Getachew
Reda, Director of Public Diplomacy and Communications in Ethiopia's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said that there was no scheduled mediation between Eritrea and
Ethiopia in an interview
with a Pro Government Discussion Forum in the Diaspora this afternoon (March 17, 2012).
Since
last week various Eritrea affiliated websites have been reporting that representatives of Ethiopia and Eritrea were scheduled to meet in Germany
on March the 20th, 2012 mediated by Israel and Qatar to discuss a 5-point agenda accordingly:
1. Qatar will lease the "Eritrean port of Assab” for 20 years and Ethiopia
will use the port 2. Ethiopia will be committed to demarcate the border,
restore “Bademe” to Eritrea, and withdraw its troops 3. Both countries work to
normalize the social relations between them 4. Both countries work on
normalizing diplomatic and political relations 5. People affected by the
1998-2000 war to be compensated with the help of donors.
The Ethiopian Director said that
there has been no attempt by any organ to mediate both countries in Germany on
March 20, 2012 or in the near future. However, he expressed that it has been
the position of his government to solve the issues with its arch foe Eritrea
through roundtable.
The
Ethiopian Ministry of Defence is working to establish a Credit and Saving Institution
for the Defence Forces sources told De Birhan. Similarly, the Defence Ministry
has been busy for the past two years forming an Army Foundation in line with the Credit and Saving Institution with the aim of improving the
quality of life through credit and saving facilities for soldiers to build
their houses, and avail other services at a cheaper cost or with minimum
contribution. The Institution will offer credit, saving and banking services to members of the Defense Forces.
The Army Foundation is expected to have a cooperative business model and supply authorised products, services and benefits to employees of the Defense Forces
and their legal dependants that the state does not provide through the normal conditions
of service. It is expected to be a self
funded Foundation mandated by the Minister of Defence to provide the army with
a variety of the best possible and better than market-related products,
services and benefits.
The source also stated that the Foundation might provide life insurance, as
well as products which are aimed at improving quality of life in terms of
housing and education. The
membership of the Institution on the otherhand, would be limited to the Ethiopian Defence Force
members but might be open to the public in the future, sources added.
Similar foundations
and credit and saving institutions exist within many armies of African
countries. They are mostly aimed at keeping the rank file intact and their
welfare.
Dertogada was first published in Ethiopia’s national
language, Amharic in 2009 by a young person called Yismake Worku, 22 years old
at the time of publication. The eminence of his book reached us here in the
West soon after it hit the local shelves and managed to grasp the local
readership’s thirst for locally produced globally themed book. Most Ethiopian
contemporary writers have been writing Amharic novels that mainly focus on
local issues, plots, characters and themes making them incapable of reaching
foreign readers. The themes, characters and plots of most Ethiopian novels were
confined to Ethiopia. Dertogada, I found it
to be an answer to that. Yismake integrated local stories with international
flavours making it a book suitable for readers of the globalised world. Apparently, it is now translated into English
making it available for international readership. I read very few fictious
novels and books in Amharic, English or French. I prefer nonfiction. Dertogada
is one of the few fiction novels that I read and was worth spending the money,
time and attentiveness.
Discussion:
The book is fiction. However, it integrates and bases itself
on real personalities, places, history and incidences. The book also provides a
detailed description of the facts using various evidences and references. It is
clear that from reading the book, one can find out that the author did a lot of
research on what he was writing or had a personal experience of the issues.
The story begins with a flashback. Amazingly constructed
with arithmetic poem around Laurite Tsegaye Gebremedhin’s famous poem called
the Passion of Peter, Dertogada requires the reader’s watchfulness, fusion and
attention to detail. The plot of the book is an imbroglio in that it revolves
around continents, various sequences and many causes and effects. You can also
find many points of climax while reading the narrative thus keeping the reader
intact to the action.
Speaking about the theme of his
book, Yismake in one of his recent interviews said,
Dertogada is the song of the
Renaissance; Dertogada is about filling the generation gap; Dertogada is about
searching ourselves, Dertogada is about working together for the common good;
Dertogada is about love and promise; Dertogada is the picture of this time;
Dertogada is about the need of social, political... revolution of Ethiopia,
Dertogada is about brain... Dertogada is the song of freedom of this
generation… For me, it is better to listen these all songs and keep silent.
The author starts the book
listing very important Ethiopian scientists that have disappeared from
world-class research and innovation centres and then quickly plunges the reader
to a 1969 colder plot around Abune Petros’ Statute in Addis Abeba and ends with
a few questions and surprises for the reader to ponder. The story then quickly
fast forwards to 2004 California, USA as chapter one begins. So much happens in
the prologue before readers get a chance to know any of the characters very
well. The main character of the narrative revolves around the life of an Ethiopian
NASA scientist Dr. Engineer Kitaw Ejigu (Shagiz in the book) and the book is
dedicated to this same NASA Scientist who was involved in a political movement
of unseating the regime in his home country Ethiopia, before he was pronounced
dead in 2006 in USA. Engineer Shagiz becomes a highly needed man that two superpower
nations attempt control him while the government of his native Ethiopia dash to
eliminate him. Dr. Engineer Kitaw Ejigu had founded and was Chairman of Ethiopian National United Front.
