Ethiopians rejected Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman – this why

On Friday 29th January 2021, The Middle East Policy Council held its 103rd Capitol Hill Conference virtually. One of the speakers of the event was Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa.

Although the event was about the Middle East, Feltman wanted to start with what he referred as ’ the alarming developments in the Horn of Africa’ as he is convinced that there is a very strong connection between the Horn and the Middle East. Agree with him on the connection.

Feltman thus discusses Ethiopia. He says, “Ethiopia's population alone is more than 4 times that of pre-war Syria. 110 million people in Ethiopia. Conflict in the Horn could make Syria look like child's play by comparison.”

We disagree. Ethiopia & Syria are totally different. We disagree because Syria has been led ONLY by the al-Assad family since 1971 with an iron fist whereas Ethiopia is being led by a new and dynamic leader, who only took power in 2018. Furthermore the conflicts in the two countries are completely different in nature.

In Syria it was public uprising as part of the Arab Spring, whereas in Ethiopia it is a disgruntled group wanting to take power by force against the will of the majority of the Ethiopian people. Syria’s president has been extending his term, which is not the case in Ethiopia.

Feltman continues. He says, “We need to engage the gulf countries Egypt and Turkey to stabilize the Horn of Africa.”

Disagree again. How could Egypt, a country that has openly vowed to destabilise the Horn be trusted to stabilise the Horn? Egypt cannot be trusted at all.

Feltman says, “The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed military assault in the Tigray region has opened a Pandora's box.”

Here Feltman accuses the Ethiopian government as if it started the war. He shifts the blame from TPLF to ENDF. This is dangerous & misleading statement.

Feltman continues his analysis of Ethiopia. He says, “Ethiopia's Oromo region is restive”

Disagree again. Feltman does not know and cannot know how the majority Oromos and the Oromia region feel and operate. Does he know that nearly 15 million people voted for the PM's party in Oromia?

Feltman continues. He says, “Somalia's president shares Abiy Ahmed’s desire for very strong central control putting him at odds with powerful provincial leaders.”

Feltman wants to frame Prime Minister Abiy as a leader who has centralised power and Somalia’s president replicating Prime Minister Abiy.

Feltman continues. He says, “ Ethiopia’s Elections scheduled in 2021 of this year are likely to provoke violence.”

We disagree again. Does he know that nearly 34 million voted without a single violence? Does he accept the results of Ethiopia's historic democratic election?

Feltman says, "Ethiopia has brushed aside African Union mediation efforts."

This is an absurd accusation. Ethiopia is the only country that has been keen to see African solutions for African problems unlike Egypt & Sudan, who pushed the #GERD issue to Arab League and UN.

Feltman says, “IGAD, the intergovernmental Authority on Development has been severely weakened as authoritarian leaders in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia draw closer at the expense of the wider collective.”

We disagree again. Labelling leaders as authoritarian because they don’t agree with you is unacceptable.

Feltman continues his wrong and biased analysis on Ethiopia, the Horn and wider Africa. He concludes that Horn of Africa cannot sort its crises on its own and needs support from the Gulf and Arab states.

As Feltman was on his way to meet Ethiopia’s leaders, which took place on 17^th August, Ethiopians across the world resorted to social media to tell him and the Biden Administration that Feltman was not welcome as he had already lost credibility.

ኢትዮጵያውያን የነ ፌልትማንን ትዕዛዝ እየተቀበሉ አይኖሩም። እነ ፌልትማን ስለ ጥቁር ህዝብ ደንታ የላቸውም። የነሱ ፍላጎት በሪሞት ኮንትሮል የሚቆጣጠሩት ሎሌ መንግስት በመመስረት ኢትዮጵያን እንደፈለጋቸው ለማሽከርከር ነው።በፍፁም አይሳካም።1/2 pic.twitter.com/NcF8uziOLr

— 𝘽𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙖 (@BekeleWoyecha) August 14, 2021

During his talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Froegin Minister of Ethiopia, he was told that ‘Ethiopia expects that the U.S. would properly condemn the destructive acts of the invading TPLF forces. Feltman said the U.S. understands how the people of Ethiopia see TPLF.’

DPM & FM, H.E. @DemekeHasen, meets #US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Mr. Jeffrey Feltman & said #Ethiopia expects that the U.S. would properly condemn the destructive acts of the invading TPLF forces. Feltman said the U.S. understands how the people of Ethiopia see TPLF. pic.twitter.com/X67plAfL03

— MFA Ethiopia🇪🇹 (@mfaethiopia) August 17, 2021

 

So good that Ethiopians rejected him as he has no credibility at all.

