BY SAMUEL GABISO
For many people of Sidama nation, the conflict in Tigray was first felt when their sons serving in the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) were sent down to Hawassa in body-bags or lost contact with them forever, after the TPLF treasonously massacred its own federal army protecting the border with Eritrea.
Since then, the conflict has been mostly hidden as the ENDF quickly defeated the junta and brought them to justice one-by-one. But recently, outside media reports online seem to have provided alternative stories, mostly defending TPLF’s narratives, that should make Sidama and other Ethiopians wonder; where were these international media the last 29 years?
When we read some of the Western media reports, we can assume that thousands of slain peaceful protestors in Sidama, Oromia, Amhara, etc, murdered by TPLF the last many years must be rolling over their graves. Whether it is the Looqqe massacre in Sidama or the many others slaughtered by TPLF, peaceful and unarmed protestors were gunned down like animals. Where was the media? Millions of Sidamas,
Somalis, Oromos, Gedeos, Amharas, Gurages, Anuaks etc have been displaced over the years. And nobody outside Ethiopia spoke for them. Perhaps, there was one or two articles here and there, but not at the magnitude of hundreds of news cycles like those covering Tigray today. There were no United Nations sessions discussing the mass murder of Sidamas and no Western diplomats displaying outrage.
Many of us might wonder why Tigray is getting more attention. Perhaps our fallen Sidama heroes made a mistake raising their hands peacefully, instead of raising weapons like TPLF. Instead of waving our Bibles, maybe we should have waved a rifle like TPLF.
Instead of exposing ourselves in the streets peacefully, we should have been digging trenches in schools, churches or at a hydro-dam like TPLF. Instead of holding hands and demonstrating outside, we should have been holding an AK-47 inside our churches or Mosques.
The violent insurrection by Tigray forces against the federal government is obvious for all to see. Ironically, in the most pro-TPLF report to date, an Amnesty International report about Axum reveals that even Tigrayan civilians used “improvised weapons” to join TPLF militias in attacking
the federal government. What a privilege to gain international media sympathy despite raising weapons! What a privilege to start an armed insurrection that causes so many unnecessary deaths and humanitarian crises and still avoid any blame.
Surely, we should have sent the Sidama police (and even our children) to go ambush a federal military base while they are asleep or in a “pre-emptive strike.” Our mistake the last 29 years after all must have been engaging in peaceful resistance for change.
Perhaps the above is true. But we don’t really have those “historical churches” like Tigray has to use as a shelter for our fighters, do we? In fact, many Tigrayan activists on Facebook reminded us how special they are, as soon as TPLF began the insurrection. They said “Tigrayans are the bravest fighters in Ethiopia.” They said “Ethiopia is nothing without Tigray.”
“Without Aksum, you have no history,” they said. Their demeaning attitude to the rest of Ethiopia was a reminder of the past when Meles Zenawi declared that Tigrayans are “golden people” and depicted southerners as having no culture and no historical heritage.
Lo and behold, let alone the media and western politicians, Tigrayan activists even boasted about articles with archeologists and historians complaining about the law enforcement operation by ENDF, as if the TPLF did not start this whole conflict and as if TPLF is not the only side that wants to continue this conflict. The experts warned that historical artifacts and churches will be destroyed if the war continues.
Even as I write, the words I use themselves — “conflict”…”War” — displays the uneven status of nations in Ethiopia. Even if Sidama people, let’s say, were to raise arms against the federal government, it would never be labeled a “WAR” on Western media, but it would be perhaps a “skirmish” or “clash” at most. This is the reality because no other regional state has accumulated as much ammunition and heavy weaponry as Tigray did over the last 29 years. This is because TPLF controlled the whole military and
security apparatus to benefit Tigray. So virtually every word we utter and everything in this “war” is a manifestation of Tigrayan supremacy in Ethiopia. In every aspect of Ethiopian life, Tigrayan Lives has mattered more for decades. TPLF dominated every regional state, using billion dollar conglomerates and controlled even the profitable NGO sector that was disproportionately staffed by and benefited Tigray. Not only inside Ethiopia, even outside, TPLF officials like WHO Director
Tedros Adhanom gained international positions by exploiting Ethiopia’s status in the AU. Over the years, TPLF made so many connections with western diplomats, journalists and analysts, that some of them have dropped the mask and openly become TPLF mouthpieces like Alex de-Waal, whose “expertise” is used on western media like Washington Post and New York Times. The most famous western TPLF expert is Martin Plaut who recently said “I will die for TPLF.”
What a privilege to be a Tigrayan! As if enduring almost three decades with Tigrayans controlling the political, economic & every aspect of our lives was not enough, now we get to endure Tigrayan privilege one more time even in “war,” as we say bye bye to the TPLF Junta.
The new Ethiopia should treat all her citizens and peoples equally. Minus the noise outside, we Ethiopians inside should focus on building a democratic country that is fair for all nations and nationalities. The way some foreigners blindly support TPLF and TPLF narratives is as if they
purposely want the rest of Ethiopians to envy and hate Tigrayans. Instead, we should love our Tigrayan brothers and sisters but encourage them to understand the various crimes of the TPLF. Even when TPLF was given a second chance (between 2018-20) to be just another party or just another state, the TPLF chose otherwise. And now, in the minds of 100 million Ethiopians, TPLF has joined the Derg and other African Juntas in the dustbins of history.
Samuel Gabisso is a Sidama political analyst and journalist
The Ethiopian Herald March 5/2021