It also heavily dwells on the
world of spying involving the world’s biggest spying agencies all after same
Ethiopian scientist using Ethiopian recruits. The actions take place in high-tech
centres in U.S.A, Ethiopia, Israel and Italy. The monasteries of Tana, Ethiopia
for the first time are built into an enthralling plot with the most
industrialised and high-tech Western world, via Dertogada. Sebhat
Gebreegziabher and Yofetahe Seyom (PhD) write the forward and praise for the
book. Dr. Taye Assefa, Mesfin
Habtemariam and Capital Newspaper write the blubs of the book.
Yismake uses very precious, quotable
statements and phrases throughout the book. Some of the statements expressed by
the author and characters are:
·This nation needs wise composers
who can give it a sweet tone of harmony.(p.11)
·You have absolutely succeeded in proving to the world, that Africans are
also people with the brilliance of intellect capable of being trained and
nurtured to the highest possible level of intelligence, if and when they have
the opportunity (p. 25).
·An
author who was afraid to tell the truth about the ugliness of the regime and
who tells about its viciousness after the regime had fallen off the throne
shall be like a dog that barks after the hyena had already gone. (p. 91-92)
·What
it takes to make a change is not necessarily the efforts of the multitude, but
the efforts of few determined individuals. (p. 114)
·My
country is being a prey to traitors and reductionists. Its people have become
submissive to their superiors. …Its youth is being persecuted through their own
forced actions of exile in search of a livelihood. (p. 194)
·The
criteria for a person to rule over a country should be intellectual brilliance,
not tribal membership. (P. 252)
·Ants
can cross huge rivers on a bridge that they built by joining their bodies
together as a chain. (p. 278)
The
statements demonstrate the writer’s well-built beliefs and visions. Dertogada
contained a complex story build up style with a great inspiration and design of
a new Ethiopia. Dertogada
encompasses some of these overarching themes: love, history, technology, espionage,
faithfulness, renaissance, freedom and development.
Summation:
In general, the book listens and echoes the heartbeats, visions
and wishes of the new generation for Ethiopia. It won’t be surprising if we
conclude that the book gave a broader policy advice for the regime and made a
clarion call for Ethiopian scholars spread out all around the world to stand
and look back.
The English version of the book is written in simple comprehendible
English that can easily be understood by any reader with an average English
fluency. However, it also contains some grammatical and spelling errs. While
the general translation is up to the standard and comprehensible, there are a
few linguistic and typo errors in the usage of nouns, pronouns, punctuation and
verbs. For example, “acrss” to say “across” (P. 56), “She love him” to say “she
loves him” (p.57), “are going ?” to say “are you going” (P. 74), “Mirage
spokes” to say “Mirage speaks” (P. 90 ), “tell” to say “tale” (p. 169), “…did you came to me?” to say “..
did you come to me?” and many other minor grammatical and typographical errors.
The second edition should carefully look at some of these errors.
Secondly, the name of the characters such as Mirage, Shagiz,
Meroda, Zipporah are strange for local readers that readers may forget the
names and roles of each character as the stories build up and the plots pass
through exposition,
rising action and climax. Thirdly, there are some narratives that become highly
scientific and hard to believe or deviates and clashes with the realist and
grounded aspects of the book; one such case is the vehicle that Gera uses. The use
and characterisation of the vehicle in the narrative is so incredulously constructed
and sounds like an extreme fable. The finishing of the storyline resembles the customary
Hollywood romantic movies whose finales are easy to predict. Given the current
state of Amharic literature, dominated by translations of foreign works, the similarity
of the ending is understandable. Apart, from that Dertogada is an original and shining
contribution to Ethiopian and international literature.
I
give an A+ recommendation of this book. I advise all my English speaking
friends and Ethiopian compatriots to read this book.
An Ethiopian domestic worker in Lebanon who was filmed being
physically abused in public has committed suicide, local media have
reported.
The video, first aired by Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation
International (LBCI) last week, sparked outrage by showing a man abusing
Alem Dechasa as she cried on a street outside the Ethiopian embassy in
Beirut.
The man was shown grabbing Dechasa and telling her, "get into the
car" while she screamed out, "no, no, no". Another man then assisted in
dragging Dechasa into the back of a car as she struggled to resist.
Asaminew Debelie Bonssa, Ethiopian general consul in Lebanon, told The Daily Star
newspaper in Beirut that Dechasa committed suicide by hanging herself
early on Wednesday morning at a psychiatric hospital where she had been
taken after the incident.
Bonssa told The Daily Star that he had seen Dechasa on Saturday in the hospital and that she was making plans to return to Ethiopia.
