20. February 2011 by Assimba.

By Tesfay Atsbeha & Kahsay Berhe  - February 18, 2011

For the TPLF the month of February is officially a month of its birth day celebrations. The real celebration behind the veil of the birth day is actually the propaganda of the regime to exploit the emotions of Ethiopians, especially Tigrayans who lost their loved ones during the armed struggle, play the big benefactor for removing the military dictatorship and justify its “entitlement” to stay in power.

This recurring celebration will end up with the end of the regime, because there will not be any legacy left worth remembering in connection with the birth day of the TPLF. This event is neither connected with independence from colonial rule nor has it brought any social justice; it is simply a victory of an evil over another evil. Small extremist Tigrayan nationalist elements may continue to boast of the military exploits of the TPLF even in the future, but the future will belong to those who stand for the unity of the Ethiopian people, the respect of human and democratic rights, the supremacy of law and the prevalence of justice. No rational person in his/her right mind will defend the anti-Ethiopian, barbaric, deceitful and corrupt system of Meles in the future.

While the criminals and beneficiaries of the tyranny pay lip service to the deceased in order to dupe the innocent and maintain their own privileges and safety, a small segment of the people supports them out of respect for the “martyrs” and due to angst of the unknown, which it fears may follow. This is the Satanist segment, for it, in line with the old pessimistic adage, prefers the known Satan to the unknown Angel. Another segment, without the mood for celebration, remembers similar martyrs who lost their lives and whose history has been ruined by the crimes of those who came to power and stuck to it for almost a generation. According to the latter, which can be called the falsifier segment, the victory of the Front has been hijacked and therefore the real TPLF does not exist anymore.

The Satanist lacks clarity of aim, confidence in the future and a sense of justice transcending ethnicity. The segment of the falsifier is distorting the objective facts that the leadership of the TPLF never practiced transparency, accountability and justice during the armed struggle. It is also denying the fact that Meles and cohorts notwithstanding their negligible role for the success of the armed struggle nevertheless controlled the TPLF, molded its undemocratic culture, deprived the members of the organization of their voice in decision making, decided on its aims and policies and used it as an instrument to fulfill their wishes from the beginning.

Meles was not in the leadership of the TPLF on 18 February 1975, when the Front formally started the armed struggle, but he was befriended with those who became members of the CC in the first year and became one of the protagonists who could influence the aims and activities of the Front before he was officially a member of the CC. Meles has been destroying innocent human lives for more than 35 years.

As we tried in the last consecutive years to portray the phenomenon of Meles as the tyranny of a traitor, the fulfillment of two major conditions contributed to this unique occurrence. Firstly, his anti-Ethiopian aim was facilitated by the creation of the TPLF as an Ethnic organization; and secondly, the vulnerability of our society to fall victim to the tyranny of a single person was effectively exploited by Meles to seize absolute power. He got the collaboration of the CC to isolate the rank-and-file-members and deprive them of all their human and democratic rights, thus creating an army of sycophants who do not try to get their own rights respected, let alone stand for the rights of the people. Then, he got rid of his actual and potential contenders within the CC and politburo and monopolized power in the TPLF. The absolute power of Meles in the politburo of the TPLF led automatically to his absolute power in the TPLF in the EPRDF, in Tigray and then in the whole of Ethiopia.

It is our worst tradition in Ethiopia to be tyrannized by a single person who exercises absolute power and Meles is not an exception in this case, but in his anti-Ethiopian views and actions. Why do some Ethiopian pundits wake up after every major event, like the sham elections and discover anew the degeneration of the system to tyranny, when tyranny was never abolished in the first place? Some individuals from the opposition may get parliamentary seats or be denied of any seats with the permission of Meles. These changes in form do not affect the system.

As we express our appreciation for the human and matured decision of the Tunisian and Egyptian armed forces not to shoot at their own people, we must remind the present Ethiopian armed forces that those of them who have not yet committed crimes against humanity on the orders of the tyrant should desist from doing similar things and defend their people. Meles, the serial murderer and those who executed his orders will one day be brought to court for the massacres of unarmed Ethiopians:

1.) In 1991 in Addis Ababa,

2.) in 1993 in Addis Ababa,

3.) In 2001 in Addis Ababa,

4.) In 2002 in Awassa,

5.) In 2003 in Gambella,

6.) In June 2005 in Addis Ababa,

7.) In November 2005 in Addis Ababa and, for murders of many more individual Ethiopians.

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9. February 2011 by Assimba.

