Just as EPRP and MEISON had turned Ethiopia into a bloodbath in the 1970s for no good reason other than a naked power grab, today Ginbot 7 and OLF are preparing to spill the blood of Ethiopian youth for no good reason other than their thirst for power.
Ideologically, there was no difference between EPRP and MEISON. Both of them were communists, a toxic ideology that has caused the death of tens of millions of people worldwide, which also made Ethiopia a failed state for the past 40 years.
Similarly today, there is not much difference between OLF and Ginbot 7. For the past several years, both of them have been receiving millions of dollars from the Eritrean and Egyptian governments for the double goal of overthrowing the TPLF ethnic apartheid junta, and neutralizing Ethiopianism. As a revenge against Egypt for supporting Ethiopian opposition groups, TPLF’s former leader, the late Meles Zenawi, started building a dam on the Nile river regardless of the consequence of getting into a death match with Egypt.
OLF and Ginbot 7 used to be allies until just recently. Some executive committee members of Ginbot 7 are hardcore tribalists themselves. Ginbot 7 has refused to forge alliances with Ethiopian organizations that stand for Ethiopian unity. Instead, it had aligned itself with OLF and other tribalist groups. Ginbot 7’s media, ESAT, used to frequently invite OLF leaders and activists and defended them against credible accusations of massacres and ethnic cleansing campaigns. Until a few months ago, Ginbot 7 and ESAT have done everything they could to make sure that Ethiopians forget about OLF’s genocidal war against other ethnic groups. OLF, on its part, had tried to eliminate or marginalize Oromo civil and political groups that consider themselves Ethiopian patriots. Now, when they are provided with the opportunity to return to Ethiopia, OLF and Ginbot 7 have decided to turn against each other in order to appear to be champions of two camps: Ginbot 7 has started to claim that it represents the Ethiopian unity camp. OLF claims to represent the Oromo tribalist camp. The truth of the matter is that both these power hungry groups do not have the best interest of the people they claim to represent. Otherwise, they would not incite conflict by redirecting people’s attention to wedge issues and trivial matters, instead of talking about real problems such as poverty, lack of basic health care, education, infrastructure, etc.
Ethiopia is for all Ethiopians. Addis Ababa is for all Ethiopians. Ambo is for all Ethiopians. Gondar, Mekele, Dire Dawa, Jijiga, Bahir Dar, Jimma… all towns and places in Ethiopia belong to all Ethiopians, not to any particular ethnic group. Organizations that claim otherwise must be considered ethno-fascists and need to be outlawed.
Bekele Gerba’s and OLF statement today that Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa belongs to Oromia is a declaration of war on the people of Addis Ababa and Ethiopia. If any single Addis Ababa resident dies as a result of OLF’s latest incitement, its leaders must be brought to the international war crimes tribunal to face justice. Ethiopian legal scholars need to start preparing to take legal action against the likes of Bekele Gerba before they cause bloodshed.
Daud Ibsa, Bekele Gerba, Berhanu Nega and all the political leaders who are currently bent on causing civil strife in Ethiopia are playing with fire. They must stop.
Video: Watch OLF and its affiliated groups incite violence by declaring that Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa belongs to only one ethnic group