'Larger issue'
After the video was aired, LBCI used the car’s license plate number to identified the man.
“[The man] tried to justify his act by denying that he beat her. He
stressed that the worker tried to commit suicide more than once, and
that he tried dealing with her humanely, but she refused to go to the
airport for deportation,” LBCI reported on its website.
Activists in Lebanon, outraged by the video, posted the man's contact
information on internet social media sites and called for action
against him.
Reports of domestic worker abuse are widespread, with many allegedly locked in employers’ homes.
Rola Abimourched, program coordinator at KAFA (Enough) Violence and
Exploitation, told Al Jazeera that Dechasa's case may increase scrutiny
into the problem.
"This case may indicate the larger issue of migrant domestic workers'
vulnerability to abuse in Lebanon, which puts the whole system in
question. Namely, the sponsorship system which ties the domestic worker
to one employer and does not guarantee her basic human rights,"
Abimourched said.
"We hope that an investigation into her death will determine what happened."
De Birhan asks for the investiatgtion of her death by an independent body.
While various sources are reporting that Ethiopia's ceremonial
President Girma Woldegiogris reportedly died, the Office of the President told the Addis Abeba based Ethiopian News Agency said the President is "on a routine medical check up in Saudi Arabia and will be home soon".
We had reported earlier citing sources that Girma had reportedly passed away in
Riyadh hospital, Saudi Arabia. Before moving to Saudi Arabia, Girma was hospitalised
for a short while in the Myungsung Christian Medical Center (MCM Korean Hospital), in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. De Birhan was unsuccessful to verify it from government sources.
Born in 1917
(Ethiopian Calendar hereafter ) in Addis Ababa, Girme Wolde Giorgis aattended the church school and later joined the Teferi
Mekonnen School in Addis Ababa in 1926 where
he followed his education until the Italian invasion. Between
1930-1933, he studied at an Italian school "The scuola Principe
Piemonte" in Addis Ababa. Between
1942 and 1944, he received certificates in Management (in Holland), in Air
Traffic Management (in Sweden) and Air Traffic Control (in Canada) under a training
programme sponsored by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
He served as a president of the Federal Democartic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) for 11 years and was to finish his second term after six months.The President of Ethiopia is the Head of State and is elected by a two-thirds majority vote of a joint session of parliament. Among his duties, the president is responsible for officially proclaiming laws and international agreements approved by the House of Peoples’ Representatives in accordance with the Constitution and symbolic roles. Article 69, 70 and 71 of the Constitution stiplulate the roles of the Presidnet.
Article 69
The President
The President of the
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is the Head of State.
Article 70
Nomination and Appointment
of the President
The House of Peoples’
Representatives shall nominate the candidate for President.
Article 71
Powers and Functions of the
Presiden:
- He shall open the joint
session of the House of Peoples’ Representatives and the House of the
Federation at the commencement of their annual sessions.
- He shall proclaim in the
Negarit Gazeta laws and international agreements approved by the House of
Peoples’ Representatives in accordance with the Constitution.
- He shall, upon
recommendation by the Prime Minister, appoint ambassadors and other envoys
to represent the country abroad.
- He shall receive the
credentials of foreign ambassadors and special envoys.
- He shall award medals,
prizes and gifts in accordance with conditions and procedures established
by law.
- He shall, upon
recommendation by the Prime Minister and in accordance with law, grant
high military titles.
- He shall, in accordance
with conditions and procedures established by law, grant pardon.
Girma has a long governmental and non governmental history of career since the times of HIM Hailesellasie.
Government Experience
·in 1933 he was enlisted at the
Ethiopian Military RadioCommunication set up by U.K.
·in 1936 graduated from the Genet
Military School as a Sub-Lieutenant
·joined the
Air Force in 1938 and took various Air Management courses
·became assistant teacher in Air
Navigation and Flight Control in 1940
·became head of Civil Aviation of the
Federal Government of Eritrea in 1947
·assumed the post of Director General
of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation in 1949 and was Board member of the Ethiopian
Airlines during the same period.
·became Director General of the
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Planning at the time of establishment in 1951
·became member of parliament in 1953
·was elected president of the
parliament for three consecutive years.
·helped win a seat for the Ethiopian
Parliament in the International Parliamentary Union and attended conferences of
the IPU in Switzerland, Denmark and former Yugoslavia and was elected
as Vice President of the 52nd Meeting of the International
Parliamentary Union.
·represented the business community
in the Civil consultative Commission set-up by the Dergue until it was
dissolved in 1967.
·served as Manager of the Import and
Export Enterprise (IMPEX).
·served as deputy Commissioner of the
Peace Programme drawn up in 1969 by the provisional military government to
settle the Eritrean problem peacefully.
·became member of the Council of
Peoples Representatives of FDRE after winning in the Becho Woreda constituency,
West Shoa Zone of Oromia State, as a private candidate in the second round
elections in 1992.
