Homeless at home – An Ethiopian story. by Yilma Bekele

That is not the worst that has happened to my beloved cousin but that is good enough point to start this tragic saga. I know you are the perfect people I can share this sad story with. I can picture you my dear Ethiopian cousins, upon reading the headline you will bow your head a little, tilt it to the left suck on your lips and make that peculiar hissing sound. Knowing that to be the extent of your sorrow and rage I am both touched and grateful.

My cousin is in deep shock. His once big and vibrant household has dwindled to a few young ones with no place to go. The once bigger than life, articulate, graceful head of the family now walks with his head down avoiding eye contact. His wife the most beautiful, generous, vibrant lady God has created has become a sickly woman that spends her days crying and praying. Their children left a long time ago.

Where the children went is another story to be told all by it self. I am not going to burden you with more sad tales. Let us just say no one left that Home in what is considered the proper way…..something like getting married, buying his or her own house or higher education. No, they all left in a hurry. No one was given a proper sendoff. They were dispersed into the four corners of the world. They have become what is known as the ‘Diaspora’ to use a modern phrase to describe those that left out of despair, been pushed out, nudged, escaped or encouraged to ‘leave’ while still alive.

Well because I write from America you are probably thinking that my cousin’s tragedy is a local event. You might think he probably got into drugs, became an alcoholic, was addicted to gambling or he was the victim of the economy or pure random bad luck. I don’t blame you. That does happen. I have seen many lives being ruined like that. I am afraid that is not the situation here.

My cousin became homeless in his own country. He was not a drug user, an alcoholic or a gambler nor did he lose his job. Did I tell you my cousin is a medical doctor? Yes, he is a highly educated, caring and productive member of society if that means anything these days.

He came from a good family. His grand father accompanied Emperor Minilk to the battle of Maichew in Northern Ethiopia. His father, my uncle never got tired of telling us the bravery of our ancestors. When ever we complained his response was to bring out the story of his father marching north walking bare feet, shield and spear as weapon and no food ration but resolved to defend what is his. We used to look at each other and snicker. Upon his return, King Minilk awarded him land to build on. Great uncle settled down and my cousin, the new homeless is his first child. He was the pride of the family. He never disappointed the clan. He lived up to expectations.

He acquired scholarship to a foreign land and returned back educated, handsome and a credit to his country. You should have seen the pride in my uncle’s and his mothers face when they saw their son wearing his clean snow-white jacket with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. They died happy. Their job was done.

My cousin inherited the house he was born in and started a family of his own. I am blessed with two nephews that I keep in touch with sporadically. They are the ones that left their home in the middle of the night. One traveled north to Sudan and now lives in Europe. The girl was accompanied south to Kenya and now lives in New Zealand. That sounds far. That was the day their mother died. Not physical death, but such agony that could only be understood by those that have children of their own.

My cousin and his wife settled to a life of getting old in an empty house. Migrating was not their style. They just wanted to die quietly in their own home. Well, they were resigned to it until now.

They are going to be homeless. The Ethiopian government is going to displace them from their home. The UNHCR will refer to them as “Internally Displaced Persons.” According to the UN the definition consists of two elements. 1) Coercive or otherwise involuntary character of movement 2) Such movement takes place within national borders. They fit both descriptions.

Even during the wholesale Nationalization without compensation crimes of the Mengistu era their house was spared. It was their castle. Their own liberated free zone. The Meles regime first demanded over $20,000 Bir to upgrade the Title and blueprint. They were forced to borrow to pay this arbitrary figure. There was no place to appeal. That was a few years back.

Today, as you read this my poor cousin was presented a bill for $350,000.00 Bir the price of the new lease. Ato Meles and his politburo have decided that amount to be the price of the land his house is sitting on. They have given him the choice to pay it or vacate. How these two retired elders will be able to come up with such outrageous amount of money apparently is not their concern.

The Mayor of Addis Corporal Kuma Demeksa and State Minster Mokria Haile were sent out to explain this new concept of leasing your own freaking property. The two TPLF errand boys have been trying to convince the people of Addis how this new Government sanctioned robbery is good for them. They have been wrecking their brains to convince the public to show enthusiasm while being raped by the TPLF mafia.

What gives the Government the authority to confiscate private property at will is a good question. The simple answer is it is legal. The laws of the land states so. Mengistu started the ball rolling when he was converted to Socialism and made taking what is not yours seem so natural. Ato Meles built on that foundation and added his TPLF’s Home grown enhancements. Callous regard for fellow human is the corner stone. He foresaw the possibility and made sure that the Judiciary he created would not one day mess with his plans. That is why the law prohibited the judiciary from looking into land issues. One can go to court to complain regarding the compensation amount but the Court does not have the authority to rule regarding ownership of land. The Law is clear on that. All land belongs to the Ethiopian Government. The TPLF Party runs the Government. Ato Meles is the de facto owner of the TPLF Party. You can fight all you want on what is on top but the bottom belongs to Ato Meles and his people. You Sir/Madam is subject to evection without notice. There is no appeal process, what Meles and his Party say is the law. No need to split hair, this is a fact.

