Desperate Chauvinists' Crusade Against Historical Ethiopian Personalities

By Mathza

Nov 03, 2010

“Ethiopian-Unity a Source of power or a source of Misery?” By Yohannes Haile, (ethioLion.com, September 2010) is among the latest articles on bashing TPLF and Tigrayans. It is a must read for all well meaning Ethiopians.

The author who claims to be in his twenties is saturated with all kinds of evils. He is racist, hateful, jealous, prejudiced, vengeful, etc. The lies, allegations, diatribes, etc. in every paragraph of his long article testify to this characterization. Although each and every one of them can be refuted, I will limit my commentary to one of them that reads:

-Tigrians are and always will be first Tigrains and then Ethiopians. Forget the nonsense of Tigray being the foundation/base of Ethiopia. They have been doing everything they could to undermine Ethiopia. They are to the most part responsible for the creation of Zemene Mesafi[n]t (the era of the prince[s]), a century of war and turmoil. They have been bleeding Ethiopia and its people whenever they feel like they could even if that means siding with foreign invaders. Yohannes IV sided with the invading British army and killed the visionary leader Tewodros and ravaged the people and animals of Gojame/ wollo /Gonder and shoa…

Every sentence in the paragraph is refutable. For example, what proof has he got to categorically state “they are to the most part responsible for the creation of Zemene Mesafi[n]t”? This is pure lie and unheard of. Apparently, he made it up. On the contrary Ras Michael Sehul of Tigray was invited to Gonder to help the declining monarchy. For brevity’s sake, suffice it here to state that he defended the monarchy in all possible ways but conditions did not allow him to prevent the situation from deteriorating to the Zemene Mesafint starting around 1760s during the reign of Emperor Yohannes II.

Now, let us concentrate on Emperor Yohannes IV and the people of Tigray. The statement regarding Yohannes IV is outrageous. His reign was a period when Ethiopia faced a series of invasions from Egypt (twice), Italy and the Mahdists of Sudan. In all over eight battles (between 1875 and 1889 mostly in Eritrea) were fought and won. The two victories over the Egyptian invaders sealed the aspiration of Egypt to control the headwaters of the Blue Nile. Egypt, apparently realizing that force was not the means, started to destabilize Ethiopia by: (a) creating, abetting, financing and supporting through other means, the so-called separatists/liberation fronts, religious extremists and expansionists and (b) mobilizing support of international institutions to starve Ethiopia of financing the development of its water resources. This heinous process continues to this very day. It was recently reported that Egypt openly declared its ethnic division strategy and that Egyptian investment in Ethiopia would enable it to retain its belligerency in relation to the Nile waters! It is time for the Egyptians to wake up from their thousands of years sleep.

Who defended Ethiopia during the above aggressions? Unlike the battle of Adwa when Ethiopians from all corners of the country participated, Tigrigna speakers from both sides of the Mereb River fought all the above invasions in which Ethiopia came out victorious. It was Emperor Menelik II who gave away the territory now known as Eritrea to Italy. During Yohannes IV’s rule, Kebessa and other parts of Eritrea were part and parcel of Ethiopia and administered by the legendary Ras Alula.

As regards, the allegation that Yohannes IV “sided with the invading British army and killed the visionary leader Tewodros “ the truth is Yohannes IV was, as all Ethiopians were, fed up with the atrocities of Emperor Tewodrs II and let the British pass through his territory. (Of course, the former did not kill the latter as insinuated.) The British expedition promised they would pull out after achieving their objective and they kept their word. On the contrary, Menelik II in his letter to Napier wrote “I was first willing to send (supplies) to you in a suitable manner, but my enemies are between us… Now I am far off, but I have no hesitation (to help).” This should not surprise readers as he had repeatedly sided with external enemies of Ethiopia. (See AsteYohannes)*

As the above and the links show, the chauvinists of whom the writer is one conceal the heroism and country love of non-chauvinist Ethiopians. In the case of Yohannes IV, they intentionally exclude his name when talking and writing on or praising the most recent emperors. They jump from Tewodros II to Menelik II and Haile Sellassie I. The purpose of this tactic is obvious. It is to show that there is no history other than that of Amharas. By the same token, the history made and being made by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has no place in Ethiopian history. It should be noted here that the chauvinists comprise of an infinitesimally vociferous miniscule minority of Amhara and wannabe Amhara.

