Amhara and
Eritrean nationalists marched through Washington DC, Toronto, Los Angeles and
other cities last week. The rallies are organized by Ethiopian and Eritrean
embassies in DC with close collaborations of disillusioned members of the
Amhara extremists and supporters of Isaias Afewerki in the wake of the
international community’s reactions to the genocidal war in Tigray. The
confusion and shoulder-shrugging indifference that the diaspora Ethiopians
displayed at the slaughtering of Tigrayans is shocking and it really shows how
toxic the diaspora politics is. The ethnic cleansing against Tigrayans is too
gigantic to be ignored by anyone let alone diaspora Ethiopians and Eritreans.
Some members
of the diaspora Ethiopians are denying the ethnic cleansing ever took place and
some are starting to fabricate mass justifications for it. Abiy Ahmed’s run
from the hall of fame to the hall of shame is incredible enough, the diaspora
Ethiopians are a bunch of hypocrites who proved themselves remarkably adept at
marching into the hall of shame. Is there any shameful act than identifying and
expressing solidarity yourself with ethnic cleansing and genocide? Is there any
bottom for their moral and ethical bankruptcy?
It is odd that
the participants of the rally have chanted against the international
communities interfering on the internal affairs of the country while hardly any
effort has been exerted on, at least, the Eritrean army’s killings of innocent
Tigrayans, rape and pillaging of the northern part of the country. On one
hand, it is very difficult to understand how the demonstrators have spilled so
much ink on slogans which have nothing to say about the ethnic cleansing and
the genocidal nature of the war in Tigray. On the other hand, the message of
the rally is not surprising given the history of the diaspora Ethiopians and
the Eritrean government’s role in actively propagating the “fires of hatred”
against Tigrayans for a long time. Thereby creating political
polarization and a political climate for ethnic cleansing and genocide to
succeed.
It was well
known that the diaspora Ethiopians have a strict attachment to their political
point of views—especially their unshakable extremism in light of changing
facts—as if they were their life’s savings; their unbounded hatred for the TPLF
is clear no matter what the TPLF does. I have no qualms if their hatred is
limited to the TPLF, but it is not. They always lash out angrily at the people
of Tigray whenever their political beliefs are threatened. Similar mind
set is always on display against the people of Oromo and the OLF.
While the problem of Amhara
chauvinism has gained much public attention since the ascent of Abiy Ahmed to
power in 2018, it has been an ongoing and persistent problem in Ethiopia. Amhara
extremism has been unquestionably accepted by national mass media and put into
effect through violence against other ethnic groups, such as Benishangul-Gumuz,
currently against Wello Oromo and Tigrayans. These unspeakable terror and
violence are committed with the blessings of the Amhara regional state, as well
as by political groups and individuals. Whether or not we acknowledge it,
the perpetuating of Amhara chauvinism via violence generated fear driven
violence against innocent Amhara too. No one should condone any violence
against anyone. But the exploitation of slaughtered innocent Amhara for
exacting political revenge and for recruitment of members of the Fano
(fascistic youth group) is wrong and it should be condemned. It is also used as
a recipe to develop their conspiracy theory of political victimization of the
Amhara, narrated as “Amhara genocide.” True, they never defined “genocide,” but
why bother? The people of Amhara knew what it meant. At the end of this
political narration, the Amhara political elites and their conspirators
squarely blamed the TPLF and by extension the people of Tigray. Therefore, t
he war in Tigray is merely the fuse which touched off an
explosion that has been building up political conspiracy against Tigrayans for
almost three decades.
If you ask Tigrayans who used
to live in Gondor and surrounding areas, many of them will let you know that
the new chapter of the ethnic cleansing really began when the TPLF (EPRDF) took
power in the early 1990’s. The Tigrayans rose to power and cracked the
foundation of the way things had always been. That is, breaking the century old
dominance of the Amhara political elites in Ethiopian politics. The Amhara
elites increasingly talked about a sense of loss and started rampant
dissemination of propaganda designed to promote their chauvinistic views and
attract attention from the young people. They painted the political system as
one big casino owned by Tigrayans and the state of Tigray profiting from
it. This led to a more troubling track of violent attacks against
Tigrayans who used to live in northern Gondor areas and expelled thousands of
Tigrayans in 2016. The current ethnic cleansing in west and south Tigray is
simply an extension of a consistent toxic message, repeated political and human
demonization against Tigrayans for the last three decades.
For years,
most people thought innocently, people hated the EPRDF’s rule because of the
constitution and by extension the federalist political system. Yes, some might
have a genuine difference of opinion on the formation of the state in the
country. But at this point in time, we realized it did not have a damned thing
to do with federalism. The Amhara extremists hated Tigrayans because the
Tigrayans were leveling the playing field for all the nations and nationalities
of Ethiopia. And that was a problem because most Amhara people truly felt that
Ethiopia belonged to them. The Amhara nationalists’ manifesto made it obvious
Ethiopians who were not Amhara were not deemed to be Ethiopians. This kind of
mind-set has created a sense of colonized subjects than like citizens of the
country on “other” Ethiopians.