Hold a minute, how about the Parliament you might ask? That has been taken care of. Kinijit almost rocked this important leg of ‘Revolutionary Democracy’ in 2005. Today it is working like a well-oiled machine. In fact it is ready to handle most situations without overt supervision. Ato Meles is in control of the Judiciary, the parliament and the Executive. He is three rolled in one!

The new Proclamation Land Lease Law 721/2004 is what gives Meles and TPLF Politburo the deeds to all land in Addis Ababa. How it came to be Law is a beautiful story all by itself showing us the workings of a Revolutionary Democracy up close. The Ethiopian Parliament returned from summer break and the President of the country gave a lavish dinner to members to welcome them from their vacation. While the exotic food was being served and liquor flowing like the Nile TPLF cadres were seen distributing the new proposal regarding land. The members were urged to study the brief.

They studied it overnight and the following day’s session of Parliament passed the Law with minimum fanfare. The people of Addis Abeba including my cousin were made home less by Parliamentarians that have not recovered from their hangover. Fifteen hours is the time it took our esteemed Parliamentarians to decide on such an important matter. That is Ethiopia in a nutshell.

I have been trying to come up with rational reasons why Ato Meles will risk getting the population angry at his Party. He has no choice. Running a criminal organization like the Ethiopian Government is a very expensive venture. Everybody has a handout. Most survive by corruption. The party needs money like a drug addict needs his fix.

We just have a very short memory. If you look back you will find so many instances where the search for more money has shown us the dark side of TPLF. To site a few: 1) switching lead and gold in the national Bank. 2) The disappearance of Coffee 3) the sale of part of Gondar to Sudan 3) the ‘Orphan’ adoption scam that generates millions 4) the maid trade to the Middle East 5) Lease of fertile and virgin land to foreigners. So on.

Regarding the new proclamation about Addis and other cities, according to Ato Israel Tesfaye a bureau chief in the Ministry of land Development and Administration the TPLF regime is free to give the land as gift, hold a lottery, ask for bids and lease the land they way it sees fit. You see my poor cousin’s land is in a desirable neighborhood. It became a curse.

The people of Addis were not consulted. The so-called ‘independent’ Kilils or Bantustans were not part of this discussion. The errand boys no matter how hard they tried they could not make the medicine go down easy. No one can explain how your own government can make you homeless in your own land. It is sort of surreal when you are told the house you father inherited from his father and you inherited from him is still not paid for. In fact today in fast growing Ethiopia you cannot afford your own house.

The regime got a few buyers in mind. The first in line is the dear Diaspora. They are the gullible that will pay real cash for stolen property. The local cannot afford any of that. Out of eighty million Ethiopians Seventy million cannot afford this insanity. Be it greed, ignorance or low self esteem those that left the country to make their life better are now destroying the life of those that stayed behind.

The abuse has become so much and frequent that we are completely desensitized to all kinds of atrocities. We feed the monster but we complain about it. We buy stolen property but when he sells it to the highest bidder we complain. Instead of building and strengthening our Associations and Civic Organizations, Churches, Mosques we break them apart and complain about the lack of unity. We make decisions based on Zer and Gosa, marriage, kinship, friendship and other trivia exposing our lack of convictions and stiff spine and we still complain and deny our role in this tragedy.

Hey the view that the sun revolves around the earth is just an alternative theory, right? You can add that selling land, selling people and selling country will bring peace and prosperity to that.

Abusive old OLF leaders short of new ideas By Robele Ababya

The new OLF’s reversal of its secession policy has no doubt sent a shockwave in the camp of Old OLF’s faction linked to the pariah dictator of Eritrea supporting the terrorist Al Shabab.

The outpouring support to the new OLF has eclipsed the cry in the wilderness of the few abusive remnant disciples of the bankrupt political premise which was wrong from the start. Forty years have been wasted and precious lives have been lost all owing to intransigence to change course.

Inflation is at 39.8% in Ethiopia where the TPLF propaganda machine is deafening the people by its power of monopoly over the media that the country is ranked as one of the five fastest growing economies in the world – which makes no sense to the increasingly hungry and angry masses. Therefore addressing the multiple plights of the Ethiopian people is top priority. But few turncoat Oromos, having run out of ideas, are greeting progressive options with insults.

The new OLF’s reversal of policy to embrace unity is therefore most welcome to address multiple draconian problems unleashed by the repressive ruling regime. The bold move is a reminder of the stand on the question of national unity taken by the Marxist-Leninist Organization established in the aftermath of the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution. Vide paragraphs below meant to serve as a lesson to the few turncoat leaders stuck with secessionist policy of the old OLF with their main office in Asmara.

