All posts by Tadias Magazine

Dangerous Myths Lure Ethiopian Migrants

June 1, 2015 Tadias Magazine

By Goorish Wibneh

Seattle has become one of the preferred destinations for Ethiopian immigrants. Some estimates say there are as many as ten thousand Ethiopians living in the Seattle area.

Talking to one of us Ethiopian Americans here in Seattle you might never realize how big the worldwide Ethiopian diaspora is or what people go through to find a new home.

“I see and hear stories of people coming here as refugees, through the [Diversity Visa Lottery],” Said Haile Kiros, an Ethiopian immigrant who’s lived in Seattle for about a year. “They find what they expected is different from the reality here… they decide to take their own lives.”

He says he’s heard many such sad stories.

“Some have sold their houses [to come to the U.S.], some are living with a lot of stress here, others have big problems with the language.”

The stress induced by culture shock is not to be underestimated. Even something as simple as maintaining eye contact while speaking — which is normal here but comes off as confrontational for many culturally inhibited Ethiopians — can complicate simple communication.

So with all these troubles, you might wonder why those with the resources to leave Ethiopia don’t invest in their home country instead.

According to one account told to an Al Jazeera reporter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopians look outside of their country for opportunities because “our families can’t give us money while we’re here. They only help when there’s a plan to leave, because they’re more certain that eventually [we’ll be able to] send the money back.”

British TV Peers into Hamar Family Life

June 1, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Daily Mail

By TIM MACFARLAN

Channel Four has turned its cameras on an Ethiopian tribal family for its latest fly-on-the-wall documentary.

The Tribe follows the everyday lives of a rambunctious family of Hamar people in the south of the country.

The show uses fixed-rig cameras and tiny microphones installed in four huts and communal space belonging to the family of Ayke Muko, the outspoken patriarch and grandfather.

British viewers have recently been invited to eavesdrop on the lives of soldiers, midwives and teachers, but never before on a family quite like this.

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Podcast

Daily Life in Ethiopia – In Pictures

May 29, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Guardian

Reuters photographer Siegfried Modola looks at life inside the capital Addis Ababa and the city of Harar. The East African nation, brimming with churches and mosques, coffee shops and markets, is home to nearly 100 million people.

Boys ride horses used to carry visitors for short rides. (Photo by Siegfried Modola)

People walk through a spice and vegetable market. (Photo by Siegfried Modola)

A waiter stands in a coffee shop. (Photo by Siegfried Modola)

See more photo at The Guardian »

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Featured

Ethiopia’s Economy Neither a Sprint Nor A Marathon — The Economist

May 29, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Economist

May 30th 2015 | ADDIS ABABA | From the print edition

NOWHERE in Africa is modern China more of a lodestar than in Ethiopia, which on May 24th held an uneventful election with a predetermined outcome: another term in office for the long-standing ruling party. The continent’s second most populous country and fastest-growing big economy has close intellectual links with China’s Communists and often sends officials to their party school in Beijing. There Ethiopians imbibe the gospel of industrialisation overseen by a strong state that exerts tight control over an ethnically diverse population with a history of strife.

But all is not well in the relationship. When a new Chinese ambassador arrived in Addis Ababa in February, he presented an unexpectedly awkward message to his hosts. La Yifan told the ruling elite—behind firmly closed doors—that it must discard the isolationism of the past and open up an economy in which the flow of money and information is still restricted. Banking and telecoms are almost antediluvian (see chart). Investors are frustrated. Trade lags expectations. After years of praising the government, the Chinese are now singing from the same hymn sheet as Ethiopia’s Western critics.

The problem is a lack of courage. Many in the Ethiopian government, ruling party and security apparatus acknowledge that only further reforms can sustain the goals of economic growth and political stability. But they are slow to enact them.

The government’s main priority is industrialisation. But endless red tape and restrictions on finance deter investors. Officials point to Huajian, a Chinese shoemaker that has gone from employing 600 locals to 3,500 in a few years. But Ethiopia needs a hundred Huajians. Without faster growth of industry, the country will struggle to absorb labour it hopes to free up from modernising subsistence farms that provide a living to 80% of its people.

Ethiopia Opposition Says Elections ‘Undemocratic Disgrace’

May 29, 2015 Tadias Magazine

AFP

Addis Ababa – Ethiopia’s main opposition party on Friday condemned weekend elections, which saw the ruling party cruise back into office, as a “disgrace” and proof the country was a one-party state.

According to preliminary results from last Sunday’s elections, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn secured all 442 parliamentary seats so far declared out of the 547 seats up for grabs.

The EPRDF, in power in Africa’s second-most populous nation for over two decades, were widely expected to secure a near clean sweep of parliament, and the outgoing chamber had just one opposition MP — but even this was taken by the ruling party.

“The Blue Party does not accept the process as free and fair and does not accept the outcome of unhealthy and undemocratic elections,” the main opposition party said.

“This 100 percent win by the regime is a message of disgrace” and shows that a “multi-party system is over in Ethiopia”.

Ahead of Sunday’s polls the opposition alleged the government had used authoritarian tactics to guarantee victory — such as intimidation, refusing to register candidates or arresting supporters.

The Blue Party’s spokesman, Yonatan Tesfaye, alleged that 200 party candidates were denied the right to stand for parliament and 52 party members were arrested in the run-up to the polls.

“We don’t think there is an independent justice system to deal with our complaints. We’ll continue our peaceful struggle,” he told reporters.

After the elections, the United States, which enjoys close security cooperation with Ethiopia, also said it remained “deeply concerned by continued restrictions on civil society, media, opposition parties, and independent voices and views.”

The European Union also said true democracy had yet to take root in Ethiopia, and voiced concern over “arrests of journalists and opposition politicians, closure of a number of media outlets and obstacles faced by the opposition in conducting its campaign.”

The African Union observer mission, however, described the polling as “credible” and “generally consistent with the AU guidelines on the conduct of elections in Africa.”

On Wednesday government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said the win came as the result of Ethiopia’s economic advances.

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Highlighting Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship

May 28, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine

By Addis Daniel

Published by Tadias Magazine May 28th, 2015

The Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship (EDF) trains young Ethiopian professionals in leadership development, service, and creative storytelling skills before sending them to Ethiopia to serve at partner organizations for a 6-month fellowship. “We provide an option for Ethiopian Diaspora to connect with Ethiopia in a meaningful way,” says Founder, Rediate Tekeste.

