By Masood Farivar
January 31, 2020

In the largest settlement of its kind, European aircraft maker Airbus SE has agreed to pay nearly $4 billion to resolve foreign bribery and other charges with authorities in the United States, Britain and France, the Justice Department announced Friday.

In an agreement with U.S. prosecutors, Paris-based Airbus, the world’s second-largest manufacturer of civilian and military aircraft, admitted using intermediaries over several years to bribe government officials and airline executives in order to win lucrative contracts in China and other countries.

Airbus entered into a so-called deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department three days after federal prosecutors accused the company of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and its implementation regulations. Under the deferred agreement, prosecutors agree to hold off on proceeding with a case against a company in exchange for meeting certain conditions.

The foreign bribery charges against Airbus stemmed from its offer and payment of bribes to foreign officials, including Chinese government officials, according to the prosecution agreement. Involved in the China bribery scheme were at least seven unidentified Airbus executives — including two Chinese officials and three entities responsible for making aircraft purchasing decisions for the Chinese government.

Between 2013 and 2015, Airbus executives made payments to a business partner in China that were intended to be used as bribes to Chinese officials, according to prosecutors. The bribes were paid in order to win contracts for the sale of Airbus aircraft to Chinese government airlines.

The AECA charges resulted from Airbus’ failure to disclose to U.S. authorities political contributions, fees and commissions made in connection with the sale and export of military goods and services to a foreign military.

“Airbus engaged in a multi-year and massive scheme to corruptly enhance its business interests by paying bribes in China and other countries and concealing those bribes,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department will continue to work aggressively with our partners across the globe to root out corruption, particularly corruption that harms American interests.”

As part of the settlement, Airbus will pay nearly $600 million to U.S. authorities, $2.29 billion to authorities in France, and more than $1 billion to Britain’s Serious Fraud Office. The settlement with British authorities involves allegations of bribes paid in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Indonesia and Ghana.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 

Enacted in 1978, the FCPA bars corporations and their executives from bribing foreign government officials to gain a business advantage. Over the past decade, the Justice Department has stepped up enforcement of the law, using its broad jurisdiction to target foreign executives and companies involved in bribing officials in other countries. Enforcement has remained robust under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump despite his past criticism of the law as unfair to American companies.

Historically, China has made up a disproportionately large number of FCPA cases involving foreign executives bribing Chinese officials. A 2018 Justice Department initiative aimed at countering Chinese national security threats to the U.S. prioritizes FCPA cases involving Chinese companies that compete with American businesses.

“International corruption involving sensitive U.S. defense technology presents a particularly dangerous combination,” said David Burns, a senior official in the Justice Department’s national security division.

The Justice Department encourages companies to self-report violations of foreign bribery and export control laws in exchange for leniency. Although Airbus disclosed the FCPA violations to the Justice Department only after they came to light in Britain several years ago, the company received credit for its cooperation with the ensuing investigation.

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By Dawit Giorgis

In a brilliant book titled ‘A Time for Machetes,’ Jean Herzfeld discusses the Rwandan genocide with the killers.  The famous author of several books, Susan Sontag commenting on the book writes, “ Our obligation and it is an obligation, is to take in what human beings are capable of doing to one another, not spontaneously (crimes of this order are never spontaneous) but when mobilized to think of other human beings – people who were their school friends, neighbours, co-workers, and fellow parishioners- are not human beings at all, and when organized for and directed to the task of slaughter. For the issue, finally is not judgment. It is understanding.” To try to understand what happened in Rwanda has been very painful personally since I had seen first hand the effects of what happened in Rwanda in 1994.  But nevertheless, we cannot push it aside. We have to remember it, understand it and learn lessons from it.

On 31 January, I read a news post in Amharic written by a certain Yohanis Mekonen, including a huge number of comments, which reflected the shock and outrage of millions of Ethiopians.  The writer states that in the city of Harar, in an area known as ‘Fourth’, he verified the unloading of 36000 machetes in three separate storages belonging to the Risk and Disaster Management Agency, which usually stores food and humanitarian assistance to people affected by natural and man-made disasters. I used to head this agency but then it was called the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC.) The writer says that he called Addis Abeba, the headquarter of the agency and asked for an explanation. He was told that it was going to be distributed to 24 Eastern districts to be used as agricultural tools. Times may have changed but during the times I lived and worked in Harar, machetes were not normally used for agricultural purposes.

It is sensitive times and even if they were to be used for agricultural purposes the timing was not right. When some of our people are using machetes to kill others and are often seen in public threatening to kill holding machetes, it is certainly not a good idea to put these weapons in places where violent criminal gangs are operating freely and amongst people who are living in an atmosphere of fear of being slaughtered by machetes, unless it is intended to be used by them as weapons which is the opinion of many.

Once again I was reminded of the Rwandan experience. In 1993 approximately a year before the genocide took place, a project to import a large number of machetes from China, under the cover of agricultural tools, was underway.   Rwanda had never imported machetes from China or anywhere in the previous years. Linda Malvern, author of Conspiracy to Murder, the Rwandan Genocide explains her findings: (page 56)

“ As an illustration of the sheer volume involved, the total numbers machetes imported weighed 581,175 kilos and cost 725,000 US; there was an estimated one new machetes for every third male in the country.

One of the companies involved in these purchases belonged to Felicien Kabuga, the businessman who had helped finance the RTLM. (RTLM is the hate radio station, which spread hate speech and coordinated the genocide.

The silence of the Prime Minister in this and similar circumstances raises more concern about the capacity of the prime minister and lingering suspicions about his sinister agenda. But whatever the truth maybe it will eventually catch up with him and he will be brought to justice unless he takes bold steps to align himself with the forces of unity, peace and freedom. As of now, most people have come to believe that he is not serving the best interest of the country and himself.  In May 1998 the Prime Minister of Rwanda pleaded guilty ‘for sanctioning a climate of fear, hatred and paranoid, inciting violence and ultimately sanctioning mass murder’ and was convicted on all six counts.’

Under international law, crimes against humanity includes the following: Murder; Deportation or forcible transfer of population; Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; Torture; Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; Enforced disappearance of persons; Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

Under Article II of the genocide convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The Ethiopian government officials need to read the above over and over again and see what applies to them collectively and individually and understand what lies ahead for them in due time. And that time will come.

It could be proven in an independent court of law that some of the above have occurred in Ethiopia particularly since Prime Minister Abiy came to power.  This has all the hallmarks of possible repeat of history but one that can still be averted with the collaboration of the international community.   Prime Minister Abiy stands accused one more time for complicity with genocide and crimes against humanity. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines complicity;

“ Involvement or knowledge of a situation, especially one that is morally wrong dishonest “ Prime Mister is fully aware of the crimes that are being committed routinely in many parts of Ethiopia, largely directed at the Amharas. Amharas and Orthodox Christians are being singled out for persecution. Reminisce of the Nazi Germany, when Jews were being singled out and persecuted, Amharas’ are being offloaded from public transports and detained; Amahras are being chased from certain areas dominated by extremist Oromos, in Harar, Bale and Arsi for example; Amhara students are being persecuted, kidnapped, tortured and chased out of many schools in the Oromia region; Amahras are being hunted down and beaten and their houses burnt. Both the Orthodox Church and the Amhara ethnic group are the prime targets of these extremist elements. There are hundreds of thousands of people who can testify to the occurrence of these crimes. They have been committed in full view of the public and with the full knowledge of this Prime Minister.  In a court of law, he could be found guilty of complicity.

According to ‘FindLaw ‘ composed of legal experts, “Complicity is the act of helping or encouraging another individual to commit a crime. It is also commonly referred to as aiding anabetting.  One who is complicit is said to be an accomplice.  But, even though an accomplice does not actually commit the crime, his or her actions helped someone in the commission of the crime.

The concept of accomplice liability means an accomplice faces the same degree of guilt and punishment as the individual who committed the crime. Indeed, accomplices can face the same penalties, including prison time. The key consideration is whether the individual intentionally and voluntarily encouraged or assisted in the commission of the crime, or (in some cases) failed to prevent it.”

In 2017 the Rwandan government released an independent report accusing French officials of complicity in the 1994 genocide.  The report commissioned by the Rwandan government and conducted by a Washington law firm, alleges that French military forces trained their Rwandan counterparts, supplied tm with weapons even after an arms embargo, and gave cover, under the auspices of a United Nations-sanctioned humanitarian mission, in the last moments of a genocidal campaign.

More recently Gambia has denounced the Nobel Prize winner for peace Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s “silence” over alleged atrocities against Rohingya Muslims. The case was heard in the international Court of Justice (ICJ). Lawyers said Ms. Suu Kyi had ignored widespread allegations of mass murder, rape and forced deportation. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced its first ruling in the highlighted genocide case against Burma on January 23 of this year.  The court ordered Burma to carry out emergency measures to protect the Rohingya from further violence and persecution. Aung San Suu Ky is the democracy icon and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who fell from grace.  This also can be repeated. PM Abiy is quickly falling from grace.

When responsible people who had the authority and the means to prevent crimes against humanity, men and women whose duty is to protect the people  betray the trust people had on them and allow mass murder, kidnapping, torture and mass displacement to take place, they are considered as accomplices to the crimes committed.  Their silence and inaction is complicity and is punishable both under international and domestic laws. The charges could even be more serious when it is targeted against specific groups of people with the intention to eliminate them, humiliate them, displace them. This will be tantamount to genocide. In Ethiopia it feels that this has already started. Heinous crimes are being committed almost on a daily basis largely against the Amharas.

The situation needs the urgent attention of the international community because this government of Prime Minister Abiy has failed to stop it. Now the people are asking seriously whether he is not an accomplice to a series of criminal events that have taken place in the last two years since he took power?  His silence and his inactions on all the criminal acts including the burning of churches, the murder of many, the war mongering by his own colleagues and the party that he leads, the kidnapping of Amhara students and the virtual impossibility of free movement in the country, has made it difficult to understand his behavior.

He travels to a country, Equatorial Guinea, the most corrupt nation on earth, to visit a President Teodoro Obiang Mbasogo, who has been in power for 41 years, to receive a prize from him.  In the same week he travels to Guinea Conakry, one of the most corrupt nations in Africa, whose president Alpha Conde is currently trying to change the constitution so he can stay in power for a third term, and then to Eritrea and gives the impression that the country is normal. During all these times the country was and is still gripped with fear with millions out on the streets demonstrating and demanding rule of law. He travels to seek adulation and to escape from the reality.  The demonstrations are unprecedented. The last time such demonstrations took place was in support of Abiy when he came to power. Such is the irony of history. It took the Prime Minster only two years to turn this tide of support against him though it did not take me that long.

The constant behavior of Ably is his narcissistic personality, which, according to the book on such disorder, ‘occurs where a person has an inflated sense of their own importance and seeks to gain recognition of this from others. Noticeable symptoms may include: Excessive self-importance, preoccupied with fantasies of power, success seeking, constant admiration, praise and approval’ etc.

It is widely known that the scheduled election is not going to change the complex political and security situation in Ethiopia. The whole purpose of this exercise is to anoint Abiy as the legitimate leader of Ethiopia. He will win under what is expected to be a rigged election. The controversy that will almost certainly come out of this choreographed and fake election will add another layer to the already complex security situation of Ethiopia.

There are Ethiopians and members of the international community who are recording all these crimes.  As I write this, the International rights groups, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International made a statement on; “ the worrying development especially with key elections coming… the return of mass arrests of opposition activists and supporters is a worrying signal in Ethiopia.” Human rights activists in and outside the country are putting the Prime Minister on notice that if he fails to stop this carnage, he will stand accused of crimes against humanity and of what could possibly happen (genocide of biblical proportion) as a result of his inactions.

Dawit Giorgis

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By Sintayehu  Gebremariam
E-Mail ___makuadu@yahoo.com __________________

Ethiopia, as a country that is known for being the first place to host human being and to be one of the few ancient civilizations, it also has a down side in terms of conflict and ethnic tension, since the medieval age, locally known as “Zemene Mesafent”. Like all modes of productions during the emergence of the feudal system, oligarchs here and there were climbing on the ladder of societal hierarchy, to become leaders and governors.

Most of the Ethiopian civilization began from the northern part of the country and most of its history falls on the shoulder of the Tigrian and The Amhara people.

In 1974, the monarch was removed by public anger and mismanagement of the country’s resources, to benefit the royal family and the elites who were working for the crown.

After that a military government took power as there was no organized party at that time, that can lead the country with a defined road. The subjective conditions against the monarch was fulfilled, but there was no any party, ready to lead the country. Then the military had to take the power in a promise to hand it over to a civilian government, in six months.

The Military Junta, known as Derg continued to lead the country, despite the promise of handing power to a civilian and elected government. The country was on a crossroad, whether to follow free market economy (Capitalism) or the Communist ideology, that was dominated by the USSR.

I believe due to the close relationship of emperor Haleselassie to the western worls, the powerful states rejected the military junta and the country was forced to seek help from Soviet Union.

In the absence of fertile ground to host a new ideology, the government declared socialism and the chaos began. The country lost extremely important and educated citizens for internal conflicts between parties and from actions taken by the government.

The guerilla fighters who were fighting to liberate Eritrea created another group in the Tigray Province of the country and began to fight the military government. After seventeen years of misery the country fell into the hand of the EPRDF, a front of guerilla fighters created by the Tigray People Liberation Front.

The TPLF declared democracy and called all stakeholders and different ethnic fronts to the capital and formed a transitional government, which ignited hope in the heart of many Ethiopians. It was new in its kind to see oppositions sitting together to confer about one nation.

That excitement did not stay longer. The TPLF changed into a tyranny or its bad character began to be revealed. The country went back to dictatorship in its worst form. The latent ethnic clash between tribes was fuelled by the TPLF in order to divide and rule the country. People became busy to work on hate against each other and united voice could not be achieved.

The need for democracy and justice increased and in 2016, the Ethiopian people began to fight against the EPRDF. Waves of demonstrations took the roads and villages of the country. The government used force to stop the public anger. Thousands were killed and many jailed.

The EPRDF began to have internal problem. Members and high-ranking officials who were participating in the crime done by the EPRDF formed a faction and they began to secretly work with different domestic and international forces to tumble the TPLF.

Such people who were commissioners and omissioners of crime came out with words of hope and change and convinced the public that the crimes of the past will never be committed again. They tried to fool the public and they were successful in easing the public anger, mainly by releasing political prisoners.

The new force, that believes brought change to the country used such tactic to defuse the collective power of the public and to instill another dictatorial government. Few weeks after the so-called reform, many people lost their homes, properties and their lives. Ethnic conflict was ignited all over the country and the government did not act swiftly to manage or handle such crisis.

At this time there are more than four million internally displaced people in Ethiopia, who are desperately looking for help. A Genocide took place in different places, mainly in the Guji zone of Oromia. The Oromos killed innocent members of the Gedeo tribe. It is a mass killing committed by the Oromos and the government led by an Oromo prime minister did not investigate or correct such an act of genocide.

The army and the security force of the country that was built by the EPRDF in the past twenty-seven years was relatively stronger that many other neighboring countries, which was capable of preventing external intrusions and stabilizing the country. Though Ethiopia is known for its anti democratic practice against citizens, it had strong army and reliable security system, that kept the country safe from intervention of external terrorist groups.

When neighboring Kenya and Somalia were being attacked by terrorist groups in different time, the Ethiopian intelligence assured the safety of the country and it was campaigning cross border to fight and destroy terror elements like Al Shabab.

At this time, Ethiopia is extremely vulnerable, n terms of internal and external security. The country that was trying to liberate the neighboring countries from terrorist hold is now in a very scary situation. Currently, the government of Dr. Abiy is incapable to protect the country from invasion and it is unable to stop the domestic violence that are taking away the lives of innocent citizens, everyday. Only in 2020, which is in less that a month in this new year, students in Oromia are kept hostages by local war lords, created after the arrival of the new prime minister. Girls are being taken hostage and the government is doing nothing to free those innocent citizens.

University students are being killed in campuses, because of their ethnic origin. Most of the universities in the country are being closed, due to security concerns. Highways get blocked by locally organized and armed hooligans. The government that came to power by cheating the public left the country vulnerable to internal and external security threats.

In Ethiopian reconstructing the security and intelligence services has been proved more difficult. As a result, significant insecurity has escalated in many parts of the country, leaving nearly four million internally displaced people. The government faces the challenge of anticipating and mitigating nationalist violence, particularly as the country prepares for elections in the coming six months.

Many Ethiopians both within the EPRDF and the opposition recognize the need for a national discussion on issues relating to the regain of control on the security and tranquility of the country, which is a driving factor for economic change and prosperity.  Similarly, the EPRDF is considering changes to the party and has floated the idea that it transforms itself to one party that individuals join directly rather than through membership in regional party associates. These questions, however, are tense with argument, and open debate is unlikely before the next round of elections.

First of all, the politicians and the public were expecting to see a transitional council or some kind of temporary government, to transform the country from where it is to a new kind of governance though a democratic election.

However, the new prime minister changed his mind and decided to continue to lead the country until the next election, which is expected by many trusted organizations including the international crisis group to be one of the bloodiest elections ever.

In the presence of such tension in Ethiopia, it will me a calamity for the country to hold an election in less than six months, in the absence of social consensus.

The tension in Oromia, Amhara, and other regions is manifestly preventing party members to campaign. The lack of safety and security can not allow the candidates to travel from place to place and to address their constituency groups. Many members of the opposition are strongly opposing the election process currently. They are asking the government to postpone he election at least by one year, until fertile and sfe ground is created. However, the new prime minister who wants to secure his position for the coming five years is going ahead with election, which is expected to be full of conflict and crisis.

It is believed that the prime minister is backed up back some Arabic countries and is relying more on the will of those governments, instead of relying on the Ethiopian people. Holding an election at this vulnerable time will totally lead the country in to crisis.

To be continued

The post THE CRISIS BEYOND HOPE appeared first on Ethiopian Registrar: Ethiopian News/Breaking News.