The Marxist-Leninist Organization during the Derg regime
The Organization formulated its policy on the unity of Ethiopia after in-depth analysis of the history of Ethiopia. It clearly understood that there were hierarchies of ruthless exploiters in each ethnic group fleecing the masses to their bones. The aristocracy, provincial warlords and the Balabats (local officials with large land ownership) mercilessly suppressing social justice were identified as the main target for elimination. In short feudalism was the main problem. So the Organization agreed and declared that the right way forward was to unleash class struggle and emancipate the masses in a united Ethiopia. It was a laudable wise move for that time of bitter ideological Cold War era given that the Carter Administration had abandoned Ethiopia.

The Organization in caption comprised the following five leftist entities working with the Provisional Military Government. As their names clearly tell all the five groups below are national political entities inclusive of all ethnic groups that opt to become members:-

1. All Ethiopia Socialist Movement: Dr. Haile Fida was the leader of this Movement commonly known by its acronym MESON;
2. Ethiopian oppressed people’s Revolutionary Struggle led by Baro Tumsa;
3. Sedede (Conflagration): Mengistu Hailemariam was the leader of this group, which finally devoured all the rest like a forest fire;
4. Revolution was reputed to be a collection of communist hardliners. I have forgotten the name of its leader; and
5. Woz League under the leadership of Senay Lekie was a close ally of Mengistu’s Sedede, but the alliance fell apart shortly after the death of Senay resulting in the annihilation of thousands of educated members of the Woz League by Sedede.

Readers are invited to note that the leaders named above at 1, 2, and 5 were Oromos; Mengistu also spoke of his Oromo ancestry through his father. Bravo for their all inclusivity!

It would be pertinent to recall at this juncture that in sharp contrast to the nationwide all ethnic groups inclusive character of the above list comprising Marxist- Leninist Organization, the Marxist Leninist League of Tigray (MLLT) at that time wore its tribal garb; its offshoot the TPLF is still doing the same using divide and rule along ethnic lines as its last ditch weapon to remain in power. The assertion that tyrant Meles Zenawi had a secret agenda of creating Greater Tigray has a good basis to believe.

Notwithstanding my chilly attitude towards communist ideology, I commend the Marxist-Leninist Organization for its all ethnic group inclusive national agenda, uncompromising stand on the unity of Ethiopia, articulating the principles of self-reliance and autonomous administrative region.

Untimely death the founder of Woz League

The founder of Woz League, Dr. Senay Lekie, was an Oromo originating from Illubabor. I met the brilliant intellectual in 1973. He held a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the famous Barkley University in California. He was politically active to the extent that he became a renowned member of the Communist Party in the USA.

When the 1974 Ethiopian revolution broke out we got to know each other better. He knew my utter dislike for a military government to the point of nauseating in view of the then profuse takeover of state power by the gun in Latin America, Africa and Asia. But we concurred that the military was the only armed organized institution capable of provisionally stabilizing the disorderly political atmosphere in Ethiopia at the time. He appreciated my staunch support for “land to the tiller.” He knew of my cold attitude towards communism but did not hide his own reverence for Stalin and contempt for Lenin. He was of the view that socialism is a very distant dream for Ethiopia, stressing that much needed to be done to strengthen unity and economic growth in order to lay down the foundation for the envisaged transformation to socialism. We saw eye to eye on the vital question of a united and strong Ethiopia. I was impressed with his ability and charming character; his capacity to make inroad into the military establishment and recruit elite members to Woz League was amazing.

Senay had predicted his death in the course of the revolution. His untimely death in a Palace coup at his the prime age of 33 shocked me and I wept standing beside his Oromo mother in deep grief during his burial at the Saint Joseph Cemetery reserved for communists in accordance with his wish . Regardless of our difference in ideology, what mattered to me was his passionate exemplary fight for the unity of Ethiopia and.

Conclusion

In what can be characterized as a plebiscite in the election of 2005, the Ethiopian people outvoted the TPLF thugs thus dealing a heavy blow to the satanic ambition of tyrant Zenawi to balkanize the country and its people along ethnic lines or creed. The mammoth demonstration of the Ethiopian people in support of the (Kinijit – Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) – is a living witness that ethnicity or creed could not eclipse the quest for unity because the support accorded to CUD is an objective reflection of common history and cultural interaction of the Ethiopian people the overwhelming majority of which are joined by marriage across ethnic lines. There is nothing that the tiny minority of the old OLF faction or anyone else can do to change this reality. Respect for the universal right of the individual is the ultimate panacea for fostering racial harmony in a united, strong, democratic and prosperous Ethiopia under the rule of law.

