by Jeff Pearce
When Saddam Hussein committed the Kurdish Genocide, we did not stop calling the victims Kurds.
When ISIS persecuted the Yezidi, we did not stop calling them Yezidi.
To support Amhara victims of ethnic cleansing isnota separate goal from supporting a united Ethiopia in which every person from either a specific ethnic heritage or of mixed descent is treated with respect.
There is no disputing that:
Amhara People keep. Getting.Massacred.
No one with a brain or a conscience would have accepted the absurd and downright grotesque argument, “We can’t talk about Jews getting beat up and mass-murdered! This undermines German unity!”
There were plenty of those in 1930s Germany and even in the U.S. and elsewhere who tried to deny or downplay what was happening to the Jews. You can even go read Deborah Lipstadt’sBeyond Beliefon how the American press handled it. Spoiler alert: They handled it badly; and the story does not end well.
And guess how the American news media looked after failing to do their job? Guess how others looked who tried to downplay it? Guess what the legacy is now for those who turned away a ship of Jewish refugees during the war?
Want to be inthatclub?
To those who would say, You just spent the better part of a year helping to debunk #TigrayGenocide—you don’t think Amhara Genocide could be inflated or exaggerated?
No, I don’t. Because we marked horrific incidents of ethnic cleansing going back to at least the summer of 2020, and there is a pile of disturbing evidence that suggests the horrors were going on even prior. There is ahugedifference between the cynical, shameless campaign of phony “Tigray Genocide” that began with a hashtag on November 4, 2020, and a sickening roll call of massacres of Amhara that are still undisputed in their basic facts and which go back well before that.
To use the disingenuous argument that identifying victims of Amhara is “reducing them to their ethnicity” makes as much sense as trying to object when it’s pointed out, hey, someone’s murdering scores of Rohingya. Yes, they’re Burmese, but they all alsohappento be Rohingya.
You can debate complicity. You can argue negligence on the part of certain authorities—we can talk about those issues in separate conversations. You can even make a case that certain Twitter accounts are camouflage for TPLF trolls.
But Amhara people keep. Getting.Massacred.
And as I asked once online, forget the legal definition according to the UN—which has let Ethiopia down in countless ways since this conflict began—how many massacres do you need before we agree it’s a genocide?
Not the legal term, not how journalists define it, how you and I and any ordinary, reasonable person with a conscience would define it.
Don’t like the word “genocide?” You want to debate and quibble over its use and claim it’s some kind of exaggeration or sends the wrong message?
Okay, let’s take it out of the equation. How about this: Let’s see this hashtag gain some popularity, and the message behind it is simple.
#LetAmharaLive
If you’ve got a problem with the basic tolerance of these words, with its essence… if you want to put up obstacles against it, then I put it to you that you have another agenda.
No more lies. No more minimizing the obvious. No more misdirection. This is where the struggle has to go. Ethiopians can decide for themselves who is guilty and how to hold the guilty accountable, but for now,right now, let’s get the facts out over the extent of the ethnic cleansing and do our best through the exposure to make it stop.
When you try to minimize Amhara suffering and loss, you’re pulling the equivalent nonsense of saying to a BLM activist, “Oh, all lives matter!” Yes, they do, butnot the point.
Amhara Genocide is real.
To recognize it doesnotimply a political position past “Amhara are being targeted and massacred.”
To recognize Amhara Genocide doesnotimply you support outside intervention or Western media narratives exploiting the situation, or any other rubbish.
It just means you recognize “Amhara are being targeted and massacred.” And you want it to stop. Period.
It’s that simple. Forget labels, forget implications from labels, lose all the bullshit.Recognize the problem.
Stand up for your brothers and sisters in the family of humanity who are Amhara. Stand up for your brothers and sisters who can be targeted for evenappearingto be Amhara by genocidal terrorist psychopaths.
This is where the struggle must go now. And the victims need our help. Speak up for them.
The Amharas as people have been the soft targets of the ethno-separatist movements like the TPLF and OLF. The political mantra of these two ethnic movements is anti-Amhara and blame the community for all the ills in the country.