By Yelfiwos Wondaya

Knowing the fact that the so-called Ethiopian constitution is framed by an ethnocentric dictatorial regime to serve its narrow purpose, one would not expect to see it working for all parties on board, much less to preserve Ethiopia’s unity and territorial integrity intact. Although mentioned in the constitution still the TPLF is not willing to comply with its own rule of law. At its will, though the TPLF undermines the basic substances mentioned in its own fake constitution one of which is a common platform in which both parties [the regime and the oppositions] could be able to build an agreement to settle a difference of opinion in a way that is acceptable to all. Worst of all, its constitution does not promote unity, equality, fraternity and social justice for all to take root in Ethiopia. So in this case, one would conclude that not merely a regime change or reform but a revolution that ought to be played out by the genuine parties and the public at large. Thus in order to turn the popular revolution into a success, one would also conclude that the objective condition at hand needs to acquire the following important continuities, a society that defies all orders from Mele’s tyrant regime, unity, organization, leadership, and outside factors that would influence Ethiopians in a positive and uplifted ways.

Firstly, though Ethiopians openly resisted the regime in the past but the resistances were not conducted in a cohesive manner as a result have been crashed and suppressed by the regime one at a time. After all, “a house divided against itself cannot stand” often times than not, however, students in Addis, Mekele, Gimma and other higher learning institutions were striking but not collectively in a cohesive manner, which is why they did not get anywhere, and also Christian worshipers in Gondar, Muslims in Addis and then, the youths together with the general public came out in thousands to oppose the election result of 2005, during which time over 35 thousands people locked up in prison and are subjected to pain, and suffering from torture and continue to languishing in woyanes’ top-security prisons allover. At the same time, some 200 people were gun down by the regime’s police and secret agents sought after suspects and intimidated them wherever they were. In unison, though there were about three million people came out in Addis to oppose the regime but were dispersed non other than by the so-called opposition leaders in 2005. Potentially though such pattern of events are positive indications for one to confirm that we have indeed a defying society in Ethiopia. With that in mind, Ethiopians have a reason to believe that there is a meeting place both for the public and the genuine political groupings to join forces and carry out a collective form of protest against the regime. And also they are convinced that taking a campaign of brief action in such a manner against enemy can bring about change and enforce their deliberation of thought to fruition.

Next, it is time for the public at large and as well for the genuine political parties to take ownership of their country by taking concrete actions that can set off a chain of events ahead. Eventually though the said chain of events will create more chain reactions and shall lead us to widespread uprisings against enemy. Is there any option left other than changing this situation mentioned above into something promising and certainly make the revolution a success? In brief, it is time to change trend and embark on a new strategy that would take Ethiopians to the point where their struggle is be fruitful. To that end, providing the Ethiopian people with an effective leadership and promoting a pragmatic course of action in a bid to liberate our people from the yoke of tyranny is the burning question of the day.

Secondly, the question of leadership is vital, if once the question of leadership is resolved, the rest is possible to change the no-win situation around and move on to the next level where waging a pragmatic form of action is possible. And then again, move on to the next level in which our superior moral truth is caused to dominate enemy’s position and brings about the downfall of our last few rivals in power. To that end the task of leadership is to coordinate, guide, and direct the revolution and further influence the youths and the elderly to join the protest against their common enemy the TPLF that is.

Thirdly, the question of unity is vital too. Although the task of leadership falls upon the entire organizations, coalitions and alliances it takes an initiative of individuals to determine whether or not the organizations function effectively, and upon their functioning depends on the determination and the commitment of members of different ranks and beyond. The society on the other hand is the sea in which individuals, organizations and associations are brought to shore. Together, all of whom are parts and parcels of the shore and of the wave of the sea in which more leaders will emerge from within to coordinate further the different functions and resources into a one pathway forward. In such a way, leaders could let numerous citizens involve at will and bring their contributions to the coherent form of action in place. Isn’t that a challenge for us all, and a test of time to preserve the genesis and the progression of our revolution and its success story ahead? After all, “United we stand divided we fall” unity is power! If not right, Might is absolutely essential for us to survive my fellow Ethiopians. In all fairness, might is the answer for an upper hand: as lip service is for an empty technique of rhetoric. “Actions speak louder than words” Taken as a whole, the popular insurrection of Ethiopian people is prone to generate more of pragmatic actions ahead. So, at this critical time, an action oriented political entity capable of providing the public with an effective leadership is highly required to appear into the political arena in order to topple Mele’s regime and rescue the victory on the horizon. Indeed, a leadership envisaging and contemplating a future ahead, a leadership that has a firm hold on the public’s imagination has to come forward to assume a new role of leadership to lead the revolution. In short, a resolute leadership is is need now! Then, the said leadership would share a great deal of experiences with foreign movements that are already successful and what not, would carefully apply it in a ways it would help the movements go forward.