In a free democratic society:-

• The universal values of freedom, liberty, equality, dignity and pursuit of happiness of all individuals shall be sacred and inviolable guaranteed by the constitution of the people by the people for the people and rigorously upheld by law;
• There shall be no political prisoners and no torturing of prisoners; persecution for one’s political cannot occur; private land ownership is quintessential to avoid enslavement by brutal regime; and
• No individual or vital national interest shall be on offer for sale.

The leaders of the myopic minority of the old OLF faction have to explain what in return they had agreed to offer for sale to the internationally ostracized dictator of the pariah state of Eritrea, Isaias Afeworqui, for his support of secession.

I congratulate the new leaders of OLF for their change of mind and heart and come on board as Ethiopians to join genuine opposition forces to end tyranny in the country and solve the myriad problems confronting the people. I extol the brilliant article written by Messay Dejene titled “Rejoicing the return of the prodigal son” dated 07 January 2012 (posted on Ethiomedia website) and urge renegade detractors of my consistent vantage point to read the article objectively. I am elated that something like a call for “All Ethiopia Liberation Action” (AELA) is gathering momentum.

Ethiopian democrats must intensify the struggle for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including: Andualem Aragie, Asamnew Birhanu, Bekele Gerba, Eskinder Nega, Nathnael Mekonnen, Olbana Lelisa, Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye, and Zemenu Molla. Terrorist Zenawi has no legitimate or moral right to hold prisoners of conscience in his filthy and congested jails
LONG LIVE ETHIOPIA!!!

robele@ababya@yahoo.com

Ethiopia: Meles's Shame and the Dead-End of Hatred

By Messay Kebede
Meles Zenawi’s blatant hatred of Ethiopia is a puzzle that Ethiopian intellectual circles have in vain tried to decipher. While some propose the suggestion that the hatred betrays his commitment to his Eritrean side, others consider it as an expression of his ethnic racism. Still others remain baffled, unable as they are to understand how he revels in denigrating the object of his obsession, namely, state power. One thing is sure, however, they all agree on the idea that his overall policy and its day-to-day implementation make sense only from the vantage point of a project to ransack Ethiopia’s resources and leave the rest to the vultures of ethnic secessionism. Harsh dictators have ruled Ethiopia in the past, but all considered themselves as Ethiopians. What is new with Meles is his anti-Ethiopian stand and his open contempt for whatever is Ethiopian.

Yet, one important element liable to explain Meles’s hatred has been with us for quite some time. I have in mind the history of his family, which is a history marred by collaboration with the occupying Italian forces. Notably, his grandfather not only worked for the Italians, but he was also an appointee and an office holder. What this means is that Meles had to deal very early with this family shame, which according to testimonies brought scorn and isolation on his family.

Now, there are two ways of dealing with this kind of existential predicament. There is the positive way according to which the person affected by family disgrace tries to behave in such a way as to repair the fault. In the case of Meles, this would mean showing a renewed and active commitment to Ethiopia. This is the path of expiation, which requires a serious self-examination and, mostly, a great amount of courage. All the available and trustworthy testimonies about Meles agree on the fact that courage was and is not one of his virtues.
There remains the second path, which is negative and consonant with the lack of courage. It is the path of denial, that is, the denial of betrayal. In order to accomplish this metamorphosis, Meles has to demean Ethiopia and devalue all its accomplishments. The more he belittles Ethiopia, the more he weakens the gravity of the family betrayal, and the less guilty and stained he feels. There was no betrayal since what his family supposedly betrayed was just a trash.

The path of denial nurtures hatred for the simple reason that hatred is a self-defense, a counter to the feeling of being despised by others. When you feel that other people despise you, you react by developing an intense dislike for them as a way of protecting yourself. If you hate them, you get rid of all scruples and sensitivity and adopt the principle that all means are good to hurt them.

This hatred partially explains Meles’s rapid rise to the leadership of the TPLF. Who else could best express and incarnate the rage of the TPLF against the Ethiopian state and army but Meles, who in addition to sharing with other members the resentment against the marginalization of Tigray, had on him the personal scar of national betrayal. While anger motivated most members, Meles had a stronger torment: he was humiliated and could not rest until he humiliated the source of his own dishonor.

Meles’s characterization of the Ethiopian national flag as nothing but a trash, his persistence in reducing Ethiopian history to mere conquest and subordination, his delight in debunking Ethiopian heroes, his ritual of jailing pro-Ethiopian leaders and releasing them after forcing them to sign degrading letters, etc., are all part of his strategy to humiliate Ethiopia in order to feel good about himself. Add to this that his long-standing hatred has been reignited by his electoral defeat in 2005, which defeat he was quick to interpret as another attempt to humiliate him. Because the defeat revived an old wound, his crackdown on the opposition and protesters was bound to be brutal.