Outside of trips to Ethiopian restaurants, church events, the yearly soccer tournament and of course the retelling of their parent’s tizita — first and second generation Ethiopian Americans find themselves immersed in Western mainstream society, slowly severing the cultural bond between generations. Despite this disconnect, the youth residing in the Diaspora are often times intrigued and attracted by their culture and ancestry. They find themselves connected as much as possible to Ethiopian events, social media groups, and friends — yet find it difficult to deepen that connection in a realistic and meaningful manner. Additionally, Ethiopian adopted young people yearn for a connection to Ethiopia but may not have the network or community to reconnect.

In August, two women, Rediate Tekeste and Meseret Hailu, attempted to assess, from a millennial lens, the push-pull relationship within their generation by sending out a survey via social media and a Diaspora listserv. Expecting less than 200 results, they were shocked to find almost 400 people all over the country had answered their 23 questions with thoughtful answers. The desire for Ethiopian Diaspora youth to be heard was evident. The organization was built using the survey results as a framework to understand the population.

The fellowship offers a bridge — an avenue for exceptional applicants as well as opportunities to participate in trainings, work in a variety of organizations in Ethiopia, and network with local professionals. While in Ethiopia, fellows participate in peer-to-peer mentorship and use storytelling to increase their own cultural identity and become a catalyst for growth and change in Ethiopia. The work of partner organizations collaborating with EDF ranges from technology, education, and health to gender empowerment and an intersection of multiple areas. The vision is to be a model by which young Ethiopians can engage with Ethiopia. Every partner organization is run by Ethiopians and serving Ethiopians. Fellows are required to document their journey through a variety of mediums to strengthen their storytelling abilities and encouraged to reflect on their identity growth.

The team is comprised of Ethiopian Diaspora, Ethiopian immigrants, and a group of advisors with professional skills ranging from psychologists to marketing and health professionals. The varied backgrounds and cultural perspectives of the team allows EDF to gain an in-depth understanding of how this program can serve not only as a medium for connecting a cultural identity but also as a means for Ethiopian-Americans/Ethiopian Canadians to give contribute to their homeland through skills and knowledge transfer.

“There are well-skilled and educated people in Ethiopia doing amazing work, and we aim to utilize those people to help Diaspora youth connect and evaluate their own identity,” said Rediate.

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If you would like more information or would like to support, apply or partner with Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship – please visit www.ethiopiandiasporafellowship.org . Application deadline is June 5th, 2015.

Author Bio: Addis Daniel is a first generation Ethiopian American who spent the last year and a half living and working in Addis Ababa. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida and is currently living in Los Angeles, CA working as a freelance creative designer and writer. She is passionate about social issues particularly those affecting women and children in developing countries. She hopes to use her talents to empower the people of Ethiopia and allow them advance themselves through community building and education.

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Opinion

US State Dept on Ethiopia Elections

May 28, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
News Update

Press Statement
Marie Harf
Deputy Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC — The United States commends the people of Ethiopia for their civic participation in generally peaceful parliamentary and regional elections on May 24. We acknowledge the National Electoral Board’s organizational efforts and the African Union’s role as the only international observer mission on the ground. We also note the importance of the nine televised party debates as progress in fostering open public discussion of the challenges facing the country. We encourage all candidates, political parties and their supporters to resolve any outstanding differences or concerns peacefully in accordance with Ethiopia’s constitution and laws.

The United States remains deeply concerned by continued restrictions on civil society, media, opposition parties, and independent voices and views. We regret that U.S. diplomats were denied accreditation as election observers and prohibited from formally observing Ethiopia’s electoral process. Apart from the election observation mission fielded by the African Union, there were no international observer missions on the ground in Ethiopia. We are also troubled that opposition party observers were reportedly prevented from observing the electoral process in some locations.

A free and vibrant media, space for civil society organizations to work on democracy and human rights concerns, opposition parties able to operate without impediment, and a diversity of international and domestic election observers are essential components for free and fair elections. The imprisonment and intimidation of journalists, restrictions on NGO activities, interference with peaceful opposition party activities, and government actions to restrict political space in the lead-up to election day are inconsistent with these democratic processes and norms.

The United States has a broad and strong partnership with Ethiopia and its people. We remain committed to working with the Ethiopian Government and its people to strengthen Ethiopia’s democratic institutions, improve press freedom, and promote a more open political environment consistent with Ethiopia’s international human rights obligations.

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Study: Ethiopian Fossils Indicate New Forerunner of Humans

May 28, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Associated Press

In a paper released Wednesday, May 27, 2015, by the journal Nature, Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selasie and colleagues announce the new find

NEW YORK — A fossil find adds another twig to the human evolutionary tree, giving further evidence that the well-known “Lucy” species had company in what is now Ethiopia, a new study says.

A lower jaw, plus jaw fragments and teeth, dated at 3.3 million to 3.5 million years old, were found in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia four years ago.

That shows a second human ancestor lived in about the same area and time frame as Lucy’s species, researchers said. But not everyone agrees.

In a paper released Wednesday by the journal Nature, the researchers announce the new find and assign it to a species they dubbed Australopithecus deyiremeda (aw-strah-low-PIH’-thuh-kus day-eh-REH’-meh-dah). In the Afar language the second name means “close relative,” referring to its apparent relationship to later members of the evolutionary tree.

But nobody knows just how it’s related to our own branch of the family tree, said Yohannes Haile-Selassie of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, who led the discovery team.

Our branch, which includes Homo sapiens and our closest extinct relatives, arose from the evolutionary grouping that now includes the new creature as well as Lucy’s species. The new arrival, and the possibility of still more to come, complicates the question of which species led to our branch, he said.

Previously, fossilized foot bones found in 2009 near the new discovery site had indicated the presence of a second species. But those bones were not assigned to any species, and it’s not clear whether they belong to the newly identified species either, Haile-Selassie said. If they don’t, that would indicate yet another species from the same time and region as Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis.

An undated photo provided by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History shows Mahammed Baroa, a local Afar working for the Woranso-Mille project, who found the fossils. (AP photo)

Bernard Wood of George Washington University, who didn’t participate in the new work, said the discovery provides “compelling evidence” that a second creature lived in the vicinity of Lucy’s species at the same time. The next question, he said, is how they shared the landscape.

“These fossils certainly create an agenda for a lot of interesting research that’s going to be done in the next decade,” Wood said.

As evidence that the new fossils represent a previously unknown species, the researchers cite specific anatomical differences with known fossils. But Tim White, a University of California, Berkeley, expert in human evolution, was unimpressed.

He said he thinks the fossils actually come from Lucy’s species.

“Anatomical variation within a biological species is normal,” he said in an email. “That’s why so many announcements of this sort are quickly overturned.”