Fourthly, the wind of change blowing from the North and the shock wave it sends toward the south may well have positive impact on Ethiopians’ situation as a whole. If not decisive, it is an encouraging factor for Ethiopians’ situation to get ahead of time and use it before hand to weaken our enemy. It also helps them feel emotionally and intellectually attached to the movement and their comrades in arm in a positive and uplifted ways, it helps leaders utilize their natural talents and to convey optimism and send that down the line with a message that conveys strength and security for all in the ground. It indeed gives them morale boost especially, when they see that the opinions of the world powers are changed in favor of the winning situations in Tunisia, Egypt etc. Be that as it may, the groundbreaking revolution in Ethiopia is imminent although Meles will try his best to appease it by massacring the people indiscriminately or what have you. Despite the pain and injuries his excessive force may will have inflicted, he will not make it this time. Much like those dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, etc, Mele’s will lose grip of power and leave on the backdoor without any traces. The Tunisians and Egyptians have done it so will Ethiopians so long as they are determined in terms of moving forward in a full force to defend their human and constitutional rights in the open. And then, much like Egyptians and others, Ethiopians’ uprising will enjoy the support of democratic countries and international communities across the world. And then, the WOYANES’ deceptive and distorted information that had been systematically spreading to confuse the international community will be silenced at the end. For that to happen, the Mass Medias of all oppositions are expected to convey a coordinated message against Mele’s press and get in the way to frustrate his military and other forces on the ground as well. And then, the friendly press together with general public would make it clear even clearer to that of our defectors and collaborators not to taking side with the dying regime and more. Those false prophets aside, however, the foremost duty of all genuine Ethiopian political and civic organizations is to depose the TPLF/EPRDF and replace its ethnocentric regime with a democratic system of government. Clearly, this is the central theme as is a dividing wall separated us from the enemy. The TPLF/ EPRDF together with those fortified collaborators that are relentlessly reinforcing its political muscle must be condemned permanently to the fire of hell.

Lastly, we are at a time when we need to make our choices not only to condemn the regime but also to have the courage to defy and let the blast blew the dictator off! And of course, winning the war against all odds is the choice and the goal of moral forces as opposed to losers that are in battle for evil deeds. Victors Vs. losers. If there is anything in between of these two forces it should be nothing but belongs to those who are neglected and left in oblivion during the course of this watershed time in our history. History is in the making and the positive aspect of all this is that victory is inevitable so long as we are determined to keep on struggling in spite of obstacles and so long as the movement is led by an experienced and well competent leadership. In the aftermath, however, the said leadership will find itself in a position where the vast majority of the people are awaiting in the wings to cast their vote to it given that friendship is the product of privileged circumstances and authentic victories and hardly ever any enemy thereafter.

In conclusion, a competent leadership together with a defying society, unity, and organization is ultimately needed to make our national struggle a success in terms of changing Meles’ ethnocentric philosophy together with his an ethnic oriented federal system. So much so, such continuities as competent leadership, a defying society, united forces and organizations will also be the resources to found some broadly based transitional government in Addis, which in turn, will frame a constitution that paves a way to broadly representative government, and allows parties of all persuasions to freely participate in the upcoming political system and equally permits different professional and civic associations, to join or choose political organizations of their own choices.

Enachenifalen!!

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3. February 2011 by Assimba.

Hama Tuma

The ongoing mass protest and popular change going on in North Africa, the Sudan and the Middle East highlights that the Western powers, for all their strutting, are in most cases paper tigers who cannot prevent a people’s revolutionary uprising. Paper tigers have no teeth and, as a Wiki leak cable revealed vis a vis Egypt, they have no ears either.

