrayan despot, is in critical condition receiving treatment in Saint Luc Hospital in Belgium have occasioned intensive speculation concerning post Meles scenarios, especially among Abyssinian opposition groups. I think most of the Amhara political elites are dreaming of a situation in which TPLF would be forced to make significant concessions to them so that they can have more decisive clout with the regime in crisis. Their ultimate point is to replace the Woyane despot with their own “authentic Ethiopian” despot, meaning an Amhara one, notwithstanding their lip service to, and praise for, democracy. The death of the Tigrayan dictator is portrayed as the death of EPRDF structure. Selam Beyene, for example, writes, in his article posted in Ethiomedia.com, July 16, 2012: “By all indications, these are desperate times for Zenawi and his corrupt and crumbling regime. An evil dictatorship that is founded upon an ideology of ethnic hatred, cronyism, repression, lies and corruption, is unravelling faster than even the most positive predictions have hoped for.”
Toward ever more honest self-evaluation
O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in it.
William Shakespeare, The Tempest.
The recent government atrocities against Muslims in Arsi region, the capital and other areas have received some coverage in the media. Most sources say Muslims have been angered by government interference in religious affairs and its attempts to impose on them the theology of the Al-Ahbash sect. Probably, the sect is backed by international circles eager to reform Islam or even change it if possible as to make it serve their global interests.
Continue reading “Recent events in Ethiopia in their real global context”