As I have written in the past, Ethiopia has experts with international repute in almost all imaginable fields from agriculture to finance and from medicine to digital technology. We have Ethiopian professors in all US Ivy Leagues. We are well represented as professors at America’s Ivory Towers of higher education. Yet, our people still plough their land with oxen and hand tools. If there is any disease unleashed on earth by the wrath of God, our nation has it as if we are the world’s museum of plagues.
Ethiopia sits smack right in the middle between the stone-age where Lucy roamed our land and the digital-age of which we are physically a part. Our mindset and social psychology is stuck in the past, but we obliviously exist in the 21st century.
I simply cannot resist the urge to write a candid and angry response to a recent open letter addressed to President Biden that was signed by 21 Amhara diaspora organizations. The level of ignorance manifested in it is damaging to the Amhara cause.
Amhara intellectuals do not seem to know the anthem for geopolitics is Janet Jackson’s “What Have You done for Me Lately,” not Muhamad Ahmed’s “ትዘታ.” Anyone who knows this will not waste the first half a page (the most important real-estate) አቱቶ ቡቱቶing about the history of Ethio-American diplomacy beginning in 1903.
The second important thing in international diplomacy is not to make a fool of oneself by writing a claim. Here are two examples:
The letter claims “Since 1991, approximately 6.7 million Amharas have perished at the hands of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), as documented in ‘Metsehate Amhara’ published in 2015.”
The letter continues: “The devastations have continued exponentially in the last 5 years of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s rule, due to his government’s dismal failure to generate peace, stable economy and progress in Ethiopia and the region at large. Like the atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust and in Rwanda, the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Amharas have been horrific.”
If one believes the 6.7 million genocide figure between 1991 and 2015 and accepts the claim that “the devastations have continued exponentially in the last 5 years” we are led to believe many more million Amharas have been killed since 2015. That makes the genocide in Ethiopia far more than the magnitude of the genocidal extermination in Rwanda. Do they not know numbers?
The open letter further claims: “Forced internal displacement of 7 million Amharas throughout the country, including 500,000 in Addis alone.” The highest figure international agencies have confirmed is 5.6 million. This includes all people, not only Amhara. No evidence if the Amhara constitutes the majority of the 5.6 million. But to claim 7 million Amharas is bad fiction. Correction: It is utterly stupid.
They continued their fiction: “On August 8, 2023, the government of Ethiopia inhumanly and against the international law has committed a massacre against Amhara children and women civilians using drones and 107 MM rockets while they were praying at St. Mary church in Debre Berhan which is located 136 Km away from the capital.”
This seems the same fiction about the massacre in Mariam Zion Church in Axum that the British mercenary Martin Plaut wrote in 2021: “On Tuesday, 15th of December, Ethiopian federal troops and Amhara militia approached the Mariam of Zion cathedral in the Tigrayan city of Aksum. It is possible that they thought that Tigrayan troops were sheltering in the church – taking advantage of the ancient right of sanctuary. According to a number of sources the church was full, with some saying that up to 1,000 people were in the building or the compound surrounding it… As many as 750 people are reported to have been killed.”
Some of the paragraphs are not only part fiction but also utterly nonsensical. Here is one example. Forget the 1.6 million fictional war fatality figure and focus on the logic of the rest of the paragraph.
“Both Abiy’s OPDO/PP and TPLF are responsible for the loss of 1.6 million lives due to the senseless war in Northern Ethiopia, regardless of the Pretoria agreement that embolden both OPDO/PP and TPLF to re-annex Welkait and Raya from the Amharas, as we speak. The development of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is also the primary focal interest of Amharas & others since Blue Nile emanates from the center of Amhara region, but peace and stability must be maintained.
The signatories of the letter who were part of the #Nomore አካኪ ዘራፍ pleaded with President Biden to intervene. The psychology of “stay out of our business” was silenced and “for the love of God save our nation” became part of the daily prayers of the Amhara intellectuals. This is what happens when an intellectual class is driven by emotion and አቱቶ ቡቱቶ rather than by rational thinking.
The 21 Amhara diaspora organizations wrote thus in their open letter:
“It is incumbent upon the United States to implement its enormous influence and leadership to stop one of the greatest human crises and catastrophes by rethinking its current policies while working in collaboration with the international community for swift action to prevent or control the war against the Amhara people.”
As I have said many times, the emancipation of Ethiopia from thug politics must start with the emancipation of Amhara, Oromo, and Tigray intellectuals from their ignorance. Only God can do it. Thus, my open letter to God. God please show us mercy.
ካጠፋሁ ይቅርታ
Dear Dr Yonas,
I appreciate your continuous writings & exposing fascist Abiye. However, I complete disagree with your article above. If you don’t believe the numbers the logical thing to do is to ask these organisations to present an evidence not outrightly dismissing their statement. As you don’t have the evidence to back your statement it’s wise to refrain from such kind of attack against fellow Ethiopians who are trying their level best to expose Abiye. As I can witness from your many writings & Twittes you think you have got the moral high ground & you opposed everyone right, left, centre. This is a very common thing among our elites. I am a certified chartered accountant not a philosopher, political scientist or economist. But, I know a thing or two about politics. We can learn a lot from our adversaries. Standing together with all Amharas at this crucial time is extremely important
When has any plea to the US government or any European power worked? Why waste precious time and ink? Why can’t we solve our own problems? However we exaggerate our plight, it will only falls on deaf ear.
Yonas thinks he has a monopoly of the truth and must be heard by everyone when it comes to issues of Amaras and Oromos . Now he’s convinced that nobody is gives a rat’s ass to his meaningless lecture, his plea is to the almighty God. Some months ago, in one of his talks, he said he’s half Oromo – presumably half Amara as well – which might give one the impression that he’s a victim of divided loyalties – half for Amara and the other half for Oromo. The problem is he’s loyal to none; he attacks both. He appears one angry guy who craves for ears and lost it because he attacks like mad dog. No wonder he calls for God’s help. Let’s remember him in our prayers.
What’s wrong with Amara diaspora organizations if they get some facts and numbers wrong? Does this guy fear the U.S. government will get alarmed by the numbers and rush to save Amaras to the detrement of Oromos? Or, impose sanctions on OPDO/PP and Abiy’s government? What’s he concerned with or worried about? Why does he put “Amhara, Oromo, and Tigray intellectuals” together to accuse them of “ignorance” while the letter is from Amara organizations? Further, what has the diaspora to do with this letter to be accused in block? Enlighten me if you know the answers to any of these questions.
As usual, party time at OPDO/PP and Abiy’s camp for the Yonasses’ attempt to discredit Amhara, Oromo, and Tigray intellectuals and the diaspora. Laughing out loud they repeated what he begged fro from God – “emancipation of Ethiopia from thug politics”. Despite his endless efforts, they did not take him seriously. Instead, they dismissed his mumbo jumbo as an faux pas to join their ranks. Said the guy is ከፈሱ የተጣላ Even his only hope, God , hates an irredeemable flip flopper.