Years ago, an Egyptian activist of the April 6 group visited Washington and told the American officials that Mubarak would go before the 2011 general election but they found his information baseless, unrealistic and unsubstantiated by any other intelligence.¹ Talk of being warned! The American officials did not listen and when the Egyptian people rose up to shake the regime to its dirty boots Washington had no other program other than to rush El Baradei to Cairo and conduct a media blitz to present him as a credible opposition leader (which he is not by any measure). Hilary Clinton said Egypt “ is stable” right after the Tunisian uprising started, then went on to call reform from Mubarak, changed tune to “ a transition to democracy” and so forth in confusion and all of it very late. The strongly organized Moslem Brotherhood organization may agree that Washington’s man el Baradei represent the opposition in the negotiations with the regime knowing full well that the main enemy is the Mubarak regime and El Baradei, with no organization behind him, would easily be dealt with. If the Brotherhood comes to power as Israel fears then the fault is Washington’s for backing a dictator to the hilt just as it had done in Iran with the Shah. Egypt under Mubarak has for long been the major US ally in the region (annual military aid US$ 1 billion) and one wonders how come Washington and Israel (the famous Mossad) were caught by surprise. For those who imagine these quarters to be all knowing and omnipotent this is a good lesson indeed. The same happened to France in Tunisia which under Ben Ali was for long the backyard of Paris (let alone the spies, more than a million French tourists visit Tunisia every year). The French were caught off guard, following the people’s protest almost just like you and me. Paper Tigers!

It has been a longstanding confirmed fact that Western powers hobnob with dictators and corrupt officials so much that they lose sight of the reality of the people no matter the number of their spies. Their persistent arrogance also covers their eyes and especially their ears and no matter how often you tell them the storm is brewing they tend to believe it is always a storm in the tea cup. They also rely on their own self declared experts who, more often than not, recycle their own pet conclusions and even prejudices. I remember a week or so into the February 1974 Revolution in Ethiopia, an expert and historian called Edward Ullendorff telling his BBC audience that the Emperor had everything under control. A week before the former prime minister (and now Pentecostal preacher) Tamrat Layne was to be thrown into prison by his former comrade (and now PM), Meles Zenawi, the French ambassador in Addis Ababa sent his government a cable affirming “ Tamrat Layne is on the rise and he is a good friend of France”! In short, they do not know and they do not listen. The more you appeal to the Western powers the more they think you are pathetic, weak, lying, besmirching the name of their favorite tyrant and, as the cable on the Egyptian activist’s warning showed, that you are dreaming and fantasizing of a people’s uprising. In Ethiopia, we have the propagandist Paul Henze and others who categorize every opposition as “remnants of the former regime and Amhara chauvinists” and sing nauseating eulogy of the petty tyrant. And then there are the lobbyists of K Street, down town Washington.

Money can’t buy me love sang the Beatles. The same in politics. The financial power of dictators can’t buy them popular support. Money can’t buy you love but sure can buy you scribes and trumpeters or mouth pieces. In our case, and in Africa as a whole, the tyrants are not so greedy as not to buy lobbyists. Still, America may be a super power but it cannot in the end block the popular revolt of oppressed people be it in Egypt or Ethiopia and beyond. Final decisive power is in the hand of the sovereign people. That this is not a cliché has been once again proven by the events in Tunisia, Egypt, etc and perhaps tomorrow in Ethiopia itself. The 2005 missed change in Ethiopia was sabotaged by America and Britain but the main culprits are the spineless leaders of the Opposition who sold out and brought defeat on the people despite the heavy sacrifice paid. If one imagines the heavy presence of America in Egypt and the massive backing it gave to Mubarak one would be excused to conclude that Mubarak would not be moved by any challenge. This appeared as truth to many so much so that Mubarak himself believed it and was conspiring to name his own son as his successor like in North Korea, Gabon, Togo and Syria. It is safe to conclude now that Washington abandoned Mubarak from the outset and is now trying to salvage the situation in one way or another. Salvage in their vocabulary means sabotaging the people’s struggle in ours. The tyrants who appear invincible are actually paper tigers when confronted by the people’s determined uprising. That is the lesson of Tunisia and Egypt for now and perhaps of Algeria, Yemen and Sudan tomorrow. And who knows of Ethiopia and other countries too. We can say with certainty that Mubarak would go the soft or hard way depending on how the situation, the uprising progresses. The Mubarak attempt to short circuit the people’s revolt through reforms and using the military is bound to fail too. The people are demanding an end to the regime and reform, sincere or otherwise, is not the agenda and would be coming too late. In the broader sense, the time of the tyrants is up. Egyptians gave warning in Mahalla in 2008 and other times too—too bad if Mubarak and his allies slept on their ears as the African tyrants that Washington still defends and supports are doing and failed to listen.

