ESAT and messengers of peace in San Jose, Ca

     by Yilma Bekele

Tamagne was here. I wrote that and felt I have said enough. Well since you asked I guess I will tell you the rest of the story. I thought by now you would know If Tamagne was here something big and important regarding Ethiopia happened. You know Tamagne; he does not do things little. He does not think of neighborhood, not even a region Tamagne goes the whole nine yards and dreams of a nation. Tamagne does not fly to Atlanta or Houstinn from his base in DC, our Tamagne crosses a continent all the way to California to spend an evening with his people. I am afraid he is outgrowing even that. Now we see Tamagne in New Zealand or Norway. I don’t need a fortune teller to predict we might hear from Tamagne from outer space. I will just sigh and mumble he must have found a lost Habesha that just don’t know when to stop and settle.
He has developed a new habit too. He does not travel light no more. As if the one man army is not enough he is accompanied by some heavy guns all around him. I am not talking about a bazooka or tank. No Tamagne has found the ultimate weapon disarm his enemies. He is accompanied with the messengers of love, brotherhood and tolerance. How I envy Weizero Mamita and Grazmach Beyene because they have given us such a precious gift. May God bless them.
I am sorry about my sloppy writing but you can’t blame me. Right now I am levitating and I am afraid it will take a while to bring me down to earth. I am floating with joy, happiness and hope and it is all due to Tamagne and his associates. I also noticed most of the folks I spent the evening with were a little delirious and as the evening went on the love and peace was infectious with Ethiopians spontaneously clapping, laughing and hugging without abandon. I told you, you should have been there.

Messengers of peace and unity

What were all these people doing on a beautiful Saturday afternoon is a good question? The only explanation I could give you is to say they are committed, they care and they just acted on it. Lots of people worked hard to make the event a success it was. They all have one thing in common, they were all Ethiopians. What brought them together is their love and concern for their homeland.
First were the organizers of the event. It took time and effort to find a good safe location. They have to arrange transportation and accommodation for their guests. Flyers and pamphlets have to be printed to advertise the event. The posters have to be distributed in the community, published on our Web sites and the tickets have to be sold door to door. Without them there is no event. Thank you my beautiful young friends. I am happy your effort was gladly embraced by your community.
Then there were our guests that have to travel far and close to spend a precious day with their people. They are all busy and successful people that are willing to share their views and stick their neck out for all of us to dissect and parse. They were chosen to sit on the podium because they have earned the respect of their community by their work and deeds and we all want to hear from them, meet them and share our views with them.
The most crucial element in this gathering are the guests. Their presence is what makes all that effort worthwhile. I always think it is beautiful to have plenty of people but even the attendance of a single individual to me is a success. We have to show respect and do what has to be done. Coming to an event is not easy. It requires planning commitment and energy. We have to juggle so many responsibilities in our daily life and spending a whole afternoon and evening attending an event is not an easy matter. There is work, family responsibility and other commitments to take into consideration, not to mention paying for the ticket, arranging transportation etc. etc.
All three actors in this important function have something in common that makes them special. They all love their country in a positive way. They value the importance of getting together and trying to find a common solution to make their ancient country a better place. They are not just talkers but doers that go the extra mile to make things happen. It is what is called a symbiotic relationship. One cannot survive without the other. One needs the other to grow and thrive.
Our guests made all of us proud. They said many important things and it is beyond this little presentation to do it justice. There were so many standing ovations, plenty of laughter and the evening went so fast our poor organizers were forced to rearrange their program to fit the occasion. The two young people assigned to lead the ceremony were consummate professionals that made it look so easy I even thought I could do that. Dressed in the splendor of our national colors they set the tone in a positive manner. The sound and video was perfect showing the organizers commitment to excellence.
Abatachen his Holiness Abune Melkesedek General Secretary of the Holy Synod-in Exile, Archbishop of Medhane Alem Cathedral in Oakland was sitting in the middle. That sight by itself was enough to make ones heart swell with pride and joy. He started the assembly with a prayer. I don’t know about you but I knew things were going to get better and better. How could anything go wrong when Abatachen gives his blessings?
I hope you don’t mind me paraphrase and put their speech in my own words. Abatachen spoke about the importance of faith and responsibility in our daily life. He gave us perspective regarding our ancient history and the crucial role religion has played in the making of our country. He thought us how respect for each other’s religion and tolerance of our differences has played an important role in forming the Ethiopia we know now. Then he looked at us and asked a crucial question. What makes us different from animals? He said we are born, we grow up we have family and we all die. He explained we humans are different because we determine road we travel. If you take an animal far from where he was born and give it the comfort he/she needs they will not leave but stay put. It will form a family take care of its offspring and die. But we humans are different. There should be more. We think about the future. What we leave behind for our offspring is a very important consideration of being a human. Life is not about a simple comfort for oneself and one’s family but thinking of the greater family is a crucial aspect of living a successful and whole life. Something to think about, what do you think?