Non-Government Experience 1957 - 1966
·Board member of the Ethiopian
Chamber of Commerce
·Representative for Australian Trade
Mission in Ethiopia
·Founder and Director of the Ghibe
Agricultural Association
·Founder and Director of the Keffa
and Illubabor Timber Processing Industry
While in Eritrea before 1982
·President of the Ethiopian Red Cross
Society- Eritrea Branch
·Board President of Cheshire Home
·Managing Director of Leprosy Control
Organization
Up on returning to Ethiopia from
Eritrea in 1982, he served as Board Member of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society
and Head of its International Logistics Department. Girma launched an
environmental protection association called 'Lem Ethiopia' in 1983 to date
serving as Vice President of the Board of the Association. The
President of Ethiopia speaks Oromiffa, Amharic, Tigrigna, Italian, English and French.
A
video shows an Ethiopian domestic worker kidnapped and dragged by couple
of Lebanese men in front of Ethiopian consulate in Lebanon. I was gobsmacked and
unable to sleep last night. This anecdote is one of the causations for this
article, although I started the piece sometime ago. A group of Ethiopians from
here in Europe phoned and cooperated in Lebanon to apprehend the perpetrators.
Until this second no word or help was garnered from the Ethiopian consulate,
Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the government itself. Should we
ordinary Ethiopians fight for each and every one of our compatriots arrested,
stranded or kidnapped everywhere? When will the Meles Zenawi regime like the
U.S.A., European countries and many African countries be alarmed at the
persecution of its citizens? At least they could have made a statement. Balebetu yakelelewen Amole… In fact the
silence of the Ethiopian Consulate and government on this poor girl is
tantamount to cooperation (accomplice) with the gangs… they are same gangs
after all.
α
Ethiopia
awaits a revolution. Aside with the political revolutions that I have been
talking about, this time am talking about the revolution that the young
generation is supposed to make. Ethiopia needs a socio-cultural revolution too.
We ought to do away with the bad traditional practices, social injustices,
gender and racial bias, prejudice, discrimination and persecution. Sure, they have a political connotation but
some of the injustices and socio-cultural problems have been embedded within us
since centuries ago.
I
don’t want my esteemed readers to confuse the Cultural Revolution I am talking
about with Mao Zendong’s. Cultural Revolution in China was a
socio-political movement led by Mao Zedong,
the Chairman of the Communist Party of China, aimed to enforce
socialism in the country by removing capitalist,
traditional
and cultural
elements from Chinese society, and to impose Maoist orthodoxy
within the Party. The revolution marked the return of Mao Zedong to a position
of absolute power after the failed Great Leap Forward. The movement politically
paralyzed the country and significantly affected the country economically and
socially.
This
is not my kind. My kind of Cultural Revolution is a revolution that focuses on
the bad, inhuman, backward thoughts, customs and traditions mainly centred in
social justice that we as a society must uproot. It starts from inside. If we
clean our house (both from the social and political injustices), then we would
not have Ethiopian sisters who would be exported for abuse.
α
1. Revolution on
how we treat Ye bet Serategnoch (
servants ) Domestic Workers
Servant
is perhaps a pejorative word now but this is one major social injustice,
persecution and inhumanity that we must improve our approach on or do away
totally. Less noticed, less campaigned and traditional abuse, discrimination
and persecution of our own sisters should stop.
It starts from the naming “Gered” – (servant). This terminology has long
been unused in most parts of the world- we need to remove it from our vocabularies. How can we be transformational,
revolutionary, fair minded, positive thinkers when we grew up within an
educated, well-to-do family that has brought us up exploiting, abusing,
discriminating and sub humanising its domestic workers? Maids in Ethiopia are
mostly women who come to Addis Abeba from the rural to work in urban houses.
They live with the people sheltered and fed, and paid a meagre monthly salary for
their services. They often do the cooking, cleaning, washing, all houses chores;
guard the house at times and also as nannies. Although there exists a symbiotic
relationship between the employer and the maid; the intricacies of it shows
that it is more of feudalistic and elitist. Some could argue that Ethiopian
maids who export themselves to Arab countries face even the worst type of abuse
there, so better that they be anyway here. No “Injustice anywhere, is injustice
everywhere”, in most middle eastern
countries and Ethiopia maids work long hours, seven days a week and month, no
or sporadic vacations, no legal recourse in the case of disagreement with their
employer. Maids most often maids eat leftovers or she cooks special food poor
in quality and content from the rest of the household members for herself,
sleeps in a separate building and room from the family (service bet). In most
cases teenage maids that come from rural areas to help themselves and poor
families are made to go to evening class (if ever allowed). They are forced to sex or raped by the
men in the household (husband, son or relatives).