Alas, Ethiopian activists who were not easy dupes in the past –they were actually anti imperialist as they defined themselves—are in a worse situation than the hesitant Egyptian opposition from Wafd to the Nasserites and the Brotherhood. The new animal called politician in Ethiopia is a bizarre creature indeed. It is made up of some, whom we shall politely call naïve though their name is another, who seriously believe that Western troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan to bring democracy to those people and if we beg them hard they will do the same for Ethiopia and others too. The other part of this new animal does not even know who is the enemy and thus accepts the diktat of the local tyrant and the so called advice and “kurkum” of the Western officials. These hope that their patient knocking at the conscience of the West will melt its hard heart and merciless greed in their favor. They know not History. Those who have succeeded to achieve meaningful change or have sent the tyrants packing are usually those who opposed the politics of the Western governments in their countries. The go ahead and green light for a people’s revolution cannot come from Washington, London or Paris. It would be contra nature, a strange occurrence, a sad and never to happen wishful thinking. Won’t happen ever. That is the lesson of all Revolutions and of the events we are witnessing in Tunisia and Egypt. The outcome of the uprising in Egypt is still not settled but the Rubicon has been crossed. One hopes the aspiration of the Egyptian people would not be short circuited or sabotaged as was the dream of Ethiopians for change in May 2005.

1 For a full report on this check the relevant wikileaks cable at http://213.251.145.96/cable/2008/12/08CAIRO2572.html

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1. February 2011 by Assimba.

 By Yilma Bekele

According to Wiki “in contemporary usage, dictatorship refers to an autocratic form of absolute rule by leadership unrestricted by law, constitutions, or other social and political factors within the state.” That is what we have in Ethiopia. That is what we are used to in Ethiopia. We have never known any other type of system.

Emperor Menilik is considered the father of modern day Ethiopia. He was crowned in 1889 and reined till 1910. His title was Neguse Negest or king of kings. He was followed by Haile Sellasie who acted as a regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1074. His title was “His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and Elect of God” (Ge’ez ግርማዊ፡ ቀዳማዊ፡ አፄ፡ ኃይለ፡ ሥላሴ፡ ሞዓ፡ አንበሳ፡ ዘእምነገደ፡ ይሁዳ፡ ንጉሠ፡ ነገሥት፡ ዘኢትዮጵያ፡ ሰዩመ፡ እግዚአብሔር; girmāwī ḳadāmāwī ‘aṣē ḫaile śelassie, mō’ā ‘ambassā ze’imneggede yehūda negus negast ze’ītyōṗṗyā, tsehume ‘igzī’a'bihēr)

The French absolute Monarch Louis the XIV of France defined the term when he said L’État, c’est moi (the state, it is me). All power was vested on the individual and the citizen is referred to as a subject.

Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam was the next de facto Emperor. His ascension to power was, as far as I am concerned definitely a freak accident. He was cunning enough to use ruthlessness as a calling card. We witnessed his purges. We became part of his convoluted worldview. We did a lot of harm to each other. Everybody carries a scar. Indifference carries its own baggage too. Colonel Mengistu and his minions abused us till his departure in 1991. If you are keeping count Mengistu precedes Ben Ali of Tunisia as the original deportee from his own country. He was thrown out. Hosni Mubarak of Egypt is scheduled to join us the next few days. Frankly I am tired of welcoming tyrants. Hosni rest assured we are in no mood to furl the welcome mat. You are on your own.

Our current leader tormentor Meles Zenawi became President of the Transitional Government from 1991 to 1995 and has been the Prime Minister and kingmaker since 1996. He controls the army, banking thus the economy, the judiciary and the parliament (legislative body). He is the new emperor in a different guise. That is the condensed version of our history of the last one hundred twenty two years.

It looks like we are conditioned to accept the rule of a single individual. We are bred to follow power and authority. Subservient to someone because of age, wealth, education, heredity is part of our DNA. We invite what is known as ‘strong leader.’ We insist on it. The more abusive those leaders are the more our appreciation and respect out of fear.

This abusive relationship is not confined to the political realm alone. It permeates our social and family life too. We allow unscrupulous individuals to climb into position of leadership even in our civic and religious organizations. We know they are up to nothing good but we pretend, ignore and deny. We just wait for the crap to hit the fan and we come out of our hiding place and feign surprise. Our women tolerate their abusive partners; our children suffer under a suffocating and irrational family life.