Abebech Shiferaw
January 2020

Education seems the only way to get out of poverty for many Amharas. The culture is pro-education and civilization. As a result, Amharas scarify all that they can and Pass-through hardship to send their children to educational institutions.

Poor economic stand, scattered access to educational facilities, poor schools as many children and adolescents are learning under trees shelter, acute shortage of educational materials (for example, a text may be given for ten students), less qualified teachers and so on best describe Amhara’s scenario in today’s Ethiopia. Consequently, many dropouts from schools early and many more fail in national examinations. These groups of students’ fate is worrisome for they are neither educated people nor farmers and will be forced to be dependents on their poor families. As the education ladder increases, only a small section of Amhara youths will succeed to join higher education.

Even at a tertiary level of educational institutions, ethnic Amhara University students’ struggle for survival gets double. One, coping up with academic challenges of higher education and competing with other students who come from relatively more privileged regions. Second, the fight for survival becomes more tough as Amhara students are subjects of injustice in a different form by teachers, employees, other students, hosting communities and so on. Not only in other regions, Amhara students not immune to injustice even in the Amhara region. This is evidenced by unjust measures taken by Universities located in the Amhara region. For example,  more than 165 Amhara students were fired from universities located in the Amhara Region for the mere reason of protesting against the mistreatment of Amharas in different universities.

Not only this, currently over 50, 000 Amhara University students are displaced from different Universities as a result of intentionally calculated ethnic conflicts by terrorist groups which are believed to be supported by government apparatus in the background.

Worse yet, teaching-learning activities have been interrupted in most Universities. Many Amhara university students are warned by terrorist groups and their allies to evacuate from campuses forcefully where many died and got wounded. What is most tragic is that more than 20 females Amhara University students are recently abducted in a daylight by terrorist groups in the Oromia region while traveling back to their families. And yet, the government has been babysitting agents of hatred and has taken no major action though two months have elapsed since the incidence has been voiced by concerned media. This is a terrorist act has happened in a country where its Prime Minister is awarded with a Nobel Peace Prize??? What an unjust world! Did the Bokoharam terrorist groups in Nigeria do anything worse than this? Esteemed international communities/organizations, we need your eyes wide open and fairer mind at this critical juncture in history!

Obviously, the government seems not willing and is very far away from discharging its responsibilities thereby protecting the rights of citizens. Rather, the government, institutions, and officials are obsessed with the provision of false information which aims at creating a sense of confusion on the public.

The drama and seemingly deliberate miscommunication continued by the government. For instance, one university student who succeeded in escaping the abduction was treated inhumanely by officials in the Amhara region. This caused strong public anger and pressure on the less trusted government structure. Following this, peaceful mass demonstrations have taken in different parts of the country demanding the government to execute its duties properly and facilitate the release of kidnapped university students. Still, the usual misleading propaganda is going on by the government.  Giving a deaf ear for the loud quest for democracy, human rights and release of abducted girls, the government is irresponsibly working hard to deliberately protect the armed bandits from being labeled as “terrorist” groups nationally and internationally. Still no promising result, female university students are in the hands of the barbaric group and their fate is known to date.

In summary, the kidnapping of female university students is a clear terrorist act by terrorist groups based in and backed by the Oromia region of Ethiopia and Federal level authorities. This is a war declared against poor Amharas, Ethiopians and humanity at large. Hence, Ethiopians at home and abroad need to stand together and recollect our efforts in curbing this immoral and very illegal war against humanity and ensure the immediate release of kidnapped female university students. We need to be more organized and take pragmatic measures for better results in the short-run (securing the lives of University students) and in the long run, ensuring the security of Amhara people in the future. I call upon the international community and organizations to stand on the side of Amhara people to stop the war against humanity once again and bring terrorists to justice.

The post The Ethiopian Government is Behind the Kidnapping of Young Female Amhara University Students. appeared first on Ethiopian Registrar: Ethiopian News/Breaking News.

President says ‘nobody’ will change Israel’s Jewish and democratic character, after PA chief said he wouldn’t recognize Jewish state; Liberman uses remark to assail ultra-Orthodox

By MICHAEL BACHNER
3 February 2020

President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday rebuked Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for his claim a day earlier that Israel had brought non-Jewish Russian and Ethiopian immigrants en masse, and for citing that as a reason he wouldn’t recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

At a President’s Residence event launching an anti-racism initiative, Rivlin directly addressed Abbas.

“Do me a favor. Nobody is going to change the Jewish and democratic character of our state,” he said.

“We are a democratic state for all our citizens and it is a Jewish state for the simple reason that the Jewish people has no other state. It has returned to its land,” Rivlin continued.

“I was born 80 years ago, when there were a quarter of a million Jews in this land. Today I am the president of a state with 9 million citizens and 7 million Jews, who speak Hebrew and feel that this state is Jewish,” he said, adding that “we came to live in peace with whoever was born and lives in this land.”

Abbas made the comment in a lengthy speech Saturday delivered at an Arab League meeting in Cairo denouncing the new White House plan for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which he said he was cutting all ties, including security coordination, with both Israel and the US.

Abbas, protesting that the plan requires him to recognize a Jewish state, derided the very notion, claiming many immigrants to Israel weren’t Jewish at all.

“There are 1.5 to 2 million Russians in Israel today, some of whom are Christians and some of whom are Jews. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the gates opened. To prove that they were Jewish, they would go to some rabbi, pay him 100 rubles, get a certificate that they were Jewish, and go to Israel.”

He added: “Even the Falash Mura from Ethiopia — believe me, the percentage of Jews among them is tiny.”

Abbas’s comments on Soviet immigrants were strikingly reminiscent of remarks made by Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef last month, in which he referred to them as “religion-hating gentiles.”

“Hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of gentiles came to Israel under the Law of Return,” Yosef had said at a rabbinical gathering.

Abbas’s comments were quickly slammed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz, and were also used Sunday to fuel political jabs between the secularist right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party and the ultra-Orthodox parties.

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman argued on Facebook that Abbas — who is also known by his nickname Abu Mazen — had been building off Yosef’s remarks, which “today received the unequivocal backing from the chief anti-Semite Abu Mazen, who also claimed Israel isn’t a Jewish state and that the Ethiopian immigrants are Muslim.”

Liberman assailed the leaders of both ultra-Orthodox parties — Shas’s Aryeh Deri and United Torah Judaism’s (UTJ) Yaakov Litzman — saying that “for me, anyone who serves in the IDF, works and pays taxes is more of a Jew than Deri and Gafni combined, who spend all day squeezing money from the public coffers at our expense.”

In response, UTJ MK Moshe Gafni said that “the damage Liberman is trying to do to the State of Israel, the Torah and the people of Israel, is greater than the damage Abu Mazen is trying to cause.”

Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.

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By Alemayehu G. Mariam

Those who can, will help us. Those who cannot, should leave us alone. Those who do not understand what we do will criticize us. Those who do not like what we do will oppose us. — H.E. Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed

The Story of All of Us: Ode to Unity Park in Addis Ababa

On a partly cloudy January morning
I took a walk in the (Unity) park
There I found His(Her)story with a puzzled look
Asking me curiously,

“Do you know?”

On these grounds of power and glory
In this place of honor and shame
Where hope and despair tangled to the bitter end
Is written the Story of All of Us.

“Do you know?”

In this place of sadness and joy
On these grounds where victory was conceived and defeat born
Where horror, terror and torture were hid in a dungeon
Is written the Story of All of Us.

“Do you know?”

On these grounds of promises made and promises broken
In this place of truth and deceit
Inscribed on the ancient granite walls
Is the Story of All of Us.

“Do you know?”

On these grounds of virtue and vice
In this place of darkness and light
Where quest turned into conquest
Is written the Story of All of Us.

“Do you know?”

On these grounds where trees stand tall
In this place where they stood silent sentry for a century
New flowers today sing in dazzling colors
And write the Story of All of Us.

Do you know?

On these grounds where our leaders prayed and sinned
In this place where they plotted and schemed
Did they forge one nation indivisible
Is written the Story of All of Us.

“Do you know?”

On these grounds where we founded our nation’s capital
In this place where our ancestors came together in wisdom and folly
To do dastardly deeds and recite sublime poetry
Is written the Story of All of Us in blood, sweat, tears and laughter.

Answered I to His(Her)story:

Now is the time to turn a page
To inscribe a new chapter filled with hope and optimism
To affirm in this hallowed park the sanctity of our unity
To boldly declare our humanity in our diversity.

Answered I to His(Her)story:

Now is the time to write the new Story of All of Us
To sing out loud our songs of peace, prosperity and unity
Rebuild our City Upon a Hill amidst a bed of new flowers
Then let our “sons and your daughters prophesy, our young men see visions, and our old men dream dreams”

Answered I to His(Her)story:

Somewhere ages and ages from now
A generation will walk in Unity Park and sigh in relief and pride:
“Thank God, our ancestors seized the moment
On two roads that diverged in the night
They took the road marked ‘Peace and Prosperity’
Made a right turn on a road named “Reconciliation and Forgiveness”
And that has made all the difference in the Story of All of Us!”

— Ode to Unity Park in Addis Ababa, written following my visit on January 28, 2020

What Unity Park means to me

When I was a child, I was taught to be proud and develop a sense of Ethiopian exceptionalism. After all, Ethiopia is a special place on earth and in the eyes of Heaven, Ethiopia is a scared land where the Ark of the Covenant rests and the Prophet Muhammad sent his first followers (the Sahabah) to flee persecution and seek refuge in the Christian Kingdom of Aksum. Ethiopia is the land of the free never colonized and victorious over those who dared to try. I was taught Ethiopia shall never falter because it is written, “Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.”

In the tourist brochures, Ethiopia was described as “The Land of 13 Months of Sunshine”.

Today, Ethiopia is described as the “Land of Origins”. Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee introducing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony affirmed, “Ethiopia is the cradle of humankind, the first homo sapiens emigrated from the territory in your country. In this sense, we are all Ethiopians.”

I concur wholeheartedly.

But for most of my adult life, the word “Ethiopia” was synonymous with poverty, famine and misery.

Ethiopia, they said was the epicenter of “one of the worst humanitarian events of the 20th century.”

In the first two decades of the 21^st century, Ethiopia was known for massive human rights violations. Until recently, Ethiopia had the dubious distinction of being labelled the “second  worst jailor of journalists”.

But in the last 21 months, extraordinary transformations have taken place not only in the Ethiopian political landscape but also the entire Horn region.

Ethiopia’s global image has changed from warmaker to peacemaker. Ethiopia today has a leader lionized as a “champion of peace.”

Ethiopia today is the brightest star in the African constellation. Ethiopia is the New Spirit of Africa not only in the air but also on land.

Unity Park is just the first step in Ethiopia’s rise to a glorious brave new future of peace, unity, opportunity and prosperity.

Unity Park, which broke ground in January 2018, is the brainchild of PM Abiy Ahmed.

The park is part of PM Abiy’s “Home-Grown Economic Reform” agenda, which features tourism as a central component of Ethiopia’s economic development.

Unity Park is also part of the beautification of Addis Ababa (Sheger Project) covering some 56 kilometers of river cleanup and rehabilitation work supported by a grant from the Government of China.

For me, Unity Park and the larger Sheger Project are essential to the revitalization of Addis Ababa and the general well-being of its people.

I have witnessed with great sadness and heartbreak the indignity of the people of Addis Ababa continue to suffer because they have NO public green spaces for rest and relaxation.

The narrow strip of green spaces on Menelik II road south of the Grand Palace and east of the Jubilee Place where I used to play and ride bicycles over five decades ago with my friends have been fenced off for years, presumably for “development” purposes.

I can never understand the evil mind that denies citizens the right to enjoy a sliver of God’s good green earth!

Perhaps the most shocking and heartbreaking moment for me was the time I witnessed several bridal parties taking pictures on the sidewalk outside the walls of the Sheraton Hotel shortly after I left Unity Park. How ironic! I could not fathom that sidewalk is the only “green space” in the whole city for young brides and grooms to take their bridal pictures. What a heartless crime against young newly-weds.

Unity Park to me is “Medemer” in motion, an idea based on the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Addis Ababa (New Flower) was built by the blood, sweat, tears and laughter of Ethiopians of all ethnicities, religions, languages, traditions and customs. Today, Addis is a cosmopolitan city and a center of international diplomacy and home of the African Union.

Unity Park to me is the ultimate symbol and a living monument to one of my core beliefs,  “Ethiopians united can never be defeated.” If Ethiopians work together in common purpose, in good will and good faith, they will be victorious against their age-old enemies — poverty, hate and ignorance.

Unity is written in the DNA of Ethiopia.

Unity saved Ethiopia from the jaws of European imperial aggressor.

When Africans cast off the yoke of colonialism, they made Ethiopia the original home of the former Organization of African Unity and the African Union today.

Today Ethiopia stands united despite the best efforts of those who have tried to carve it up into kilil-istans and ethnic homelands.

Ultimately, Unity Park to me is the Story of All of Us. Not just our past history but the history we shall be writing together as we march forward and looking back only to see how far we have come.

Unity Park to me is a symbol of a rising Ethiopia. An Ethiopia rising above poverty and the politics of ethnicity; an Ethiopia embracing a new humanity powered by limitless opportunity and prosperity.

From a torture chamber to a tourist site

Unity Park is built on some 40 hectares on the grounds of the old Grand Imperial Palace (Gebi) which served as a seat of power in Ethiopia for over 130 years. The Palace sits on a hilltop  overlooking the city with tall eucalyptus trees stand sentry on its outer perimeter. The Park is built with funding from the government of the United Arab Emirates and contributions from well-heeled Ethiopians and cost of more than USD 160 million. No tax dollars are used in the project.

When I was growing up, the Palace was a place of mystery and dread, a forbidden city no one could enter or leave without the permission of the old emperors or their modern-day equivalents. I remember walking the outer perimeter of the Palace as a kid with my friends heading towards Arat Kilo always fearful of the mysterious goings on behind the iron wrought gates. I remember the honor guards standing at attention and occasionally scowling at passers-by who misbehaved.

As I think back now, the Grand Palace reminds me of China’s Forbidden City, presently a museum, consisting of a palace complex in Beijing. Like China’s Forbidden City, the Grand Palace has a complex of buildings which served as living quarters to Ethiopian emperors and their  households, provided office space to more recent leaders and also functioned as the ceremonial and political center of Ethiopia’s government.

Until recently, the Palace was a place of intrigue, conspiracies and horrors. It was a place where war and peace plans were drawn, public policies and plans drafted, ideologies argued and fashioned, death warrants signed and even shootouts held Dodge City-style among contending factions. The Palace also had a chamber of horrors where a self-styled gang of military thugs known as “Derg” conducted torture on political opponents and “enemies of the state”.

Watching history in motion in the park

For me, the visit to Unity Park was a whole day affair taking close to 6 hours. One can certainly rush through it in half that time but why? Enjoy the day at the park!

Unity Park is history in motion. I felt like I was walking with history brought back to life. I could feel the presence of those who made history and sense the ghosts of those upon whom history was made. I found myself walking in living history, history changing before my eyes in the renovation of old structures and reclaimed fallow land. Last year, I had seen the virtually dilapidated Palace and neglected grounds. It broke my heart then and today my heart is warmed seeing the place come back to life and radiant.

U.S. Ambassador Michael Raynor correctly described Unity Park as “quite spectacular.”

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni was spot on when he said, Unity Park “brings out the history of Ethiopia.”

I wholeheartedly agree.

Unity Park has several different areas (exhibits) to visit. Entering the grounds from the ticket office, one is greeted by a well-manicured green area with a children’s playground to the side. Wending along the pathway, there is a beautifully arranged  botanical garden of some 46 indigenous Ethiopian plants and herbs. The mixed bouquet from the garden wafts in the air to greet you. To the east, there is a cave made from molded concrete extending for over 170 meters. One can see one black-maned Ethiopian lion and 2 lionesses in the cave through a plate glass in well-kept enclosure protected by redundant safety measures. There is an exhibit of Ethiopian foxes nearby. There is a full-size zoo on the west side of the park that is expected to house over 300 animals when it opens. The Park has full modern veterinary and food preparation facilities.

There is an area on the west side of the park where futuristic regional pavilions are set   symbolizing the nine regions through cultural artifacts.

Unity Park offered me a variety of experiences.

I enjoy historic preservation and environmental conservation, things I have enjoyed doing in the U.S. over the years. I marveled at the restoration done to the Gibir Adarash, the large banquet hall that can accommodate several thousand guests. The leather ties securing the ceiling have been in place for well over one hundred years. Time has done nothing to diminish the beauty of the Gibir Adarash.

As walked through the various buildings in the Palace Complex, I paused to imagine.

Standing in Emperor Menelik II private prayer room, I wondered what he prayed for? Help to unite Ethiopia? Beat back the Italian colonial aggressor?

Standing on the watchtower, I imagined a marching army heading towards the Palace and what defenses could be deployed from the commanding heights of the Palace grounds.

Standing in Emperor Menelik II’s office, I wondered how he interacted with his official guests and ministers. He was known as a great listener and patient man (Emeye Menelik Aba Dagnew) but brooked no nonsense.

Standing in the great Fitawrari Habte-Giorgis Dinegede’s office, the commander-in-chief of the Ethiopian army in 1896 at the Battle of Adwa and Menelik II’s war minister and most trusted advisor, I wondered how the two sat together and drew up battle plans and peace strategies.

Standing outside Queen Taitu Bitul’s bedroom, I wondered how she ran the huge palace household. I pretended to hear her play the begena (an indigenous 10-string instrument), watch her playing chess and listening to her reading poetry. She was known for her artistic inclinations.

Standing the closet size “telephone room”, I wondered how Menelik II kept tabs on his governors throughout out the provinces. I heard the story that some governors would change their residences and relocate to avoid the Emperor keeping tabs on them by calling them on the phone. (They did not want to be tethered to the phone.)

