BY STAFF REPORTER
Ever since the terrorist TPLF launched an attack against the National Defense Force in early November last year, it also did somehow a destructive cyber war front abroad. Through its well-prepared propaganda and misinformation network, it hired lobbyists and PR firms in the west. Then it has done a lot of destructive works to influence the stance and policy of many countries and international organizations.
But the terrorist group was able to play victim only up until the Ethiopians in the diaspora caught up in employing the same routes that it followed to deceive and misinform the international community. But instead of engaging in the fake, fabricated and misguided information campaign, the Ethiopian diaspora struggled to use social media to spread genuine and principled information to Ethiopians abroad as well as concerned governments and international organizations about the destructive intents of the Junta, the aggressions it committed against the people of Ethiopia and the like.
The Diaspora communities were able to correct the erroneous stance and misunderstandings created by the terrorist TPLF and its sympathizers and supporters abroad. Among such communities, the Ethiopian Diaspora Peace Delegation has played a significant role in this regard.
Eyerusalem Kibret is a young Ethiopian born youth who lives in Denver, Colorado. She is a member as well as the press and information Secretary of Delegation. The Ethiopian Herald has interviewed her on how the diaspora community was able to counter the misinformation campaign of the TPLF and its sympathizers, through wisely using social media, sharing appropriate information as well as how the diaspora supports current domestic affairs. Excerpts:
We believe information is vital these days to do the right decision and contribute your share to your country. Do you have adequate information about your country of origin?
Yeah, in the beginning, there were some struggles trying to get information in a timely manner. And I think that’s been communicated, via different routes of communication methods. And recently, I think the people, I would say, have been able to get that access. So, for myself speaking, there are a lot of groups that have been created. So there’s the GLEAN, there’s UAC, for Ethiopia, there’s the Ethiopian youth group.
All these have Telegrams, WhatsApp where we exchange information. I am also part of the Ethiopian public diplomacy network group, where we disseminate information amongst ourselves. That way, if there was information that came out from the Foreign Ministry today, we have someone sharing that with everybody that’s in the team or in the group, and so that we’re able to share that with our followers, whether it’s via Twitter or Facebook. So we’re able to disseminate the true information or factual information much quicker. So that’s pretty much how it has improved, I want to say, but I think there is still an area of opportunity to work on that.
These days, the youth are very close to technology, particularly social media. How are you trying to voice particularly on the GERD matter? For instance, TPLF lobbyists involved in a huge campaign swiftly following the parliament’s decision to identify the TPLF as a terrorist group.
What you have done to minimize the destructive results of these lobbyists?
Yeah, it is true. And I think it’s because they were deliberately ready for it. So when this happened, they were on standby. And they were able to deploy different things, they were able to do their Twitter campaigns; they were able to use that network, because these are people who have lobbyists and PR firms, and they’re running it in a strategic way. So there are a lot of things that they’ve done in the background to be able to support the work that we’re doing.
But when it comes to the just ordinary Ethiopians, we weren’t as prepared as they were, because we had no idea that this was going to be such a drugged-out event that will force us to be able to defend and stand with our country. And so it took a lot of time to be able to first raise awareness that we need to be defending Ethiopia on a platform that we’re not used to before. So there has to be a lot of education; educating society about why is Twitter important? How do you use it? And what impact can you make?
Were you educating the users or the society as a whole? How do you speak for your country? Have you seen some achievement in this regard?
Yes. So in the beginning, there was a lot of organizations like GLEAN, Unity for Ethiopia, Defend Ethiopia, they were doing as a team, they organized and they were doing sessions even for people to say if you haven’t used Twitter before, and you need help; they actually did live sessions.
We were also encouraging people like the youth to be able to teach their mothers and fathers who have much greater knowledge about the historical context of the situation. But they weren’t really speaking that out to a bigger audience because they were limited whether by technology; we do not really know the tools to use. So trying to narrow that gap, I have the knowledge, the history and the context, the content of what’s going on.