This is, then, an appeal to Meles urging him to psychoanalyze himself so as to become aware of the deep wound that constantly perverts his policy and contradicts his dream of becoming a great leader. As we all know, in matters of spiritual illness, awareness of the cause is an efficient cure so that the second path, the path of expiation through great deeds is still open to him. No amount of power can erase his shame so long as Meles continues to hang his rehabilitation on the trashing of Ethiopia. For the more he lowers Ethiopia, the less gratifying becomes his dominion. This contradiction is the reason why he wants more power, even though the discredit of the nation cheapens his power. In other words, the cure lies, not in the mistreatment of Ethiopia, but in its promotion, that is, in the commitment to overcome his shame through good works.

ለልጅ ልጆቻችን ስንል – የአዲስ ዘመን መልእክት – ግርማ ካሳ

I admired your spirit I will be surprised if someone did not call you with wrong name (maybe woayne) however Ethiopians politicians as a whole, including the opposition and the government of Ethiopia do not have a guts to find a solutions for the common good. They are incapable of doing that.
They do not care for the next generations but whether they like it or not, Ethiopia will progress with them or without them. History will judge one of these days! Your true Ethiopian spirit will survive forever.

የአሥራ ሰባት አመት ወጣት ነዉ። ጥይት የጎረሰ ሽጉጥ በእጁ ይዟል። እጅግ በጣም ብዙ ሕዝብ በተሰበሰበበት አደባባይ፣ ንግግር አድርገዉ ወደ ጨረሱ አንድ የእድሜ ባለጸጋ ሰዉዬ ቀስ በቀስ ይጠጋል። ሳያስቡት የያዘዉን ሽጉጥ ወደ እርሳቸዉ ደቅኖ ይተኩሳል። ሰውየዉ ይወድቃሉ። አካባቢዉ ተረበሸ። ተናወጠ። አምቡላንስ ተጠርቶ በአፋጣኝ በስፍራዉ ደረሰ። የወደቁትን አባት በአምቡላንሱ የነበሩ የህክምና ባለሞያዎች አነሷቸዉ። የፍጥነት ጉዞ ወደ ሆስፒታል ጀመሩ። ሆስፒታል ሳይደርሱ በመንገድ ላይ የኝህ ሰዉ ሕይወት አለፈች።

ይህ ወጣት ይጋል አሚር ይባላል። ተኩሶ የገደላቸዉም ሰዉ፣ የቀድሞ የእሥራኤል ጠቅላይ ሚኒስተር ይሳቅ ራቢን ነበሩ።

ይሳቅ ራቢን እድሜ ዘመናቸዉን በሙሉ የጥይትና የመድፍ ድምጽ በመስማት ያሳለፉ ጦረኛ ወታደር ነበሩ። በፈረንጆች አቆጣጠር በ1941 ከታዋቂዉ ሞሼ ዳያን ጋር የፓልማክ ግብረኃይል አባል ሆነዉ፣ ያኔ በፍረሳንዮች ቅኝ ግዛት ስር በነበረችዉ በሊባኖስ የናዚ ጀርመን ደጋፊ የነበረዉ የፈረንሳይ ቪቺ መንግስት ወታደሮች ጋር ተዋግተዋል። በዚያ ጦርነት ጊዜ ነበር ሞሼ ዳያን አንድ አይናቸዉን ያጡት።

ከዚያ በኋላ ከአረቦች ጋር በተደረጉት ተከታታይ ጦርነቶች ትልቅ ጀግንነትና የውትድርና ብቃት ያሳዩ፣ በእሥራኤል ታሪክ አሉ ይባሉ ከነበሩት ታላቅ የጦር መሪዎች አንዱ ነበሩ። የእሥራኤል የመከላከያ ሚኒስቴር፣ የጦሩ የኢታ ማጆር ሹም ሆነውም አገልግለዋል።

ይሳቅ ራቢን «እኔ ሰላም ሳላይ እድሜዬን ጨርሻለሁ። ለልጆቻችን ሰላም ማምጣት አለብን» በሚል እምነት፣ ድፍረት የተሞላበት የሰላም እርምጃ ወሰዱ። የእሥራኤል ጠላቶች ከሚባሉ ጋር መነጋገር ጀመሩ።

ኢሳቅ ራቢን ከመገደላቸዉ ከጥቂት ደቂቃዎች በፊት የተናገሩት፣ ለእኛ ለኢትዮጵያዉያንና ለመሪዎቻችን ትልቅ ትምህርት የሚሰጥ አስደናቂ አባባል ነበር ። «የሰላም መንገድ ከጦርነት ይሻላል። ይሄን የምለዉ እንደ አንድ ወታደር ነዉ። መከላከያ ሚኒስቴር ሆኜ የእስራኤል ወታደሮች ቤተሰቦች ስቃይ ይሰማኛል። ለነርሱ፣ ለልጆቻችን፣ ለልጅ ልጆቻችን ስንል መንግስታችን ዘላቂ ሰላም እንዲገኝ ማንኛዉንም ቀዳዳ፣ ማንኛዉንም እድል መጠቀም አለበት። ሰላም አንድ ጸሎት ብቻ አይደለም። ሰላም የጸሎታችን መጀመሪያ ነዉ» ነበር ያሉት።