Standing in the Throne House, I imagined Emperor Haile Selassie listening to oral arguments in legal cases and rendering a final decision. I wondered how horrific it must have been for the emperor to be murdered and buried under the office of Mengistu Hailemariam, the bloodthirsty leader of the military Derg. Yes, I imagined how Mengistu sat in his office and signed up death warrants for so many innocent victims.

I imagined Meles Zenawi scheming to maintain his hold on power and devising and refining his divide and rule strategy. I tried to imagine Meles sitting in his office brooding over his next steps against his opponents.

I imagined Hailemariam Desalegn in the Throne House a virtual prisoner of the TPLF. I wondered when he decided “Enough is enough” and bailed out leaving the TPLF holding the empty power bag.

Unity Park is a labor of love

Walking through Unity Park, one sees hundreds of young men and women artisans and laborers working on different projects carving out stones, planting flowers, sculpting felled trees, building structures and so on. There is much to be done. It is worthwhile to pause and watch the young workmen and women doing their craft. There is ample space for period artifacts and relics. The Park management will accept donations of historical items for exhibition.

It is expected up to 1,500 people will visit the park daily. Cost of admission is 200 Br for a regular visit and 1,000 Birr for VIP tickets. Non-national regular and VIP visitors will pay USD 20 and 50, respectively. Admissions revenue will be used exclusively for Park administration, improvements and maintenance.

Ethiopia’s Golden Age

Ancient Greece, modern Europe and America all had their golden ages. They had their time of peace, prosperity, and happiness.

Ethiopia’s Golden Age is upon us.

I might even be tempted to say we are beginning to experience our Age of Aquarius, when we as one Ethiopian nation will take control of our destiny with an expanded consciousness in which we embrace our humanity in our diversity and attain new enlightenment through the revelation of the truth “Love conquers all.”

IT IS OUR TIME NOW TO REVEL IN THE (UNITY) PARK!

The post Unity Park Addis Ababa: The Story of All of Us in the City Upon the Hill appeared first on Ethiopian Registrar: News/Breaking News/Your right to know!.

For sure, the Queen of Corruption of Angola will go down in flame by Luanda leaks but, her western accomplices will continue business as usual, thanks to the willfully ignorant western Media editors  that see no evil in crimes of corruption in no man’s land of Africa where there is no rule for the ruling party elites and their foreign accomplices.

Teshome Debalke
Feb 6, 2020

In the dance of corruption that left many African nations poor for decades ‘it takes two or more to tango’.

In recent France 24 Media debate on ‘what happened to Angola’s missing millions?’ the Consortium of Investigative Journalists through Luanda Leaks unraveled how the daughter of the Former President José Eduardo dos Santos and associates cleaned out the Angolan treasure of the nation with the highest foreign debt of any African nation with the help of western consulting firms.

What made the expose rare was the involvement of the world’s high-profile consultancy powerhouse like Price & Cooper Waterhouse (PCW) and McKinsey & Company among others were helping the Queen of Corruption Angola Isabel Dos DeSoto to launder vast amount of money through the familiar shell companies in the name of ‘wealth optimization’.

The oil and diamond rich nation of Angola where an average citizen lives under two dollars a day income familiar with most African nations being taken to the laundry by the ruling elites is not new. What is new is who are the friends and associates of the Queen of Corruption Isabel Dos DeSoto and her husband Sindika Dokolo and how and where the money went.

The irony Isabel Dos DeSoto is married to the son of a self-made businessman in the Democratic Republic of Congo Augustin Dokolo better known as and the Founder of the Bank of Kinshasa reviles; in the business of cross-border corruption and money laundering it takes two or more to tango and, it happened global consultancy powerhouses are in it big time as suspected.

Dokolo is as corrupt as his wife in his own right. According to BBC’s  Jul 2017 report titled Sindika Dokolo: Husband of Angola’s Isabel dos Santos convicted of fraud,  he said, “the conviction was politically motivated and that he will appeal against the one-year jail term.”

The ruling elites of the Former Portuguese colony of Angola like the elites of the Former African colonies of England, France, Spain, Italy and Belgium all have one thing in common – unholy marriage of corruption with the elites of their Former colonizers’.  But nothing even comes close to the intensity of African elites with their counterpart in their former colonizers England and France in facilitating corruption.

Ironically, Isabel Dos DeSoto’s lame defense for Luanda leaks like her husband was its “politically motivated” — the same old familiar African ruling elites’ lame excuse not to own their corruption in nations where the rule maker, enforcer and breaker are one and the same.

But, the marriage of corruption in Angola according to the Jan 2020 Guardian report titled The Dimond Deal that rocked Angola  involves the Government of Angola owned Banco Bic Angola under Isabella father 40-years reign and a dozen businesses  around the world including, Exem Holding in Switzerland, Melbourne Investments in the Netherlands, Sodiam in Angola, Victoria Holding Limited in Malta, De Grisogono Holding SA in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Hong Kong, UK and Italy. It illustrates how the people of Africa are taken to the laundry by corrupt elites and their partners in crime around the globe.

Sindika Dokolo

Appears to have invested $4m around the time of the purchase of De Grisogono. He says he has invested $115m in total

Government of Angola

Borrowed $147m to finance the purchase and running of De Grisogono. The loans were taken from Banco Bic Angola which is part-owned by Isabel dos Santos

Exem Holding

Switzerland

Melbourne

Investments

Netherlands

Sodiam

Angola

50%

50%

Victoria Holding

Limited

Malta

Victoria

Limited

Malta

De Grisogono

Holding SA

Luxemborg

De Grisogono SA

Switzerland

De Grisogono

Hong Kong

De Grisogono

UK

De Grisogono

Italia

The New York Times Jan 2020 article titled   How U.S. Firms Helped Africa’s Richest Woman Exploit Her Country’s Wealth put it this way;

“Ms. dos Santos, estimated to be worth over $2 billion, claims she is a self-made woman who never benefited from state funds. But a different picture has emerged under media scrutiny in recent years: She took a cut of Angola’s wealth, often through decrees signed by her father. She acquired stakes in the country’s diamond exports, its dominant mobile phone company, two of its banks and its biggest cement maker, and partnered with the state oil giant to buy into Portugal’s largest petroleum company.”

According to the article “some of the world’s leading professional service firms — including the Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & Company and PwC — facilitated her efforts to profit from her country’s wealth while lending their legitimacy.”

In all honesty, the New York Times lame excuse not to find out what is going on when a daughter of the President of Angola flashing $2 billion with her Hollywood friends speaks for itself.

But, it should remind us the corrupt ruling elites of Ethiopia that employ the same excuses to undermine the new Prime Minster reform effort as Isabel Dos DeSoto and her husband expected to do in the coming days against their new reformist President Joao Lourenco Angola by employing the same embezzled money to cause more havoc than they already did on the people.

Ironically, Ethiopians don’t have the opportunity of the Consortium of investigative Journalists to find the ‘Mekele Leaks’ that would unravel the extent of Corruption led by the Queen of Corruption Azeb Mesfin.

Mesfin, the wife of the ruling member party TPLF late Chairman and PM of Ethiopia Melse Zenawi and associates’ center of intricate money laundering are believed to be primarily Rome, London, Dubai, Brussels, New York and Hong Kong.

Therefore, Ethiopians must rely on their own to find out who embezzled the billions of dollars from public treasury and where the money stashed.

The Consortium of Investigative Journalists analyzing Luanda Leaks gave a hint on the complex money laundering scheme of modern times involves high-powered consultancy firms employed by the ruling elites in the name of investment and ‘wealth optimization’.

The most visible consultancy firm doing the bidding of the ruling member party led by TPLF in the last two decades was Ernest Young (EY) of London led by its infamous Former East African Managing Partner Zemdenhe Negatu based in Addis Ababa before he closed operation and reemerged as Global Chairman of Fairfax African Fund based in McClain, Virginia.

The ‘24 million Birr’ a year EY ‘consultant’ of the nation’s flagship Airlines was a celebrated expert in advising investors in ‘wealth optimization’ before he moved on to become a private equity fund manager of his own and undisclosed associates’ wealth optimization in Africa.

Unfortunately, to this day, no one knows who authorized his fee and what role he played worth the money he was paid out of the public coffer from one of the poorest nations in the world that still depends on foreign aid.

The London based New African Magazine in 2013 put him as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans as;

“Anyone who has done business in Ethiopia will have come across Zemedeneh Negatu, founder and managing partner of Ernst & Young in Ethiopia. Recently his firm has been responsible for many of the country’s major deals, including British alcoholic beverages company Diageo’s purchase of a local brewery. A true global citizen, having lived and worked extensively in North and Latin America as well as Saudi Arabia, Zem, as he is affectionately known, is often the spokesperson for the private sector at the country’s official international roadshows. He is part of a select group of business leaders who senior members of government consult during their strategy meeting retreats.”

Ironically, Isabel dos Santos of Angola is also included in the list as;

“Businesswoman and daughter to the president of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, is worth an estimated $3 billion. With businesses in key sectors such as mining, telecoms, retail and oil, Dos Santos is the youngest female billionaire in Africa. She insists her business dealings are independent of her father, attributing her success to hard work. Those close to her insist she’s as bright and as tough as they come. With an engineering degree from King’s College in London, she shuns the limelight. Married to Congolese art collector Sindika Dokolo, and with her growing business interests, this is a couple we will see much more of in the coming years”

At the meantime, the new high-profile consultancy employed by the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation’s financed Agriculture Transformation Agency led by the CEO Bomba happen to be the same McKinsey & Company implicated in Luanda Leaks for its money laundering operation of the Queen of Corruption of Angola and her associates. The same firm according to CNN was in hot seat in 2017 0n its South Africa operation.

In an article titled Meet the Ethiopian American Economic Hitman from Wall Street to Poverty Street in the no man’s land that explore corruption in Ethiopia we identify;

“McKinsey & Company’s Sara Boettger is a ‘Senior Adviser for Agriculture Transformation Agency of Ethiopia’ led by Khalid Bambo, the Former Morgen Stanley sovereign fund manager and one of the Gate Foundation’s point man turn CEO of the Ethiopian Agriculture Transformation Agency.

And quoted John Perkins, the former economic hitman and the author of the Confession of an Economic hitman (2004) and the New Confession of the Economic hitman (2016).” Stating;

“I thought about the core tools we EHMs used in my day: false economics that included distorted financial analyses, inflated projections, and rigged accounting books; secrecy, deception, threats, bribes, and extortion; false promises that we never intended to honor; and enslavement through debt and fear. These same tools are used today. Now, as then, many elements are present in each “hit,” although that likely is evident only to someone willing to delve deeply into the story behind the story. Now, as then, the glue that holds all of this together is the belief that any means are justified to achieve the desired ends.”

The article also quoted the Executive Director of Oxfam International Winnie Byanyima August 2016 article titled A powerful and corrupt elite is robbing Africa of its riches stating;

“This is wrong. We must examine the root causes and do something to weed them out. As the Panama Papers show, so much of the tax avoidance or criminal movement of finance on the continent is made possible by a system propped up by a number of banks, law firms and other outfits based outside of Africa, working in collusion with African economic and political elites. It is a system designed in the Global North that helps Africa’s few wealthy and powerful elites to cheat the rest of us.”

Unfortunately, the non-for-profit sector is not immune in the name philanthropic advisory service either.

A good example is Synergos Consulting Service that pride itself as “a global nonprofit organization that brings people together to solve complex problems of poverty” and claim to provide “the social purpose advisory service within Synergos. We help clients generate sustainable economic and social value through their philanthropic efforts, core businesses, and CSR”.

The list of corporate foundations Synergos offers advisory service in what it refers as “to solve complex problems of poverty” are the same corporations accused of unethical business practices with the regime of poor countries in the name of helping.

Take Agriculture – Government & Global Foundation service of Synergos’ in what it refers as “supporting the Gates Foundation, the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), and the Ministry of Agriculture to strengthen commodity value chains and the institutions required to unlock the country’s huge agricultural potential. Synergos has established clusters of farmers to scale best practices with barley, tef, sorghum, wheat, and maize.”

The lists of projects and institutions the Gates Foundation funds  including Synergos and the people behind the institutions should give readers a pause and ask; is poverty that complex requiring foreign funding and advisory service than fighting corruption and mismanagement of resources that requires transparency and accountability of the same institution?

Apparently, according to Synergos, Abera Tola Gada is its “Regional Director, based in Ethiopia, leading our efforts in that country to help increase the food security and incomes of smallholder farmers and their families, bolstering the national economy”. He is also referred as Synergos Senior Fellow.

What stood out about Abera’s extensive experience outlined by Synergos Consulting Service is he started “as senior program officer for the Inter-Africa Group, a regional NGO dedicated to peace and development in the African continent”. Unfortunately, what Synergos Consulting Service didn’t tell us, Inter-Africa Group was established in 1989 by Abdul Mohammed, a notorious operative of Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) that moved to Addis Ababa with TPLF that took power from the Military regime of Derg in 1991. No one knows how Inter-Africa Group ended up to be “a regional NGO dedicated to peace and development of the region”  when in reality it is TPLF front that started in the diaspora in 1989 in London  and moved its headquarter to Addis Ababa in 1991 and became the ruling member party that implemented apartheid rule to instigate ethnic conflict within Ethiopia and beyond as witnessed in real time.

Inter-Africa Group’s “longstanding Experience and Commendable Track Record Since 1989” outlined on its own official website speaks; who-is-who and what Inter-Africa Group did or not in the last three decades. The low- profile Abdul Mohammed that masterminded the whole thing remained as Chair of Inter-African Group three decades later and speaks volume; IAG is not “dedicated to peace and development of the region” as it claims but quite the opposite.

But, how Abera Tola Gada that started as senior program officer for the Inter-Africa Group ended up to be a Regional Director of Synergos Consulting Service is only known to the mastermind Abdul Mohammed and associates that started the whole scheme on behalf of their enablers.

Regrettably, noting seems to get in the head of the elites of the so-called mainstream western Media journalists in abandoning their profession either.

Take for instant the latest Bloomberg Businessweek News by John Bowker titled Ethiopia Pushes Privatization to give the Economy a Sugar Rush.

What stood out in the Bowke’s article among many is the collaborators of the article are the same willfully ignorant journalists Nazar Manek, Samuel Gebru, Elen Proper, and Bella Genga of Bloomberg News  who, according to the article “adds greater detail on privatization plans in 5^th and 7^th paragraph”.

The self-described “Africa Business News editor at Bloomberg” based in Johannesburg according to his twitter profile (https://twitter.com/JohnHBowker) with four of his subordinates appears lost in the jungle of corruption and ended up picking and choosing talking points of the usual interest groups paragraph at a time in direct violation their profession that is visible for trained eyes. He and his subordinate are good cases for Consortium of Investigative Journalists to investigate corruption in the profession of journalism.

The fact, Bloomberg Company LinkedIn Profile shows Bowker started as a UK correspondent for ‘Transport/Defense’ for Thomson Reuters from Apr 2008 – Oct 2009 (1 year 7 months) and moved on as ‘Russian Companies Correspondent’ for Reuters  from  Oct 2009 – Nov 2012 (3 years 2 months) to end up as Business News Editor of Africa from Mar 2013 – Present (6 years 11 months) from Johannesburg, South Africa claiming; “I am responsible for business news coverage in sub-Saharan Africa” encapsulate; how low regard mainstream western Medias across the board have for the African affairs.

To begin with, how an English/Medieval History graduate from the University of St Andrews of Scotland ended up to be a business correspondence for two of the top Media outlets in the world is one thing but, the fact no one including his own Bloomberg subordinates in Ethiopia and Kenya won’t factchecks him when he makes mockery of reporting  on Ethiopia from South Africa shows; mainstream journalists covering African are going amok.

He wrote;

“Ethiopia is among Africa’s most dynamic economies, averaging annual growth of almost 10% for the past decade. Yet the country remains one of the most state-controlled on the continent, a legacy of the Marxist-Leninist Derg regime that ruled from the 1974 coup that deposed Emperor Haile Selassie until a return to democracy in 1991. “The private sector is not playing its natural role,” says Eyob Tekalign, a former diplomat and private equity executive hired by Abiy as state minister for finance. “Our growth had shortcomings in terms of quality, job creation, inclusivity, and benefiting the poor”

In just one paragraph of his article alone he botched the historical reality, fabricated facts, redefined democracy and skipped the reality of what happened from 1991 (“a return to democracy” to 2018 (the new PM emerged by popular revolution) under an ethnic apartheid rule of Ethiopia led by Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) that is causing havoc on the reform effort of the new PM Abiy.  By doing so, he not only accused Prime Minster Abiy government’s State Minster and Minster of Finance Eyob Tekalign is not a government official but a hired hand but, contrary to his official profile he was a former diplomat.

There is no official record Eyob Tekalign being a diplomat of any kind at any time nor, he claimed to be one on his own public profile.

Moreover, according to the esteemed Bloomberg Africa Business News Editor and his subordinates in Africa, factchecking appears to be too inconvenient for the narrative they put out. Nazar Manek in Addis Ababa and Samuel Gebru  in Nairobi are prime example of willfully ignorant Bloomberg correspondents feeding their clueless African Editor in Johannesburg to make a fool of himself reporting fairytales.

The Angola case is illustrates better how mainstem western Medias remained PR tools for interest groups for four decades until Luanda Leaks blew the lid open; the Queen of Corruption of Angola Isabel Dos DeSoto known as the richest women in Africa has partners in her corruption scheme as far as Hollywood, Wall Street and in western capitals.

No wonder mainstream Medias see no evil what was the obvious not to rattle her accomplices in western nations in the commission of her crimes in the no-man’s land of Africa. After all, it takes at least two to tango in dance of corruption of African oligarchs and, the criminal code stipulates; the accomplices in a commission of crime are equally liable as the principal. Yet, mainstream Medias put out propaganda as news in no see evil of corruption of the accomplices.