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Podcast

As Expected Ruling Party Claims Big Win in Early Ethiopia Election Results

May 28, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

BY Marthe van der Wolf

Ethiopia’s Ruling Party Wins Big in Early Election Results

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — Ethiopia’s ruling party won Sunday’s election with an overwhelming majority, according to preliminary results released by the country’s electoral commission.

The electoral board says the ruling EPRDF party and its allies have won all the parliamentary seats decided so far – 442 out of 547.

The Ethiopian Political Revolutionary Democratic Front won all of the seats in the capital city, Addis Ababa.

Final tally pending

Opposition parties only won a single parliamentary seat in the 2010 elections. It is not yet clear if they won more seats this time around, according to Merga Bekana of the electoral board.

“Regarding the remaining results, we have to wait. According to our timetable we have time to gather, to collect and then publish it according to our schedule. But I cannot actually tell you actually how many remaining seats will be occupied by opposition or ruling party,” said Merga.

Final results are expected on June 22.

Leaders of the two largest opposition parties, Blue Party and Medrek, could not be immediately reached to comment on the preliminary results. Both have accused the government of harassing and intimidating their supporters before and during the elections.

African Union observers judged the elections as calm, peaceful and credible but significantly, did not use the terms “free and fair.”

‘Continued restrictions’ concerning

The U.S. State Department commended Ethiopia for holding peaceful elections, but also said it is deeply concerned by “continued restrictions on civil society, media, opposition parties, and independent voices and view.”

Ethiopia’s National Electoral Board said an equal platform was created for all political parties, and the government has denied accusations of obstructing the opposition in any manner.

Merga said opposition parties should accept the reality, and said their accusations are baseless.

The new parliament will convene in October, and EPRDF already has said that if the party wins again, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn likely will be appointed to serve another five years in office.

The EPRDF has been in power since ousting the regime of former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. The preliminary results came out one day before Ethiopia officially celebrates the downfall of the former regime.

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In Ethiopia, ‘Are You a Journalist?’ Is a Loaded Question

May 28, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

By Anita Powell

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — Are you a journalist?” the young man asks me as we board the elevator.

In Ethiopia, this is a loaded question. It earned me an extra 45-minute wait at airport immigration as officials thumbed through my passport, pawed through my luggage and asked me what my intentions were.

Several international human rights groups have documented the systematic repression of Ethiopian journalists who were openly critical of the ruling party. About a dozen journalists and bloggers are in Ethiopian prison, accused of terrorism. Many more have fled into exile and are covering this year’s election from afar.

“Yes,” I sigh.

“I’m not happy with this election,” he blurts out. “There is no democracy in Ethiopia.”

Bold, I think admiringly. This is new – when I was assigned to Ethiopia eight years ago, in the aftermath of the government’s violent reaction to an opposition gains in the 2005 election, those sentiments were rarely spoken aloud – and certainly not to random journalists.

Is he trying to bait me? I wonder.

“Oh?” I say, cautiously. “Yes, I’ve heard people say that.”

I get off at my floor, rattled.

People take part in a Blue Party election rally in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, May 21, 2015. (Photo Reuters)

On the campaign trail, the nation’s newest opposition party winds its way through Addis Ababa. Crowds emerge to watch the procession.

“Please, I am journalist from America,” I say in Amharic at every stop, waving at my camera theatrically. “Do you have opinion on the election please? Will you give interview?”

No one volunteers. One man covers his face when he sees me filming the street. The guy next to him takes his phone out and points it in my direction. I remove my sunglasses and stare at him.

Opposition members say they’re confident of getting support at the polling booth. Blue Party spokesman Yonatan Tesfaye even predicts the various opposition parties will grab as many as 100 parliamentary seats, out of more than 500. This would indeed be a triumph: in 2010, the opposition won just a single seat.

One opposition candidate, Yidinakachaw Addis, tells me he was arrested while trying to take food to his imprisoned friends, also opposition supporters.

“I know it’s very difficult to participate in politics, especially in our country,” he says. “I know, even I will be in prison one day. So I am happy, even if I will join my friends in prison, I will be happy for that. I think I did something best for my country.”

Later, the internet has failed in my hotel room, sending me frantically down to the lobby to try to transmit a TV story on the opposition campaign.

Another young man on the elevator. I gesture to my laptop, explain in Amharic, “There is no internet in my house.” (I don’t know the word for hotel room.)

“It’s the government,” he responds, to my surprise. “There’s an election coming and they want to stop the internet.”

Overcome, I show him a snippet of my story. “If you don’t follow them and if you don’t join them and if you don’t do what they need, you can’t do what you need,” says Abdurahim Jemal Araya, a self-described political refugee living in South Africa. “And you need to follow them, each and every thing they are telling you, because there is no democracy at all in our country.”

The young man nods.

“That is my feeling too,” he says grimly.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station, as Ethiopia’s national election kicks off in capital Addis Ababa, May 24, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

Election day starts before dawn. People line up at a typical Addis Ababa polling station. It is calm, orderly, polite. I go from station to station, and at all but one of them my election badge allows me easy access.

“What are you doing here?” asks a burly dude in a leather jacket at that one station.

I’m tempted to tell him I’m on vacation, and just thought it might be fun to, you know, drop by a polling station at 6 a.m. with a video camera. But more burly dudes come over. They tell me to wait, order me to point my camera at the ground.

Finally an election official comes out and scrutinizes my badge.

After a long wait, he tells me, “It’s okay, you are allowed.”

“I know,” I say tartly.

I have little trouble finding ruling party voters. They are, after all, the majority. But I approach voter after voter in an attempt to get a variety of views. Several actually run away from me.

The next day, I meet someone who knows one of the nine jailed bloggers and journalists. He asks not to be identified for fear of reprisal. He says he fears that talking to me so soon after the election could make things worse for the group.

I grill the poor man. “Is it possible,” I ask, “that any one of the nine could have links to actual groups trying to overthrow the Ethiopian government?” That’s the ostensible reason for their imprisonment. Could his friend, who he swears is innocent, have been accidentally pulled in over her head?

He shakes his head and notes that the prosecution hasn’t presented any evidence of terrorism.

“I think it’s a fear of the future rather than a crime of their past that they were arrested for,” he says, explaining that the longtime ruling EPRDF party fears reprisals if they ever lose power.

There’s no obvious sign of this repression he’s talking about. As we sit and talk in a cafe, we both look nervously at a succession of lone men who fill up the tables near us, studying their phones.

I later drop in to see a local business owner, who tells me that three of his workers called in to say they were too afraid to come to work. They refused, he says, to say more.

We talk about rampant rumors that the ruling party has won 100 percent of the vote this time, and I stress that only official results count.

He raises an eyebrow at me, as if to say, “Really?”

A boy sits outside a polling station, as Ethiopia’s national election kicks off in capital Addis Ababa, May 24, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

As journalists, we are limited to the attributed, the concrete, the verifiable, and the achievable. And so, my stories from this election show orderly polling stations, happy voters, and government supporters.

They also include mild endorsement from the only foreign observer mission, the African Union, which said the election was peaceful and credible, although they not use the words “free and fair.”

But my stories on this election are largely missing a silent, and silenced, group. I have no idea how big this group really is, as many won’t speak to me once the video camera or voice recorder come out.

Those who told me they didn’t bother to vote insisted that information was off the record. The blogger-journalist group tried to vote, the friend says, as they have not been convicted of anything and therefore are still eligible. But prison authorities told them there was no nearby polling station.

Opposition campaigner Ephraim Sahle Selassie says he believes that free expression is unstoppable, with the growth of technology and social media.

But for now, in Ethiopia, free expression is just a dream for the future.

WATCH: Anita Powell’s video report on Ethiopian election

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AU Observers Avoid Words ‘Free & Fair’ In Ethiopia Election Assessment

May 26, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

By Anita Powell

AU Observers: Ethiopian Poll Was ‘Calm, Peaceful and Credible’

ADDIS ABABA— Calm, peaceful and credible: Those are three of the key words the African Union election observer mission used to describe Ethiopia’s national election, which is widely expected to produce yet another landslide for the nation’s longtime ruling party.

But “free and fair,” two critical adjectives, were missing from the assessment by the only foreign election observer mission present as tens of millions of Ethiopians voted Sunday.

“The AU Election Observers’ Mission concludes that the parliamentary elections were calm, peaceful and credible as it provided an opportunity for the Ethiopian people to express their choices at the polls,” said mission head Hifikepunye Pohamba, a former Namibian president.

Pohamba said the mission did not hear any reports of major violence or problems on election day. But he said observers saw ruling party allies openly urging voters inside the polling station and some stations opened before the stipulated 6 a.m. start time. He added the dark canvas ballot boxes in many stations were insufficiently transparent.

When VOA asked if the election was fair, free and transparent, AU observer Chika Charles Aniekwe did not answer directly. “We want you be guided by our pronouncement. We do not want to pronounce on what we have not seen. So our judgement on the election is that it was peaceful, it was calm and credible. So we do not want to delve into all we have not pronounced,” said Aniekwe.

Preliminary results due soon

This is the first vote since the 2012 death of Meles Zenawi, who had led the nation since 1991, first as president, then as prime minister. Meles’ successor, former academic Hailemariam Desalegn, is widely expected to stay in charge as head of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front.

Meles encountered an electoral roadblock in 2005, when an swell of support for the opposition overflowed into street protests. Government security forces opened fire on opposition supporters who accused officials of vote-rigging.

A public inquiry determined that 200 people were killed. Tens of thousands of opposition leaders and supporters were jailed.

The ruling party then won all but a single seat in parliament in the 2010 polls, though European Union observers criticized the ruling party for creating an unfair playing field for the opposition.

Before this election, the opposition accused the government of hindering their campaigns through arrests, harassment, intimidation and unequal access to funding. The government has denied the allegations.

AU observer chief Pohamba urged calm. “The AU Electoral Mission encourages political parties, candidates, their supporters and the electorate to maintain the prevailing atmosphere of peace that characterized pre-election and election day and urges for the use of the legal channels of complaints and appeals should there be any post-electoral disputes,” he said.

Ethiopia’s election board says it will soon release preliminary results. Final results are due June 22.

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African Observers Say Ethiopia Poll Credible, Opposition Cries Foul (Reuters)

May 26, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Reuters

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA – African Union observers said on Tuesday that Ethiopia’s parliamentary election held on Sunday was credible except for a few irregularities, but the opposition dismissed the vote as marred by violations including ballot box theft.

Provisional results in Africa’ second most populous nation are due later this week and few expect anything but a landslide for the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition, in power since ousting dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who took over after EPRDF’s long-serving leader Meles Zenawi died in 2012, has pushed on with EPRDF’s highly-centralised statist economic model credited with turning around the fortunes of a country once ravaged by war and famine.

But the opposition — which has one seat in the outgoing 547-member parliament — accuses the government of crushing dissent, limiting free speech, and muzzling the press. The EPRDF denies this, saying the political space is open for all.

“The African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) concludes that the parliamentary elections were calm, peaceful, and credible as it provided an opportunity for the Ethiopian people to express their choices at the polls,” former Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, the head of the AU mission, said.

Pohamba said 59 members from 23 African countries visited 356 polling stations. Ethiopia did not invite Western observers to this election. About 37 million out of Ethiopia’s 96 million people registered to vote.

The observers said no major incidents occurred and that they could vouch for the secrecy of the vote in 95 percent of the polling stations it observed.

Ethiopia Counting Votes After Election

May 26, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Euronews

Ethiopia has started counting the votes after Sunday’s elections.

Provisional results should emerge within a few days and the final result is expected to be announced in June.

The country’s ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is widely expected to win a landslide victory.

No Suspense in Ethiopia Election Results

May 25, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
News Update

Published: Monday, May 25th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — There is little surprise regarding the results of Sunday’s Ethiopia poll. The ruling EPRDF party, which has governed the country for nearly 25 years, is expected to claim an easy victory in another controversial election.

“There were no reports of election-related violence and African Union observers said the voting was ‘orderly,’ VOA reported.

“The voting lines formed well before sunrise in Addis Ababa on Sunday. People thronged to polling stations set up in tents, public halls and schools across this rapidly growing city of more than 3 million residents.”

The Wall Street Journal added: “The controversy over the poll underscores the struggle Western nations have with Ethiopia—praised for its economic progress and security but criticized roundly for seizing lands from farmers, jailing journalists and silencing opposition parties.”

Technically there are 58 parties participating in the national contest, but only two are considered remotely competitive: MEDREK and Blue Party. Deutsche Welle notes: “Most parties are unknown to the electorate or believed to be allied with EPRDF. Opposition leaders allege that the large number of parties served to dilute the vote and create a false perception of a competitive environment.”

Below are photos from Sunday’s election:

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Podcast

The Plight of Ethiopian Jews in Israel (BBC)

May 25, 2015 Tadias Magazine

BBC News

By Prof Yossi Mekelberg

The story of the immigration and absorption of Ethiopian Jews in Israel epitomises the best and the worst of Israeli society.