የጦርነትን ፣ የጥላቻና የእልህ ፖለቲካ አደገኛነቱን ያወቁታልና፣ አብረዋቸዉ የነበሩ ጓደኞቻቸዉ ሲረግፉ፣ አካለ ስንኩል ሲሆን፣ ንብረት ሲወድም ፣ ሰዉ በሰዉ ላይ ሲጨክንና አዉሬ ሲሆን አይተዋልና፣ እርሳቸዉ የኖሩበትን በጦርነት የተበከለን አየር ለልጅ ልጆቻቸዉ ማዉረስ አልፈለጉም። እርሳቸዉ ይመኙትና ይናፍቁት የነበረዉን ሰላም፣ እርሳቸዉ ባያገኙትም እንኳን፣ የልጅ ልጆቻቸዉ እንዲያገኙ መደረግ ያለበትን ሁሉ ማድረግ እንዳለባቸዉ ተገነዘቡ። «ለልጅ ልጆቻችን ስንል ሰላም እንዲመጣ የተገኘችዋን ቀዳዳ ሁሉ መጠቀም አለብን» በሚል ጽኑ አምነት፣ በጦርነት ያልሆነ፣ የወስጥና የልብ ጀግንነት ለማሳየት ተንቀሳቀሱ። የእሥራኤል ጠላት ከተባሉት ከነያሲር አራፋት ጋር መነጋገር ጀመሩ።

ብዙ ተቃዉሞ መጣባቸዉ። እነ ናታንያሁ ተነሱባቸዉ። ግትር ፖለቲካ የሚያራምዱ፣ በጭንቅላት ሳይሆን በጠመንጃ የሚያምኑ፣ እነርሱ ብቻ ከሌላዉ እንደተሻሉ አድርገዉ በመቆጠር በትእቢት የተወጠሩ፣ ከነርሱ ዘር ዉጫ ለሌላዉ ግድ የማይሰጣቸዉ ሰዎች በርሳቸዉ ላይ ማንጎራጎር ጀመሩ።

ኢሳቅ ራቢን ግን ወደ ኋላ አላሉም። «የሰላም ጠላቶች አሉ። ሊጎዱን፣ የሰላሙን መንገድ ሊያጨናግፉን የሚፈልጉ። በድፍረት እናገራለሁ። ከፍልስጤማዉያን መካከል የወጣዉ፣ በፊት ጠላታችን የነበረዉ የፍልስጤም ነጻ አውጭ ግንባር አሁን የሰላም አጋራችን ሆኗል» ሲሉ ከቀድሞ ጠላቶቻቸዉ መካከል ወዳጆችን እንዳፈሩ ተናገሩ። ከያሲር አራፋት ጋር በአንድ ላይ ለሰላም ቆሙ። ኢሳቅ ራቢን በጦርነት ሊያጠፉት ያልቻሉትን የያሲር አራፋትን ቡድን በሰላም አሸነፉት።

ታዲያ ለዘመናት በጦር ሜዳ ሲዋጉ በጥይት ያልተመቱት እኝህ ታላቅ ሰዉ፣ በሰላሙ ሜዳ በቴላቪቭ ከተማ ጥይት አገኘቻቸዉ። ለሰላም ለፍቅር ለወንድማማችነት ሲሉ ወደቁ። እጅግ ታሪካዊ፣ ተወዳጅ የሰላም ሰዉ !!!!

የይሳቅ ራቢንን ታሪክ ያለምክንያት አላመጣሁትም። አንዳንዶችን ተቃዋሚዎችን መጨፍለቅ ጀግንነት ይመስለናል። አንዳንዶች ኃይልን የምንመዝነዉ በያዝነዉ ብረትና በዘረጋነዉ የሥለላ አዉታር ነዉ። መነጋገር፣ መወያየት፣ ፍቅርና መግባባት ፣ በጦርነትም ሆነ በጉልበት ከሚገኝ ጊዚያዊ መፍትሄ የበለጠ ዘለቄታ ያለዉ ጥቅም ሊያመጣ እንዲሚችል አናስብም። የሩቁን፣ እኛ ካለፍን በኋላ በልጆቻችንና በልጅ ልጆቻችን ዘመን ሊፈጠር የሚችለዉን፣ ለሁላችንም የሚበጀዉን አንመለከትም። ጊዚያዊ ጥቅማችንንና ስልጣናችን ላይ ብቻ በማተኮር ግትር ፖለቲካ እናራምዳለን።