For sure, the Queen of Corruption of Angola is go down in flame alone by Luanda leaks but, her western accomplices will continue business as usual, thanks to the willfully ignorant western Media editors  that see no evil in crimes of corruption in no man’s land of Africa where there is no rule for the ruling party elites’ and their foreign accomplices.

Isn’t that what made Africa a risk-free heaven for willfully corrupt offshore investors no one seems to investigate?

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Tedla Asfaw

According to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the abductors of 17 Dembi Dolo Univesity students in the Oromo Region are unknown because no one claims the abduction.

Almost two months ago these students were abducted by Qeero, Oromo youth, according to the student who escaped the kidnappers.

The kidnapped girls used to call their parents for two weeks before nothing heard of them again.

We heard also from Oromo Kilil officials that the OLF Kidnapped them even if the leader claims that he has nothing to do with them and blames the government to disguise its own military activity against them.

The Primeminister assertion in the parliament today that the army did not find any evidence of the whereabouts of these girls without elaborating the surrounding behind the kidnapping is problematic.

The area is a “military conflict zone” all

communications cut off for more than two months now.

There was no single bullet fired in this area before Abiy Ahmed comes to power. Why now ??

 The Ogaden that was a battleground for 28 yrs is now peaceful compared to this part of the Oromo Region. Here we go, the birth of a New Fighting Force in the Oromo Region?

The Oromo Regional military structure and the rebel structure are not separated. All the kidnapping is part of the ongoing ethnic cleansing “Ethiopia Out Of Oromia, Oromo First “which is the rallying cry of those in the bushes and the so-called peaceful Oromo parties campaigning for election 2020 in coming August.

Before few days of the kidnapping, Bekele Gerba called for all Oromo Students to leave Amhara Kilil and come home.

The Qerros answered his call by kidnapping students. Since the kidnapping, Bekele, Jawar, and Merara among many went silent about the kidnapped students.

These same people were the first to point fingers to Amhara Region for any incident. Their silence is a clue for who the kidnappers are ??

The kidnappers are not as sophisticated as Al Shabab and Boku Haram because they have zero experience on the battlefield.

This is just to boost their stand as a new fighting force without facing any battle.

We know who the kidnappers are, they are Oromo First, posturing themselves as a new force for the future Oromo Republic. By-election or kidnapping !!!!

 

 

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CAIRO – 3 February 2020: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy ِAhmed stated that since the involvement of the US Department of Treasury and the World Bank in the tripartite negotiations between Egypt, Egypt and Sudan over the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the issues of disagreement between the three countries seem to be resolved.

“Since the involvement of the observers, it is encouraging that we [Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt] seem to get close to obtaining solutions to the issues that used to take extended time,” he was quoted as saying by the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) when he gave a speech at a hearing session by the Ethiopian parliament on Monday.

Ahmed added that his country will never sign an agreement that harms his country’s national interests or any Nile downstream countries.

In a tour he made in the site of the dam construction on the Blue Nile River, Ahmed praised the progress of the dam construction.

Abiy Ahmed Ali @AbiyAhmedAli

In one year, key progress has been made in building the early power generation waterways hydro mechanical and electromechanical works which had been stalled for some time, thereby severely hampering set completion times of the Grand Renaissance Dam.1/2

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2:11 AM – Feb 1, 2020

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After a four-day negotiation in Washington D.C on January 28-31, the three countries reached an agreement on only three points of contention regarding the construction of the controversial dam.

They agreed on a schedule that includes a plan for filling Dam in stages, and on mechanisms for dealing with droughts, prolonged droughts, and years of water scarcity during the process of filling the dam, and during the dam operation.

The US drafted a document of agreement regarding the three above-mentioned points and was unilaterally signed by Egypt.

The disagreement between the three states dates back to May 2011 when Ethiopia started building the dam; Cairo has voiced its concerns that building the dam could harm its 55.5 billion cubic meters share as 80 percent of Egypt’s share comes from the Blue Nile and Ethiopian Heights, while Ethiopia says it is necessary for its development and electricity production. However, the three countries reached an initial deal in 2015, announcing the “Declaration of Principle,” per which the dam should cause any harm to the Nile downstream countries.

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Egypt Reaction to the Construction of Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)

By Ermias Hailu
Date February 07, 2020

Egypt has been “the behind the curtain” organizer, financier, and leader of the instabilities Ethiopia has been experiencing during the last ten years. Egypt has developed and implemented a “Grand Ethiopian Destabilization Strategy” to destabilize Ethiopia. The strategy was developed after a careful study and analysis of the internal weaknesses of Ethiopia, such as the fluid nature of EPRDF, growing dissatisfaction of the Ethiopian people on EPRDF governance, historic and current rivalry within different ethnic and religious groups, weaknesses of the current federal structure and economic disparity and poverty. Egypt’s destabilization strategy has been implemented by involving various foot soldiers such as President Isaias of Eritrea, Dr. Berhanu Nega of Ginbot 7, Ato Daud Ibsa of OLF and so many underground agents with full involvement of various media outlets such as ESAT. The Egyptian intelligence has recruited many Ethiopian agents sold out for money and their political ambitions and these agents have been working 24/7 hand in hand with Egypt and Eritrea in spying and destabilization of Ethiopia (Please refer to Prophet Daniel book detailed below for details).

The central focus of Egypt’s destabilization strategy has been to weaken EPRDF by eliminating its leadership and dividing the Ethiopian people by demonizing the TPLF and the Tigrayan people which they have been able to implement it effectively. According to Prophet Daniel Abera’s book titled “When the Real World is Revealed” dated September 2014, PM Meles was killed by a “radioactive material exposure” that was planned and executed by the Egyptian’s intelligence.

The destabilization strategy of Egypt has the following goals:
Weaken the EPRDF government and install Egypt friendly government in Ethiopia that will sign a binding water share agreement that protects so called “historical share “of Egypt (an agreement between Sudan and Egypt in 1959 with the then Egypt installed President of Sudan, Gen. Ibrahim Abboud, allocated 78% of the Nile water by volume to Egypt). If this goal is achieved, Egypt will allow the completion of GERD as it will benefit Egypt as “free of charge” reservoir.

In case Egypt fails to install a friendly government, it will continue to destabilize and weaken Ethiopia including its defense force and destroy the GERD prior to its completion.
Where does Egypt stand regarding realization of its goals?
Ethiopia is currently not stable and undergoing political transition.
Even though Egypt has a very high hope that you will be easily manipulated to sign a water share agreement that benefits Egypt, it could not succeed so far except the verbal commitment you gave to President Sisi in Cairo on July 11, 2018.
However, Egypt is currently pressurizing Ethiopia through USA and World Bank to agree on the dam filling and operation agreement that could jeopardize its sovereignty over the GERD and the Abay river. It has been recently reported in the media that Ethiopia is ready to sign the agreement soon.

According to Joint Statement of Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, the United States and the World Bank dated January 31, 2020 the negotiating parties have agreed on the following issues and will prepare all agreements for signature by the end of February 2020:

A schedule for a stage-based filling plan of the GERD;

A mitigation mechanism for the filling of the GERD during drought, prolonged drought, and prolonged periods of dry years; and A mitigation mechanism for the annual and long-term operation of the GERD in drought, prolonged drought, and prolonged periods of dry years.

From the limited information available in the media, it looks the understandings reached on issues item 1and 2 above may not pose major risks on Ethiopia. However, on the issue related to item 3 above, it looks the terms “drought, prolonged drought and prolonged period of dry years” are included to prevent Ethiopia from using its water by putting extended, unmeasurable and subjective conditions. Since any drought on Egypt or Sudan is caused by shortage of rain in Ethiopia, the risk of drought affects Ethiopia one year ahead of Egypt and Sudan. Considering the fact that Egypt has been mitigating this risk for generations using the Aswan dam, it is unreasonable for Egypt to ask for additional security to mitigate this risk using the water stored in GERD while Ethiopia is already exposed to the same drought related risk which has higher impact on Ethiopia’s rain fed subsistence farming. Ethiopia has the sovereign right on its water and should give priority to its people and use the water stored in the GERD as a risk mitigation to avoid famine. In case Ethiopia decides to share part of the GERD stored water during drought period to Sudan and Egypt, it must be purely at the discretion of Ethiopia and there should be a financial compensation to that effect from Sudan and Egypt. There should be also obligatory conditions specified on Egypt and Sudan to use the water from the Nile in an efficient and effective manner and with out taking the water from its natural course. It is a known fact that Egypt has built secret canals that takes the Nile water to Sini desert and elsewhere in violation of international regulations.

Any commitment from Ethiopia to guarantee minimum annual volume flow from GERD, as part of the dam operating agreement, will be taken as the minimum amount that Ethiopia has to give-in as a share to both Egypt and Sudan and care must be taken not to commit any amount until agreed by a “water share agreement” that will be negotiated and agreed in the future. Based on the information from media Ethiopia has agreed 37.5 billion Cubic Meter annual flow the minimum annual flow to trigger drought conditions, considering the average total Abay river volume flow per year is 49 billion cubic meters, Ethiopia is guaranteeing minimum 76.5% of the average annual flow to Egypt and Sudan. With out any doubt Egypt and Sudan will use the minimum guaranteed amount as the minimum base line during upcoming water share agreements negotiation. However, with this guarantee Egypt has already secured its share and it will not have any interest to negotiate water share agreement in the future.

Furthermore, any agreement signed with Egypt and Sudan must be conditional to both countries committing that they will not be directly or indirectly involved on any activity that destabilizes or harms the interests of Ethiopia such as security, economy and political interests. How can you be sure that Egypt will stop sabotaging Ethiopia after the signature of the agreement under negotiation?

This is, therefore, to appeal to you that the following are considered to protect Ethiopia’s water sovereignty and interest:
The drought related risk mitigation requested by Egypt as part of the long-term operation of the dam should not be accepted by Ethiopia for the reasons stated above.

The water share agreement that protects Egypt’s so called “historical rights” looks to me that it is already indirectly incorporated in the risk mitigation minimum trigger condition related to the agreed 37.5 billion cubic meters. This will give the lion share of the annual volume flow of the Abay river to Egypt without win-win arrangement and benefit to Ethiopia.

God bless Dr. Abiy and Mother Ethiopia!

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Maaza Mengiste’s novels reject grand narratives, instead offering uncommonly intimate glimpses of what it was like to live through the century of war and dictatorship that created today’s Ethiopian diaspora.\

ADOM GETACHEW

Absent the neat divisions of ideology, Mengiste refuses moralization and captures the daily accrued trauma of living through war.

The revolution and its aftermath continue, in Marx’s words, to “weigh like a nightmare on the brains of the living,” rendering it both ever-present and unspeakable. Within families, questions about the revolution and the Red Terror often illicit no more than elliptical memories and illusive fragments. One tries to reconstruct from these a narrative of what it was like to live through, but the plot slips away.

For many Ethiopian Americans like myself, born in the last years of the Derg, Maaza Mengiste’s debut novel Beneath the Lion’s Gaze (2010) provided a narrative of the experience of the revolution that we had been seeking and never finding. As such, it was, at least for us, a kind of instant classic.

Mengiste’s family fled during the 1970s when she was just four and, like many in the diaspora, the author felt haunted by the revolution. In her novel, she stages the drama of it by focusing on a single family’s intergenerational struggle between a father, Dr. Hailu, and his sons Yonas and Dawit. Eschewing grand narratives, the revolution is shown playing out in the intimate sphere, pitting parents against children, dividing brothers, and sundering comrades. Absent the neat divisions of ideology, Mengiste refuses moralization and captures the daily accrued trauma of those years.

Mengiste’s recently published second novel, The Shadow King, offers a kind of prehistory to her first novel. Though it opens in 1974, most of its action occurs four decades earlier, when Ethiopia was occupied by Italy (1935–41). Set during this earlier moment, The Shadow King reassembles the story of national triumph over colonial conquest to pose the problem of history and memory anew.

When we first meet the novel’s protagonist, Hirut, it is 1974 and she is waiting in Addis Ababa’s train station amidst revolutionary uproar. She has come to return a box of letters and photographs to Ettore Navarra, a Jewish Italian soldier she encountered in the 1930s, when she and an unnamed cook (unnamed because she refuses to reveal her name) were servants in the home of Kidane, a nobleman, and his wife Aster. As the story moves into that era, we learn that even before the official outbreak of the invasion, war pervaded the home. The characters are suspended in tense relationships of jealousy, resentment, and suspicion. The cook secretes flyers dropped by the Italians which promise freedom from feudal servitude to anyone who joins the Italian side. Hirut’s prize possession, the gun her father used in the first Italo-Ethiopian War, is taken from her by Kidane, who is stockpiling weapons in anticipation of what’s to come. In retaliation, Hirut begins stealing from Kidane and Aster, amassing small objects which she buries in a hole by the stables. When Aster finds out, she beats Hirut mercilessly.

One strategy Mengiste uses to disrupt narrative patness is to set some chapters in the voice of a chorus. Following Hirut’s beating, for example, the Chorus supplies the episode with a violent prehistory by telling us that Aster was raped by her husband on their wedding night. In this and other scenes, the chorus illuminates how the brutality and violence of war are not only visited on Ethiopia from without but are also produced in the hierarchies of gender and class intrinsic to the imperial and feudal state.

Questions about the revolution often illicit no more than illusive fragments. One tries to reconstruct from these a narrative of what it was like to live through, but the plot slips away.

The novel’s chorus obviously owes a debt to Greek tragedy, and the novel is replete with references to the genre, opening with epigraphs from both The Illiad and Agamemnon. But in addition, Mengiste’s chorus embodies the Ethiopian tradition of the azmariwoch. According to literary scholar Dagmawi Woubshet, the azmariwoch are “itinerant . . . troubadours,” always at the margins of the social order but staples of social life; they roam the country entertaining large gatherings and performing at tej-bet, saloons that serve honey wine. Their simultaneous marginality and itineracy position them as astute commentators on Ethiopian life, “articulating the censored, demystifying the taboo, resisting easy consolations.” Like the azmariwoch, Mengiste’s chorus is a roving lyrical narrator who punctures the narrative with scenes from the past, overhears intimate exchanges, suggests alternative interpretations, and, above all, carries the burden of collective memory. “Sing,” the chorus demands. “Sing of one woman and one thousand, of those multitudes,” forgotten and unnamed.

The chorus’s interruptions sit alongside other digressions. Returning to a narrative strategy used in Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, some chapters are interludes about Emperor Haile Selassie, humanizing this larger-than-life persona who cast such a long shadow over twentieth-century Ethiopian history. Mengiste also offers brief histories of two minor characters, Jacques Corat, a Frenchman who sells arms to Kidane, and Leonard Navarra, Ettore’s father whose traumatic past becomes an avenue to explore the entangled histories of anti-Semitism and imperialism.

Mengiste’s fragmentary and punctuated narration prevents the book from being read as a heroic romance of Ethiopian resistance. In this way, Mengiste resists two opposing temptations. First, she refuses to offer a grand epic as replacement for the longstanding global ignorance about the fact that the first battle against European fascism was staged not in Europe but in Ethiopia. Second, she pushes back on a Pan-African tradition that has canonized Ethiopia’s exceptionalism as one of only two African country not colonized by Europe (Liberia being the other). For members of the African diaspora, Ethiopia grounded a vision of black emancipation, a fulfillment of the biblical prophecy that “Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.” But Ethiopian exceptionalism was put to work within Ethiopia, as well, as art historian Elizabeth Giorgis has argued, mobilized in the project of “reworking, replaying, and restaging [imperial] power.” It was directed at stabilizing an internally fractured society and grounded projects of modernization and centralization from the late nineteenth century to the postwar period.

The Shadow King takes aim at this nationalist, patriarchal script of Ethiopian resistance in several respects. Most importantly, it emphasizes the role of women in combat. As Kidane prepares his men for war, Aster insists on doing her part and organizes the women—the wives, daughters, and servants of the men—to serve in the war effort. At first they are allowed only grunt work. But soon Aster is leading the women into battlefields alongside the men. Soon, Hirut becomes the hero of the resistance when she recognizes an uncanny resemblance between a peasant musician, Minim, and Haile Selassie, who has gone into exile in England and left the country leaderless and demoralized. Together, Hirut and Minim invent the novel’s titular shadow king: sightings of this shadow emperor spark rumors that he has not abandoned his people, enlivening Ethiopians and confusing the Italians. Through appeals to a supposed Solomonic lineage, the real Haile Selassie sought to canonize himself as a kind of god-king, and as such his body was always highly staged, a screen onto which was projected competing desires and aspirations for the modern state of Ethiopia. The Shadow King disentangles these two kings, the real and the mythic, offering short interludes of Haile Selassie in England paralyzed by inaction while Minim and Hirut’s shadow king participates in the myth-making that is central to war.

In the African diaspora, Ethiopia grounded a vision of black emancipation, a fulfillment of the biblical prophecy that ‘Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.’

Through Ettore’s photographs, The Shadow King also explores themes of how the outside world has depicted Ethiopia. Photography first arrived in Ethiopia with another imperial venture—the 1868 British military expedition—and images of Ethiopian “barbarism” would be key to Italy’s case for war. Ettore, whose nickname is Foto, has been charged by the Italian military with capturing Italy’s triumph. Describing Ettore’s photo of a hanged prisoner, Mengiste writes, “What is plain to see: a neck arching horribly, the spine distended, a mother’s son pinned against a ripe afternoon sky.” Looking closely, we “also see him, too, at the edge of the frame, the taker of this photograph, the thief of this moment, there he is, almost out of view, made visible in the show stretching toward the elevated feet.” Rather than an absent, anonymous onlooker, Ettore is cast into the photograph. An image meant to glorify Italian conquest simultaneously indicts the photographer.

Ettore is, however, also a tragic figure, a man conscripted to an imperial war by a country that refuses to acknowledge him as a citizen. As he shoots images of the conquered, he hears word that Mussolini’s government is restricting Jewish freedom of movement and removing Jews from university positions.