I
recall how a domestic worker in our neighbour’s house in Addis Abeba, was assaulted by the
house lady for sitting on her special seat in the sitting room. I recollect
myself when I was about to fight as a kid of 7 or 8 years old with my uncles
who were to beat a painter who worked for them. Injustice and falsehood is
infuriating. Education, conscience and humanity are all about standing for
justice and truth. The mistreatment of domestic workers within the household is
also immeasurably dishonourable. They are made to wait in the kitchen or outside when families dine and wine in the
sitting room, only expected to join when called or to serve. They are made to
feel low, guilty and unable of talking and answering as equals. All these appear
to have come from the feudalistic culture practiced up until today. Getting a society of equal disparity, wealth,
urbanisation and development would not solve the problem, only democracy and
behavioural change would . These
domestic workers are our own sisters who only happen to be poorer than us and
aiming to help themselves and families, how can we then be this much
authoritarian, inhuman, abusive, exploitative on our own people?
Let’s
say some of these girls finally succeed through hard work and study but one
sure thing they do lack. Confidence. The hierarchical, feudalistic, elitist
tradition that transcended since centuries (typically exhibited in our politics
today) has resulted in a generation of no confidence.
2. Kechene
In this section I am gonna dwell on one of the Masters Degree thesis that I came across to give a historical and academic
substantive evidentiary to explain my annoyances. The thesis is titled “Pottery Production
an Asset for Women Livelihood Case Study on KECHENE Women Potters in Addis
Abeba by Mulu Yeneabat, 2007, Addis Abeba University. This is one of the very
rare and a few research works that I was able to get regarding artisan of
Kechene.
According to Mulu’s research, the area
popularly known as Kechene, is
presently referred as Kebele 08/16 and Kebele 07/17.
According to Gulele Sub CityAdministration, there were 3,000
potters and 60,000 weavers out of the 346,023 residents in 2007. The majority
of the potters (2,852 of the 3,000) were residing in the Kechene (Kebeles
08/16 and 07/17) among the population of 77,766. There are also 18,400 weavers in these two kebeles
(Kechene neighbourhood,). Ethiopians with skills of tanning, potting, blacksmithing
and weaving have contributed a lot to the development and civilisation of the
country. These skilful people located in various areas of Amhara region and Addis Abeba have had
tasted the bitter and sourly.
Mulu
says almost all the agricultural and pastoral communities are dependent on the
traditional handicrafts for generations, and the handicraft producers still use
their skills as a primary source of income. Religious artefacts such as
processional and hand crosses play vital roles for Orthodox Christian
celebrations and daily activities, but blacksmiths (that produced these and my
other household materials) have been highly stigmatized and despised. The
traditional handicrafts producers (potters, blacksmiths, weavers and tanners)
used to be marginalized groups and were not allowed to own land. They were
forced to live in separate villages without intermarrying with other community
members (Quirin, 1977, cited in P.M. McNutt 2001).
Most
of these artifacts were produced by highly artistic and creative people called
Fellasha, who are said to be Ethiopian Israelites. There were also Ethiopians
who practiced the profession like the Felashas and they were all marginalised,
persecuted and dehumanized by former regimes and the society. The
discrimination, stigma and mistreatment still exists on these professionals in
Ethiopia. Quirin argues that the
segregation and the out-casting of the Beta Israelis had a religious motivation. Since they refused to convert from their
Judaic religion to Christianity, Emperor Yeshaq who ruled Ethiopia between 1413
and 1430 proclaimed, “May he who is baptized in the Christian baptism inherit
the land of his father; otherwise let him be uprooted from his father's land
and be a stranger (falaa si)'. Since then the [Beta] Israel were
called Falashas (falaa shoch)” (Quirin, 1998, p. 201). Other
sources state the meaning of the word Fellasha meant refugees to signify their
migration from Israel to Ethiopia.
The
general population also used to fear the Beta Israel (Fellasha) and avoid them except for
the necessary exchange of goods in the market place. Much of the fear exhibited
by non- Beta Israel groups was reinforced by the belief that the Beta Israelis
possessed by "evil eye" which can cause illness or death (Quirin,
1979, p. 251, cited in McNutt, 2001).
Prof. R. Pankhurst reaffirmed this by citing
historical records as far as the 17th and 18th century explorers
such as Almeida, Barradas and Ludolf. The handicrafts producers faced serious
offensive punishments up to death
for the crimes they did not commit. “It was ‘quite usual’ to ‘suspect nearly
all illness as coming from sorcerers’ and to ‘attribute them to the
blacksmiths’. ‘Many’ of the later paid for their assumed guilt with lives”
(Pankhrust, R., 1993, Dieci and Viezzoli).
It
was recorded that most of the people with skills of handicraft had relocated
themselves from one place to another for fear of persecution. Nevertheless,
wherever their went his persecution followed them. The
Ethiopian nobilities and rulers further enforced the segregation and
persecution of the traditional handicrafts producers. Traditional handicraft
producers were in most parts of Ethiopia but the most famous and largest
producers were found in the Amhara regions. The persecution against these
people was beyond telling from what this writer has ever read in the history of
Ethiopia’s negative histories.