True to its Zionist dream of being a haven for Jews, the Jewish state embarked on risky and expensive rescue operations in the 1980s and 1990s.

These brought tens of thousands of Jews from remote parts of Ethiopia, who had suffered from religious persecution, famine and civil wars.

Yet, when they arrived in Israel, these distinctive people faced appalling discrimination, racism and a lack of empathy for their hardships in Ethiopia and during their journey to Israel.

Moreover, this was exacerbated by a mixture of bureaucratic insensitivity and incompetence.

The uncharacteristic violence, seen recently during demonstrations by members of the Ethiopian community in Israel, was a direct result of years of accumulated frustration against the state and especially the police.

The unprovoked beating up by policemen of Demas Fekadeh, an Ethiopian Israeli soldier in uniform, could well serve as a much necessary wake-up call for Israeli society to change, quickly and radically, its treatment of the 130,000 Israeli citizens and their descendants who immigrated from Ethiopia.

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Sports

Ethiopia’s Girmay Birhanu and Aberu Zennebe Win Ottawa Marathon

May 25, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Ottawa Citizen

By GORD HOLDER

The races within the race were the stories behind the Ottawa Marathon on Sunday.

To begin with, there was a third consecutive Ethiopian sweep of the men’s and women’s titles in the 42.195-kilometre race, with Girmay Birhanu and Aberu Zennebe claiming the $30,000 U.S. top prizes from Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend organizers.

Neither approached record times, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. The elite competitors in both divisions pushed the pace well into the race, but paid for it near the end, particularly as they battled a steady headwind in the final kilometres along Sussex Drive, Colonel By Drive and the Queen Elizabeth Driveway.

“I’m very happy with the result, but I was hoping for 2:06 or 2:07,” said Birhanu, who actually crossed the finish line in two hours eight minutes 14 seconds, more than 40 seconds ahead of Kenya’s Philip Kangogo and another Ethiopian, Chele Dechasa, but 80 seconds off the 2014 record established by Yemane Tsegay.

The lead pack of 15 male runners dropped to a dozen between six and 15 kilometres, and it was down to nine when they reached the 23K mark in just under 69 minutes. Birhanu, three Kenyans and one of the paid pacesetters surged ahead at that point, but there was still a group of four approaching 32K.

Then Birhanu pushed the pace again. Trying to repeat his April victory in a marathon in South Korea, the 28-year-old was leading by about 13 seconds as he left New Edinburgh and turned back onto Sussex Drive, and he ran the rest of the way alone.

“Yes, it was very difficult, not only because I was by myself, but (also) that it was very windy,” Birhanu said through an interpreter. “It was very challenging the last few kilometres.”

Zennebe’s victory was actually the sixth in a row in the Ottawa Marathon for Ethiopian women, following Merina Mohammed (2010), Kebebush Haile Lema (2011), Yeshi Esayias (2012-13) and Tigist Tufa, whose 2:24:30 was exactly a minute faster than the time Zennebe produced on Sunday.

Girmay Birhanu celebrates his marathon win at Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend Sunday May 24, 2015. (Photo: Ashley Fraser / Ottawa Citizen )

“I was uncertain (about winning), but obviously I was very motivated and I was fighting like I could win it,” Zennebe said through the interpreter. “If not first, at least one of the top three, and I was successful.”

Runners From Ethiopia Win Bolder Boulder 10K Race in Colorado

May 25, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Associated Press

May 25th, 2015

Runners from Ethiopia won the Bolder Boulder professional 10K race on Monday while two Colorado residents were the top man and woman in the citizens’ race.

Belete Assefa finished more than 16 seconds ahead of Solomon Deksisa, also of Ethiopia, with a time of 29:04 to win his second Bolder Boulder. Meskerem Assefa was the first professional woman to cross the finish line in a packed Folsom Field at the University of Colorado.

Belete Assefa was the top finisher in the men’s elite race at the 2015 Bolder Boulder. (The Denver Channel)

Ethiopia’s Meskerem Assefa win 2015 Bolder Boulder. (The Denver Channel)

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Podcast

Saving Coffee From Extinction

May 24, 2015 Tadias Magazine

BBC News

By Julian Siddle and Vibeke Venema

Two billion cups of coffee are drunk around the world every day and 25 million families rely on growing coffee for a living. Over the past 15 years, consumption of the drink has risen by 43% – but researchers are warning that the world’s most popular coffee, Arabica, is under threat…

“If we don’t do anything now and over the next 20 years, by end of the century, wild Arabica in Ethiopia could be extinct – that’s in the worst-case scenario,” says Dr Aaron Davis, head of coffee research at Kew, who led the project.

The report made headlines around the world and spurred the industry into action. Since then, the team from Kew and their partners in Ethiopia have covered 25,000km in Ethiopia, visiting coffee producing areas to compare their predictions with what is happening in reality. “It’s important to see what’s happening on the ground, observing what influence climate change is having on coffee now, and talking to farmers. They can tell us what has happened, sometimes taking us back many decades, with several generations of farmers involved,” says Davis.

NY Times: Ethiopia’s Ruling Party Is Expected to Keep Grip on Power

May 24, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The New York Times

By JACEY FORTIN

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Like the other people in his village, Berhanu Wodajo, a 40-year-old farmer, is planning to vote for “the bee.”

In the buildup to national elections on Sunday, the insect has become ubiquitous. Its image adorns banners over busy roads, placards at parades and fliers taped to corrugated steel walls. It is the symbol of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, which has held power in this country for 24 years.

“The bee is the government,” said Mr. Berhanu in Dakabora, a tiny village in central Ethiopia. “We don’t know anything about the other options.”

A total of 58 parties have fielded candidates for the federal Parliament and regional assemblies this year, and more than 36 million citizens are registered to vote in Sunday’s election, the first national poll since the 2012 death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who ruled the country for 17 years. His party, the E.P.R.D.F., now led by Hailemariam Desalegn, is expected to hold on to power.

Politicians from the ruling party have campaigned on a record of economic growth. The economy, according to government statistics, grew 10 percent annually over the past decade. The government has also touted construction of large-scale projects like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which could more than triple electricity generation, and assistance to farmers that helped poverty rates fall from 44 to 30 percent between 2000 and 2011, according to the World Bank.

A spokesman for the E.P.R.D.F., Desta Tesfaw, said opposition parties had little to offer by comparison. “They are not strong enough,” he said. “They have no clear policy. They have no clear program.”