This ugly trait we cultivate is carried over to the highest office in the land. Our leaders whether Emperors, solders or ordinary garden variety criminals are our own products. We gave birth to them. We coddled them, nurtured them and let them loose on ourselves. It looks like it is not them alone that have to change. We have to change too. We have to learn to respect our selves. We have to believe we deserve the best. How could we demand change when we ourselves are not willing to change? How could we respect strangers when we don’t respect those around us?

Our current Emperor is in a dilemma? We have allowed him to mistreat, abuse and kick us around for the last thirty years or more. He fine-tuned his style of bullying way back when he was an ordinary member of a study group. Now it has gone to his head and I am afraid he does not know the difference between right and wrong. There is no point in psychoanalysis. It is right in front of us for all to see. His habit of resorting to force at the drop of a hat, his tendency to be little others and his show of contempt for those that disagree with him is a glaring example of an individual with no moral compass. You cannot reason with such person.

Let us be clear that any show of good will and compromise is seen as a weakness by such individuals and will be dealt with harshly. Such people are not interested in just wining but require the absolute destruction of their perceived enemy. They get a jolt of adrenalin rush from delivering such a devastating blow. Do we need examples of such behavior? If you insist.

The utter humiliation of comrade in arms Tamrat Laine, the public flogging of Abate Kisho, the imprisonment of the whole clan of Seye Abraha and confiscation of their ill gotten wealth, the harsh treatment of Kinijit leaders and the over forty thousand young people in the aftermath of the 2005 elections and the re imprisonment of Bertukan are symptoms of a sick mind at work. The fact that the ‘leader’ was even keeping tab of Bertukan’s diet and weight is an indication of a very disturbed mind at work.

I dealt with dictatorship because of the current trend of emerging from the yoke of abuse and humiliation in our neighborhood. The example set by Tunisia knows no sign of slowing down. It took Tunisians twenty eight days to topple a twenty-three years old dictatorship. It looks like the Egyptians might do it in less than fifteen days. They were exactly in the same boat like us. Some pundits are trying to show how different we are. I disagree. Our similarities are more than our differences. All three dictators used fear as their potent weapon. All three used excessive force for minor offenses. Murdering, imprisoning or exiling opponents is common to all three. All three economies were on the verge of collapse.

Trying to compare who is the most autocratic between the three misfits is a useless exercise. All three would not blink when it comes to killing to stay in power. Ours is a little primitive due to the backward economic condition of our country. Using ethnic divide, economic disparity or education level is the hallmark of a dictatorship. Nothing-new there.

We learned from Tunisia that the yearning for freedom is a universal wish. We also found out that the people united speak with one loud voice. There was no lamentation regarding the lack of a viable opposition party or leader. No one except Ben Ali and company was worried what would come after the demise of the rotten system. There was no sign of lawless ness because there was a ‘void’. The dictator was sent packing and Tunisians are slowly trying to undo years of mismanagement.

We are learning additional lessons from our Egyptians brothers and sisters. We are beginning to witness the correct approach to dealing with the military. We are finding out the average solder is committed to protecting his country and flag not the tyrant. We are also watching closely the emergence of an independent individual to coordinate the various actors in this drama. Notice that he is someone that is not associated with the dictator or the opposition. It is a very interesting development.

It is a very important and timely lesson for our country. Some would like to scare us with the specter of a military dictatorship upon the demise of TPLF. Egypt is a good example of not looking at the military as a simple tool of the ruling class. It is a living organism with different independent parts not always controlled from the center. When it comes to our country what we see is a beautiful picture. Our job is to build on that discontent and appeal to the good in all of us. We know the Generals and officers are from the ruling ethnic group. Fortunately the ordinary foot solders are just like us. A rainbow of nations and nationalities.

Let us resolve to approach this situation with hope and anticipation of a better tomorrow. Let us ignore the naysayers, the scaremongers and the negative merchants. Our country is ripe for change. Our people are ready for change. Our situation cries out for change. We are going to bring about positive change. We are going to use every available means to help our people and ourselves to emerge as a shining light in East Africa. That is our destiny.

We are in the process of organizing a ‘peaceful occupation’ of Ethiopian Embassy’s all over the world. We are going to use ESAT, Facebook, our independent websites and Ginbot7 short wave radio to gather our forces. Our intention is to show the lack of democracy and civil rights in our ancient land. Our hope is those who are clinging to power will realize change is inevitable and they will see the writing on the wall and go wherever dictators go without a futile attempt to deny reality. We are not into revenge but are committed never to allow the rule of a single individual. We also realize those who still stand with abusers even at the last hour will not receive mercy from us. It is time all decide where they stand at this hour of change. Enough is enough.

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