Emperor
Yohannes 1st declared a proclamation in 1668 A.D. for “the separation of
Muslims and Falashas, or Beta Esra'el, popularly known as Ethiopian Jews.” The
decree stated that, “The Falashas called Kayla, who is of the Jewish religion,
must not live with Christians, but must separate themselves from them, and live
apart, forming a village" (Pankhurst, 2001, www.addistribune.com/Archives/2001/01/19-01-
01/Praise.htm).
Emperor
Yohannes issued a second decree in 1678, ordering strict segregation of both
Muslims and Falashas. Accordingly, they settled in the outskirts of
Gondar city. Their settlement area is still, popularly called Kayla Meda,
or Falasha Field. The persecution of the traditional handicrafts
producers (the Beta Israelis) in Northern Ethiopia (present day Amhara region)
was severe. They were segregated and most of the times fled away in search of
refugee of the warlords who need their arts. According to one of the 19th
century Ethiopian popular chroniclers, Asma Giyorgis, the traditional
handicrafts producers fled to Shoa from Gondar. The warlord (the then ruler of
Shoa) Abbeyye “treated them ‘respectfully’. They made him axes and chisels with
which the people of Sawa [Shoa] cleared the forest of Yefat, as well as
sickles, hoes and ploughshares which enabled them to cultivate the province
more efficiently” (Bairu Tafla.1987:513.cited in Pankhurst, 1993:261). This shows
their major role in the agrarian transformation of the country. Even when they
were exiled to Shoa and were described as living ‘respectfully’, they settled
forming their own isolated villages in “Morat and Zalla, in the vicinity of
Fecce” (Pankhurst, 1993, p. 264).
Other
materials I have read state that the new Fellasha resettles thought the local
population the handicraft. However, those who adopted the practice soon got the
same kind of persecution that the older ones have gone through other parts of
Ethiopia.
In
order to stop the persecution of the traditional handicrafts producers and
recognizing their vital role in the livelihoods of the community, Emperor Menelik II proclaimed a decree
on January 25, 1908:
[D]o not insult the artisan for the trade he
practices … All human creatures take their root from Adam and Eve… God said to
Adam, ‘You will earn your bread by the sweat of your brow.’ If this no longer
holds and everyone indulges in sloth, then there is no government, there is no
country. And you who proffer insults, you empty my country and bring ruin upon
it by depriving it of those who sharpen the ploughshare. From now on, for he
who thus proffers these insults, it is I he is insulting, not the other one
(Cassiers, A. 1975, p. 103).
Did
we ever listen to Meles or our recent past leaders ever speak out about social
injustice? Or did they ever make any statement similar to the above? Does he
even know that there are still Ethiopians who are heavily persecuted both by
the mainstream society and the status quo? Compare it yourself, who was the
most progressive and enlightened one?
This is a tyranny on our people, culture
and history. In addition to the
proclamation, Emperor Menelik II encouraged the traditional handicrafts producers
to settle around the newly established capital city, Addis Ababa. Gold smiths
and other decoration and embroidery workers settled near to the palace named
Serategna Sefer, while the women potters with their husbands (weavers and
blacksmiths) from present day Northern Shoa (Morat) settled in the present day Kechene
neighbourhood for its proxy to the clay soil. Even though the segregation
and discrimination of the handicrafts producers did not decrease, persecution
as the cause of illness and death started to decrease.
Just
few years ago, this writer recalls, being advised by his mother to be very
careful when walking in Kechene area. This shows that the discrimination,
stigma and ignorance have not gone away.
When
writing this piece I had the privilege of attending to an interview of a
brilliant man who hails from Jeru, Northern Area and lived all his life in
Kechene area in one of Ethiopia’s Diaspora based chat rooms. I was able to
learn from him that there are many stories of persecution, abuse, and historical
scars yet untold. The sacrifices paid and still being paid by Ethiopians
specialised in handicraft is our national scar that has to be told, discussed,
enlightened and healed. However, there are improvements in that other Ethiopians
have begun intermarrying with specialists of handicraft and there is an average
assimilation. There is still a high rate of endogamy, though. No it still exists. The
dogma, persecution, stigma, prejudice and dehumanisation of our compatriots in
Kechene, Moret, Jeru and Gonder have not been studied. Who is the boldest
ethnographer willing with the initiative and vision to go out there and study
the abuse, discrimination and persecution of these people? A short telephone
discussion I had with a lady from Kechene is a witness for my claims. The woman
says that there have been endless persecution and discrimination that moved
down from nobilities of the past up to todays. The present government or local
administration has not at all attempted to tackle or deal with this pressing
social and political problem, she says. “We are still called names (buda), discriminated and you would still
find people who say that we ride hyena in the evening” the lady speaks with an
infuriated tone. These people of skill that had or would have contributed to
Ethiopia’s real industrial revolution have been marginalised, killed and
dehumanised due to religious and political reasons. This is not a language or
skin colour based oppression but a caste, religion, power, control and
political oppression. They were denied a place in councils, assemblies and
religious rites and were also not allowed to act as legal witnesses. They were
also offered different seats at weddings, buried in different cemeteries and
are barred from entering a farmer’s compound, these norm still exists although
done in a covert manner. None of us have
spoken about this. I would advise researchers and investigative journalists to
go, live with these people and write an in-depth article. My attempt was more
of based on secondary materials.