As in her first novel, Mengiste generously humanizes all her characters. Each one is given a back story, a way of understanding the wounded pasts that have culminated in this particular drama. But to eschew straightforward binaries of good and evil is not to evade indictment or forgo the burden of responsibility. When, at the end of novel, Ettore finally appears at the train station to collect his box of photographs and letters, Hirut can see “he expects pity.” “I’m sorry,” he musters, “as if that is an apology, as if those are words strong enough to pull the ripped seams of her together and hold her intact.” She does not accept. “Go away,” she demands. “Leave my country now. . . . You’re not welcome in this place.”

She had come to the train station not because Ettore had a right to his belongings. Instead, she hopes that returning the photos will work as a kind of exorcism: “to rid herself of the horror that staggers back unbidden . . . to give up the ghosts and drive them away.” How to be free of the ghosts that haunt, yet remember the past? How to acknowledge the presence of the past without being imprisoned? These are not quandaries specific to Ethiopia, but they ring loudly and insistently throughout the country’s twentieth-century history. They remain questions for contemporary Ethiopia, which is once again in the ferment of crisis and possible transformation.

While we have you…

…we need your help. While reading The Private History of Ethiopia’s Wars by Adom Getachew, you might have noticed the absence of paywalls at Boston Review. We are committed to staying free for all our readers. Now we are going one step further to become completely ad-free. This means you will always be able to read us without roadblocks or barriers to entry. It also means that we count on you, our readers, for support. If you like what you read here, help us keep it free for everyone by making a donation. No amount is too small. You will be helping us cultivate a public sphere that honors pluralism of thought for a diverse and discerning public.

Maaza Mengiste is a novelist and essayist. She is the author of the forthcoming novel (September 24, 2019), The Shadow King, called “a brilliant novel…compulsively readable” by Salman Rushdie. Her debut novel, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, was selected by The Guardian as one of the 10 best contemporary African books and named one of the best books of 2010 by Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, and other publications. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Fulbright Scholar Program, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Creative Capital. Her work can be found in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Granta, The Guardian, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and BBC, among other places. Maaza’s fiction and nonfiction examines the individual lives at stake during migration, war, and exile, and considers the intersections of photography, memory, and violence. She was a writer on the documentary projects, GIRL RISING and THE INVISIBLE CITY: KAKUMA.

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By Lily Lee and Joshua Berlinger, CNN

The US Embassy in Beijing confirmed a 60-year-old American national had died on Thursday at the Jinyintian Hospital in Wuhan, while the Chinese government offered condolences for the death of “a Chinese-American.”

Three stuck ships

Thousands of people are trapped on three cruise liners in Asia due to fears surrounding coronavirus among their passengers.

A ship in Japan, the Diamond Princess, and another in Hong Kong, the World Dream, have both been quarantined after it emerged they had hosted infected passengers.

A third ship, the Westerdam, has been turned away from various ports due to fears that there may be coronavirus cases on board. There is no suggestion that any passengers, current or former, have been infected.

US coronavirus patient on quarantined ship speaks to CNN 02:36

Sixty-four passengers from the Diamond Princess have tested positive for the virus and been taken ashore for isolation and treatment, Japanese authorities said. About 2,600 guests and more than 1,000 crew are on board, including hundreds of Americans. They will likely stay in quarantine until February 19.

A CNN reporter in Yokohama near the Diamond Princess overheard the captain announcing a plan to improve conditions aboard the ship, including medical supplies, better internet signal and a hotline for people to call for emotional support.

The Japanese military would carry out a transfer of test results and medicine into the cruise ship to top up people’s prescriptions, he said.

He also said he appreciated letters of support from people on board, and read out the phone number for the emotional support hotline.

He said the cruise ship was due to arrive in Yokohama Port at 9 a.m. on Sunday and that extra medical staff would come on board to help with prescriptions and tests. He said he would allow guests to get out onto the deck again on Sunday.

Passengers had told CNN earlier that they were being confined to their cabins, except for around one hour a day where they could leave their rooms under supervision.

Governments worldwide appear to be exercising caution in stemming the spread of the virus, issuing various levels of travel warnings for travel to China and increasing screenings of arrivals from the country. Several major airlines have canceled or scaled back flights to and from mainland China.

A doctor is mourned

Many in China are still mourning the death of Li Wenliang, who was one of the first people to sound the alarm over the coronavirus.

A photo of the late ophthalmologist Li Wenliang is seen with flower bouquets at the Houhu Branch of Wuhan Central Hospital in Wuhan on Friday.

Li, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist from Wuhan, was widely hailed as a hero after it emerged he was targeted by police for spreading “rumors” about the virus, when he was, in fact, trying to raise the alarm.

After contracting the virus, Li’s condition worsened in the early hours of Friday morning and he died. The outpouring of grief and anger on Chinese social media platforms was immediate — and almost unprecedented. The anguish was made worse by initial confusion as state media first published then retracted reports of his death, leading to allegations they were trying to cover it up or control the story.

“I knew you would post this in the middle of the night,” read one popular post on Weibo, one of China’s largest social media platforms. “You think we’ve all gone to sleep? No. We haven’t.”

The topics “Wuhan government owes Dr. Li Wenliang an apology,” and “We want freedom of speech,” soon began to trend on China’s Twitter-like platform, Weibo. Each gained tens of thousands of views before disappearing from the heavily censored platform.

Another topic, called “I want freedom of speech,” had drawn 1.8 million views as of 5 a.m. Friday morning local time (4 p.m. ET Thursday).

As the grief and rage poured out, those in charge of China’s vast censorship apparatus, the Great Firewall, seemed at a loss over what to do. Topics relating to censorship itself, usually absolutely verboten, trended for several hours before being deleted, rare evidence of indecision and confusion.

On Friday, China’s National Supervisory Commission, the country’s top anti-corruption agency, announced in a statement that it would send a team to Wuhan to investigate Li’s death, “in response to issues raised by the masses.”

The short statement did not elaborate on the nature of the “issues” raised.

CNN’s Lily Lee reported from Beijing and Joshua Berlinger reported from Hong Kong. Chermaine Lee, Ben Westcott, James Griffiths, Sandi Sidhu and Angela Dewan contributed reporting

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PRESS RELEASE ON GERD TALKS

Ethiopiawinnet expresses its appreciation for the peaceful initiative and efforts taken by the tripartite countries (Ethiopia, Egypt and the Sudan) and the observer role played by the US, IMF and the World Bank to help expedite negotiations to resolve issues regarding the GERD and the ultimate utilization of the Nile River resources in a mutually beneficial and equitable manner. It is, however, incumbent upon us as concerned citizens, as we express our optimism of the positive outcome of these negotiations to underline the need for ensuring that Ethiopia’s basic rights for the use of Nile waters are also duly respected and protected.

Among the concerns that have been noted by Ethiopiawinnet as serious challenges in these negotiations under the current circumstances, mention should be made of the following:

• Rushed Negotiations: Given Ethiopia’s good faith agreement with its’ tripartite partners

(Egypt and the Sudan) for equitable and mutually beneficial use of the Nile waters, and it’s acceptance of observing partners (US, IMF and the World Bank), these negotiations are taking place in a very rushed pace, not taking into considerations the findings of the joint GERD technical team, and considerations of affording adequate time for the parties to inform & discuss with their public and respective parliaments.

• Lopsided ‘Equitable’ Use of Nile Water in These Negotiations: – The UN water and watercourse convention has put in place the principles of Equitable and Reasonable Utilization of the Nile waters https://www.unwatercoursesconvention.org/documents/UNWC-Fact-Sheet-4-Equitable-and-Reasonable-Utilisation.pdf to conclude a durable agreement in such negotiations. It appears in these rushed and politicized negotiations, the question of Ethiopia’s sovereign right for equitable use of the Nile Waters is taken for granted to placate Egypt and sideline weak Ethiopia to accept these terms. Additionally, an agreement of such magnitude should take into consideration the interests of the current and coming generations. Disputes on Nile River should therefore be carefully mediated in a way not to compromise the rights of future generations living in the basin.

It is obvious that an attempt is being made by Egypt and its supporters to demand an undiminished water supply by Ethiopia without taking into account the fact that Ethiopia has the sovereign right and need to utilize its natural water resources for its current population of over 110 million which is expected to increase to 172 million by 2050.

• Politicization of GERD discussions: The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) to establish legal frameworks and institutions by the upper and lower riparian states, based on internationally accepted norms, has been challenged by Egypt repeatedly, due to its

unfortunate politicization and securitization of the river shared by 11 riparian countries. The Nile question would have been answered on its entirety had all basin countries committed to the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA). Egypt chose not to cooperate. This is unprecedented in any water treaty negotiations anywhere in the world. The following are additional reasons that hamper Nile negotiations:

3.1 Egypt is oddly insisting that the 1929 and 1959 colonial era agreements as a basis for negotiations. Utilization of these Nile treaties have no bearing on Ethiopia as it did not participate in the determination of the legal instruments.

3.2 Egypt is now attempting to directly and indirectly tie the fate of High Aswan Dam with the Ethiopian GERD project. This shouldn’t stand, because Egypt constructed the Aswan High Dam, Toshka Project and other significant water reservoir and irrigation systems without any prior consultation with Ethiopia,

3.3 Information asymmetry: Data on utility of Nile water has not been readily available by the Egyptians. However, it is known that the current urbanization and agricultural intensification are not in line with maintaining equilibrium between supply and demand of water and fail to consider the impact of climate changes on water usages. Egypt’s current water withdrawals exceed the amount naturally available, the country’s continuous use of water devouring crops such as rice (not suitable for arid lands) and poor regulations of groundwater, poor or no recycling of wastewater being good examples. This World Bank study https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/27659, for example warns that climate-related water scarcity is expected to cause more economic losses in the Middle East, Egypt included.

3.4 Related with the above, the current agreement skips the potential for Egypt to develop its own natural resources including the possibility of utilizing desalinated waters from the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea as well as the exploration for proved ground water resources.

3.5 The current unsustainable use and waste of water by Egypt, the effects of climate change on the flow of water, and the amount of water that Egypt is demanding from Ethiopia and other upstream countries, will be inadequate in the long term. Although the negotiation is benefiting Egypt, it could just be for the short term. Listed major issues aren’t addressed by the current GERD negotiations.

3.6 A royalty payment of 50,000 gold coins used to be made by Egypt to Ethiopia when the former was under the Turkish empire for the use of the Nile River water. Today, such practices are part of international norms. For example, South Africa is paying

over US$50 million annually to Lesotho for the use of the latter’s water. Good faith negotiations should have included the need for compensation or at least its appreciation. No such provision has been included in the draft agreement yet.

3.7 Participation of friendly governments like the USA and institutions like the IMF and the World Bank as observers is greatly appreciated. However, their engagements at this stage should be neutral. Ethiopia should reject any rushed deal or pressure by corner.

4. Taking all the above preliminary points into account, Ethiopiawinnet hereby recommends:

4.1 That the Ethiopian Government ensures its negotiations with Egypt and the Sudan on its water and related projects are undertaken with the fullest protection of Ethiopia’s sovereign rights to its natural water resources;

4.2 That the current negotiation be limited to the filling of the water needed for the GERD project, per scientific analysis of the joint technical team, and that any requirement for any further negotiation be accorded further time, a deeper study and analysis as well as a prior consultation with the Ethiopian people;

4.3 That the Egyptian Government be required to make royalty payments for water that it is supplied with from Ethiopia beyond its normal share to be negotiated as one of the riparian states;

4.4. That arrangements be made by Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan for undertaking a sustainable and a fully supported research on the aerospace, maritime and all other related environmental aspects to ensure that water, climate change, drought, flood, etc., are managed effectively and systematically so GERD or other initiatives agreed by all could be undertaken in mutual interest;

4.5 That Egypt and Sudan take effective steps to ensure a more efficient utilization of the water supplied from Ethiopia for irrigation purposes as well as for Egypt to generate its internal water resources including the use of desalination and recycling methods so that its dependence on the Nile River of which Ethiopia is the main source is reduced significantly;

4.6 That Ethiopia’s rights for the utilization of the water from tributary rivers flowing to the Nile River is off limits to these considerations and be fully protected without any interference by any external party;

4.7. That provisions are added that final agreements include an exit clause and/or treaty renewal period, including approvals by parliaments of respective countries;

4.8 That if any mediation might be required with regard to the water cascading from Ethiopia to other down-stream, riparian states, the most appropriate institution for such a role should be the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and the African Union (AU);

4.9 That all the three riparian countries (Egypt, Ethiopia and the Sudan) agree on a code of conduct to denounce military threats, commitments to good faith negotiations based on scientific studies, diplomatic initiatives and international instruments for a sustainable and mutual utilization of the Nile River.

We, therefore, call on all concerned parties to give due consideration for attention and action to the above recommendations as well as appealing for support by the African Union, the United Nations, the World Bank and countries with interest in the region, including USA.

Ethiopiawinnet is a civic organization with headquarters in Illinois, USA with membership of numerous individuals and civic society organizations.

We can be contacted at the following addresses:

Website: ethiopiawin.org

Postal Address: P. O. Box 171, E. Lansing, MI 48823

Email: ethiopiawinnet@gmail.com

Twitter: @Ethiopiawinnet

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By Ciku Kimeria

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By Getatchew Haile

This 196-page presentation (The Module) is prepared by four scholars affiliated with four Ethiopian universities as a module for teaching the history of the nation to students at the country’s universities. The Module is sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, which sought a remedy for what the present government considers a deficient in the curriculum of teaching Ethiopian history before the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took power in 1991. As such, it can be taken as EPRDF’s drive to change course from what it calls an Amhara-centered portrayal of Ethiopia to a multi-national and inclusive orientation. It is penned as the next step of the party in power’s effort of changing the course it began by dismissing more than sixty university professors from the Addis Ababa University in 1993.

A closer look at the Module gives the impression that it was written by people who took notes at a forum where history professors were giving lectures on their specializations of Ethiopian history of different time periods. One cannot rely on such notes to write a national history. Nevertheless, the Module is not to be dismissed as irrelevant or embraced as it is. It is one that can earn a “Pass” mark, if it were a student’s term paper, and, as the national Module, that requires correcting errors to improve it. One can easily see two types of errors in the effort. The first group of errors can be easily corrected; the other might not be. The group of errors that can be corrected are made out of a lack of in-depth knowledge of the subjects on the part of the authors who wrote the Module. As I shall show, this lack of knowledge has led the authors to an even graver error: they plagiarize. The second group of errors is made with full knowledge, introduced by the authors to justify grievances of the Oromo (and other ethnic groups).

On the positive side, the Module is not dismissive of Ethiopia’s past history that we know. To the contrary, it presents it the same way as the history books from which we learned the history of our country. To its credit, it has attempted to incorporate the history and social life of the different ethnic groups, especially the branches of the Boran and Baraytuma Oromo. Regardless of its intention and success, it has addressed the complaint of the peoples which felt that a part of their history has been neglected in teaching Ethiopian history. Their complaint, as Cushitic Ethiopians, is that what has been taught is only the history of Semitic Ethiopians.

In the past, grouping Ethiopians by language has been the norm. But since it has led to the grave misinterpretation that Ethiopians are people of different races, we should take writing the Module for an occasion to handle it with care. We are Cushitic languages-speaking and Semitic languages-speaking Ethiopians, with the languages or the people easily shifting.

The problem the Module faces in justifying and addressing the particular complaint is lack of evidence. Its authors depend heavily on oral tradition. But we know for a fact that oral traditions can be backdoors for allowing false information to sneak in. One major history that the Module teaches in this regard is that the migration of the Boran and Baraytuma Oromo into central and northern Ethiopia in the sixteenth century was a return to their original homeland. It means that their ancestors were in central Ethiopia where the present Oromo are now before they were pushed out by immigrants of Semitic stock.

The narrative is not an impossibility. If this new story is true, it would have a positive, not negative, impact on Ethiopians’ togetherness. In fact, it might have a chance to be historically acceptable. I have read and quoted a study by German scholars (whose source I do not remember now) that the original home of the Somali was central and highland Ethiopia before they moved to the lowland. It would not be surprising if the case of the Boran and Baraytuma is similarly as presented in the way the Module depicts. All we know so far is their sixteenth century migration as encapsulated in my የአባ ባሕርይ ድርሰቶች ኦሮሞችን ከሚመለከቱ ሌሎች ሰነዶች ጋራ.

Now I will give a few examples of the two kinds of errors.

(a)  Examples of errors due to lack of knowledge:

(1) The authors of the Module write, “In his chronicle Amde-Tsion describes his victories: ‘I, king Amde-Şiyon, went to the sea of Eritrea. When I reached there, I mounted on an elephant and entered the sea . . .’”  There are two errors in this statement. First, they did not take this information from the Chronicle as they claim, but from Taddesse Tamrat’s Church and State in Ethiopia 1270-15257, Oxford (1972), p. 77. The second mistake relates to King Amde-Şiyon’s mounting “on an elephant.” I have corrected Taddesse’s incorrect translation of his Ge’ez source with “on a boat” when I wrote a preface to the book’s second edition.

(2) Maps and statistics in the Module are not the authors’. They are taken from others, including from Taddesse Tamrat’s book, without giving credit to their producers. They are glaring examples of plagiarism.

(3) “Alphonso de Paiva V of Argon received a delegation from Yishaq in the city of Valentia, in 1427.”  This is pure plagiarism, taken from Taddesse Tamrat’s book. A writer can make mistakes but a mistake to plagiarism, such as there, cannot be lectured to students. The Module is full of pieces of information taken verbatim from Professor Taddesse Tamrat’s studies without crediting them to its author. The fact that Professor Taddesse is dead does not protect them from the watching eyes of the living.

(4) The controversy arising from the concept that Christ is the Messiah (the Anointed) is dealt with amateurishly. I see no reason why the subject could not be given to a more knowledgeable person.

(5) The relationship between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church with the Orthodox Church of Alexandria is described as the former being subservient of the latter. This is wrong. Ethiopians never feel nor have been subservient to any other nation. Ethiopia was a diocese of Alexandria until it requested and received autocephaly. The American Catholic Church is not subservient of the Roman Catholic Church or the Vatican, just because it recognized the Pope as its head.