Full video of the August 29^th event in the below link. 

ኢትዮጵያውያን ማንንም አንጠላም - ነገር ግን ሃገራችንን ሲነኩብን ዝም አንልም

 

እ.አ.አ ኖቬምበር 2020 መጀመሪያ ላይ ህውሃት በኢትዮጵያ የመከላከያ ጦር ላይ ያደረገውን ጥቃት ተከትሎ በትግራይ የተቀሰቀሰው ጦርነት ብዙ ዋጋ አስከፍሏል። በዚህ ጦርነት የብዙሃን ህይወት የጠፋ ከመሆኑም በላይ፤ በዙሃን ወገኖቻችን የአካል መጉድል፣ መፈናቀልና ልዩ ልዩ ጉዳት የደረሰባቸው መሆኑ ይታወቃል። የጦርነት ምንም ደግ የለውም።

ይህን ጦርነት አሳዛኝ የሚያደርገው  በወንድማማቾችና እህትማማቾች መካከል የሚደረግ የተወሰኑ የስልጣን ጥመኞችን በዕብሪት የተሞላ ፍላጎት ለማሟላት በሚንቀሳቀስ አሸባሪ ኃይልና በተቃራኒው ደግሞ የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብና ሀገሪቷን የመጠበቅ ኃላፊነት ባለበትና በብዙሃኑ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ድጋፍ ባለው የኢትዮጵያ ጦር ሰራዊት መካከል የሚደረግ ጦርነት መሆኑ ነው።

እንደሚታወቀው ህውሃት በኢትዮጵያ ለ27 ዓመታት በስልጣን በቆየበት ዘመን እጅግ በጣም አምባገነን ከመሆኑ የተነሳ እጅግ በጣም ብዙ ዘግናኝ የሆኑ ተግባራትን ሲፈፅም የቆየ ነው። ህወሃት በስልጣን ለመቆየት የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ በዘር መከፋፈል ብቸኛው አማራጭ አድርጎ ስላመነ ህዝባችንን ለመከፋፈል የተቻለውን ሁሉ ሲያደርግ ቆይቷል። በብሄሮች መካከል ጥርጣሬ እንዲኖር፤ የጋራ አጀንዳ እንዳይኖርና ኢትዮጵያዊነት እንዲከስም ህወሃት ብዙ ሰርቷል።

ህወሃት ኖቬምበር 2020 ላይ የመከላከያ ኃይላችን ላይ ጥቃት ሲያደርግ የተለያዩ እሳቤዎችን ከገንዛቤ በመክተት እንደሆነ ይገመታል። በህወሃት ዕምነት የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ተከፋፍሏል። በህወሃት ዕምነት የኢትዮጵያን ሰራዊት በቀላሉ በማሸነፍ ስልጣን በቀላሉ መያዝ ይቻላል የሚል የተሳሳተና በዕብሪት የተሞላ ግንዛቤ ነበር። በህዋሃት ዕምነት በኢትዮጵያ የመንግስት ስልጣን መያዝ ብቻ ሳይሆን በኤርትራም የመንግስት ለውጥ ማምጣት ይቻላል የሚል እጅግ በጣም ሌሎችን አሳንሶ የማየት፤ እራስን ያለማወቅና የማግዘፍ ዝንባሌ ነበር።

በህዋሃትና ጥቂት ደጋፊዎቹ ውስጥ የተፈጠረው የበላይነት ስሜት የሌሎችን ጥንካሬ ለማየት እንዲሳናቸው አድርጓቸዋል። ለዚህም ሕወሃት ጦርነቱ እንደተጀመረ ይስጥ የነበረው መግለጫ ትልቅ ግንዛቤ ይሰጣል።

The late Sekuture Getachew exposed TPLF's crimes of attacking the Ethiopian National Defence Force in November 2020.@nytimes exposed #TPLF’s use of #ChildSoldiers

We thank them both for telling the truth unexpectedly. When would the west condemn TPLF?@France24_en @RT_com pic.twitter.com/c7jMAmm3Je

— 𝘽𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙖 (@BekeleWoyecha) July 17, 2021

 