ኣይጋ – ለአውራምባ አቀበለው – አውራምባ ደግሞ- ለትግራይ ኦንላይን!

Print PDF

ሃምሌት ጸጋዬ / በርገን ኖርዌይ
ዑደቱ እንዲህ ይዞራል፡፡ ተረቱም እንዲህ ተለውጧል! «ትንሽ አሻሮ ይዘህ ከቆሎ ተጠጋ»፡፡ ወያኔን ትንሽ እምት! እምት! ትንሽ ቦጨቅ፥ ቦጨቅ፡፡ ከዚያም ተቃዋሚ መባል፡፡ ከተቃውሞው አምባ አድብቶ ገብቶ ደግሞ ቀበሮ መሆን፡፡ ከዚያም እይጋ እየቆነጸለ የሚያወጣውን ትንሽ ለወጥ አድርጎ በአውራምባ ታይምስ ላይ ማውጣት፡፡ ገረብ ገረብ ትግራይ! መቃብረ አምሃራይን በተዘዋዋሪ አጠይሞ ማጮኽ፡፡
ከባለቤቴ ጋር ሆነን የአውራምባውን ዳዊት ከበደን የአከረባበት ስልት አንስተን ስንጨዋዋት ! እኔ ዳዊትን የገመገምኩባቸውን ነጥቦች ባለቤቴ በከፊል ተቀብሎ፣ ላይሆኑ ይችላሉ ያላቸውንም ነጥቦች አነሳሳልኝ፡፡ ዳዊት ወያኔ ሊሆን አይችልም አለኝ መሬት በደንብ ቆንጥጦ፡፡ ለምን አይሆንም አልኩት? ከቅንጅት መሪዎች ጋር አብሮ ሁለት አመት ታስሮ አለኝ፡፡ ብዙ ጊዜ ዞምቢዎች ያሞኙሃል አልኩት፡፡ የባለቤቴን የዋህነቱን ስለማቅ!
የዶክተር አረጋዊ በርሄን መጽሃፍ አንብበህ የለ? ወያኔ እኮ የጦርነት ልብሳቸውን አስወልቆ፣ ኮበሌዎቹን የመነኩሴ ልብስ አስለብሶ ዋልድባ የከተተ መንግሥት ነው፡፡ ለዓላማቸው ቋርፍ እየበሉ፣ ቀኑ ሲደርስ ዋልድባን ያሳረሱት እኮ የወያኔ መነኩሴዎች ናቸው፡፡ ይህ እንዴት ተዘነጋህ ? ለዚያውም ገዳም ውስጥ ሃያ አንድ አመት ችሎ መክረም የሚችሉ ናቸው እንኳን ቃሊቲ ሁለት ዓመት አልኩት፡፡ ለዓላማህ ስትል ቃሊቲ ሁለት ዓመት ብትታሰር ምንድነው? ለዚያውም ጥሩ ጥሩ «ኡፋ» እየጠለፍክ አልኩት፡፡
አቶ መለስ በህይወት ሳሉ፣ መግለጫ ለመስጠት ጋዜጠኞች ሲጠሩ፣ ከግል ፕሬሱ በተለይ ትምክህተኛና፥ ነፍጠኛ የሚባሉት እንዳይገቡ ሲደረግ፣ የዳዊት አውራምባ ግን ዳዊትን ለብሳ ቤተመንግሥት ትገባ ነበር፡፡ መግባቷ አይደለም አቶ መለስና ዳዊት የሚሰሩት ፊልም ነበር፡፡ ዳዊት ጥያቄ ሊጠይቅ እጁን ሲያነሳ፣ መለስ ከእግር እስከራሱ ዳዊትን በአይናቸው ያነሱታል፡፡ በአድዋኛ ኮድ መሆኑ ነው፡፡ ዳዊት ተቃዋሚ ትግሬ ሆኖ በተቃዋሚዎች ዘንድ ይመዘገባል፡፡ተመዝግቦም ለሽልማት ታጭቷል፡፡ ያኔ ትዝ ይለኛል፣ የዋህ ኢትዮጵያውያን በምድረ አሜሪካ ዳዊትን በክብር አጅበው፣ ታላቅ ግብዣ እያደረጉለት! እባክህ ዳዊት አትመለስ! አይምሩህም እነኝህ ሰዎች! እዚሁ ቅር ቢሉት! ኧረ እንዴት ተብሎ! በምንም አይነት ስደት! እዚያው ታግያቸው እሞታለሁ ብሎ ወደ አዲስ አበባ፡፡
