By Yilma Bekele
We Ethiopians witnessed what those that control our country are capable of doing to unarmed citizens. I am sure the action of the TPLF solder in front of their Embassy in Washington DC is the talk of the town. It is unfortunate that we are not equipped to discuss the criminal act in all its attributes. It has to be put in some form of context to fully understand the criminal act.
Why did the Woyane soldier felt threatened by the action of peaceful unarmed protesters and felt comfortable discharging a lethal weapon is a good question to ask. The whole idea of a protest is to make noise, to call attention and disrupt the daily routine of the targeted enterprise. Protests are normally loud, chaotic and messy. There are times when protesters close a boulevard or a highway, block the entrance, lay down in the middle of the street and use various means to make themselves heard. It is also considered legitimate to plan actions that will attract the media and make the evening news.
Our Ethiopian compatriots were doing that in front of the Woyane Embassy in a peaceful but loud manner to make themselves heard. Now the Embassy has plenty of options on how to handle the situation. They could report the incident to the State Department if they think laws protecting Diplomatic offices were broken. They could call the DC police if they felt threatened. They could ignore the whole situation since from experience of the last few years they know the protesters are not armed no one has ever been hurt and it will be over with no incident.
Why do you think the TPLF solder choose to fire his weapon? Because he is an idiot and savage Woyane is not a satisfactory answer. The reason goes beyond that. How could one person take it upon himself to commit such criminal act is a question that begs for an answer. The video that was shot by the protesters shows the so called Ambassador standing by the door with confusion and bewilderment written all over his face. How could one of his employee act in such outrageous manner is a legitimate line of inquiry. And finally the most important question of all what emboldened this lone solder to do what he did in a place where more Ethiopians reside outside of our homeland is the question that boggles the mind.
The question of the Ambassador is a no brainer. We are most familiar how the TPLF operates. By default we Ethiopians know what is fake and what is real. The vast majority of Woyane Embassies are run by the first secretary while someone from another ethnic group is presented as the person in charge for show.
There is plenty of testimonials from yesterday’s Ambassadors and todays refugees that live among us. I believe our ‘Ambassador’ was unfortunately exposed for the fake he is by the recent event. You really do not think a simple solder would even carry a weapon outside the Embassy gates let alone fire a bullet. I am sure Ato Girma was as surprised as the rest of us.
When it comes to the cadre he was just doing what he does when he sees Ethiopians dare to challenge the authority of Woyane. It just comes natural to our masters and I am sure he is probably confused when the police took him for questioning. We should not be surprised if he is not aware of what illegal and dangerous act he committed. He was probably proud of the tremendous restraint he showed for not killing a few of the protesters that were in his opinion not even afraid when he brandished his gun. He has never come across such rowdy and ill-mannered Ethiopians that showed no fear and refused to back down when told by a TPLF soldier.
The third point I raised is what interests me the most. How does such criminal act take place where so many Ethiopians live is what bothers me the most. Am I surprised? Not really, I have seen it coming the last year or so. We are or should be aware by now Woyane is on the offensive. A few dedicated patriotic Ethiopians have been able to check the advance but that has not stopped TPLF from devising all kinds of ways to circumvent our efforts.
We should be proud that the Ponzi scheme to rob us of our hard earned money to build the so called dam on Abay was made to fail. It is not that we do not think building a dam is a good idea but having seen how Woyane operates we knew it was a well-organized scheme to commit robbery in broad day light. We were not fooled.
Not all of us. There were the unfortunate among us that were forced to play along because they have been neutralized due to the ‘investments’ they made in Woyane land. They were forced to secretly attend the meetings and contribute under the cover of darkness. It was pathetic to see some of them wearing hats and glasses, ducking under the seat of their car and wishing they could be made invisible to go to a meeting they were forcefully ‘invited’. Once you bow to Woyane there is no end to the ass kicking like a donkey administered by illiterate Woyane.
Today our people cannot afford the price of Teff, Berbere, Mitmita even the lowly Shuro due to the fact it is exported to the honorable Diaspora. Today Ethiopian groceries and restaurants that make their money from us have no shame selling these products in their places of business.
Today the Diaspora have no qualms about building condominiums on land stolen from their own parents using Woyane produced cement and imported material. Reminds me of a paper written by Professor Mesfin where he witnessed a long line in Arat Kilo and was sad to find out that it was young people standing to get a job to dismantle their parents’ houses that was taken by Woyane. Most probably the investors were from the Diaspora. They were actually paying for something that was legitimately their own. How in the world do you think Woyane would have any respect for such spineless individuals?
A few months back TPLF solders massacred a lot of students in Ambo, Lekemt and Adama because they have the nerve to protest confiscation of their parents land. We heard it and we kept quiet. We knew it was wrong but we did not do anything about it.
A few years back TPLF deported Ethiopians based on their ethnic origin and some cheered and a lot pretended not to know or care. We kept quiet.
A year or two ago the TPLF using its surrogates deported Amhara’s from the southern region and the west and some protested but plenty covered their eyes and ears. We kept quiet.
The apathy we exhibit is what made our cadre soldier/first secretary/real Ambassador fire his gun without thinking twice. In his trained eye we are not worthy of respect. We are not humans. I do not blame him I blame us for giving him the power to think and act like that. Even here where we live in peace and where there is so much money to be made by legal means some of us think it is acceptable to use our economic might to pray on our people. The mind is a powerful machine but it is also gullible. I am sure those that dance with Woyane criminals convince themselves that they are helping their country and they are honorable people doing honest work. No you are not. You enable TPLF criminals.
I have no business passing judgment on your activities but when your activity gives a rogue regime like we have in Ethiopia a sense of invincibility to frighten my sisters and brothers that were peacefully protesting it makes me angry. We are here because home is not such a good place to live in peace, live without fear, live with honor and love. Now they have come here to do to us what they do to our people back home. Some of you due to your selfish act are inviting them over to disturb our peace. The question is what more nefarious plan do they have for us?
I have not enough words to praise those that took a day off their schedule to act as the voice of their people. All I could say is we are all proud of you and we are glad no one was hurt and I only wish I was there with you doing the most important thing in life – showing you care for those