But I don’t know whom to communicate it with. And I think they did really great in reaching out to people and saying we can help you set up or we can show you how to do it. And then I think the second question you asked is how are we advocating for Ethiopia? So one of the things we’re using Twitter campaign, so all these different organizations that I mentioned, have Twitter campaigns.
And then another thing is, as a community, we were meeting with our senators and representatives. I had the opportunity to meet with a lot of senators and representatives as a group. And we were able to discuss the situation, what does the history look like? What caused it? Why are we here, and then what do we think should be the solution, the proposed solution and just raising awareness about the situation? And then the second is, giving a call to our representative again, and saying, “Hey, I’m a taxpaying citizen, born in Ethiopia, and this is what it looks like, this is what’s going on. And I want you to have the facts and the truth on your side. So there’s so been a lot of work.”
But I think as you said earlier, the forces that are anti-Ethiopia or pro-TPLF narrative, have been winning the social media aspect of it, because like I said, they’re running in a more strategic way and well thought out plan. And so combating that has been difficult, but I think latter we have been able to keep up with that. And we’re seeing some fruit like, now Karen Bass pulled out The House Resolution 445, just recently, on the 23rd of July. The Ethiopian communities had a meeting with her to address the issue and are concerned about, why she did not have a balanced assessment of the situation. And we have seen the fruit of her pulling it and taking a pause and seeing Okay, yeah, we need to reassess to see what has been done.
I watched that video while an Ethiopian was giving Karen Bass information about the situation in Ethiopia to make her assess the situation properly. But what was her response?
Yeah, the gentleman that spoke during that time was Nebiyu Asfaw. He spoke very boldly. The majority of the Ethiopian community has been silent. And that has been the main problem. We’ve and we know the truth, we have the historical context. We know how we got here and what the solution could be. But we’ve taken a backseat when it comes to the situation. I think he stated to her that we are the majority. And we are taxpaying citizens and you represent us. And this is our perspective on the issue.
During the meeting, she did mention that she was going to that the proposal needed to be reviewed. She actually imposed more questions on us. And to me, it seemed as if she had selective hearing; what we call a selective hearing, which is, I only hear what I want to hear, and I don’t hear everything else you have to say. That’s pretty much what it was during that time. But again, we’re glad that she’s able to pull that out and hopefully take the time to review it or just pull it off because it truly is not the facts on the ground.
What do you think is a source of information for the policy?
Lobbying companies! We’ve seen them, we’ve actually if you follow; I don’t recall an echo center, the name of the company, the lobbying company, but they actually took credit when they passed the first sanction on Ethiopia. And they pretty much said, our work, now has a fruit. So clearly shows that this lobbying company whether, using famous people, or money, whatever it may be, they are doing a greater job, and they are able to influence policy changes, which again, you can have a debate with the senators, and they might tell you, no, no, no, we don’t listen to them, we actually have our own, but it just doesn’t work like that. It’s evident that these lobbyist companies are able to change policies.
So the guys and their sympathizers are said to be strong in hiring lobby companies. How about the Ethiopian Diaspora community? Have you thought over to hire similar companies in this move to advance your interests?
The Ethiopian community did hire a lobbying company, but is it the strongest? The opposition is there. Money is a big factor. I think when you talk about terrorist TPLF, and their sympathizers, people who have had the advantage for the last a quarter of a century in Ethiopia would not be free from bias. The relation in the last three decades is very strong, from a networking perspective, as well as from economic and financial perspectives. And so they have the money and the resources to be able to hire the same lobbying company, as Afghanistan and Syria and Arab countries versus for our community. It’s the dimes and the dollars and the pennies that come together to be able to do this work. I think there is just money really impacts the outcome of the lobbying.
What can you just contribute? How are you preparing yourself? How do you try to address this problem?