The exclusion referred to above applies to historical sites as well. Very often when writing about or advertising Ethiopian tourist destinations on the historic route, Axum and other historical sites (including the over 120 rock-hewn churches) in Tigray, are not mentioned let alone their historical significance described. Many years ago a friend told me that when he approached the woman at the tourist desk in Gion Hotel to reserve a room in Axum, she advised him to go to Bahdar, Gonder and Lalibela, noting that there is little to see in Axum. My friend experienced exactly the same thing a few years later. These two incidents show that there is a deliberate attempt at re-directing tourists to specific areas of the historic route. Statistics of the number of tourists support this conclusion.

The chauvinists, who by the way, include disgruntled Derg and EPRP remnants, vehemently resent the loss of political power and everything that went with it during the previous regimes. This is the main reason why they are avowed anti TPLF, Tigrayans and other Ethiopians that instituted the federal system and irreversibly made it work. This group is the one that was predicting the imminent disintegration of Ethiopia a la Yugoslavia when the EPRDF took over. They have continued with this daily rant ever since because of the ethnic-based federal structure to which they are vehemently opposed. This group was and is highly frustrated and worried. It knows that the adoption of federalism is what saved the country from being another Yugoslavia. It, like Menelik II, sides with external enemies of the country and encourages, supports, cooperates and joins forces with separatists like OLF and ONLF in undermining Ethiopia’s security, territorial integrity and interest. Note the participation of Eritreans, OLF and ONLF in the New York demonstration against Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. It is ironic how the chauvinists can be bedfellows with President Isayas Afeworki’s regime. It is very well known that they have not accepted the independence of Eritrea and want to repossess Asseb if not the whole of Eritrea. Despite this fact, they are doing every thing and will do anything to disintegrate Ethiopia, thereby fulfilling President Isayas Afeworki’s aspiration.

This group, which finds the change brought about by the EPRDF far too hard to swallow, is the source of most of the pathological lies, deceptions, exaggerations, rumors, spinning, etc. against the EPRDF, the government, the TPLF and the people of Tigray. The five part, particularly the last part, audio program (Gemena: Keguada…Eske…Godana) prepared by Zerihun Teshome posted on ethiopiafirst.com, 10/24/10) says it all.

The TPLF and the people of Tigray were and are in the forefront in defending the country against external invaders and bringing peace, stability and development that the Ethiopians increasingly are enjoying now. To the chagrin of the chauvinists, the majority of Ethiopians know this. This is why this radio active group and some of the oppositions would leave no stone unturned to avenge their loss and undermine the process of democratization and development. This is why the chauvinists incessantly and vehemently target TPLF and the people of Tigray.

Ethiopia, a large country, both in terms of area and population, is home for about 80 ethnic groups and multiple religions. These coupled with the complex negative interactions with the corresponding number of languages, traditions and cultures could have been a recipe for disaster following the fall of the Derg and the numerous liberation fronts at that time. In view of this, Ethiopia would have been in a situation much worse than that of Somalia had the chauvinists been in place of EPRDF.

History that will be written by genuine historians will surely expose the machinations of those who have been and are writing their versions exalting their ethnic leaders and ignoring the deeds of those of other ethnic Ethiopian heroes and leaders. The tactic of excluding historic personalities in writings and oral presentations and communications with the intention of denying Ethiopians of accurate information on the latter’s contributions to Ethiopia’s continued existence and historic events of significance will not work. There will come a time when the young generation who had been and are being hoodwinked by the old diehards spreading politics of hatred among Ethiopians will know the truth about the TPLF and Tigrayans. It has already started thanks to pioneers, particularly former Ethiopians who were against EPRDF, such as Negusie Woldemariam. The process is accelerating as shown by the Washington and New York demonstrations in support of the Prime Minister and the Ethiopian government. The nasty commentaries (about 23 out of 30) on Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam’s Ethiopia: Feed Them and Bleed Them (nazret.com, 10/25/10) is another proof of Ethiopian Diaspora awakening to hate-mongers’ and ethnic bashers’ misinformation, machinations, lies, spinning, intimidations, etc, etc.

The Ethiopian nations, nationalities and peoples will not permit the chauvinists to highjack the victories that the former parents and brothers and sisters won with great sacrifices. There is, for sure, no going back. The federal system is here to stay. The recent WSLF and ONLF welcome steps taken show that Ethiopia has found in the federal structure solutions to its perennial ethnic and religious divergences and manipulating and distorting Ethiopian history. To the chagrin of the chauvinists, the nations and nationalities are now developing their languages, cultures and traditions and rewriting their true histories.