የህወሃቱ ሴኩቱሬ ጌታቸው ስለ ህወሃት አጥቂነትና ጠንካራነት ሲነግረን ህወሃት መብረቃዊ ጥቃት ማድረግ ብቸኛው አማራጭ እንደነበረ ነግሮናል። ይህ ትዕቢት የተሞላበት ንግግር ብዙዎችን አስቆጥቷል። ህወሃት በወቅቱ ጥቃት ሲፈፅም የነበረው ግንዛቤ መከላከያን ጨምሮ የተቀረው ህዝብ ምላሽ የማይሰጥና እራሱን መከላከል የማይችል አድርጎ አሳንሶ የማየት ዝንባሌ ነው። በሃገር ውስጥም ሆነ በውጭ ያለው የህወሃት ኃይልና ደጋፊ ትልቅ የሆነ የግንዛቤ ችግር ያለበት ባይሆን ይህ ጦርነት እዚህ ደረጃ አይደርስም ነበር። እነ አሉላ ሰለሞን ጦርነት ባህላዊ ጨዋታችን ነው ሲሉን፤ እነ ስየ አብርሃ ደግሞ ስለ ጦርነት እኛ ፊት እንዳታወሩ ይሉን ነበር። ይባስ ብሎ ፈረንጆቹ እነ ኸርማን ኮህንና ሌሎች አውሮፓውያን ህወሃትን ከሌላ ዓለም የመጣ ለማስመሰል ሞክረዋል።

Ethiopian P.M. Abiy is fooling himself if he believes his inexperienced army can defeat the battle hardened TPLF military, even with Eritrean support. To keep #Ethiopia unified, it must be truly decentralized through unprecedented constitutional dialogue.

— Herman J. Cohen (@CohenOnAfrica) November 5, 2020

ህወሃት ራሱን በራሱ ጠልፎ ከወደቀ በኋላ እንዴት ብቻዬን እውድቃለሁ በሚል ጦርነቱን ወደ ሌሎች ክልሎችና ሉዓላዊት ሀገር ወደ ሆነችው ኤርትራ ለመውሰድ ብዙ ጥሯል። ህወሃት አልተሳካለትም እንጂ የአፍሪካ ቀንድና ቀጠናውን ጦርነት ውስጥ ለመክተት ያላደረገው ጥረት የለም።

ህወሃት የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ በዳይ ሆኖ ሳለ የምዕራብ ዓለም ፖለቲከኞች፣ ጋዜጠኞች፣ በኤክስፐርትነትና በስብዓዊ መብት ተቆርቋሪነት ስም ድብቅ ዓላማቸውን ከሚያከናውኑ ግለሰቦችና ተቋማት ከፍተኛ ድጋፍ ሲያገኝ ቆይቷል።

ምዕራባውያን ፖለቲከኞችና ሚዲያዎች ለህወሃት ድጋፍ ከመስጠት በተጨማሪ በኢትዮጵያ ላይ አላስፈላጊና መርህ አልባ የሆነ ተፅዕኖ ሲያደርጉ የቆዩ ሲሆን አንዳንዶቹ የአሜሪካና የአውሮፓ ባለስልጣናትና ቢሮክራት በኢትዮጵያ የመንግስት ለውጥ እንዲኖር እየሰሩ መሆናቸውን የሚያሳዩ ምልክቶች እየታዩ ነው። በዩጎዝላቪያ፣ ኢራቅ፣ ሊቢያ፣ ሶሪያና የመን እንዳደረጉት ሁሉ በኢትዮጵያ የውስጥ ጉዳይ ውስጥ ጣልቃ ለመግባት እየተዘጋጁ መሆናቸውን የሚያሳዩ ምልክቶች እየታዩ ነው።

የምዕራቡ ዓለም ፖለቲከኞች ጋ የግንዛቤ ችግር ያለ ይመስላል። ኢትዮጵያ የራሷ የሆኑ የቆዩና በመላው የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ውስጥ ዘልቀው የገቡ የጋራ እሴቶች መኖራቸውን፤ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ለጠላት መቸም ቢሆን ተንበርክኮ የማያውቅ መሆኑን፤ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ከመቸውም በላይ በአንድነት ሆኖ ለሃገሩ ዘብ ለመቆም ዝግጁ መሆኑን፤ የኢትዮጵያ ጉዳይ የኢትዮጵያ ብቻ ሳይሆን የመላው አፍሪካና የጥቁር ህዝቦች ጉዳይም ጭምር መሆኑን ግንዛቤ ውስጥ ያለማስገባት ሁኔታ ይታያል።

ኢትዮጵያውያን በፖለቲካ አመለካከት ልንለያይ እንችል ይሆናል። በተለያዪ ዓለማት ተበትነን እየኖርንም ሊሆን ይችላል። በሃገራችን ጉዳይ ግን በፍፁም አንደራድርም።