Yeah, I think the first thing is to bring the community together and aware them about the situation because they didn’t know the magnitude of the problem. They’re like, yeah, we’ll be fine. We know the truth. That was the attitude of downplaying the cause, especially amongst the youth. But then as we go in time, we see the image of Ethiopia being distorted through a lot of disinformation or misinformation about what’s truly going on, and what got us here, the youth has been able to find their voice and they are speaking. And so I think, the area of opportunity is first for them to stay engaged. And how we do that is continuously sharing the new information, what has been done, what’s going to be done, and having a little bit of transparency, hopefully, from the government, as well as other entities within the Diaspora or Ethiopia as well.
Recently, the Ethiopian diaspora launched something called the Cyber Army of Ethiopia. So that’s pretty much encouraging the youth and anybody in the diaspora or within Ethiopia to be able to arm and be able to help in Twitter and all the social media aspects and to be able to raise awareness. And we have to continue to do work like that, to be able to continue to raise awareness about the situation and also be able to stand and defend Ethiopia.
Can we say that most users born and raised in the US have got ample information about the country of origin, about the people about the history of Ethiopia?
Yes, but I was luckily born in Ethiopia. But, my peers and my friends were born there. I think we’ve always been taught the victorious side of Ethiopia. We’re the people who’ve never been colonized, we have Victory Day, and instead of Independence Day, so win situation were thought. We have a diverse group of people a diverse language, so a lot of the positive, encouraging things about our country, and not so much focused on historical content. And so I believe, personally, for us as a diaspora, we need to work on bridging the gap between, what do the educated people have to say, who knows the historical content of Ethiopia?
And then how can we teach that history more in-depth to the youth, so that way, they just don’t know the highlights of Ethiopia, but they actually know the details of our history. And so I think that’s, I personally believe that’s always been an area of opportunity, where, whether using different platforms or having maybe a platform where you can have these type of discussions for the diaspora youth, or even the youth in Ethiopia.
I think that’s an area of opportunity. But I know a lot of Ethiopians to have a strong connection about Ethiopia because we have such a unique culture. We are caring people and very respectful. We are also very polite people. And so all those things, when they compare it, whether within the family or when they come here, and they go back, they see all those differences, the different things that connect us to our root. And I think they acknowledge that and they cherish that. But I think there’s a lack of deeper knowledge of our history and our identity. And that needs to be bridged before we go on to the next generation.
Any possible way that helps the youth to understand your country other than the media, education?
So yeah, I think, a stronger connection, maybe with the people that are here, whether it’s youth ministry, or the Ethiopian Diaspora. They’ve recently been trying to be more engaged with the diaspora, but maybe having a partnership between the Ethiopian diaspora director office and the youth ministry, and then having some sort of organization or youth team that is located in the diaspora. Having a strong relationship between the three entities might be able to produce a fruitful outcome.
What message do you want to convey to, maybe to your representatives in the US?
Ethiopia has always been bullied, but has always superseded and will continue to. And I think we are people with a lot of patience, courage or resilience, and we know who we are and where we come from. And so we’ll continue to defend ourselves. I want the youth ought to stand with Ethiopia, learn more about the current situation and be able to communicate that to the international community.
At this moment, all Ethiopians are heading towards the same goal to defend their country from the aggression of the terrorist TPLF. We can also observe that the aggression of the group has caused strong unity among the citizens. What are your feelings here?
Yeah; very inspiring! Even for us in the diaspora. And because of a lot of the propaganda, they indicate as if Ethiopia is not one or united. They make it seem we are divided amongst the ethnic group or divided amongst religion. So when we see the people who live in Ethiopia on the ground, who are having a day to day activity, at work and businesses everywhere, are coming together and saying, no, we’re not divided amongst any of these things. We’re going to defend and stand together to maintain the sovereignty of our country, and to say no to the TPLF sympathizers.
So TPLF supporters are distorting the image of Ethiopia, based on allegations and unverified information. And so it is inspiring, it tells us what’s truly on the ground and the true feeling of the people when they come out and they tell us we stand with our national defence force who has been betrayed, who experienced treason in the worst level. And they support our national defence force, they support our country, and they’re ready to defend our country. So that’s an infusion of energy for us who live in the diaspora for I don’t get to see the day to day activity of the society. So it was inspiring for me.
