The
Fate of Ethiopia Must be Decided by Ethiopians
A
commentary on Gregory Stanton’s Speech
Ghelawdewos
Araia, Ph.D.
IDEA
Viewpoint
November
15, 2010
I
have argued many times in the past that the fate
of Ethiopia must be decided by Ethiopians and not
by foreign elements lurking among Ethiopians and
posing as friends. I do not, however, oppose all
foreigners (ferenj or kwaja), who,
in one form or another, were involved in Ethiopian
affairs. There were and are indeed well meaning
and sincere non-Ethiopians who dedicated their
time and life for Ethiopia, but ultimately
Ethiopians must decide the future of Ethiopia, as
is also the case in other free societies.
This
commentary is aimed at the recent speech of Dr.
Gregory Stanton to an Ethiopian audience and also
at Ethiopians who dearly love their country and
who want to make a difference in the future of a
better Ethiopia. It is also aimed at Ethiopians
who are either unable to fathom the reality of
their own society and the complexity of global
inputs, or are easily hoodwinked, uncritically
accepted divisive ideas, and have applauded to
potentially harmful diatribes.
First I like
to make my position clear that I respect
anybody’s opinion even if it is in
contradistinction or diametrically opposite to
that of mine, and that is what a democratic
culture needs to be and it is in the latter spirit
that I acknowledge Dr. Stanton’s entitlement to
his opinion. This is the level of discourse I like
to bolster in this commentary as opposed to
polemics and quid pro quo politics.
Stanton’s
opening speech was quite palatable to my political
opinion, and I want to extend credit to him for
attempting to foster “trans-ethnic” politics
and for saying, “you are Ethiopians, and not
Amharas and Tigrayans.” And to be sure, it is
this kind of thinking that Ethiopians should
entertain at this juncture of their history.
Based on the
above opening remarks of Dr. Stanton, I had a
cursory understanding of the tenet of his speech
as an advocacy for Ethiopian unity. But, all of a
sudden the speaker began making annoying quirks
with respect to Tigrayans and their role in
current Ethiopian politics. His speech was
inundated with disconnected flashes of themes
including the “massive massacre” in Gambella;
the best land in Gamblella that is being sold to
foreign investors; and what he calls the
“internal colonization” of Ethiopia by
Tigrayans.
Dr. Stanton
attempted to substantiate his thesis of a
“Tigrayan regime trying to colonize the best of
Ethiopia” by his argument stated as
“effectively a Tigrayan take over of the whole
country.” Furthermore, in an omen anticipating
sign, the speaker said, “whom do you think is
going to pay for all these?” and he answers it
himself by saying “the Tigrayans.” “I am
worried for the Tigrayans,” says Stanton, “who
could become victims [of genocide]” themselves.
First and
foremost, the speaker’s claims are spectacularly
implausible as to lack of credibility. Secondly,
the Tigrayans are not colonizers and they are not
presiding over “internal colonization.” The
latter concept is paradigmatically bankrupt and
meaningless in any given historical context. It is
beyond the scope of this Viewpoint to delve into
classical political economy on colonization, but
for interested individuals it is suffice to make
reference to the European colonial adventure in
Africa accompanied by the expansion of commodity
products, capital, and technology. But even
Europe’s hegemony over Africa was not really a
total monopoly on the modus vivendi of
Africans. On the contrary, Africans continued to
influence and determine the course of their social
life in spite of European scrutiny. Ethiopia, far
from becoming a European-type hegemon, is a poor
Third World country and governed by a relatively
weak state, and contextually speaking thus the
government could not possibly control all aspects
of life of Ethiopians. Same logic applies to all
developing countries.
With respect
to the Gambella massacre, Dr. Stanton has a point.
A massacre took place on December 13, 2003. I am
of the opinion that the Gambella incident must be
re-investigated and after a corpus delicti
has been established the perpetrators must be
brought before justice. However, to charge all
Tigrayans as responsible for the massacre in
Gambella is not only hopelessly false, but it is
also against reason and history.
In the last
two decades, among Diaspora Ethiopians that I have
labeled ‘enclave opposition’ (see www.africanidea.org/national_reconcillation.html),
it has become standard practice to attribute all
Ethiopian problems to Tigray. The same dominant
framework of thinking also prevailed during the
reign of Haile Selassie, whereby the Amharas were
collectively charged as oppressors and exploiters.
Some five years ago, I wrote an article in Amharic
entitled La’ Ethiopia Ya’mi’bej strategy
meqe’yes Ya’ hu’laçhin ha’la’finet Naw
(It is our collective responsibility to design a
strategy for the best interest of Ethiopia), and
in that article, I argued, “in Haile
Sealssie’s government it is the top officials,
the dignitaries, and the Neftegna (landlords) that
were the beneficiaries and not the ordinary
Amharas in Showa, Wollo, Gondar, and Gojjam.” I
strongly believe the same logic applies to
Tigrayans today.
It is based on
my conviction and political philosophy that I
challenge Gregory Stanton’s rather flawed pieces
of a puzzle that don’t seem to fit together in
his speech to an Ethiopian audience. I do not want
to question the sincerity of Stanton and my hunch
and intuition tell me that he does not have any
ulterior motives. But his anti-Tigrayan sentiment
(notwithstanding his nice-sounding nostrum of ‘I
am worried for the Tigrayans’) is hardly a
remedy for Ethiopia’s complex problems.
At the end of
his speech, Dr. Stanton called upon Ethiopians to
unite and strategize and concluded by saying,
“the best antidote to genocide is democracy.”
I agree with his concluding remarks, but I found
the overall inconsistency in his speech startling.
One cannot hope to unite Ethiopians when s/he
preaches ethnic cleansing. I am not saying that
the speaker is in favor of ethnic cleansing in
Ethiopia, for that would contradict the mission
and objectives of his organization, Genocide
Watch. Nevertheless, I still insist that singling
out one ethnic group or nationality as responsible
for Ethiopia’s ills is tantamount to inciting
ethnic cleansing.
Quite frankly
and candidly, I want to extend the benefit of the
doubt to Dr. Stanton with respect to his speech,
though I also want to underscore that his
organization should not err in policy in the
future and foment anti-Tigrayan (or any other
ethnic group for that matter) sentiments. The
speaker, on the contrary, should have told his
audience, in no uncertain terms, that they must
make distinction between a seating government and
a given nationality, and that the people of Tigray
have nothing to do with the massacre in Gambella.
It is simple logic: the majority of Tigrayans who
reside in Tigray and elsewhere in Ethiopia don’t
really understand what took place in Gambella, let
alone be accomplice to the crime.
Ethiopia
belongs to all Ethiopians and I strongly believe
that all Ethiopians, without ethnic distinction,
must reside in all Ethiopia without any
restriction. If Ethiopians can extend hospitality
to non-Ethiopian refugees and accommodate them in
their midst, why should it be difficult for them
to embrace their own brethren? Ethiopians must
interact within themselves in terms of much richer
and varied spectrum of opportunities that can
actually enable Ethiopia to emerge as a vibrant
and strong nation. If, on the contrary, Ethiopians
are engaged in finger pointing at one another and
unleash ethnic cleansing against their respective
communities, it is highly probable that a
bloodletting civil war could ensue and this could
be a first encounter in the history of their
country. All of us who love our country and our
people should not permit such a curse to happen
under our watch.
All Rights
Reserved. Copyright © IDEA, Inc. 2010. Dr.
Ghelawdewos Araia can be contacted for educational
and constructive feedback via dr.garaia@africanidea.org
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