ኢትዮጵያ ለሌሎች ሃገራት የምትሰጠውን ክብር ራሷም ማግኘት አለባት። ስለዚህ የአሜሪካና የአውሮፓ ፖለቲከኞችና ቢሮክራት በኢትዮጵያ የውስጥ ጉዳይ ላይ የሚያደርጉትን ጣልቃገብነት መታገል ግዴታችን ነው ። ከማንም በፊት የኢትዮጵያን ጥቅም ማስጠበቅ የምንችለው እኛው ራሳችን ኢትዮጵያውያን ነን:: ኢትዮጵያውያን በፍፁም ችላ እንዳንል። 

ኢትዮጵያውያን ማንንም አንጠላም። ነገር ግን ሃገራችንን ሲነኩብን ዝም አንልም። በኢትዮጵያ ጉዳይ ዝምታ የለም። በፍፁም።

 

EU is getting it wrong on Ethiopia- it is regrettable

I was a great fan of the European Union; great admirer of the system. I believed it was an institution that was for fairness, genuine human rights protection, democracy and rule of law. As a British citizen, I had chance to travel visa free across Europe; rights to work across Europe; European Health Insurance and many good things, I thought the union was good for Europe and a good model for other continents. 

When the United Kingdom went to the polls in June 2016 to decide on the EU referendum, I voted to REMAIN. UK decided to LEAVE. I have many good friends who voted LEAVE. When I asked them for their reasons for voting LEAVE, they often said, ‘EU is autocratic and doesn’t listen to citizens on the ground’. I can see that. 

All EU’s actions on Ethiopia since the November 2020 conflict are unfriendly, immoral and out of character. It looks it has lost a partner in the TPLF. It looks EU’s attitude for Ethiopia and for Africa is different from its attitude for Europe and other parts of the world. EU is trying to dictate a sovereign country. EU is trying to say, ‘do it my way or I will suspend this or that’. We recall that EU suspended developmental aid to Ethiopia following the conflict in Tigray. It wanted to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. When Ethiopia was bold and determined, EU changed its attitude. EU for sure knows Ethiopia is an important and strategic partner in Africa. That was why it once again made a statement on the strategic importance of Ethiopia for the European Union and started to work with Ethiopia. EU also decided to send observers to the June 2021 general election, which was a good sign of rebuilding relationships. EU even sent a team to observe the preparatory work. All these were welcomed by Ethiopia. 

Although Ethiopia welcomed EU’s decision to send observers to the June 5 general election, we have now learned that EU is not sending observers. The reasons are clear. Ethiopia is not bowing down to EU’s unconvincing demands. EU has put forward unusual conditions to Ethiopia to observe the June 5 election. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, EU has demanded that it should bring in telecommunication equipment for VSAT services if it were to observe the June general election. This has never happened; and why now? Ethiopia is ready and capable to provide telecom services during EU’s and indeed others’ stay in the country as observers. What makes EU so special to put this as a precondition to observe an election? To insist that EU should bring in equipment for VSAT services smells fishy; rather disrespectful and unexpected. Do they want to give the equipment to TPLF remnants and resuscitate TPLF from the ashes? 

EU shouldn’t forget that when it is in Ethiopia, it is only a guest, nothing more. 

Another demand by EU is very dangerous. EU has demanded that it wants to make public comments and announcement about the general election before even the National Board of Ethiopia. This is scandalous and seriously questionable. EU had observed Ethiopia’s sham elections in the past. It knew the elections were not democratic. Yet it didn’t have demands. So why now? 

Whether EU likes it or not, the June 5 general election will go ahead. Ethiopians don’t need validation by EU on their most important democratic exercise. Ethiopians decide, nobody else! Ethiopia will prevail and come out victorious in all fronts. One thing is for sure, EU also will come back; it is a matter of time. For the time being we say, thank you but not thank you! See you later, EU.

 

GERD - Get it done no matter what!

As Ethiopia prepares for the filling of its most important dam, we have seen anger in some quarters in Egypt, which could be either intentional to create tension or total ignorance of the situation. Whatever the challenge, Ethiopia has to get its Dam done. 

If the origin of the Nile was Egypt, then Egypt might find a tap to stop the flow of Nile Waters. Fortunately that is not the case. To think as if the source of the Nile to be Egypt is disingenuous.  

No need to be angry at Ethiopia’s flagship project like 2 year old toddlers crying for everything they see. 

Egypt has to come to a negotiating table for a 21st century negotiation. Ethiopia is contributing 85% of the Nile Waters and deserves fair share. We all know Nile waters are more than enough for all. 

