ADDICTED TO PROTESTING

Ezana sehay 04/25/13-

If you are like me, you probably were wondering, what the devotees of the Diaspora street activists are doing with themselves, lately.

They were pretty fervent group, while they lasted, determined to “overthrow” the EPRDF government, or at least cry out until they attract the attention of sympathizers, such as, HRW, CPJ or anyone of those ant-Ethiopian western civic organizations.

Then they kind of disappeared; without tents in the park or grouping in front of the Ethiopian embassies, holding placards up high, and shouting anti-EPRDF slogans - they seemed to channel their anger. Well, to be honest, even then, they weren’t effective, but at least they had somewhere to go, and companionship of sort.

Now, some of them are back again, like old acquaintances, having seized on the “Muslim protest” as their cause of the day. You’ve got to admire their diversity too; Dergists, OLF and ONLF supporters, Al-Shabab cohorts and G7 members have all accepted it as a rallying cry.

There have been protests in some US and European cities, and there were lots of people—not. But it doesn’t matter. It is the show that counts, the protest – being part of the “great angry’ ecology of opposition to- well their mascot may say Weyane (the government) but we know who their real target is.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, a video must worth a million, don’t you think? When you watch videos of recent extremists’ protests, you will notice a pattern: you hardly see the Ethiopian flag among the variety of insignias displayed and the slogans the protesters chant have anti-national interest flavor. Who in sound mind national would stand against the building of the renaissance dam?

See? “Ethnic cleansing”, “land grab”, “waldeba”, “ human rights”, “democracy”, “Muslim protest” … they all one and the same. One membership card gets you universal access. It doesn’t matter who you rub shoulders with: could be Isayas operatives who have a habit of stirring trouble in the region, Egyptian slickers intent on creating mayhem, or Al-Shabab terrorists. Chaos doesn’t care who starts or sponsors it; as long as it is part of the “universal” protest movement, whose members get a kick out of protesting.

You may ask what exactly the goal of the current cause is. No one is quite sure. Just as the previous protests, this one is disparate and seem aimless, a mass of conflicting emotions united only in their determination to keep protesting until someone listens to them, damn it!

Someone is listening, all right: the great silent majority of Diaspora Ethiopians.

This is a time when Ethiopians all over the world are taking pride in the current developments in their country. It is a time, the country needs and the government deserves a tap on the shoulder. That doesn’t mean there aren’t problems. There are plenty of reasonable demands the opposition groups could propose. To its credit, in its attempt to reach out, the government has consistently offered the best working environment for the opposition.

Much of the opposition has taken the offer. However, there those, especially the Diaspora ones who are dug in their trenches, determined to follow Manichean philosophy and keep perpetuating agendas that are harmful to the national interest. For this and other reasons, the extreme Diaspora’s- protest-abuse –has become nothing but, a nuisance. Consequently, their ever shrinking world has gone - nano.

The irony is when such groups choose an issue; they usually choose one that hardly can be considered a problem or has already been solved. Nevertheless, they get on with the plan anyway and devote themselves to loudly making demands, with no intention of having them met. Because having them met would nullify the need for the movement, and then, where would everyone go? Protest is all they’ve got for the moment. Otherwise, they might have to join groups like the Tea Party of the USA or some fringe elements in Europe.