Opposition politicians, meanwhile, have tried to appeal to Ethiopians disillusioned with the ruling party’s tight control over the political sphere, and have campaigned particularly in urban areas.

But most voters believe the opposition stands little chance of success given the dominance of the E.P.R.D.F., especially in rural areas where about 80 percent of the population lives.

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Featured

Ethiopia Election Met With Silence From Ordinary Voters

May 23, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

By Anita Powell

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA/JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Ethiopia will hold a major election Sunday, but critics of the longtime ruling party say systematic repression has made this vote a nonevent. Outside of the country, Ethiopians who say they are political refugees have even harsher words for the government.

On the streets of Ethiopia’s capital, it’s hard to ignore that an election is coming. But banners and blaring songs aside, this is an oddly quiet election in a nation of some 90 million people.

The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front is virtually guaranteed victory. In the last election in 2010, opposition parties won only a single seat in parliament.

Inside Ethiopia, very few ordinary voters are willing to speak about politics, which seems to support rights groups’ claims that Ethiopia, in the words of Human Rights Watch, “has created a bleak landscape for free expression.”

A spokesman for the EPRDF denies this.

“Most of the time, oppositions raised claims, complaints, and then after we established the complaint committee when it come to the result most of them will be false allegations. But some, very few, may be happened in reality,” said Desta Tesfaw, head of public and foreign relations for EPRDF.

However, the Blue Party, Ethiopia’s newest opposition party, said it has faced harassment, arrests and an unfair playing field.

“Oppositions are not getting a fair proportion of time and location, financing, things like that. Not only that, there are tremendous repression, we have about 50 people arrested only in Addis, about 50,” said Yonatan Tesfaye, Blue Party spokesman.

In South Africa, Ethiopian immigrants said they are able to voice the thoughts they could not share at home. Many said they fled persecution from the ruling EPRDF.

“If you don’t follow them and if you don’t join them and if you don’t do what they need, you can’t do what you need. And you need to follow them, each and every thing they are telling you, because there is no democra(cy) at all in our country,” Ethiopian immigrant Abdurahim Jemal Araya said.

In Addis Ababa, VOA News repeatedly asked gathered crowds if anyone would share their thoughts on the election, either in English or in Amharic. No one volunteered.

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Featured

Ethiopia’s Election: ‘Africa’s Largest Exercise of Political Theatre’

May 23, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Guardian

By Daniel Calingaert and Kellen McClure

Ethiopia’s election is a wake-up call on human rights and sound governance

On Sunday, millions of Ethiopians will line up at polling stations to participate in Africa’s largest exercise of political theatre. A decade-long campaign by Ethiopia’s government to silence dissent forcibly has left the country without a viable political opposition, without independent media, and without public challenges to the ruling party’s ideology.

For most Ethiopians, these elections are a non-event.

Ethiopia’s elections are just an exercise in controlled political participation

The one potential dividend of these sham polls, however, is the international attention they will garner for the government’s growing political repression. The blatant disregard for internationally recognised standards for free and fair elections just might convince Ethiopia’s largest donors that it is time to rethink their relationship with an increasingly authoritarian government.

As long as democratic governance and respect for human rights are pushed aside by donors in favour of economic development and security cooperation, Ethiopia’s long-term stability is at serious risk.

With Limited Independent Press, Ethiopians Left Voting in the Dark

May 22, 2015 Tadias Magazine

CPJ

By Simegnish “Lily” Mengesha

On Sunday Ethiopians go to the polls in the country’s fifth general election since the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front came to power more than 20 years ago. Citizens are expected to choose the right party to lead them for the next five years. To do so, they need to have a clear understanding of their country’s political, social, and economic situation. They need to know which parties have the candidates and policies best suited to their own hopes and aspirations. But in a country with limited independent media, many Ethiopians struggle to find the information needed to help them make informed decisions.

A number of human right reports showed 2014 as the most dangerous year for the Ethiopian press, with government attacks on the media starting a year before the election. It appeared that government forces were purposely clearing the media out of the way. Seventeen journalists are currently in prison, most of them facing terrorism charges, and more than 30 have been forced into exile, according to CPJ research. This makes Ethiopia the second-worst jailer of journalists in Africa, after Eritrea.

Five independent magazines and one weekly newspaper were charged last year with publishing false information, inciting violence, and undermining public confidence in the government, according to CPJ research. The charges highlighted the narrowed media space, and led to the closure of several more outlets out of fear that they may face the same fate.

Ethiopia is the fourth most censored country in the world, according to CPJ. Besides state-run publications, only a handful of privately owned publications remain in the country and, according to a couple of Ethiopian journalists I spoke to, they operate under heavy self-censorship. Because of financial constraints caused by the paper and printing costs, nearly all independent publications circulate only in the capital, Addis Ababa. This leaves the majority of the population dependent on the state-run TV and radio stations.

Based on my own experiences, and that of fellow journalists in Ethiopia, who asked not to be named out of security concerns, journalists work in fear of the government’s reaction to what they say and write. They make sure no word they put down on paper and no word they speak will buy them a ticket to the prisons where their friends are held. Covering the election makes journalists feel even more unsafe. It exposes them to such levels of harassment that they even fear moving around the city alone, I was told.

Digital media is a new platform in Ethiopia. While Internet penetration remains under 2 per cent, according to Freedom House figures, the number of social media users has been growing rapidly. However, the arrest of the Zone 9 bloggers for their social media activity one year ago, served as a warning among the online community not to openly criticize the government, I was told.

Fear dominates not only journalists but also any citizen who is unhappy with the government and wishes to criticize its policies. After the 2005 election, which was comparatively open but, according to reports, ended with violence and killings, the government appears to have little tolerance for criticism. And, in the 2010 election five years later, that fear appeared to linger, with little reporting on anyone saying they planned to vote for the opposition. This will be a challenge for local and international journalists covering the election this weekend. It will not be easy to find anyone willing to admit publicly that they voted against the ruling party.

The African Union (AU) will be the only international body monitoring the election, according to reports. Its purpose is to observe, collect and analyze data from the lead-up to the election to the post-election period. In a statement, the AU said its observation will be in line with AU policy and other international instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and that its observers will remain independent and objective.

However, according to journalists I spoke to, the sole presence of the AU does not make Ethiopia’s press feel protected. Most said they believe the AU or ambassadors will reflect only what the ruling party wants them to say. Others said they do not think they will be able to get fair and balanced comments, even from independent bodies.

The press plays an important role in the electoral process. It provides a platform for political parties and candidates to present their manifestos. The press also allows citizens to express their opinions and needs, so that they can be a part of any democratic process. When such a platform is denied, citizens are left out of the process. This is not democracy.