Vital to remember that both the 1929 & 1959 agreements are void and unacceptable as far as Ethiopia was concerned. Ethiopia is not a signatory to the party. 

Equally vital to stop intentionally ignoring the reality as it is for the benefit of all to come to a mutually acceptable agreement. It is not time for one side wins all and others remain bystanders. 

After all it is about Mutual Benefits, Reciprocity, and Sovereign Equality. This is 21st century, where we are interdependent on one-another and should cooperate; but that cooperation should be mutually sought based on mutual interests. 

ከፊታችን የተደቀነውን ፈተና በጋራ ማለፍ ይገባል

የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ በተለያየ ጊዜ ፈተናዎች አጋጥመውታል። ባለፉት 5 ወራት ግን ፈተናዎቹ ዘርፈ ብዙ ሆነዋል። ተደጋጋሚ ዘር ተኮር ጥቃቶች ፤ በትህነግ አነሳሽነት የተጀመረው ግጭትና ታላላቅ የሚባሉት እንደ ቢቢሲ እና ሲ ኤን ኤን ያሉ የሚዲያ ተቋማት የተዛባና እውነትን መሰረት ያላደረገ ዘገባ ፤ በሰብአዊ ድርጅት ስም የሚሰሩ እንደ አምነስቲና ሂውማን ራይትስ ዎች ያሉ ተቋማት ውስጥ ያሉ ድብቅ አላማ የተሸከሙ ግለሰቦችና ድርጅቶቹም ጭምር በግልፅ የሚታይ መርህ ያጣ ውንጀላ ፤ የአውሮፓ ህብረትና የአሜሪካ ቅጥ ያጣ ጉትጎታና ከልክ ያለፈ ጫና።

የኢትዮጵያ ጠላቶች ከዚህ የበለጠ ጫና ለመፍጠር ሊሞክሩ ይችላሉ። የሰው ኃይል ፣ የገንዘብና የቁሳቁስ አቅርቦት በማሟላት የበለጠ ጥፋት ለማስከተል 24 ሰዓታት ባለማቋረጥ ሊሰሩ ይችላሉ። ከምንም ጊዜ በላይ ጥንቃቄና አርቆ አስተዋይነት ያስፈልገናል:: ዛሬም እንደ ጥንቱ ተስፋ ያስፈልጋል። ከምንም በላይ አንድነት ያስፈልጋል።

እንደ ኢትዮጵያዊ ከመቼውም ጊዜ በላይ መደራጀትና ለአንድ አላማ መስራት ብቸኛው አማራጫችን ነው::

ከፊታችን የተደቀነው ፈተና መታለፉ አይቀርም። ፈተናዎቹ ቢበዙም ህዝባችን ዛሬም እንደ ጥንቱ በህብረት በመሆን ኢትዮጵያን ሊታደጋት ይገባል። ኢትዮጵያም ማሸነፏ አይቀርም።

በመላው ዓለም ያሉ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከመቼውም በላይ በህብረትና በብዛት በመሆን ስለ ኢትዮጵያ ሊጮሁና ለኢትዮጵያ ህብረት በትጋት ሊሰሩ ይገባል። ኢትዮጵያ ከመቼውም በላይ ልጆቿን ትሻለች::ሀገራችን ስትጠራን ደግሞ አቤት ማለት ምርጫችን ሳይሆን ግዴታችን ነው። ይህንን ግዴታችንን ጊዜ ሳንወስድ መወጣት አለብን። ሀገራችን የገባችበትን አጣብቂኝ ሁኔታም በሰከነ አዕምሮ መመርመር የግድ ይሏል።

በውጩ ዓለም የምንኖር ሰዎች ብዙ ጊዜ የምንገነዘበው ነገር አለ። በፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች መካከል የሚኖረው ፍጥጫ እጅግ በጣም ከባድ መሆኑን። ፓርቲዎቹ እስከ መጨራሻው የሚነጋገሩ አይመስሉም። የሀገር ጉዳይ ሲመጣ ግል ሁሉም በአንድነት ይቆማሉ። በፖለቲካ አመለካከት መለያየት፤ በሀገር ጉዳይ ግን አንድ መሆን በየትኛውም አለም ያለ ነው። ኢትዮጵያውያንም በሀገር ጉዳይ ላይ ቁርጥ የሆነ አቋም ሊኖረንና ለወደፊቱ ትውልድ የተሻለች ኢትዮጵያን ልናስረክበው ይገባል።

ኢትዮጵያዊነት ይለምልም።