እንደ ኢሳቅ ራቢን አሁን በሥልጣን ላይ ያሉት የኢሕአዴግ ባለሥልጣናት ከወጣትነታቸዉ ጀምሮ ጦርነትን ያዩ፣ በጦርነት የኖሩ ሰዎች ናቸዉ። በታሪክ ስለሚኖራቸዉ ቦታ፣ ስለ ልጆቻቸዉና የልጅ ልጆቻቸዉ ማሰባ አለባቸዉ እላለሁኝ።

ጸረ-ሽብርተኝነትን ለመቋቋም ተብሎ የወጣዉ አዋጅ ፣ በዚህ አዋጅ መሰረትም፣ ለሰላማዊና ለሕጋዊ ትግል ጠንካራ አቋም ያላቸዉ እነ እስክንደር ነጋን አንዱዋለም አራጌ እንዲሁም ሌሎች በርካታ በሽብር ወንጀል ተከሰዉ ወደ ወህኒ መዉረዳቸዉ፣ ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ በተቃዋሚዎች ላይ በየወረዳዉና በየክልሉ የሚደርሰዉ ወከባ … ኢሕአዴግን ከሕዝብ ጋር የሚያጣሉ፣ ጥላቻን እንዲሰፋ የሚያደርጉ፣ ዜጎች የበለጠ ወደ ከረረ አቋም እንዲሄዱ የሚገፋፉ እንጂ፣ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስተር መለስ ዜናዊ አንድ ወቅት እንደ አጀንዳ እንደግፈዋለን ያሉትን የመግባባትንና የእርቅን መንፈስ የሚያመጡ አይደለም።

ተናዶ የኃይል እርምጃ መወሰድ፣ በበቀል መነሳሳት፣ ሰውን ማዋረድ፣ ሰዉን መስደብ፣ ሰዉን መክሰስ በጣም ቀላል ነዉ። በአይናችን ላይ ትልቅ ምሰሶ እያለ የሌላዉን ጉዳፍ ማየት፣ የተገነባዉን ማፍረስ፣ አገርን ከድህነት ወደ ድህነት ማውረድ፣ ጠላቶችን ማፍራት፣ ሕዝብን ከሕዝብ መከፋፈል፣ ወንድምን ከወንድም ማጣላት አስቸጋሪ አይደለም።

ይሳቅ ራቢን እንዳደረጉት ጠላት የነበሩትን ወዳጅ ማድረግ፣ የፈረሰዉን መገንባት፣ አገርን ከድህነት ማውጣት፣ ችግሮችን በዉይይት መፍታት፣ የተጣሉትን ማስታረቅ፣ የተበተኑትን መሰብሰብ፣ ትችትና ወቀሳን በትህትና ተቀብሎ ስድብና አሉባልታን ደግሞ ንቆ ነገሮችን በትእግስት ማሳለፍ ግን እጅግ በጣም ከባድ ነገር ነዉ።
ስለሆነም አቶ መለስ ዜናዊንና ጓደኞቻቸዉን፣ አሁንም የቀናዉን መንገድ እንዲይዙና ለእርቅና ለብሄራዊ መግባባት መዘጋጀታቸዉን ለማሳየት ተጨባጭ ሥራዎችን ለመሥራት እንዲነሱ ጥሪ እንደወትሮው በደጋሜ አቀርባለሁ። ከነዚህ በነአቶ መለስ መወሰድ አለባቸዉ ከምላቸዉ አበይት ተግባራት መካከል የሚከተሉት ሶስቱን በዋናነት እዘረዝራለሁ፡

1. በአገራችን ዋና ከሚባለዉ የተቃዋሚ ፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች ስብስብ ከሆነዉ፣ ከመድረክ ጋር ፣ ቅንነትና መከባበር ባለመብት መልኩ ቀጥተኛ ውይይት መጀመር፤

2. በሽብርተኝነት ክስ፣ የተከሰሱ ሰላማዊ የፖለቲካ እንቅስቃሴ የሚያደረጉ ጋዜጠኞችንና የፖለቲካ መሪዎችን ያለ አንዳች ቅድመ ሁኔታ መፍታት ( እስክንድር ነጋ፣ አንዱዋለም አራጌ፣ ናትናኤል መኮንን፣ ርዮት አለሙ፣ ዉብሸት ታዬ እንዲሁም ሌሎች….)