This is the malady from which Ethiopia suffers. People are deprived of any explanation of their country’s situation; their government expects them to feed only on what they are given through state media. This makes citizens into mere spectators to the “development” about which the government proudly preaches, instead of making them an integral part of the process.

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Featured

Opponents Question Ethiopia’s Democracy

May 22, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

By Marthe van der Wolf

ADDIS ABABA — The ruling party in Ethiopia often describes the country as a “developmental democracy” and its policy as “revolutionary democracy.” But opponents question what these policies mean, and say the country is not enjoying much democracy or development at all.

The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front has governed Ethiopia for the past 24 years. For most of that time, the party has promoted the ideologies known as “revolutionary democracy” and “developmental democracy.”

Under these policies, the country has experienced double-digit economic growth after the grueling famine of the mid-1980s.

“You can opt for democracy to be built evolutionary, gradually. You could also opt for a democracy, which must be revolutionary, radically, all the system, all the thinking must be changed, root and branch completely and fast. So this is revolutionary,” explained Redwan Hussein, a government spokesman who also used to head the ruling party’s secretariat.

According to the government, “developmental democracy” means there will be no development without democracy, or democracy without development.

Hallelujah Lulie of the Institute of Security Studies says there is a built-in tension between the two ideologies.

“But the government in development state or democratic developmental state, the role in the economy and the public life, it will decrease through time. But in revolutionary democracy it will increase through time. So that is the difference between the two, in my interpretation,” said Lulie.

Ethiopia’s economy is managed through five-year plans aimed at making Ethiopia a middle-income country by the mid-2020s.

In Addis Ababa, the development is very noticeable, with many new roads, high buildings, an elevated railway and many condominiums to provide housing for the masses.

But two of the bigger opposition parties, Medrek and Blue Party, are critical of the ideological terms and their meaning.

They contest the idea that Sunday’s election will be democratic, saying they face intimidation and harassment by the police and ruling party supporters.

And despite the impressive growth numbers, thousands of Ethiopians leave the country every month hoping to find better lives in the Middle East or Europe.

Medrek chairman Beyene Petros says the development is not affecting the larger population, as 85 percent of Ethiopians live in rural areas:

“I am the first generation moving into an urban setting. So the people that I knew 50 years ago are just living the same kind of life. Scratching the land, using the same plow. The difference is the piece of land which they used to hold, which was much larger, has no shrunk to literally about one-tenth because of the population pressure,” said Petros.

The EPRDF is expected to win Sunday’s elections and the party has already said that five more years of EPRDF will mean a continuation of current policies.

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Podcast

Imperiling the Right to Vote in Ethiopia — RFK Human Rights Analysis

May 21, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
News Update

Press Release — Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Washington, D.C. — Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFK Human Rights) released today a briefing paper documenting a range of human rights violations that have taken place in the context of Ethiopia’s upcoming parliamentary election, scheduled for May 24, and calls upon African Union (AU) election observers to both implement and follow a human rights based approach to their monitoring efforts. The briefing paper outlines severe restrictions to civic space – including the systematic suppression of the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association – in the lead up to the election that amount to a violation of the right to vote and the right to participate in government for all Ethiopians.

“The criminalization of dissent in Ethiopia is readily apparent,” said Kerry Kennedy, President of RFK Human Rights. “Regardless of the ultimate results on polling day, the electoral period has been severely compromised by a persistent crackdown on human rights defenders, journalists, and opposition supporters who have dared to express views critical of the Ethiopian government.”

In the lead up to the election, the Ethiopian government routinely used the 2012 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (“Anti-terrorism law”) to prosecute human rights defenders, independent journalists and bloggers, and opposition supporters in violation of their right to freedom of expression, which effectively prevented the free flow of information to Ethiopian voters. Also in recent months, a series of crackdowns on the peaceful demonstrations of opposition supporters and civic activists have resulted in widespread violations of the right to freedom of assembly. Since its enactment in 2009, the Charities and Societies Proclamation (“CSO law”) has violated the right to freedom of association and decimated the ability of independent civil society in Ethiopia to carry out its legitimate work, including voter education activities, human rights reporting, and political advocacy, each of which are critical to ensure free debate.

“The rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association are fundamental to any democracy and critical to ensuring the meaningful fulfillment of the right to vote under international law,” said Santiago A. Canton, Executive Director of RFK Partners for Human Rights. “As the region and the world look to Ethiopia in the coming days and weeks, it is critical that the AU election observers document the undeniable link between the repression of civic space and Ethiopia’s international human rights obligation to respect the rights to vote and participate in government.”

The AU will be the only international body to monitor the May 24 election. The long-term observers arrived on April 19 and a larger delegation of observers landed in the capital Addis-Ababa on May 17. The AU election observers have a mandate to observe, collect, and analyze data in the lead up to the election, in line with AU and other international instruments such as the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In addition to technical requirements for elections, the AU observers must also take into account binding international law, which includes the right to vote and the right to participate in government.

Click here to read the full report »

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Podcast

2015 Ethiopia Election Preview (BBC)

May 21, 2015 Tadias Magazine

BBC News

The current parliament in Ethiopia has only one opposition representative. Could this all change when up to 36 million voters head for the polls this Sunday?

These will be the first elections since the death of the long-term Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in 2012. His Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has been in power for almost a quarter of a century, and faces no reasonable prospect of defeat.

Who is participating in the polls?

There are 57 political groups which have registered for the election. Many of them are organised along ethnic lines.

Apart from the EPRDF, some of the main contenders include the Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum; a coalition popularly known as Medrek (the Forum); Unity For Democracy And Justice; and the Semayawi (Blue) Party, which was established in 2012, and has earned itself a reputation for organizing protest rallies and which draws support from young people.

Why have these elections caused controversy in the US?

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman. (Getty Images)

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman has praised Ethiopia as a democracy, prompting outrage among human rights organisations.

Speaking during a press briefing in Addis Ababa in April, Ms Sherman said: “Ethiopia is a democracy that is moving forward in an election that we expect to be free, fair and credible and open and inclusive in ways that Ethiopia has moved forward in strengthening its democracy. Every time there is an election it gets better and better.”

In a joint letter, various groups, including Amnesty International USA, said that through her statement the US endorsed ”a government that systematically suppresses the fundamental rights of its citizens. Political pluralism and the ability of Ethiopians to freely express themselves, associate, and participate in peaceful assembly is far more restricted today than ten years ago under the same government.”

What happened in previous elections?