(6) The allegation that people are baptized by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church obligatorily by decree sounds like the continuation of TPLF’s attack of the local Church. To be credible, the authors of the Module must quote the decree from which they found this information. It is undeniable that the Emperor Yohannes IV (1872-1888) has asked people whose ancestors were forcibly converted to Islam to be converted to Christianity. But that was an aberration, and not the normal operation of the Orthodox Church. It is ridiculous to keep silent about the untold devastations inflicted on the Christians and their heritage during the revolt and invasion Iman Ahmad (Gragn) and his forces, and tell a story that did not happen.

(7) No one, including the authors of the Module, knows who Zoscales was. To teach it was Za Haqel (sic., Za-Haqle) is wrong, because we did not have a king called Za Haqle. The “Za” in “Za-Haqle” is a particle meaning “of”. “Za-Haqle” is a phase, meaning “That of Haqle,” e.g. “[The time of reign] of Haqle is 13 years.”  So, the name of the king is Haqle, not Za-Haqle. See ዓመታተ ነገሥተ አኵስም  ዘአርዌ ፱፻ዓመት፤ ዘብእሲ አንጋቦ ዘሰደዶ ለአርዌ ወቀተሎ ፪፻ዓመት፤ ዘግዱር ዘበኑኅ ፻ዓመት፤ ዘስባዶ በሳዶ ፻ዓመት፤ ዘተዋስያ በአክሱም ፩ዓመት፤ ዘማክዳ ፶ ዓመት፤ . . . ዘሕቅሌ፡ ፲ወ ፫።  “Years of (reign of) kings of Aksum: of Arwe 900 years; of the man from Angabo who chased out Arwe and killed him, 200 years; of Gidur in Nuh 100 years; of Sibado in Sado 100 years; of Tewasiya in Aksum 1 year; of Madidda 50 years. . . of Heqle 13 years. (Taken from መጽሐፈ አክሱም). The name ግዱር has been found inscribed on a bow-looking metal. So he was ግዱር, not ዘግዱር. We know that the name of the queen was ማክዳ, not ዘማክዳ. So, Zoscales was not Za Haqel or Za Haqle or Haqle. In itself, this is not a grave mistake, but it is when found in the Module.

(8) The statement that during the reign of the Zague some religious works were translated from Arabic to Geez is simple guessing.

(9) The statement, “Ethiopian Queen Azeb” is embarrassingly false. “Azeb” means south, not a personal name. Makedda is the name the Kibre Negest gave to the Queen of the Azeb or South.

(10) When teaching our ancient history, it is wrong to refer to the country as Ethiopia and Eritrea. Statements such as “The earliest inscriptions in Eritrea and Ethiopia,” need to be corrected. Eritrea as a country independent of Ethiopia, is known only since the 20^th century.

(11) The statement, “One peculiar feature of the Sabean inscriptions is the absence of vowels in the written words,” refers to a feature that is true of all known inscriptions of the Semitic languages. Teaching such a mistake is a disservice to the students. The authors of the Module are not qualified to delve into Semitic Philology.

(12) “A gap of 7–8 years between Ethiopian and Gregorian calendars results from alternative calculation in determining date of Annunciation.” This is another embarrassing error make by people who are not qualified to deal with the subject. A few books, including my ባሕረ ሐሳብ የዘመን ቈጠራ ቅርሳችን ከታሪክ ማስታወሻ ጋራ, are available for whoever wants to educate himself/herself on the subject.

(13) Emperor Zer’a Ya’iqob “himself wrote some books like Metsafe-Birhan, Metsafe-Me’lad, Metsafe-Sillasie, Metasfe-teqebo Mister etc. In addition, during his reign; Te’amre-Maryam was translated.” Such a statement would be made by an illiterate person, not by scholars preparing a module for teaching university students.

(14) The statement that King Dawit received from Jerusalem a piece of the true cross and a number of religious paintings including the famous “kuerate resu”, is wrong. The piece came from Egypt, not from Jerusalem. Read my The Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s Tradition on the Holy Cross, pp. 1-15. The painting did not come to Ethiopia before the sixteenth century.

(15) The Wichale treaty and its grave consequences are poorly and confusedly presented as follows: “It has twenty articles and written both in Amharic and Italian languages. However, Article III and XVII have had major difference on the two languages versions. The Italian version of Article III, indicates the ‘effective occupation’ of Italy to legitimize their further expansion towards the Marab River. While the Amharic version states that Ethiopia could use Italy to conduct its foreign affairs as optional Article XVII of the Italian version indicates Menelik’s foreign contacts must be through the agency of Italy.”

(16) The authors of the Module write, “The Oromo contact with diverse peoples in the 16th century brought far-reaching integrations among peoples across ethnic and religious background.” We wish this was the case, but it was not.

(b) On the negative side:

(1) What I would call a major setback of this Module is the absence of bibliography at the end of each section. No teacher dispenses her/his responsibility towards his/her students without giving the sources from which the lesson is drawn.

(2)  The veracity of the statement, “Shawan forces led by Ras Darge Sahlasillase made the final assault on the Arssi at Azule on 6 Sept. 1886. This was followed by Aannolee amputations (female right breast and male right limbs were cut off, accompanied by castrations in the extreme cases,” is doubtful.

During war anything is of course fair game. If this campaign to reintegrate lost territories has really happened as described in the Module, we read it as any similar event and move on. Raising question regarding its veracity is inevitable, especially since there are people who, for no reason, feel personally hurt by it. They feel as if accused of a heinous crime. The source for this reporting, as far as I can see, is Abbas Haji Gnamo, not the wrongly spelled J. Gastro Vanderheyn. The fact that the Module is reluctant to mention Abbas Haji Gnamo as its sources increases the reader’s suspicion.

Among the sources of Haji Gnanno, one finds Gebre Sellassie’s ታሪከ፡ ዘመን፡ ዘ ዳግማዊ፡ ምኒልክ፡ ንጉሠ፡ ነገሥት፡ ዘኢትዮጵያ። and R. H. Kofi Darkwah’s Shewa, Menilek and the Ethiopian Empire. They all record the stiff resistance of the Arussi/Arssi during the fight. But none of them mention “Aannolee amputations.” It is not in the nature of Menelik’s policy. Here is what Darkwah reported: “But when it came to serious military maneuvers the Shewans rose to the occasion and proved that they were not only adept in surprise attacks but could successfully live up to a sustained and determined resistance. This was reflected in the battle against Gojam in June 1882. It was even better reflected in the campaigns to the Arsis country where the Shewans met with what was probably the most determined resistance in the history of their kingdom. The first four campaigns conducted between January 1881and December 1885 met with very little success but the Shewan casualties were heavy. The fifth expedition achieved success only after four months of continuous campaigning during which the Arussi killed over 700 Shewans in a single attack. And it needed a strong garrison under Ras Darge to defeat the Arussi to a final submission. . . The breakdown of the Arussi resistance was in the final analysis do to the superior armament of the invaders.” p. 191.

(3) One of the controversial statements is this: “The project of conquest driven by interest to control land and trade routes was not new to Menilek II. What made Menilek expansion new were the intensity and the degree of success. Besides, his conquest coincided with European powers colonial expansion in Africa with whom he concluded partition of territories.” Emperor Menelik was talented and the Ethiopian people were ready to give their lives, as they always have, to save Ethiopia from the jaws of European powers. Read Sven Rubinson’s The Survival of Ethiopian Independence. There will come a time when Ethiopians, as a nation, mature enough and erect Menelik’s and his general’s statues in each provincial capital that developed from military garrisons.

(4) They write, “Taye and Asme wrote Yeityopia Hizb Tarik (The History of Ethiopian People) and the Ye-[Oromo] Tarik (The History of the Oromo) respectively.”  The first is የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ታሪክ and the second is የጋላ ታሪክ፡. A mature nation does not change past records. If the Oromo are opposed to the name Galla, the best way to diffuse the attitude attached to it is to present the issue by saying, “We the Oromo whom others used to call ‘Galla.’”  These nomenclatures are history to which we should not attach any negative or positive feeling, especially if the effort is to tell it as it is when educating the next generation. The effort should be to eradicate the wrong attitude from the mind rather than from the books. The students will find out that what they are told by the Module is false when they one day see the original sources unless we succeed in the impossible task of suppressing them.

(5) The book ዝክረ ነገር is a source of records. Criticizing it, as this Module does, is counterproductive. When the students read it, as we expect they will, they will feel betrayed by the agency that assigned the preparation of the Module for them.

(c) Minor errors but embarrassing that they appeared in the Module:

1. amir al-mumin (sic), for “amir al-mu’mnyin.”
2. Zemene Masefent (sic), for “Mesafent”. The combinations of the two Amharic (sic) word Zemene-Mesafints. They are not Amharic but Ge’ez words.
3. “Quara, ” Why two spelling for one name?
4. Gedeo was annexed in 1895. Fitwrari (sic, for “Fitawrari”) Habtegiyorgis Dinagdee/Abba Machal/Abba Mala built a fort at Megga and took over Booranaa & Konso in 1896-97. Tasamma Nado (sic, for “Nadew”) also conquered up to Baro (Sobat) and Nasir in Gambella.  Although several ethipian (sic), for “Ethiopian”) regional rulers were intersetd (sic, for “interested”) in European technologies emperor Tewodros. foreigners, ras Teferi had keen interst (sic, for “interested”) in modernization by which he wanted.  Soe (sic, for “Some”) of the reforms were the centralization of the government.
5. The social, economic and legal positions of slaves diffred (sic, for “differed”) across time and space. However, in many cultures from ancient to modern the causes of enslavement were faiure (sic, for “failure”) to debt (tax).
6. For instance, the production of tools, furniture, and dersesses (sic, “dresses”); Uhtman (sic, for “Uthman” digna; Alula Edida (Who is Alula Edida?). Cardinal Massaja was not German. Several travelers of British nationals including Samuel Gobat and Christian Kugler, C.W. Isenburg (sic, for “Isenberg”), Giustino De Jacibis (sic, for Jacobi) arrived in 1830s.
7. The meaning of “Babel Mandeb” is not “Gate of Tears,” but “Strait of The Wail.”
8. “king Solomon of Israel, who tracked (“What is this word?”) the queen sleep with him.”
9. Who is “Abuhe Gabra Manfes Qidus”?
10. In what language writing system is Negarit spelled as “Negariti”?

(d) Conclusion:

The role of the government in giving guidance to schools as to what children of a nation should be taught is unquestionable. The government has to make sure that children of the nation should mature, knowing what makes a people one nation within one territory, under one constitution, and one flag as a symbol. But that requirement has to be for pre-college education. In higher learning, however, it is the responsibility of the universities to determine what to offer to educate and how best to train citizens in line with the country’s Constitution. The country needs educated civilized citizens and the economy of an informed civilized trained labor force. Only dictators prepare teaching materials for universities. The case of the Module is of similar worth. It is prepared by unqualified writers who have the audacity to accept an assignment for which they lack the required knowledge. What they have is not qualms but enthusiasm for writing about such subjects. Their style suggests that there is a Ferenji historian behind the curtain.

The post Module for History of Ethiopia and the Horn (of Africa) for Higher Learnings appeared first on Ethiopian Registrar: News/Breaking News/Your right to know!.

By Pew Research Center

Orthodox Christianity’s geographic center remains in Central and Eastern Europe

While the worldwide population of all non-Orthodox Christians has virtually quadrupled since 1910, the Orthodox population has merely doubled, from approximately 124 million to 260 million. And as the geographical center of the overall Christian population has shifted since 1910 from its centuries-old European base into developing nations in the Southern Hemisphere, most Orthodox Christians (roughly 200 million, or 76%) still live in Central and Eastern Europe (including Greece and the Balkans).

Indeed, nearly four-in-ten of the world’s Orthodox Christians live in a single country – Russia. During the Soviet era, millions of Russian Orthodox Christians moved to other parts of the Soviet Union, including Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the Baltic States, and many remain there today. Ukraine has both a substantial Russian Orthodox population and many members of its own self-governing Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with an estimated 35 million Orthodox Christians in total.

Ethiopia has a similarly large Orthodox population (36 million); its Orthodox Tewahedo Church claims lineage back to Christianity’s earliest centuries. Due to rapid population growth, Africa also has experienced a more recent increase in both the number and share of Orthodox Christians. In sub-Saharan Africa, the Orthodox population has risen more than tenfold over the last century, from an estimated 3.5 million in 1910 to 40 million in 2010. Sub-Saharan Africa, including a substantial Orthodox population in Eritrea as well as Ethiopia, now accounts for 15% of the Orthodox Christian population worldwide, up from 3% in 1910.

Meanwhile, there also are substantial populations of Orthodox Christians in the Middle East-North Africa region, mostly in Egypt (an estimated 4 million in 2010), with smaller numbers in Lebanon, Syria and Israel.

In all, 19 countries around the world have at least a million Orthodox Christians, including Romania (19 million) and Greece (10 million). Fourteen countries worldwide have Orthodox majorities, and all of them except Eritrea and Cyprus are in Europe. (In this report, Russia is classified as a European country.)

Most of the world’s 260 million Orthodox Christians live in Central and Eastern Europe

The doubling of the worldwide Orthodox Christian population to about 260 million has not kept pace with the growth rates of the global population – or of other Christian populations, which collectively have nearly quadrupled in size from 490 million in 1910 to 1.9 billion in 2010. (The total Christian population, including Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants and others, has risen from 614 million to 2.2 billion during that period.)

Central and Eastern Europe remains the main base for Orthodox Christians, and is home to more than three-quarters (76%) of them. An additional 15% live in sub-Saharan Africa, 4% live in the Asia-Pacific region, 2% live in the Middle East and North Africa, and about 1% live in Western Europe. Nearly 1% live in North America, while even fewer live in Latin America. This geographic distribution distinguishes Orthodox populations from the other major Christian groups, which are far more evenly distributed around the world.

Still, the share of Orthodox Christians living outside Central and Eastern Europe has increased somewhat, to 23% in 2010 from 9% a century ago. In 1910, only 11 million Orthodox Christians – out of a global Orthodox population of 124 million – were living outside the region. Now, there are 60 million Orthodox Christians living outside Central and Eastern Europe, out of a global Orthodox population of 260 million.

While the current share of Orthodox Christians living in Europe overall (77%) does represent a decline since 1910, when 91% of Orthodox Christians were living there, the share of the total Christian population living in Europe has decreased much more sharply, from 66% in 1910 to 26% in 2010. Indeed, nearly half (48%) of the broader Christian population now lives in Latin America and Africa, up from 14% in 1910.

One non-European part of the world that has experienced significant Orthodox population growth is sub-Saharan Africa, where the 15% share of the global Orthodox population is up from 3% in 1910. Most of the 40 million Orthodox Christians in this region live in Ethiopia (36 million) or Eritrea (3 million). At the same time, Orthodox Christians remain a small minority of sub-Saharan Africa’s Christians, most of whom are Catholics or Protestants.

Russia, Ethiopia and Ukraine have largest national Orthodox populations

In 1910, Russia’s Orthodox population was 60 million, but the number of Russians identifying as Orthodox dropped steeply during the Soviet era (to 39 million in 1970), when the Communist government was repressing religious worship and promoting atheism.⁸ Since the fall of the USSR, though, the number of Orthodox Christians in Russia has rebounded sharply, to more than 100 million.⁹

Results from a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2015 suggest that the end of communism played a role in the rise of religion in this part of the world; more than half (53%) of Russians who say they were raised without religion but are now Orthodox cite an increasing societal acceptance as a major reason for their shift.

The second-largest Orthodox population in the world is found in Ethiopia, where Orthodox numbers have risen tenfold since the early 20th century, from 3.3 million in 1910 to 36 million in 2010. The overall population of Ethiopia has risen nearly tenfold during that timespan, from 9 million in 1910 to 83 million in 2010.

Ukraine’s Orthodox population (35 million) is nearly as big as Ethiopia’s. In all, 19 countries have Orthodox populations of 1 million or more.

Of the 10 countries with the largest Orthodox populations in 2010, eight are located in Central and Eastern Europe. In the two separate years for which data are available – 1910 and 2010 – the countries with the 10 largest Orthodox populations have remained mostly the same, with populations of the same nine countries ranking in the top 10 both times. Two additional countries each made the list once: Turkey in 1910 and Egypt in 2010.

There are 14 Orthodox-majority countries in the world, and all are located in Europe except for Eritrea, which is in sub-Saharan Africa, and Cyprus, which is categorized in the Asia-Pacific region in this report. (Ethiopia’s 36 million Orthodox Christians are not a majority; they comprise about 43% of Ethiopia’s population.)

The country with the highest percentage of Orthodox Christians is Moldova (95%). In Russia, the largest of the Orthodox-majority countries, about seven-in-ten people (71%) are Orthodox. The smallest country with an Orthodox majority is Montenegro (which has a total population of 630,000), where 74% of the population is Orthodox.¹⁰

 Orthodox diasporas have developed in Americas and Western Europe

Over the last century, several sizable diaspora communities of Orthodox Christians have developed in the Americas and Western Europe, areas that, a century ago, had only small Orthodox populations.

There are seven countries in Western Europe that had fewer than 10,000 Orthodox Christians in 1910 but now have Orthodox populations over 100,000. The largest of these are Germany, which had just a few thousand Orthodox Christians in 1910 and now has 1.1 million, and Spain, which had no Orthodox community to speak of in 1910 and now has 900,000 Orthodox Christians.

In the Americas, there are three countries with over 100,000 Orthodox Christians that had fewer than 20,000 a century ago: Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The United States, which has 1.8 million Orthodox Christians, already had 460,000 in 1910.