α
In
this piece, I dealt on two main social injustices that exist in today’s
Ethiopia. The tanners of the southern Ethiopian people are the
other lot. One of the overarching reasons that pushed me out of my country in
addition to the clear and present dangers I had on my life was the abuse on
café waitresses. Do you recall how we
mistreated our sisters who worked as waitresses in Cafes? If there was no sugar
in the Cappuccino, the burger was late; she did not hear us call her and so on?
How evil and savages we were? Including you. We mistreated, abused, slapped,
insulted and disrespected our own sisters who worked in Cafeterias, hotels, restaurants who work
tirelessly for a meagre income. Hotel and cafeteria waitresses in Ethiopia bear
the highest brunt of abuse both from employers and customers. Many a times that I had quarrelled with my
own friends when they abused waitresses and mistreated them. The culture of blaming and making those
“below” us feel guilty are some of the other injustices. My brothers and sisters from Oromia, Ogaden,
and other regions that lament the abuse and persecution that happened during
our late emperors are missing a great point here. I tell you if you say you
were the only ones persecuted you were dead wrong. If you thought some people
laughed and mocked at you only, you were dead wrong. There are people that have
been and still are being persecuted, abused and dehumanized up until today in
the middle of Addis Abeba. Unlike some
who have been twirled by missionaries, these people still align themselves to a
united Ethiopia, die and live in Ethiopia for Ethiopia forever.
Let’s
stop deconstructing the past and rise up to construct our all inclusive,
multicultural, multidenominational, equal and democratic Ethiopia that has uprooted
its age-old prejudices and social injustices!
References
Cassiers,
Anne (1975) "Handicrafts and
Technical Innovation in Ethiopia," Cultures [Paris], 2, No. 3, 103-18
C.
Viezzoli (Eds.), Resettlement and rural development in Ethiopia. Social and
economic research training and technical assistance in Beles Valley (pp.251-286);Franco Angeli.
Mulu Yeneabat (2007), “Pottery Production an Asset
for Women Livelihood Case Study on KECHENE Women Potters in Addis Abeba
, Addis Abeba University
Pankhurst,
R. (1993). History of Ethiopian handicrafts and handicraft workers. In P. Dicei
& C. Viezzoli (Eds.), Resettlement and rural development in Ethiopia.
Social and economic
research training and technical assistance in Beles Valley (pp.251-286); Franco
Angeli.
Pankhurst,
R. (2001). In praise of Ethiopian craftsmen, 5. The Craftsmen of Old-time
Gondar.
Retrieved
May 10, 2007 from: http:/www.addistribune.com/Archives/2001/01/19-01-
01/Praise
Quirin,
J. (1979). The process of caste formation in Ethiopia: A study of the Beta
Israel (Felasha),1270-1868. The International Journal of African Historical
Studies, 12(2), 1270-1868
Quirin,
J. (1998). Caste and class in historical north-west Ethiopia: The Beta Israel
(Falasha) and Kemant, 1300-1900. Journal of African History, 39(2)
195-220.
·Title: The Hidden and Untold History of
the Jewish People and Ethiopians
·Author: Dr.
Fikre Tolossa
·Pages: 53 pages
·First
Published: (2010)
·Language: English
·ISBN: 978-1-4583-7701-2
·Price: $13.75
·Key themes
: Jewish, Ethiopia,Melchitsedek
·Volume: I
When reading about
the stories of Ethiopian Jews (Felasha) who reside in today’s Israel, I weep.
Ethiopian Israelites have been protesting against racism, prejudice and discrimination
especially in housing and other public services (facilities). This book attempts
to touch upon issues of the Origin of Ethiopia, Ethiopians, Jewish people and
their brotherhood. When I was going to buy the book, I went with a big bag for the cumbersome 200 to 300 pages book but when it touched my
hands, it was just 52 pages book.
Discussion:
The book is essential for those who are interested to know the long history of Ethiopia
and Jewish people. Albeit, there are
still some questions in the plausibility of the argument, evidences and records
that the writer uses to claim the facts. Dr. Fikre heavily dwells on Meri Ras Aman
Belay’s book titled Metsehafe Djan Shewa(the
books of the wars of the Lord), an ancient Ethiopian manuscript in Geez
discovered by Ethiopian religious writer Meri Ras Aman Belay, in the ruins of
an Ethiopian church in Nubia that was part of the Ethiopian Empire, which has
been, translated into Amharic, abridged and published as Metsehafe Subae by the
discoverer himself. Metsehafe Djan Shewa was written
some 350 years ago and the parchment speaks of a then Emperor, Adyam-sged
Iyassu. Similar book ostensibly is available in the Ethiopian National Museum
in Addis Abeba, taken to U.S.A. with $5 million insurance paid for it like Lucy.