Did you tweet it to a friend?
Oh, yeah, I did. One of the pictures was of a soldier who was singing, he was kneeling down holding the flag; that was touching for me. So I tweeted that long live Ethiopia, protected by her sons and daughters, and then many other pictures where there are just thousands of people. There was a mother who was holding that book. So, we’ve seen a lot of different inspiring stories. And it’s like I said, it’s a source of energy and inspiration for us living outside of Ethiopia.
What messages does it convey to some individuals or countries that stand against Ethiopia?
I think it shows that we are united, and it shows that we’re watching. Because, again, the pro-TPLF narrative has been playing in international media; you can go from CNN to Amnesty reporting, unverified stories, based on allegations, everywhere; we’ve seen a lot of it just being in these situations allows it because we’re not able to verify information on the ground. So they use that as an excuse.
And if you see a lot of these reports and videos, they actually have at the bottom, a statement that says this story has been verified, or we don’t have evidence, so we weren’t able to collaborate. But why are you then reporting it if it’s not verified? And if you don’t know whether it’s true or not, if you couldn’t verify the person that called to report an allegation? It could be anybody; it could be the terrorist TPLF itself. It could be anybody really. So this, so they were able to use the pro-TPLF narrative, they’re able to convey the idea that Ethiopians were divided amongst themselves; even when we come to the election.
They had a lot of discussions and panelists, but no, no one that represented the interest of Ethiopians was either extremists from this side or that side. And then Ethiopia was never really represented in those speeches. And we’ve asked for that; we’ve said “why don’t you invite us? Why don’t you invite educated people who know the history, who know what the people want?” And oftentimes, their response is just either silence, or it’s like, “oh sorry, we didn’t get your email in time yet or was sent in time” So it’s evident that the people are with the Ethiopian government, as well as with our national defense force. And that’s what the people showed when they go out and they say they stand with our national defence force for being able to defend Ethiopia.
Doing functional Orpheus, I mean, recounting this information, how are we encountering? No, I mean, just know that they don’t really support the reason or be supportive to this reinforcement operation could be mitigating the misinformation.
The medicating the misinformation is first clearly what caused it, there is a saying that goes “You treat the cause, not the symptoms” So I truly believe that the cause is TPLF, which has poisoned the people with tribalism for the last 30 years and is now carrying that and a society we are trying to treat the different symptoms that we see whether we say it’s starvation, or rape, or whatever it may be, but you can’t treat those things unless you treat the cause. Because the cause will start to produce many symptoms as we go on. So as a society, Ethiopians all across the country have to first address the cause who caused it? Why was it caused and how do we solve that now? And so that’s going to take a long process, but I’ve seen a lot of people being engaged in speaking out against you, you’ve committed treason you have to answer for what you’ve done. And then, we have to be able to unite and create some peaceful mitigation situations for the community.
How do you support the current march to safeguard Ethiopia?
I fully support it. As an Ethiopian, it was treason that was committed on Ethiopia, at every level, you can examine it was treason. So now the fight is against treasonous, who decided that they would attack our national defence force, who by the way was feeding, and building schools and closing children’s and working for mothers, and doing a lot of great works in the background. And they’ve been there, most of them have been there in that region for over 27 years. So yet, you have a rebel team that went and attacked our national defence force, and the government had to take the necessary measures to be able to first maintain rule of law. There is rule of law and everywhere, and if you look at the consequences of treason for any country, including the United States, you go to the Middle East, it’s the worst thing that could happen to you.
And we have to be able to work with the community to be able to address some of their concerns and their humanitarian issues and other things. But again, the conflict is with a political party that had dictated Ethiopia and Ethiopians, regardless of religion or ethnicity for the last 30 years.
The Ethiopian Herald August 21/2021