3. ሽብርተኛ ተብለዉ የተሰየሙ ድርጅቶች በሙሉ ( ከአልሻባብና ከአልካይዳ በስተቀር) ከሽብርተኝነት መዝገብ ተሰርዘው እነርሱን ወደ ድርድርና ወደ ሰላም ለማምጣት ስትራቴጂዎችን መንደፍ፣ በዚያም ዙሪያ መንቀስቀስ

በአገራችን እርቅና ሰላም እንዲመጣ ማድረጉ የኢሕአዴግ ብቻ ሃላፊነት አይደለም። ኢሕአዴግን እንቃወማለን በምንልም ወገኖች በኩል መደረግ ያለበት ቁልፍ ጉዳዮች አሉ ብዬ አምናለሁ። ሰላም በአንድ በኩል ብቻ አይደለም። እኛ «ኢሕአዴጎች ስልጣን ለመልቀቅ ፈቃደኛ አይደሉም» ብለን እንደምንከሳቸው ሁሉ እነርሱም በበኩላቸዉ «ስልጣን ብንለቅ አይለቁንም፣ በሰላም መኖር አንችልም» የሚል ፍርሃት ሊኖርባቸው ይችላል ብዬ አምናልሁ። በዚህም ምክንያት እርቅ ለመመስረት ፍላጎቱ ቢኖራቸዉም፣ ከፍራቻ የተነሳ፣ በሰላም ስልጣን ከለቀቅን መገደላችን ካልቀረ፣ እስከተቻለን ድረስ ስልጣናችንን ማቆየት አለብን የሚል ድምዳሜ ላይ ሊደርሱ ይችላሉ። ይህ እንግዲህ እርቅ እንዳይመጣ ሁላችንም ወደ ባሰ ደረጃ እንድንደርስ የሚያደርገን ነዉ።

እንግዲህ በዚህ ረገድ የተቃዋሚ ጎራዉ፣ የሰለጠነ፣ ኢትዮጵያውያንን ሁሉ (ኢሕአዴጎችን ጨምሮ) የሚያቀራርብ፣ በበቀልና በጥላቻ ላይ ሳይሆን በፍቅርና በይቅርታ ላይ የተመሰረተ ፖለቲካዎች ማራመድ ይጠበቅበታል።

በቅርቡ ቃሌ በተሰኘዉ የኢትዮጵያዉያን መወያያ መድረክ፣ የፓል ቶክ ስሟ አላማዬ የተባለች አንዲት የተከበረች እህት፣ አንዲት ጥያቄ አቀረበችልኝ። «ወያኔን የኢትዮጵያ ጠላት ነዉ ብለህ ትቀበላለህ ወይ ? » አለችኝ። ወ/ት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ አትላንታ በተደረገዉ በሰሜን አሜሪካ የኢትዮጵያዊያን እግር ኳስ ዉድድር ወቅት፣ የተናገረቸዉን ጠቀስኩላት። ስላሰሯት፣ ለወራት በጨለማ ቤት ዉስጥ ስላስቀመጧት ስለ ኢሕአዴጎች ወ/ት ብርቱካን ስትናገር «ወንድሜ ስመ ጥፉ፣ ግብረ ጥፉ ሊሆን ይችላል። ነገር ግን ምንም ማድረግ አልችልም ወንድሜ ነው» ነበር ያላችዉ።

አንጋፋዉ አርቲስትስ ቴዲ አፍሮ እንዲህ ሲል ከሰባት አመታት በፊት ያቀነቀነዉ ልጥቀስ፡

“ይቅር በለውና የበደለን ወቅሰህ፣ ምህረት አስተምረን አንድ አርገን መልሰህ
ዘጸዓት ለኢትዮጵያ ወደ ተስፋ ጉዞ፣ ባህር የሚያሻግር አንድ ሙሴ ይዞ
ቅርብ ነው አይርቅም የኢትዮጵያ ትንሳዔ፣ በአንድነት ከገባን የፍቅር ሱባዔ
ፍቅር አጥተን እንጅ በረሃብ የተቀጣን፣ አፈሩ ገራገር ምድሩ መች አሳጣን
ኦሲሳ ኦሲሳ ኦሲሳ ማንዴላ፣ ይቅር አባብሎ እንዳስጣለ ቢላ
በተስፋዋ መሬት እንዲፈጸም ቃሉ፣ ሞፈሩን ያዙና ይቅር ተባባሉ …”

እንግዲህ በፊታችን የፈረንጆች የ2012 ዓ.ም የወንድማማችነት መንፈስ የሚወርሰን፣ የገዢዉ ፓርቲ አመራሮች እና ደጋፊዎቻቸዉ የሚቃወሟቸዉን ሁሉ እንደ ጠላት ማየቱን አቁመዉ ዜጎችን በሙሉ እንደ ወንድም የሚያከብሩበት፣ በአገር ዉስጥም ሆነ ከአገር ዉጭም በተቃዋሚ ጎራ ያለን ሁሉ በይቅርታ መንፈስ ተሞልተን፣ ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ እንዳለቸው፣ ኢሕአዴጎችን እንደ ወንድሞቻችን የምናይበት ዘመን ያደርግልን። አገራችን ኢትዮጵያ የምትፈወሰው በፍቅር ብቻ ነውና መድህኔ አለም ፍቅሩን ያብዛልን
መልካም አዲስ አመት !