Orthodoxy in the United States

The presence of Orthodox Christians within the present boundaries of the United States dates to 1794, when a small group of Russian missionaries arrived in Kodiak, Alaska, to proselytize its inhabitants. This missionary work continued during the 1800s, but the bulk of Orthodoxy’s growth in the United States owes to late 19th- and early 20th-century immigration from countries across Central and Eastern Europe.¹¹ By 1910 nearly half a million Orthodox Christians lived in the United States, and in 2010 the figure was approximately 1.8 million – about half of 1% of the U.S. population.

The Orthodox presence in the U.S. is a fragmented one. The population’s splintered state across more than 21 denominations reflects varied ethnic ties to countries around the world with their own self-governing Orthodox patriarchates.¹² Nearly half (49%) of U.S. Orthodox Christians identify as Greek Orthodox, 16% as Russian Orthodox, 3% as Armenian Orthodox, 3% as Ethiopian Orthodox and 2% as Coptic/Egyptian Orthodox. In addition, 10% identify with the Orthodox Church in America, a self-governing denomination based in the United States that, despite its Russian and Greek roots, has many parishes that are predominantly Albanian, Bulgarian and Romanian. Another 8% of Orthodox Christians in the U.S. say they are Orthodox without specifying further (6%) or are ambiguous about their affiliation (2%).¹³

In all, nearly two-thirds (64%) of U.S. Orthodox Christians are either immigrants (40%) or the children of immigrants (23%), the highest such share of any Christian denomination in the United States.¹⁴ Other than the U.S., some of the most common birthplaces for U.S. Orthodox Christians are Russia (5% of the total U.S. Orthodox population), Ethiopia (4%), Romania (4%) and Greece (3%).

By common measures of religiosity, Orthodox Christians in the United States are somewhat less likely than most other American Christian groups to say religion is very important in their lives (52%) and to say they attend church at least once a week (31%). By comparison, 68% of U.S. Christians overall say religion is very important to them and 47% say they are weekly churchgoers.

It is Africa, though, that has seen the largest Orthodox population growth outside of Central and Eastern Europe. Ethiopia, where the Orthodox population has increased over the last century from 3 million to 36 million, is not part of an Orthodox diaspora; its Orthodox history dates to the fourth century of Christianity, more than half a millennium before Christianity developed a substantial following in Russia. The growth in Ethiopia’s Orthodox population over the last century, as well as in neighboring Eritrea, owes largely to natural population growth in the countries. Orthodox Christianity in Kenya, on the other hand, developed during the early to mid-20th century through the assistance of missionaries and became affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa in the 1960s.¹⁵

Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century

Concentrated in Europe, Orthodox Christians have declined as a percentage of the global population, but Ethiopian community is highly observant and growing

Mgvimevi Monastery church, near the city of Chiatura in the Imereti region of Georgia.

Over the last century, the Orthodox Christian population around the world has more than doubled and now stands at nearly 260 million. In Russia alone, it has surpassed 100 million, a sharp resurgence after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Yet despite these increases in absolute numbers, Orthodox Christians have been declining as a share of the overall Christian population – and the global population – due to far faster growth among Protestants, Catholics and non-Christians. Today, just 12% of Christians around the world are Orthodox, compared with an estimated 20% a century ago. And 4% of the total global population is Orthodox, compared with an estimated 7% in 1910.

The geographic distribution of Orthodoxy also differs from the other major Christian traditions in the 21st century. In 1910 – shortly before the watershed events of World War I, the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the breakup of several European empires – all three major branches of Christianity (Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism) were predominantly concentrated in Europe. Since then, Catholics and Protestants have expanded enormously outside the continent, while Orthodoxy remains largely centered in Europe. Today, nearly four-in-five Orthodox Christians (77%) live in Europe, a relatively modest change from a century ago (91%). By contrast, only about one-quarter of Catholics (24%) and one-in-eight Protestants (12%) now live in Europe, down from an estimated 65% and 52%, respectively, in 1910.¹

Orthodoxy’s falling share of the global Christian population is connected with demographic trends in Europe, which has lower overall fertility rates and an older population than developing regions of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia. Europe’s population has long been shrinking as a share of the world’s total population, and, in coming decades, it is projected to decline in absolute numbers as well.

Historically, the presence of what is now called Orthodox Christianity in the Slavic portions of Eastern Europe dates to the ninth century, when, according to church tradition, missionaries from the Byzantine Empire’s capital in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) spread the faith deeper into Europe. Orthodoxy came first to Bulgaria, Serbia and Moravia (which is now part of the Czech Republic), and then, beginning in the 10th century, to Russia. Following the Great Schism between the Eastern (Orthodox) churches and the Western (Catholic) church in 1054, Orthodox missionary activity expanded across the Russian Empire from the 1300s through the 1800s.²

While Orthodoxy spread across the Eurasian landmass, Protestant and Catholic missionaries from Western Europe went overseas, crossing the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and British empires, among others, carried Western Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism) to sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and the Americas – regions that in the 20th century experienced much faster population growth than Europe. On the whole, Orthodox missionary activity outside Eurasia was less pronounced, although Orthodox churches retained footholds through the centuries in the Middle East, and Orthodox missionaries won some converts in such far-flung places as India, Japan, East Africa and North America.³

Today, the largest Orthodox Christian population outside of Eastern Europe is in Ethiopia. The centuries-old Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has an estimated 36 million adherents, nearly 14% of the world’s total Orthodox population. This East African outpost of Orthodoxy reflects two broad trends. First, its Orthodox Christian population has grown much faster than Europe’s over the past 100 years. And, second, Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia are more religiously observant, by several common measures, than Orthodox Christians in Europe. This is in line with a broader pattern in which Europeans are, on average, less religiously committed than people in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, according to Pew Research Center surveys. (This is true not just of Christians in Europe but also of Europe’s Muslims, who are less religiously observant, as a whole, than Muslims elsewhere in the world.)

Orthodox Christians in the former Soviet Union generally report the lowest levels of observance among those of their faith, perhaps reflecting the legacy of Soviet repression of religion. In Russia, for example, just 6% of Orthodox Christian adults say they attend church at least weekly, 15% say religion is “very important” in their lives, and 18% say they pray daily. Other former Soviet republics display similarly low levels of religious observance. Together, these countries are home to a majority of the world’s Orthodox Christians.

In sharp contrast, Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia report considerably higher religious observance, on par with other Christians (including Catholics and Protestants) across sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly all Ethiopian Orthodox Christians say religion is very important to them, while roughly three-quarters report attending church weekly or more often (78%) and about two-thirds say they pray daily (65%). (For more information on Ethiopia’s Orthodox Tewahedo Church, see this sidebar.)

Orthodox Christians living in Europe outside the former Soviet Union show somewhat higher levels of religious observance than those in the former Soviet republics, but they are still far less observant than Ethiopia’s Orthodox community. In Bosnia, for example, 46% of Orthodox Christians say religion is very important in their lives, while 10% say they attend church weekly or more often, and 28% report that they pray daily.

Orthodox Christians in the United States, who make up roughly 0.5% of the overall U.S. population and include many immigrants, display moderate levels of religious observance, lower than in Ethiopia but higher than most European countries, at least by some measures. About half (52%) of Orthodox Christian adults in the United States say religion is very important to them, roughly one-in-three (31%) report that they attend church weekly or more, and a slim majority say they pray daily (57%).

In addition to their shared history and liturgical traditions, what do these disparate communities have in common today?

One nearly universal practice among Orthodox Christians is the veneration of religious icons. Most Orthodox Christians around the world say they keep icons or other holy figures in their homes.

In fact, having icons is among the few indicators of religiosity on which Central and Eastern European Orthodox Christians surpass Orthodox Ethiopians in surveys. Across 14 countries in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere in Europe with large Orthodox populations, the median share of Orthodox Christians who say they have icons at home is 90%, while in Ethiopia, the share is 73%.

Orthodox Christians around the world also are linked by a married, all-male priesthood; church structures headed by numerous national patriarchs and archbishops; recognition of divorce; and moral conservatism on issues such as homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

These are among the key findings of a new Pew Research Center study of Orthodox Christianity around the world. The data in this report come from a variety of surveys and other sources. Data on the religious beliefs and practices of Orthodox Christians in nine countries across the former Soviet Union and five other countries in Europe, including Greece, are from surveys conducted by Pew Research Center in 2015-2016. In addition, the Center has recent data on many (though not all) of the same survey questions among Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia and the United States. Together, these surveys cover a total of 16 countries, collectively representing about 90% of the estimated global Orthodox population. In addition, population estimates are available for all countries based on information gathered for the 2011 Pew Research Center report “Global Christianity” and the 2015 report “The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050.”

Wide support among Orthodox for the church’s teachings on priesthood, divorce

While they vary widely in their levels of religious observance, Orthodox Christians around the world are largely united in their affirmation of some distinctive church policies and teachings.

Today, majorities of Orthodox Christians in every country surveyed say they favor their church’s current practice of allowing married men to become priests, which contrasts with the Catholic Church’s general requirement of celibacy for priests. (Lay Catholics in some countries prefer allowing married priests; in the United States, for example, 62% of Catholics say the Catholic Church should allow priests to get married.)

Similarly, most Orthodox Christians also say they support the church’s stance on recognizing divorce, which also differs from Catholicism’s position.

 

Orthodox Christians also broadly favor a number of church positions that happen to align with those of the Catholic Church, such as the prohibition on women’s ordination. In fact, there appears to be more agreement with this position within Orthodoxy than within Catholicism, where majorities in some places say women should be able to become priests. For example, in Brazil, which has the world’s largest Catholic population, most Catholics say the Catholic Church should allow female ordination (78%). Similarly, in the United States, 59% of Catholics say the Catholic Church should allow women priests.

Orthodox opinion is closely divided on the issue of female ordination in Russia and some other countries, but in no country surveyed do a majority of Orthodox Christians support ordaining women as priests. (In Russia and some other countries, roughly a fifth or more of respondents do not express an opinion on women’s ordination.)

Orthodox Christians also are broadly united against the idea of the church performing same-sex marriages (see Chapter 3).

Overall, Orthodox Christians see plenty of common ground between their own faith and Catholicism. When asked if Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism “have a lot in common” or “are very different,” most Orthodox Christians across Central and Eastern Europe respond that the two faiths have a lot in common. For their part, Catholics in the region also tend to see the two traditions as more similar than different.

But this perceived kinship only goes so far; there is limited support among Orthodox Christians for “being in communion again” with Roman Catholics. Formal schism owing to theological and political disputes has divided Eastern Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism since the year 1054; while some clerics on both sides have tried for half a century to foster reconciliation, the view that the churches should reunite is a minority position across most of Central and Eastern Europe.⁴

In Russia, just one-in-six Orthodox Christians (17%) say they want Eastern Orthodoxy to be in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, the lowest level of support for reconciliation found in any of the national Orthodox populations surveyed. Only in one country, Romania, do a majority of respondents (62%) express support for reunification of the Eastern and Western churches. Across the region, many Orthodox Christians decline to answer this question, perhaps reflecting a lack of familiarity with the issue or uncertainty about what communion between the two churches would entail.

This pattern may be linked to a wariness of papal authority by Orthodox Christians. While most Orthodox Christians across Central and Eastern Europe say Pope Francis is improving relations between Catholics and Orthodox Christians, far fewer express a positive opinion of Francis overall. Views on this topic also may be bound up with geopolitical tensions between Eastern and Western Europe. Orthodox Christians in Central and Eastern Europe tend to orient themselves, both politically and religiously, toward Russia, while Catholics in the region generally look toward the West.

Overall, in Central and Eastern Europe, Orthodox support for reconciliation with Catholicism is about as high as Catholic support for it. But in countries with substantial shares of both Orthodox Christians and Catholics, Catholics tend to be more supportive of a return to communion with Eastern Orthodoxy. For example, in Bosnia, a majority of Catholics (68%) favor communion, compared with a minority (42%) of Orthodox Christians. A similar pattern is seen in Ukraine and Belarus.

Sidebar: Eastern Orthodoxy vs. Oriental Orthodoxy

Not only are there important theological and doctrinal differences among Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Protestants, but there also are differences within Orthodoxy, which conventionally is divided into two major branches: Eastern Orthodoxy, most of whose adherents live in Central and Eastern Europe, and Oriental Orthodoxy, most of whose adherents live in Africa.

One theological difference has to do with the nature of Jesus and how to articulate Jesus’s divinity – part of a theological field of study called Christology. Eastern Orthodoxy, as well as Catholicism and Protestantism, teach that Christ is one person in two natures: both fully divine and fully human, accepting the language from an early Christian gathering called the Council of Chalcedon, held in 451. But Oriental Orthodoxy, which is considered “non-Chalcedonian,” teaches that Christ’s divine and human natures are unified, not separated.⁵

Oriental Orthodoxy has separate self-governing jurisdictions in Ethiopia, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Armenia and Syria, and it accounts for roughly 20% of the worldwide Orthodox population. Eastern Orthodoxy is split into 15 jurisdictions heavily centered in Central and Eastern Europe, accounting for the remaining 80% of Orthodox Christians.⁶

Data on the beliefs, practices and attitudes of Orthodox Christians in Europe and the former Soviet Union come from surveys conducted between June 2015 and July 2016 through face-to-face interviews in 19 countries, including 14 for which samples of Orthodox Christians were large enough for analysis. Findings from these surveys were released in a major Pew Research Center report in May 2017, but additional analysis (including results from Kazakhstan, which were not included in the initial report) is included throughout this report.

Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia were polled as part of Pew Research Center’s 2015 Global Attitudes survey, as well as a 2008 survey on religious beliefs and practices of Christians and Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa; Orthodox Christians in the U.S. were surveyed as part of Pew Research Center’s 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study. Since the methodology and the mode of the U.S. study are different from surveys conducted in other countries, comparisons between them are made cautiously. In addition, due to differences in questionnaire content, data are not available from all countries for every question analyzed in this report.

The largest Orthodox populations that were not surveyed are in Egypt, Eritrea, India, Macedonia and Germany. Despite the lack of survey data on Orthodox Christians in these countries, they are included in the population estimates in this report.

Although Orthodox Christians comprise roughly 2% of the Middle East’s population, logistical concerns make it difficult to survey these groups. Egypt has the Middle East’s largest Orthodox population (an estimated 4 million Egyptians, or 5% of the population), mainly members of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Additional data on the demographic characteristics of Middle Eastern Orthodox Christians, including their declining shares over time, can be found in Chapter 1.

Historical population estimates for 1910 are based on Pew Research Center analysis of data from the World Christian Database, which was compiled by The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. The estimates from 1910 provide a vantage point on worldwide Orthodoxy at an important historical moment, preceded by an especially active period for Orthodox missionaries across the Russian Empire and shortly before war and political upheaval threw most Orthodox populations into tumult.⁷ By the end of the 1920s, the Russian, Ottoman, German and Austro-Hungarian empires had all ceased to exist – replaced by new, self-governing nations, as well as, in some cases, self-governing national Orthodox churches. Meanwhile, the Russian Revolution of 1917 ushered in communist governments that persecuted Christians and other religious groups for the length of the Soviet era.

This report, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation, is part of a larger effort by Pew Research Center to understand religious change and its impact on societies around the world. The Center previously has conducted religion-focused surveys across sub-Saharan Africa; the Middle East-North Africa region and many other countries with large Muslim populations; Latin America and the Caribbean; Israel; and the United States.

Other key findings in this report include:

• Orthodox Christians in Central and Eastern Europe widely favor protecting the natural environment for future generations, even if this reduces economic growth. In part, this view may be a reflection of the environmentalist stance of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who is considered a theological authority in Eastern Orthodoxy. But environmentalism seems to be a widespread value across the Central and Eastern European region as a whole. Indeed, a majority of Catholics in the region also say the natural environment should be protected, even if this reduces economic growth. (For more details, see Chapter 4.)

• Most Orthodox-majority countries in Central and Eastern Europe – including Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine – have national patriarchs who are regarded as preeminent religious figures in their home countries. In all but Armenia and Greece, pluralities or majorities see the national patriarchs as the highest authority of Orthodoxy. For example, in Bulgaria, 59% of Orthodox Christians say they recognize their national patriarch as the highest authority of the church, although 8% also point to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who is known as the ecumenical patriarch across Eastern Orthodoxy. Patriarch Kirill of Russia also is highly regarded among Orthodox Christians in the region – even outside Russian borders – a trend that is in line with Orthodox Christians’ overall affinity for Russia. (For Orthodox Christians’ views on patriarchs, see Chapter 3.)

• U.S. Orthodox Christians are much more accepting of homosexuality than are Orthodox Christians in Central and Eastern Europe and Ethiopia. About half of U.S. Orthodox Christians (54%) said same-sex marriage should be legal in a 2014 survey, similar to the share of Americans overall who took that position in that year (53%). By comparison, the vast majority of Orthodox Christians across Central and Eastern Europe are opposed to same-sex marriage. (For Orthodox Christians’ views on social issues, see Chapter 4.)

• • Overwhelming majorities of Orthodox Christians in Central and Eastern Europe say they have been baptized, even though many came of age during Soviet times. (For more on religious practices of Orthodox Christians, see Chapter 2.)

Correction: The chart “Relatively low shares of Orthodox and Catholics favor Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism being in communion” has been updated to correct the share of Catholics in Bosnia saying the two churches should be in communion.  

Correction: The chart “A century ago, all three major branches of Christianity were concentrated in Europe. That is still the case for Orthodox Christians, but not Protestants and Catholics” has been updated to correct the share of Orthodox living in Asia-Pacific in 2010.