አድባር ትከተልህ ብሎ ወገኑ እያዘነ ሸኘው ፡፡ ተቃዋሚዎች አንጀት ውስጥ ዳዊት ተጎዘጎዘ ፡፡ ተጎዝጉዞም አልቀረ ! በብዙም ታመነ ፡፡ ዉብሸትና ዳዊት እዚያችው አውራ አምባ ቢሯአቸው ውስጥ በየክፍላቸው የተነሱት ፎቶግራፍ አለ፡፡ውብሸት ታዬ ፣ እውነተኛዋን የጥንት የጠዋቷን ሰንደቅ ዓላማችንን ቢሮው ጠረቤዛ ላይ ዠቅ አድርጎ አስቀምጧታል ፡፡ዳዊትም እዛው አውራ አምባ ቢሮው ውስጥ የወያኔዋን ባንዲራ ጠረቤዛው ላይ ቀስሯታል ፡፡ ፎቶ ይናገራል ይሏችኋል እንዲህ ነው ፡፡ ካንድ ቢሮ ሁለት ዓይነት ሰንደቅ ዓላማ ፡፡
የውብሸት ጽኑ አቋም እየተለካ ! ለሚፈለገው አካል ተላልፏል ማለት ነው ፡፡ ምስኪኑ ውብሸት ታዬ በጽኑ አቋሙ ፣ እንደነ አንዷለምና እስክንድር ነጋ ተገምግሞ ወደ ዘብጥያ ወረደ ፡፡ የወርቁ ዘር ባለመሆኑ ለርሱ የሚሳሳ አንጀት ወያኔ የለውምና ፣ ሕጻን ልጁን በወጉ እንደ አባት ሳያሳድግ ፣ ያም አነሰው ብለው ሰሞኑን ደግሞ ወደ ዝዋይ ወርወሩት ፡፡
ዳዊት ከቃሊቲ እስር በኋላ ፣ ቀድሞ ያሳትማት የበረቸውን አውራ አምባ እንደገና እንዲያሳትም ፍቃዱ ሲታደስለት ፣ አብርው ከርሱ ጋር የታሰሩት፣ ሲሳይ አጌናና ፥ እስክንድር ነጋ ግን ንብረታቸው ተወርሶ ፥ ገንዘባቸውም ተነጥቆ ፣ጋዜጣ በማሳተም ዙርያ ድርሽ እንዳይሉ ፣ በህገ አራዊት ተከለከሉ ፡፡
ተረቱ አሁንም ተለውጧል ፡፡ ዘመደ ብዙ ጠላው ቀጭን ነው የሚለው ተረት፡፡ እንዲህ ተለውጧል፡፡ « ዘመደ ብዙ መንገዱ ቀጭን ነው » አክተር አይሞትም አይደል ? አክተርማ ከሞተ ፊልሙም ይደብራል ፡፡ የወያኔ ደህንነቶች ፥ ለወርቁ ዘር ልጅ እንዲህ ብለው መከሩት ፡፡ ጎልያድ የሚባለው ኩይሳ አውሬ ሊበላህ ነውና ፣ የቁጩ ወንጭፍህን እጥፍጥፍ አድርግና ማታ በሚነሳው አውሮፕላን ተነስተህ ዋሽንግተን ዲሲ ግባ ፡፡ እዚያም ገብተህ ለተወሰነ ጊዜ አድብተህ ተቃዋሚዎች ጋር ክረም ፡፡ የነብስ አባትህንም መንግሥት ትንሽ አማ ! አማ ! አድርግ ፡፡ ከቻልክም ኢሳት ላይ ቃለመጠይቅ አድርግ ፡፡ ድረ ገጽህም ሲመረቅ ነውጠኞቹን የአሜሪካ ፋኖዎች ፣ በምርቃቱ ላይ እንዲገኙልህ ጋብዝ ያን ግዜ የተሰጠህን መክሊት ፣አትርፈህባታልና አንተ ታማኝ ባርያ ሞገስና ክብር ከውሀት ታገኛለህ ተብሎ ትመረቃለህ፡፡ ከርምረም ብለህ ደግሞ አጣጥፈህ የወጣሃትን ወንጭፍህን ዘረጋግተህ ነውጠኞቹን ቀድብ ተባልክ፡፡
«ሁሉም በየነገዱ ቢባል ቁርበት የት ሄዶ ተሠለፈ ነው የሚለው ተረቱ » ? ጠፋኝ ! ኢሳት ! የህወሃት ልጆችን የስልጣን ቦታ በደንብ በተጠና ጥናት የቱን የቱን መሥርያ ቤት እንደተቆጣጥሩ በግልጽ ያሳየው ዜና ጎረበጠህ ፡፡ አልወደድከውም ፡፡ እያደርክ በኢሳት ላይ የጥላቻ ፍላጻህን ታወርድ ጀመር ፡፡ የአማራው ብሄር በግፍ ሲባረር ምንም ትንፍሽ ያላልከው ሰው ፣ ኢሳትን ከእግር እግሩ እየተከታተልክ ማጥቃት ጀመርክ ፡፡ ስለግንቦት ሰባት አያገባኝም ፡፡ምናልባት የግንቦት ሰባት አባል መስዬህ እንዳይመስልህ ፡፡ ስለ ግንቦት ሰባት አባላቶቹ ሊመልሱልህ ይችላሉ ፡፡ አይደለሁም ፡፡ ግን በኢሳት ላይ አትምጣብኝ ፡፡ ኣይጋ የሚያቀብልህን አንተ ደግሞ ለትግራይ ኦን ላይን በማቀበል በዑደት ዙርያ የምታጠቁት ፣ ገረብ ገረብ ትግራይ ብቀላ የተነቃ ይመስለኛል ዳዊት ! ፡፡
እውነት ተሸፋፍና አትቀርም ፡፡ እስክንድርም ሆነ ዉብሸት አንድ ቀን በህይወት እስካሉ ድረስ ከእስር መውጣታቸው አይቀርም ፡፡ ግን ዳዊት ! ለንስሃ ቀኑ አልመሸም ፡፡ አማራውም እንደ ትግራይ ህዝብ ! ህዝብ ነው ፡፡ ለአማራውም ህዝብ ጩኽለት ! በደሉን በድረ ገጽህ አሰማለት ፡፡ማንም አንተን በትግራዋይነትህ ያገለለህ የለም ፡፡ ይቺ ጨዋታ ናት ! ትልቁ የህውሃት አድባር አልፈዋል ፡፡ምንም እንኳ ራዕያቸው በርሳቸው ደቀ መዝሙሮች ውስጥ ቢቀጥልም ፣ አንተ ግን ከራዕዩ መንፈስ ለመላቀቅ እንድሉ ስላለህ በየቀኑ ስህተቶችን አትደራርብ ፡፡ የሚገርመው ኢሳትን በወቀስክበት ጽሁፍህ አስተያየት የሚሰጡትን ሰዎች የደረደርካቸውን ስሞች ብናይ ! ሁሉም የኦሮሞ ስሞችን የያዙ ማድረግህ ራሱ ሌላ ጨዋታ እንደቀጠልክ ነው የሚያሳየው ፡፡ እነ ገብራይ ስማቸውን ለውጠው እነ ቶሎሳ ሆነው ሲመጡ ሳይ አይጋ ላይ በይቀኑ በኦሮሞ ስም የሚጽፉት ወያኔዎች ትዝ አሉኝ ፡፡
ሃምሌት ጸጋዬ / በርገን ኖርዌይ

