Truth be told, we’ve completely stopped being surprised by the double standard, bigoted and, yes, racist political shenanigans from sections of the Western political elites and media-for-hire. Since Ethiopia unilaterally declared ceasefire and withdrew its forces it has been subject to sustained attack especially on Amhara and Afar fronts. As the Ethiopians thought their unilateral ceasefire would calm things and their goodwill noticed what followed was the reverse. The group which has been designated as a terrorist entity not only by the government but the hundred-plus million Ethiopian people continued its campaign of terror on civilians in parts of the regions it controlled. The atrocities are so inhuman describing them might sound like chapters pulled out of a badly written thriller.
This country has seen more than its share of barbarity, human nature at its worst …. Mussolini’s invaders did it when they massacred tens of thousands of Addis Ababans over only a few days; the derg topped the cruelest stage of barbarity when its Red Terror campaign the likes of which history seldom witnesses wiping out almost an entire generation of the finest sons and daughters of the nation.
But reports of barbarous acts of the TPLF, dubbed a terrorist organization in parts of the Amhara region it controlled defy explanation. It would have been simple to mention some of them and shock. How can any sane human being so cruel! And as all this is happening under the very eyes of the world the silence screams from Western capitals.
The voices which filled the air while the Ethiopian forces were still in Tigray region, quieted down. It was as if some omen’s time has come and they have lost their speaking ability. The silence was, as they say, deafening. The forces went on to commit the most atrocious acts of barbarity and outright cruelty on civilians. The red line was …by miles and miles. So Ethiopians had to act. The past few days they told the world they were moving to Addis with some media-for-hire sections even saying it was a matter of days before Addis fell. The funny part here is the ‘statement of concern’ by sections which have been throwing everything and more about us. There was no call for the forces to pull back as they were calling the Ethiopian forces to vacate the northern p region, there were no those “do as I tell you or else…” finger wagging, something we’ve become so accustomed to. To stop their encroachment, but “They were disturbed by reports of them heading for Addis.” But the Ethiopia federal forces, the Special Forces, militias and angered youth were not going any such thing to happen. Now our tormentors are licking the wound and when they realized they have to rewrite their scripts they started their offensive.
One can’t deny being a little aback at the seemingly coordinated campaign. First some group said things about military sanctions on Ethiopia; while those sound waves were still in the air the AGOA ax finally fell; then across the oceans some or Borrel person talked about Addis being encircled; then in Addis the embassy in northern Addis comes out with a statement which sounds like Judgment Day was to happen in Ethiopia. “Pack up and beat it while you can!” OMG! And then the pack of journalistic holed up in Nairobi and elsewhere come out snarling and showing their fangs. Even Facebook joined the onslaught against this ancient and proud nation by deleting the post of P.M. Abiy Ahmed. His crime? Calling on Ethiopians to unite and defend the sovereignty of their country. Can anyone be any more callous!
We’re not saying the AGOA will not hurt us. It will, and painfully too. With more than a million people being heavily accepted by this decision, which one would have thought was the last thing to come out of a capital thought to be ‘the beacon of democracy and humanity,’ we’re not downplaying it. Denying more than a million people their daily bread, how do the decision makers feel when they sit to their five-course dinners with the red wine bottles shinning knowing that ‘red’ on this side of the world has nothing to do with wine!
It’s even difficult to give them the benefit of the doubt. No way!
The double standard
Of course, betrayal is well and alive. We’ve seen it over and over again. We have been thrown to the marauding invaders of Siad Barie by being denied the arms to defend ourselves. Of course, we won’t be the first to be victimized; we won’t be the last, too. And all this time we thought we have the staunchest of friends in the Western Hemisphere who would be there for us be in rain or shine. We were there for them during their war on terror. We were for them when they were pulling out their troops from Afghanistan with Ethiopian Airlines, one of the outstanding airlines of the world which the hopeless Nima Elbagir woman tried to smear, coming to the rescue.
How many of us should perish before they regained those lost humanity genes! How low should we slide into poverty before they stop making us scapegoats of their political wrangle with the powerful?
Look, there is this very strange double standard. The West is busy to strengthen its trade relations with China. We always hear them talking about trade imbalance accusing the Chinese of taking the bigger portion of the. But when, in our efforts to defeat poverty and bring solace to millions of suffering Ethiopians, the eyes turn red! And the redness is not the end-product of red wine! Why is that their relations with Beijing is right and ours wrong! How can you talk about justice and fairness when you take a decision that would push a million plus people deeper into poverty? They were attacking Ethiopia of using food as a weapon, a claim discarded by the recent investigation. The question is what are those who make those accusations doing when they take away the plates from the dinner tables of a million people? Just curious;
As a matter of fact Ethiopia has every right as any muscle-flexing capital of the world has in choosing its development partners; period! It doesn’t have to seek or expect the approval or blessing graces of any side.
Believe it or not we are being singled out because we turned around racial prejudice, and the savage/civilized narratives at Adwa. We are being singled out because we have stood our ground on every and all international forum against racial subjugation. We are being singled out for refusing to be pushed around. We’re being singled out for not conforming to conditions that are unacceptable for us. We’re being singled out because, being poor as poor can be, we refuse peddle our pride for political gains.
The truth is out there in the open for all to see. I mean one doesn’t have to be a Vasco De Gama or some Columbus to go out searching for truth. It’s under your noses! Of course never would we be stupid enough to claim our Western detractors and the media-for-hire are being misled. NO! NO! NO! In fact it wouldn’t be out of place to say they even know more than us. Their satellites which we strongly suspect of aiding the assault against us never sleep.
“And Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands,” and God would be listening.
Ephrem Endale Contributer
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD NOVEMBER 7/2021