As an example the late TPLF leader reportedly ridiculed the anti-colonial struggles of Ethiopia and blamed the Amhara for fighting against development and modernization (colonialism). Contrary to his assertions, the anti-colonial struggle was the struggle of all Ethiopians. Ato Gebremedhin Araya has chronicles the history of the Zenawi family and stated that the family suffered stigmatization in Adwa because of the services of Meles Zenawi `s grand father to the Italians. He also stated that Meles Zenawi and his siblings had a hard childhood because of this bad history in the conservative Adwa society. He believes that Meles Zenawi`s hatred towards the Amharas and Ethiopian patriotism have origins in this history.
I think the title of this observation should have read : “Let Amhara Leave”
Despite all the suffering Amharas face, they have once again emerged as the holders of the MASTER key to save themselves and solve Ethiopia’s multifaceted problems . How? By opting for confederation.
Amharas have no choice but to move for confederation simply because federation in the Ethiopian context does not work. As a polirized multi-ethnic country, Ethiopia will not have a fair and free election without the opression of one or another ethnic group. Hence, democracy is an illusion that cannot be realized. The way Oromo rose to power and now control the entire country through proxy regional governments is the proof. Tigreans did it for the last thirty years and Oromos have stepped in Tigreans shoes to impose similar one ethnic group rule. With their number and size of their region, Oromo opressive rule will be much worse than Tigrean`s. Give another ten years to Oromo rule, Ethiopia will be the tail of the world by all standards of measure.
So, it is time for Amharas to exercise their constitutional right to self-determnation and vote on confederation. If they adopt conederation, it will give them the opportunity to attract direct foreign investment since confederation will enable them to have economic diplomats and even have embasies abroad cutting the Oromo controlled foreign ministry diverting foreign investment to Oromia and other favoured regions. Amharas can also have a defense force which will protect them from foreign invaders including ethnic Oromo organizations.
The Belgian model of confederation which appears to hep advance Amhara interests is something to explore.
In any event, Ethiopia needs vast decentralization resembling confederation since the federalism the country has adopted is notheing other than unitarism in disguise. Controlled from the centre, it has miserably failed to develop the country let alone prosper and ensure safety and security of its citizens. The chaos we see in the country right now has much to do with lack of development (in all sectors) and security. Both have proven beyond the capacity of the federal government to provide.Change of government at federal level is not the answer for these problems.
Tigreans have floated the idea of confederation, Amharas must follow. Tigreans know that they will not be fairly treated under Oromo rule; as a result, their choice of confederation appears just. Amharas must seize the opportunity to decide their destiny via self-determination as well without wasting another decade under incompetent Oromo rule. Despite all the atrocities they have committed, Tigreans are being heard and embraced by the Oromo rule since Oromos now feel tobe the savours of Ethiopia.
Folks! Don’`t be fooled!. Oromos pretend to be “savours” only if they rule the entire country as one piece. Like any other ethnic group that aspire to oppress and dominate , they are after resources. If Amharas want to be heard and embraced as Tigreans, they have to go for confederation. If confederation does not work, they have to say good bye to the Ethiopian state.
It is outdated for Amharas to hang on “mama ethiopia” cry since nobody in the country is interested in it any more. What Amharas got from this cry is atrocotoes, redicule and shame. All these on Amhara because they gave Oromos and other ethnic groups a country which they are not ready and willing to let go. If Amhara Insist on confederation, Oromos might call the army on it to protect the unity of the country! That will make them a laghing stock since they were in the forefront to weaken the unity of the country. Now they cannot be alllowed to reverse gear.
Amhara! Wake up and smell the coffee. Tell Oromos that you want confederation – if not confederation then separation. Oromo crack down will soften even disappear as it did for Tigreans if Amara opt for confederation. But the idea is not to see Oromo softening on Amhara, it is to seek real confederation as a wayout from decades long quagmire. Oromo softeneing does not take Amharas anywhere.
Try it! It will work and catapult Amhara development and growth to the sky and ensure their security. It will eventually liberate Oromos too from their bloody distructive path poised to takie everybody else down with them.
For us, Oromos, conederation is also the answer. ”
Thank you so much Jeff Pearce for speaking out truth and the only truth. Thanks for being the voice of the thousands of Amaharas who have been mass murdered and continue to be only for being born Amharas. You are one of the very few Western Journalists who only speak the truth regardless of the national interest of their home country’s. The genociders suffer inexplicable inferiority complex against Amharas. Not only they murdered Amharas they wantonly destroyed the cities they built over 200 years.They didn’t even have mercy for the livestock that belonged to the Amharas. They can’t build a village over decades but they are super good in destroying livelihoods and infrastructure built over hundred years.