Imprisoned Ethiopian Journalist Win the 2013 UNESCO-World Press Freedom Prize

by Betre Yacob

Imprisoned Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu has won the 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. She is given the prize in recognition of her “exceptional courage, resistance and commitment” to freedom of expression. According to UNESCO’s news report, she was recommended by an independent international jury of 12 most outstanding media professionals.
Reeyot Alemu is one of the very rare outspoken Ethiopian women journalists. She bravely fought falsehoods, brutality, and oppression in Ethiopia, with pen — a power of words. She is currently serving a five-year jail sentence in Kality, a notoriously brutal prison of the authoritarian regime in Ethiopia. She was charged with ‘terrorism offences’ on June 2012, under the vaguely worded and broad-reaching Anti-Terrorism law, passed by the regime in 2009.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), all of the charges against Reeyot Alemu were only based on her journalistic activities–emails she had received from pro-opposition discussion groups and reports and photographs she had sent to opposition news sites.
Reeyot Alemu is among a number of journalists who have been prosecuted under the anti-terrorism law in Ethiopia. According to Amnesty International, only during 2011 and 2012, over 100 journalists and political activists were arrested and prosecuted on charges of terrorism and other offenses in the country, for exercising their rights to freedom of expression. The actions that were the basis for such charges and prosecutions included writing articles critical of the government, calling for peaceful protest, and reporting on peaceful protests.
A Woman Born to Stand for the Truth
Born in 1980, Reeyot Alemu studied in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. She received her BA in English Language and Theatrical Art from Addis Ababa University in 2005. Willing to risk her freedom and peace of mind, she began writing articles for independent newspapers in 2009, as a freelance writer.
Reeyot Alemu joined the now-defunct most prominent weekly newspaper called Awramba Times in 2010, where she worked as a columnist and wrote critically about the social and political crisis of her country. In 2011, she worked, among other roles, as a columnist for the weekly independent paper Feteh, which was later shuttered by the regime.
In 2010, Reeyot Alemu was able to found her own publishing house and a monthly magazine called “Change” that covered a wide range of political and social issues. However, after operating for a while, both of them were subsequently closed.
On June 21, 2011, Reeyot Alemu was taken from the school she taught, and arrested in Ma-ekelawi, an interrogation center, where dis-speakable torture is a normal practice of police and security officials in attempts to elicit confessions before cases go to trial. It was without charge. Four days before her arrest, she had written a sharp critique against the regime’s illegitimate fundraising methods for a dam project, and had apparently compared the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi with Ethiopia’s then-Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who ruled the country for 21 years with a rod of iron.
Judged a “terrorist” by the tyrannical regime’s court, Reeyot Alemu was sentenced to 18 years in prison in January 2012. An appeals court, however, subsequently reduced the sentence to five years and dropped some of the charges.
Reeyot Alemu was offered clemency if she agreed to testify against journalist colleagues, who were arrested with her and accused by the regime of abetting terrorist groups. She, however, refused to do so and was consequently sent to solitary confinement as a punishment.
According to different sources, since her imprisonment in June 2011, the health of Reeyot Alemu has deteriorated. Recently, she has underwent surgery to remove a tumor from her breast. Her families reported that after the surgery she was forced to return to jail with no recovery time, and two days later she was, therefore, bleeding.
In 2012, Reeyot Alemu was the recipient of the prestigious 2012 Courage in Journalism Award that recognizes courageous actions of journalists around the world. She was given the prize for her “refusal to self-censor in a place where that practice is standard, and her unwillingness to apologize for truth-telling, even though contrition could win her freedom.”