References

1. Population figures for 2010 are based on Pew Research Center analysis of numerous censuses and surveys, including Pew Research Center’s 2011 report, “Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population.” The 1910 estimates are derived from Johnson, Todd M. and Gina A. Zurlo, eds. “World Christian Database.” Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, accessed April 2017. 
2. According to church tradition, the two best known Byzantine missionaries were brothers named Cyril and Methodius, who are saints in the Orthodox Church and who have been called “Apostles to the Slavs.” See Tachiaos, Anthony Emil N. 2001. “Cyril and Methodius of Thessalonica: The Acculturation of the Slavs.” Also see Veronis, Luke A. 1994. “Missionaries, Monks and Martyrs: Making Disciples of All Nations.” Also see Herrin, Judith. 2008. “Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire.” At the time of these ninth-century missions, Christianity in Central and Eastern Europe was not yet called Orthodoxy. The group became known as Orthodox Christians after the Great Schism of 1054 divided most of the era’s Christian world between its Latin West and its Greek East. High among the dividing issues was a dispute over papal authority; the Western Church (now called Roman Catholic) contended that the pope’s religious authority over Christians was universal. The Eastern Church (now called Eastern Orthodox) disagreed, investing their highest religious authority in various patriarchs across the Eastern Orthodox world, with the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople traditionally holding the title “first among equals.” 
3. See Veronis, Luke A. 2008. “Eastern Orthodox Missions.” In “Encyclopedia of Christianity Online.” Also see Stokoe, Mark and Leonid Kishkovsky. 1995. “Orthodox Christians in North America (1794-1994).” 
4. Orthodox-Catholic relations began improving just over a half-century ago, in January 1964, when Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras met in Jerusalem. In December 1965 they lifted mutual excommunications from the year 1054 that had long helped define the schism. Since then, many clerics from both traditions have worked to ease tensions. See the Dec. 7, 1965, statement, “Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration of His Holiness Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I.” 
5. Hastings, Adrian. 1999. “150-550.” In Hastings, Adrian, ed. “A World History of Christianity.” Also see Kirkorian, Mesrob K. 2010. “Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches: Christology in the Tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church.” 
6. One of these 15 jurisdictions is the Orthodox Church in America, which is not universally recognized as its own jurisdiction by Eastern Orthodox churches. 
7. See Veronis, Luke A. 2008. “Eastern Orthodox Missions.” In “Encyclopedia of Christianity Online.” 

8. Johnson, Todd M. and Gina A. Zurlo, eds. “World Christian Database.” Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, accessed June 2017. 
9. See Pew Research Center’s 2014 report, “Russians Return to Religion, But Not to Church.” 
10. Orthodox population and percentage figures are based on Pew Research Center analysis of census and survey data. See Methodology for details. 
11. Stokoe, Mark and Leonid Kishkovsky. 1995. “Orthodox Christians in North America (1794-1994).” 
12. They include, for example, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America, the Holy Orthodox Church in North America, the Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA, and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, among others. 
13. See Pew Research Center’s 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study. 
14. The highest such level among U.S. religious groups is found among Hindus, 96% of whom are either immigrants (87%) or second-generation Americans (9%). See Pew Research Center’s 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study. 
15. Githieya, Francis Kimani. 1997. “The Freedom of the Spirit: African Indigenous Churches in Kenya.” 

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Ayah Aman February 9, 2020

CAIRO — The technical and legal experts and ministers of water and foreign affairs of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia will keep trying to agree on a comprehensive document that will settle the outstanding issues and diverging positions regarding the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The deadline for agreeing on such a document is the end of February.

The ministers of water and foreign affairs in the three countries, the US Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin and president of the World Bank David Malpass met in Washington Jan. 31. A joint statement published by the US Department of the Treasury after the meeting noted that some key issues will be subject to the final signing of the comprehensive agreement.

These include “a schedule for a stage-based filling plan of the GERD; a mitigation mechanism for the filling of the GERD during drought, prolonged drought and prolonged periods of dry years; and a mitigation mechanism for the annual and long-term operation of the GERD in drought, prolonged drought and prolonged periods of dry years.”

However, the disparity between the statements issued by the Egyptian and Ethiopian Foreign Affairs ministries regarding the outcome of the meeting revealed a new dispute. The two statements were not aligned over some issues that were disregarded in past rounds of negotiations that kicked off in Washington in November 2019. The issues were related to the safety and security of the dam and the importance of completing the technical studies on its economic, social and environmental impacts on the downstream countries of Egypt and Sudan.

Ayah Aman is an Egyptian journalist for Al-Shorouk specializing in Africa and the Nile Basin, Turkey and Iran and Egyptian social issues. On Twitter: @ayahaman

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Attorney general opposes establishment of committees, arguing it may ‘appear to be motivated by election campaign interests’

Netael Bandel and Noa Landau

The cabinet on Sunday unanimously approved bringing some 400 Ethiopian immigrants to Israel, as well as the establishment of a committee to probe the Justice Ministry’s unit for the investigation of police officers. Both moves came over the objections of Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, who raised the suspicion that the initiatives aimed to get Ethiopian Israelis to vote Likud in the March 2 election.

The attorney general said there was a legal impediment to a transition government making decisions of this nature, and also objected to forming the investigative committee on the grounds that it would inordinately restrict the actions of the next government.

The committee was the brainchild of Justice Minister Amir Ohana, and was spurred by the protests that followed the shooting death of Solomon Teka by an off-duty policeman in June. Ohana said the committee was necessary because the police investigation unit, known by its Hebrew acronym Mahash, could not adequately audit the police so long as it and the Israel Police were subordinate to the state prosecution.

Before the vote, Ministers Gilad Erdan and Yariv Levin argued with Mendelblit, with Erdan saying, “You are castrating the cabinet. If this was not a prosecution agency then it would be allowed to do this during an election period.” Mendelblit sought to halt the debate on the issue, but in the end the resolution was passed over his objections.

There was another argument with Mendelblit while discussing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to expedite the immigration of some 400 Falash Mura – Ethiopians of Jewish descent who converted to Christianity – before the election. Mendelblit argued that the staff work on the issue was not finished, and there was no data regarding how many people in Ethiopia the proposal applied to. “Naturally this is a benefit to a certain group of voters,” he said, and it “looks as if it is motivated by election campaign considerations.”

If there are petitions filed with the High Court of Justice against either of these proposals, Mendelblit is expected to refuse to defend the government in court. If that happens, Ohana will presumably demand independent representation by a private attorney, to which Mendelblit would almost certainly object, as has happened in the past.

According to the cabinet resolution setting up the investigative committee, the panel will seek “to look into complaints regarding the behavior, organizational structure, and the subordination of Mahash to the state prosecution.” It will be headed by retired Rehovot Magistrate’s Court Judge Haran Fainstein, and its other members will be Prof. Avraham Diskin and Prof. Rinat Kitai-Sangero.

The resolution states that the committee will examine the way complaints submitted to Mahash are handled, the department’s work procedures, the way investigations are conducted and the department’s existing control and oversight mechanisms.
The committee was authorized to submit a report with its findings to the justice minister within four months, after which it would be released to the public. However, the committee could decide not to publish parts of the report if it believes this would “put state security at risk, undermine someone’s safety or privacy or for any other reason that it will explain.”

In the coming weeks, Mendelblit is expected to release the findings of a similar inquiry made by his office into Mahash. Last June, he and acting police chief Moti Cohen set up a joint task force to examine how Mahash and police handle complaints from Ethiopian Israelis. Last month the panel’s conclusions were presented to Mendelblit and Cohen, and it was agreed that the final report would be submitted to the two in the coming month.

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By Abebech  Shiferaw

Extreme inhumane treatments and discriminations against Amharas in Ethiopia has started long ago. And it seems that such evil practices have been a follow up of false narratives deliberately circulated on Amharas. Evidences showed that ethnic cleansing and genocide against Amharas seems to take an increasing pattern from time to time. The following paragraph clearly demonstrates this long ignored sufferings of Amharas in Ethiopia. It reads:

The country [Ethiopia] witnessed an ethnic cleansing and genocide committed by the government and its allies mainly against the Amaras. For more than 26 years, the TPLF rebels targeted the Amaras as their main enemies, they spread animosity and hate against this ethnic group, wrongly accusing them of being rulers, oppressors and exploiters. Not long ago, the world witnessed the horror of genocide in Rwanda and we were hopeful that it would never be repeated in the world let alone Africa. Yet once again, in Ethiopia under the current government, a hidden genocide was committed against innocent civilians because they were Amaras (Moresh Wegene Amhara Organization Research and Study Department, 2016).

Amharas have been residing all over Ethiopia in a harmonious manner. But,following dissemination of false narratives against the Amharas by the government and its political allies, the golden social fabricshave started to tore and negatively affect attitudes and day to day interactions of people. Most notable in this regard is the preaching of founders of the nation and native Amharas are foreigners and invaders. Consequently, all the negative propaganda have given birth to endless sufferings of theAmhara people.Everywhere in Ethiopia is a death land for Amhara. Sadly,Amharas are not free from all the injustices even in Amhara region.

The Amhara regional state government is the responsible body for protecting the rights of Amharas in and out the region. Nonetheless, the regional government is like A DEAD-LION for it is in a deep-sleep and unable to negotiate with other sister parties in rescuing the lives of its people. Worse yet, it is a major organ practicing all forms of injustices against people and their significant others who hold dissenting political views (including arbitrary detentions and killings)within the region.

Past to present Amharas are going through miserable atrocities. The intention of this article is to show inhumane treatments leading to ethnic cleansing and genocide by presenting some recent phenomena in the country.

Demolishing of religious institutionswhich they think are part of the identity and culture of Amharasall over the country including the capital city, Addis Ababa. Orthodox Christians denied from celebrating UNESCO recognized public religious holidays(finding of the true cross, epiphany) and use of national flag in decorating festivities in different parties of the country. Followers of Orthodox Christianity were killed and many are leading life in a stressful situation.

There is an unfortunate and ill-informed tendency to consider Amharas as foreigners and invaders which caused massive displacement from different corners. Displacement of 50,000 Amhara University students, Legetafoarea huge displacement, wollega, Harrar,diredawa, BenishangulGumuz Region and so on are some painful instances of displacement.

The country is now more characterized by mass killings and denial of basic human rights.Burayu just a gate to the capital, Addis Ababa where very inhumane killings occure on Amharas and others. In Oromia region, 86 Amhara people are slaughtered recently, stoned to death, dragged on streets, and burnt under their house with families. Victims involve old and young, men and women, and what matters most for killers is the identity of victims- being an Amharas! The government has kept silent for this horrible incidence which tookplace just at the next door and media seem ordered not to do reports on case.

Historical fertile Amhara provinces such as wolqayit, Raya, Metekel and Dera are demarcated to other regions without the will and consultation of concerned people by force. Original residents are systematically killed and displaced and replaced by people from other regions. Those who oppose this political decision have been subjects of death and other violations.

Sponsored proxy wars by anti-amhara armed groups in Amhara Region (For example: North Shewa, North Gondar areas) with aim of destabilizing the region and long targeted Amhara people.

Restriction on political participation and loss of freedom to run peaceful demonstrations and in house meetings in Addis Abeba. For example, the illegal acts against Eskinder Nega, (leader of Balderas)and imprisonment of leaders of National Amhara Movement party and associated ill dramas in the court clearly show deep desire of the government to suppress the rights of people of Addis Ababa and Amhara region, respectively.

So, pressing question is where is the land and government of ethnic Amharas? The answer is clear. Everywhere in Ethiopia is a death land for Amharas. Government and extreme political elites seem to intensify the ethnic cleansing and genocide on Amharas. In short, Ethiopia has clearly become a NO AMHARA’S LAND! Thus, we need to urge theinternational community, NGOs, human rights advocates and governments to say NO to ethnic cleansing and genocide in Ethiopia. All Amharas have to be organized urgently and take practical measuresto ensure their survival and lead peaceful life in their own country.

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By Teshome Debalke
February 15, 2020

Nothing explains better the problem of Ethiopia than make-believe Medias masquerading as Free press and presenting willfully ignorant intellectuals as innocent bystanders to pull PR stunts on the people of Ethiopia.

Unfortunately, it is the norm since the Woyane regime came in the picture and set up its ethnic propaganda machine and network of make-believe private, party, federal and regional governments Medias in a name of Development Presse and a make-believe journalist union that came with it.

Ever since, the meaning of the Press and the role journalists play in society was lost in the ethnic apartheid political jungle Woyane reigned in for 27-years.

Unfortunately, the similarity of the propaganda machine of Fascist regime of Italy of the mid-1930s led by Mussolini and applied in the eight ethnic regions of Ethiopia and the Communist China regime’s propaganda machine that endured up today applied in the Tigray Region yet to explore by the Free Press and historians alike.

In a recent interview by unidentified Andafta reporter with Dr Constantinos Berhuetesfa, the infamous TPLF pseudo intellectual hack turn  international organizations’ consultant and lecturer at Addis Ababa University in Public Policy with  fake PhD from the defunct  Century University (renamed America Century University) out of a one-room office in Albuquerque, New Mexico USA run by Iranian American illustrates, the Woyane Media strategy to control the narrative by infesting its cadres in every private, nongovernmental and governmental institution imaginable is real.

Constantinos claiming “IMF and World Bank support won’t get us anywhere” on a make-believe Medias masquerading as Free Press is no accident but to assault the PM Abiy reform as his comrade are doing in every front. A careful analysis of the interview shows, the reporter is a hired hand asking a predetermined question for Constantinos to answer TPLF central committee approved answers. For that reason, either the reporter nor the ‘expert’ — Constantinos failed to mention TPLF once nor its massive corruption in the entire interview that brought about the need of IMF and World Bank support.

In a January 12 article titled Development 101 for Willfully Ignorant Economists, Politicians, Journalists, investors… of Ethiopia we identified the problem Ethiopians are facing is nonother than willfully ignorant elites mixing facts-and-fictions to confuse and bamboozle Ethiopians to accept the status qua.

Naturally, the worst offenders are willfully ignorant journalists of make-believe Medias that supposed to find out the truth about individuals and the subject matter they present as legitimate to convince the public they and their guest have anything worth believable asking soft question. Therefore, the obvious unprofessional conduct of journalists in make-believe Medias brough the nation ungovernable by the design of Woyane.

Andafta, like many make-believe Media happened to be a continuation of making fairytale the truth and vis versa presenting a TPLF political hack in Addis Ababa University with falsified credential to lecture Ethiopians. By doing so, the unidentified Adfata interviewer not only failed to do basics journalism but violated the public right to know the truth behind a TPLF hack – rendering itself a useless Media.

After 27-years of make-believe Media with pseudo journalists  led by TPLF hacks at Walta, Fana, Aiga, EthiopiaFirst and the rest that contaminated the airwaves and cyberspace with empty propaganda, the Media landscape of Ethiopia remained the same, nor, the willfully ignorant journalist responsible for pushing propaganda yet to be accountable by the reform. It seems, it is Deja vu all over again in a middle of reform.

Our wise people say enate enkulal senkulal betiktane nroo… For instance, why didn’t the unidentified Andafta interviewer reviled; the pseudo intellectual TPLF operative he referred as Doctor… masquerading as Professor of Public Policy is verifiably carry fraudulent credential to be allowed to lecture in Addis Ababa University let alone to lecture Ethiopians about economic reform.   The fact the interviewer nor the interviewee failed to mention the former ruling member party TPLF that caused the political, social and economic havoc the new PM Abiy inherited speaks volumes; reform starts from willfully ignorant journalists forcing the elites masquerading as professionals  in one thing or another to tell the truth about themselves like any self-respecting journalists and professionals  in democratic nation would do.

Professor Constantinos Berhuetesfa self-promoting doubletalk at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) says more about the Institute that invited him than the pseudo professor. Had the ICD leaders did due diligence like they do in their own nation where they are accountable, they would find out the “Professor” Is a fraud.  But, for Institute for Cultural Diplomacy like may western institutions, Africa is a no-mans’ land where any political hack with a fake or real credential can be elevated as expert.

Therefore, real reform that would change the lives and the rights of the people of Ethiopia must start from sorting out the elites that perpetuate fairytales on behalf enablers and others that tell the truth but nothing but the truth.

Unfortunately, Media establishments that are responsible sorting out the fairytale from the truth in the public interest are not popular among the willfully ignorant elites with a different agenda. Therefore, nothing substantial will change until the Free Press police their make-believe counterparts masquerading as Free Press in the cart before the horse’ reform under new Prime Minster.

Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed reform can’t be underestimated for awaking Ethiopians to know who-is-who in and out of his old ethnic apartheid EPRDF party and the new national Prosperity Party and the Media establishments that propagate the respective parties’ agenda.

The rogue TPLF party with networks of propaganda operatives out of its hideout in Mekele and in-and-out of eight ethnic regions of the country and the world masquerading as Press are talking on both side of their mouth. In one hand, they are playing ethnic apartheid fairytale that benefit them politically and, in other they pretend unity that benefits them economically.

By the way, double talk to make fairytale a reality was not invited by Woyane but the old European colonial regimes and communist regimes it emulates at the same time. If one pays close attention, Woyane is emulates the communist regimes’ fairytale into reality in the occupied Region of Tigray and the old European colonial regimes’ apartheid reality into fairytale in the rest of Ethiopia. That is what is referred as two birds in one stone.

The communist surveillance state of Tigray is sealed closed from outside information in order to subjugate Ethiopians in the region to use them as pawns and the colonial apartheid regions are subjected to ethnic propaganda to divide and destabilize the rest of Ethiopians for exploitation.

Constantinos Berhuetesfa and the unidentified willfully ignorant journalist interviewing him are prime example of conspiring to use the apartheid state divide and surveillance communist state at the same time to preserve the status qua.

Therefore, the Free Press is more needed now than ever. The reformist PM that vow truth and knowledge to free and prosperous Ethiopia either doesn’t understand it can not be done without Free Press or Free Press is only good if it serves his political agenda. Either way, the truth is buried by the old and new political hacks and it is not serving his reform.

With all the setbacks it endured in the last few years because of political hacks masquerading as Free Press advocates and journalist, ESAT remained the one-and-only hope against all hope to make willfully ignorant elites to tell the truth and account for their behaviors. It would be wise for Ethiopians to support ESAT than jump ship with excitement of empty promises of willfully ignorant economist, politicians, journalists, investors…, after all, no people are free until the Free Press is free.

That much is true for Ethiopians no matter who comes and go in the name of one thing or another. Somebody must end the fairytale of political hacks through make-believe Medias Ethiopians endure for centuries.

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