An Image of Ethiopia: Racism in Santon's dark heart

Ethiopian observer Editorial
Nov. 21 2010

I would like to make it clear to my readers that I am writing as much about myself as about anybody else. I read an article titled Santon Speaks based on firsthand Knowledge and the writer named the speech, a moving, inspiring, and Galvanizing and subsequently put it as a “blessing in disguise”. The good writer continued to regurgitate this insidious attack against Tigrean people. He emphasized the predication of the human tragedy and carnage that await our Ethiopia.

The few self appointed noisy Ethiopian Diaspora opposition, who are bent on violence and terrorism are responsible for thousands of lives lost, deserves nothing less than unconditional condemnation for their continued attempt to wreak havoc and instability succumbing to megalomaniac dreams in the poorest and most fragile region of the world. Defeatist deploys destructive elements to generate desperado results.

We are really saddened to hear such terrifying prophecy from a person who thinks he has the absolute power of preventing Genocide. Adopting the same type’s murderer’s outcome to Ethiopians Tigreans origin, which is also taken the stand taken by extreme terrorist who among others were your spectators joyfully clapping their hands is a criminal act. There is a lot of role the opposition party can do, some of these roles are as bridge-builder, consensus seeker, mediator, reconciler and catalyst for the creation of a compassionate social order fostering harmony by promoting a change process aimed at building a just society.

One of the greatest paradoxes of politics is that only when one knows something deeply can one recognize how little actually knows. A few weeks ago I read a an article by Matt Labash, from the weekly Standard The British writer and publisher Ernest Bennn that politics was “ the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying, the wrong remedy.” Dr. Santon prescribed remedy was clear to inject fear of prophesy and mayhem. In my opinion his analysis is nothing short of a blueprint for termination of Tigreans.

Ethiopia yearns for just, equal and consistent governance that upholds the individual right, values and uses diversity to ascend to a higher order. The enemies of truth and perpetrators of disinformation and misinformation would love nothing better than this. We suspect, it is yet another example of your organization disregard to any legal, ethical and moral standards when it deals with Africa and in particular Ethiopia.

Our motive was none other than the best interest of our country and defend our ethnic identity as true Ethiopians. Your organization needs innovative discourse in order to get off the credibility tracks it is currently on. As a President you must have vision and wide and far-reaching; but how can that vision be brought into action while you are advocating violence and havoc. A leader should not only be but luminously and unmistakably appear to be noble you are totally disconnected in every act of what your organization claim to become. The outcry against it as unduly and unwisely vindictive and we strongly condemn it.

Most of what Assata writing was, in my opinion, revolving based as it was on cowardly insinuation and interpretation of the good doctor. I urge all good people to pay close attention to the inflammatory statement spew out in front of cheering audience. As a Tigrean Ethiopian origin I have to respond and defended my human right when my ethnic identity unduly attacked. Politicizing our ethnicity is a recipe for disaster. Let’s examine The 8 Stages of Genocide By Gregory H. Stanton The Convention declares the following acts punishable: (a) Genocide; (b) Conspiracy to commit genocide; (c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; (d) Attempt to commit genocide; (e) Complicity in genocide." The Genocide Convention is sometimes misinterpreted as requiring the intent to destroy in whole a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Some genocide have fit that description, notably the Holocaust and Rwanda. But most do not. Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B70d2Z9yago Most are intended to destroy only part of a group. He is clearly advocating by targeting one group of people accordingly by his order of prophesy we Tigreans. Increasingly, silence and inaction are nothing more than a form of complicity with the status quo; the war of wards is happening now and those who do not express opposition are in effect demonstrating complicity if not support.

At a time when the world is suffering a serious human rights disaster your organization could play a positive role regrettably we are afraid the latest shameful speech of Dr. Gregory is another act of disgraceful attempt to incite ethnic hatred to innocent lives. We hereby advise your organization to draw lessons from the history, put itself in a correct position, and strive to improve human rights violations. I choose the letter. Many Third World countries will regard your organization as an international browbeat, an organization motivated more by power and greed than altruism and a sincere commitment to human rights and democracy. Evil is lurking with its sharpened iron tooth for brutal violence. If we put aside the hanger for power we might seek to understand why many regard the opposition motivated by power and greed. It is alarming and scary we have to confront the ugly side of Diaspora politics.

My hero Steve Biko in one of his interviews reproduced in Write What I like, Biko describes a confrontation with his jailors “if you guys want to do this your way, “he tells his Jailors “you have got to handcuff me and bind my feet together, so that I cannot respond. And I am afraid you may have to kill me in the process even if it is not your intention.” Biko died in prison, having written his own inscription “It is better to die for an idea that lives than to live for an idea that dies”. The choice is yours.

Thank you