BY WOSSENSEGED ASSEFA
A special insight into the current international news regarding the internal crisis in Ethiopia shows us how the presentation of the facts is being distorted due to a number of internal and external factors.
The most prominent international media outlets of our time are chiefly controlled by the Western world; and hence, they promote the political and economic interests of their own.
For the most part, Western newsagents have the habit of purposely selecting facts that promote their respective national interests while leaving out or ignoring the ‘unsuitable’ facts so that the attention of the whole world will be diverted to the few selected facts they want us to see.
A few facts are selected and given the media spotlight with the aim of blaming the current government and the regional administration in Tigray. Ethiopia, which is currently undergoing negotiations with Sudan and Egypt regarding the GERD, has been facing an enormous amount of pressure from the West to agree on elements of the negotiation which are directed to force us to compromise our national sovereignty.
In addition, it is currently the only country from the three parties which seeks resolution through the African Union without the involvement of another mediator.
This has made the country and its government a target for attack by the Western media and governments of the Western nations, who would have a greater geopolitical advantage in supporting Egypt rather than Ethiopia.
The United States, United Kingdom and France all have stronger bilateral relations with Egypt than they do with Ethiopia due to the fact that Egypt is beneficial in terms of promoting their interest in the Middle East; thus, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them promote and support Egypt and its unlimited appetite for the River Nile at the expense of the Ethiopia’s national sovereignty if need be.
Therefore, the internal conflict in Tigray and the resulting crisis is being observed and treated by the Western media through the spectacles of the GERD and its ongoing negotiations, among others.
Another factor leading up to the presentation of a few chosen facts pertaining to the Tigray region situation is that most international media correspondents are lobbied through agents of the former TPLF regime to present details of the situation in such a way that the Prime Minister and his government are blamed by the international community as well as the general public.
These individuals served the TPLF while it was in power and have the experience of lobbying news correspondents and paying them well enough to divert the narration of the news in their favor.
The deliberate move of exposing very few chosen facts and hiding the general truth in the process serves to hurt the international image of the country. As a result, it has to be dealt with by bringing out the hidden facts to light and presenting them as they are to the international community. One of the ways in which this can be done is if the government follows a proactive diplomatic approach as a foreign policy rather than a reactive approach.
The government should not respond to different allegations forwarded to it by the international community once they are out there spoken in every media outlet; but rather, it should be the first to inform the international community about any situation that occurs in the country by stating the facts before its critics get a hold of the stage and find a room to distort it in any way that serves them.
In fact, it should be the one to take the first step in letting the international media gain access and informing them about the ongoing situations in the country. It must have the capability to not only get a hold of the facts, but also state them in detail in a presentable manner in order to minimize the loopholes to twist factual information.
It should lay a common ground of information between itself and the international community so as to avoid misunderstandings and any kind of misinformation that might occur. In Luke 8:16 the bible states, “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.”
Likewise, getting a hold of the facts by itself is not enough. Facts should be stated in a skillful manner and presented in a persuasive way to be on the same page with the rest of the world.
The light should be placed on the stand so that everyone will see it and avoid being in the dark about the current state of the country. We have to work on our diplomatic skill and our ability to update the international media every time a situation arises.
Taking the story of Libya and its long-term dictator Muammar Gaddafi as an example, we can see the level of interference of the West and the final state of the country after he was overthrown. Gaddafi ruled Libya from 1969-2011.
For 42 years this man was in power, he was a dictator, he killed a lot of Libyan citizens who opposed him and did a lot of unspeakable things; and all along leaders of the West were willing to overlook what he did, they were willing to be silent and continue strengthening their foreign relations with the government he led.
They turned a blind eye to every human rights abuse and the countless number of Libyan citizens he tortured and killed until he came up with a proposal that stood against their interest. All of a sudden, when a mass protest broke out in Tripoli, nations of Western Europe and the United States began involving themselves, reporting the situation in Libya through their respective media and calling Gaddafi a dictator in the name of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) the Libyan people from his dictatorship.
They sold firearms to the rebels to support them in overthrowing Gaddafi and they froze his bank accounts and his assets in the west claiming that he was a dictator. Why after 42 years? What changed? What were they not telling us? Gaddafi told the west that they were giving them paper money in return for the black gold they took from Libya.
He said that the paper money that is now widely accepted in the world, which the Western nations use to support their economies, would soon devaluate; and that when it does, the economic power would shift from the West as well. So, he demanded the trade of real gold for black gold rather than paper for gold. He not only said that, but he also began spreading the same idea to
oil rich countries. This is what led the West to be involved in the internal matters of the country in the name of R2P. The aftermath of his overthrow serves to show us that they never cared about Libya and its people which are in a far worse state than before.
Saddam Hussein is another example of leaders who were killed by the plot of Western governments and their media. The media including CNN and BBC reported at the time to the whole world about Saddam Hussein and his Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Even CIA informed the American government that Saddam had no WMD under his control, but they weren’t willing to listen.
Why? Because the United States (the Bush Family) wanted to exploit the oil in Iraq; and thus, they needed an excuse to invade the country. The Bush family had their own oil extraction company ready to consume Iraq’s oil and Saddam was standing in the way of it all.
In fact, George H.W. Bush was criticized for his effort in trying to exploit Iraq’s oil, and his son George W. Bush was not only fulfilling his father’s initial plans but also avenging his father when he executed Saddam and exploited Iraq’s oil. By the time Saddam was executed, the whole world was glad; but to this day it is clear that he had no WMD, although it was the cause of his death.
Taking these two of many stories as a sample, how many times do you think the West and their media have been lying to us? How many times have they distorted the facts to overturn governments and exploit the riches of nations as they did with Iraq’s oil and as they are doing with Libya’s right now? If there is one thing we need to learn from it all, it is that we the Ethiopian people need to stand as one and stop being divided against each other.
Our division only opens doors to foreign looters who seek to take advantage of our situation; especially at a significant time such as this. Looking back even at our own history, we should understand that our enemies take advantage of our country when we are internally divided. We need to stand as one in order to support our brothers from Tigray and our government in its handling of the GERD negotiations.
In addition to the above factors, Ethiopia is also facing another threat to its national unity from families of the former TPLF officials and their supporters who live abroad. During the 27 years the TPLF ruled the country, the wives, children and extended families of the officials were continuously profiting from the corrupt system of governance it followed. Most of the children of these officials have had the opportunity to study abroad and live a
luxurious lifestyle at the expense of the wealth of the Ethiopian people. Ever since the time Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to office, they started holding different kinds of campaigns against him and his government by forming a loop and protesting outside the gates of the headquarters of prominent news agencies.
They did all this because they have now lost all the benefits they once had along with the power their relatives held in office. These are now the same people crying out everywhere about the humanitarian crisis in Tigray; yet they are doing so little to help their people despite the enormous amount of wealth they have accumulated over the past three decades.
This shows us that they carry out the protests in the aim of creating international pressure against Abiy’s government rather than helping their people. The Ethiopian diaspora community needs to stand taller and louder against this group and support the Prime Minister and his moves to change the country.
The community needs to make its voice heard and speak out for our people and also push foreign aid organizations to help our Tigrayan brothers and sisters. History itself testifies that war breeds crisis wherever and whenever it occurs. Therefore, we as a nation need to focus on how to mitigate the crisis and move forward with a united heart.
The Ethiopian Herald March 25/2021