Dr. Fikre writes in the preamble, Ethiopian sources about the history of Jews
have been hidden making the history incomplete and all were found in ancient
books in Ethiopia absent elsewhere.
The
writer says the history of Ethiopians or Ethiopia begins not 3000 years ago but
over 4000 years ago in the times of Melchitsedek, King of Salem (Jerusalem),
builder, high priest, the father of Ethiop. He and Abraham, the forefather of
the Jews, were friends as far back as 4000. Melchitsedek is a direct descendent
of Noah who begot Ham, who begot Cush, who begot Sheba, who begot Nuba the high
priest… and finally “us” today’s Ethiopians. “Ethel, the son of Melchitsedek and
his wife Salem, commanded by God, headed for Ethiopia and became a king and
father of millions of Ethiopians over a period of 4000 years” Dr. Fikre states.
As instructed, Ethel went to the source of Blue Nile River, rich with yellow
gold called “iop” finally bearing the name to Ethiop, his own next name and
Ethiopia’s name. Ethiop’s two daughters married
the sons of Abraham and Lot and bore children.
The
author puts the next strong and remarkable ties between the Ethiopians and Jews
in the events that came after when Moses fled from Egypt and links of Jethro and his brother-in-law, Aba Beher. Essie (Jessie)
who was the grandson of Ethiopis is and son of Elkano, was the first genetic
engineer, botanist, limiter of term of Kings to 10 years, and wrote a constitution
in Ethiopia before the birth of Jesus Christ. regarded by the author as "the greatest Emperor in Earth". Dr. Fikre say,“From there, Jessie who was
renamed as “Asia-el” by the God of Israel headed for Asia, conquered it”. Asia
was named after him.
The
book also discusses about the history of queen of Sheba and Menelik I, son of
King Solomon and Queen Sheba. According to the book Menelik I outraged by the Ethiopian
tribes that fought him back while he was returning to Ethiopia after visiting
his father, changed most of the existing Melchitsedekian (Ethiopian customs)
with Jewish customs some of which exit until today only in Ethiopia; Menelik refused
to be concerted in Ghion River but by Jewish custom in Axum, banned Suba language
and replaced it with Ge’ez spoken by people from Gaza (Gazians- Agazi) and
demolished books, changed throne star. Menelik I destroyed the Ethiopic Dynasty
and replaced it with Solomonic Dynasty. He also appointed Jewish men as his
priests and kings all over Ethiopia. He protected and welcomed Jews.
The
author says the new Jewish settlers were called Felasha (refugees) by the old settlers while the newcomers called the old
settlers Abeshas (Abesa/troubles) giving the name Abesha. The writer also states the Ethiopian queen; Ruth
designed and created the famous “Star of David”, which is the emblem of the
Jewish people.
Summation:
The
book brings new records and information that have not been published elsewhere in
English language. One of the limitations
of the book is that although the title seemed to suggest that it would bring
the commonalities of Jewish people and Ethiopians from multidimensional perspectives
such as culture, custom, worship, religion, language, Levites and Ark of Covenant,
it was chiefly about Melchitsedek and his siblings. Secondly, in terms of references
and bibliography, the author lists 12 publications in the bibliography although
the book could be inferred as a translation of Meri Ras Aman Belay’s book
titled Metsehafe Djan Shewa.
The arguments and cross referencing made against the “facts” of
Aman Belay’s book (parchment translation) were uncritical. Similarly, Dr. Fikre uses the phrase “our
records” in a couple of places eg. Page 36, this type of reverencing is vague
and should have been further explained. The Hidden and Untold History of the
Jewish People and Ethiopians has no blurb; this is one aspect of the book
to be critiqued. Ethiopian scholars or historians should have added their fare
in the preamble or blurb of the book. Dr. Fikre Tolossa, is a poet-playwright,
critic, essayist and educator. He is not a historian by profession but had
contributed a good deal in the history of books of Ethiopia as much us some
historians did; admirable. This should be appreciated while the integration of
the say and comments of some historians should be advised. One important lesson that I have got from the
book was that there is yet unstudied “historical linkage between the two people
and Ethiopia’s history as the writer stated maybe as old as 4000 years”. The other lesson is that there still are many publciations and records in various parts of Ethiopia yet unexplored and need to be studied and translated.
In
a recent article, Dr. Fikre states “Ethel went to Ethiopia and settled in what
is today known as Gojjam”. Most importantly, the book conveys originality in pronouncing
that Ethiopia’s history begins during Melchitsedek’s time 4000 years ago. Jewish
customs and practices that are not practiced anywhere in the world, have been practiced
in many parts of Ethiopia until today such as Gonder and Smien Shewa (Jeru,
Merhabte).
I recommend you to inform yourself and enjoy
the rest of the history by reading the book.