In 2005, 174 opposition politicians won seats in the 547-seat parliament, but many did not take them up after pronouncing the vote rigged.

In the 2010 polls, Girma Seifu, of the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), was the sole opponent to win, while the ruling EPRDF garnered 99.6% of all parliamentary seats. An independent candidate was also elected.

What do opposition parties say about these polls?
The fractured opposition groups have accused the government of harassing their members and carrying out illegal detentions ahead of the elections.

One politician, Yonathan Tesfaye, spokesman for the Blue Party, told journalists that some party members had been beaten, especially in the southern region.

Which outsiders are monitoring the polls?

The African Union has sent election monitors, but the European Union won’t be sending observers. The EU said it hasn’t been invited.

Lamb Review: Sheer Brilliance Knits Together First Ethiopian Film at Cannes

May 21, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Guardian

By Jordan Hoffman

The first image in Lamb is a closeup of a small boy’s hand laying gently on the thick, auburn wool of of a sheep. It may be a one-sided relationship – it’s hard to get inside the head of livestock – but Ephraim (Rediat Amare) clearly loves this animal. He lives in a small village in Ethiopia with his father, an area troubled by drought. His mother has recently passed away and his father has decided that he will take the boy to live with cousins in a farmland area with rolling green hills while he goes to Addis Ababa looking for work.

The new family consists of a loving but all-business great aunt who keeps a whip by her side for occasional discipline, a stern uncle, an aunt concerned with her sick daughter, and another daughter who is past marrying age but seems more interested in reading newspapers than getting hitched and having children.

What’s most exciting about Lamb, the first Ethiopian film to play at Cannes (it appears in the Un Certain Regard section), is that it is an ethnographic film made entirely from the inside out. First-time feature director Yared Zeleke attended New York University’s film school, but grew up in Ethiopia’s urban slums during some of its most troubled years. While we’re following Ephraim into a new environment, there’s little explaining done for our benefit. We’re dropped in and left to figure it out for ourselves.

The family are subsistence farmers, and just barely getting by. They have no electricity or gadgets or western clothing. What they have instead are plenty of customs, like putting on an exaggerated show of mourning when Ephraim first arrives, and preparing for a forthcoming Christian feast. It is decided that Ephraim’s sheep will be slaughtered for this holiday, setting up something of a ticking clock. Heading down to the small marketplace, where car radios blaze with music familiar to fans of the Éthiopiques compilation , Ephraim scopes out a bus ticket. He isn’t sure if he wants to go to the city to find his father or to return to his old village. He knows he can’t stay here, though, with the local bully kids, an unsympathetic uncle and a sword looming over his beloved pet’s head.

Watch: Yared Zeleke’s Drama ‘Lamb’

May 21, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Indiewire

By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act

Making its World Premiere at the ongoing 2015 Cannes Film Festival is Yared Zeleke’s coming-of-age drama, “Lamb,” which marks the very first time in Cannes Film Festival history that an Ethiopian film has screened as an “Official Selection.” The country doesn’t have as rich a cinema history as one might immediately assume, with really 3 key filmmakers dominating the landscape – Haile Gerima likely being the most internationally-known, as well as Yemane Demissie and Teshome Kebede Theodros, all combining for about 10 feature films made between the mid-1970s through just before the turn of the century.

Although, as covered on this blog in recent years, there continue to be young up-and-coming Ethiopian filmmakers, embracing the opportunities to create that come courtesy of the democratization of the production process, provided by evolving technologies – Yidnekachew Shumete (“Nishan”) and Zeresenay Mehari (“Difret”) are just 2 of the most recent, whose films have traveled, and that we continue to follow. And then there are co-productions like “Crumbs,” the Spanish-Ethiopian post-apocalyptic feature film that will be making ts North American premiere at the LAFF in June. There is also “Beti and Amare,” the part sci-fi/fantasy, and part historical romantic drama set in World War 2-torn Ethiopia, directed by German filmmaker Andy Siege, which continues to tour the international film festival circuit.

And there are several others…

Yared Zeleke and his 2015 Cannes selection, “Lamb,” can now be added to that growing list.

The film hails from Slum Kid Films, an Ethiopia-based film production company co-founded by Ama Ampadu, which aims to discover and nurture emerging talent in Ethiopia, as well as to support the development of Ethiopian filmmaking.

“Lamb” tells the tale of nine-year-old Ephraim and his constant companion, a sheep named Chuni. Ephraim’s affection for Chuni deepen after he loses his mother to famine. Consequently, his beloved father sends him and Chuni far away from their drought-stricken homeland, to live with distant relatives in a greener part of the country. Ephraim soon becomes a homesick outcast who is always getting into trouble. When his uncle orders him to slaughter Chuni for the upcoming holiday feast, Ephraim devises a devious scheme to save the sheep and return to his father’s home.

Below are still pictures from the movie:

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Opinion

Why Is Obama Administration So Reluctant to Criticize Ethiopia’s Repression?

May 21, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Slate Magazine

By Sarah Margon

In July 2012, an Ethiopian court charged the prominent journalist Eskinder Nega with conspiring to commit terrorist acts. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison under a broad and ill-defined law. His crime? Writing about the Arab Spring and calling for peaceful protests.

A frequent critic of the government and a prominent journalist, Nega was no stranger to detention. But these charges were the most severe—and the corresponding sentence the longest—he’d ever received. Appeals to regional bodies, findings by the United Nations that his detention violates international law, and a litany of international journalism awards all underscore the politically motivated charges that keep him behind bars.

Sadly, he’s not alone.

This Sunday’s elections are likely to reinforce Ethiopia’s repression. Since Nega’s detention, Ethiopia has taken a far more repressive turn. At least 19 other Ethiopians are languishing in prison on trumped-up charges for exercising their right to free expression. During the past year alone, six privately owned media outlets have shut down due to ongoing government harassment. At least 22 journalists and bloggers have faced criminal charges for doing their jobs, while nearly 30 more have left the country—preferring exile to the constant threat of arrest.

The authorities in Addis have never been tolerant of an open media environment, but the political climate has deteriorated dramatically. Even the upcoming elections, scheduled for May 24, have not generated the opportunities for reform some analysts had originally anticipated. Instead, this Sunday’s elections are likely to reinforce the country’s repression.

Photo: Cool Sighting at Walia in San Jose

May 20, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Thursday, May 20th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — You may remember our highlight of Mark Zuckerberg, Founder & CEO of Facebook, who was spotted enjoying a hearty Ethiopian dinner at Walia restaurant in San Jose, California last June. Zuckerberg, who had waited ten minutes to be seated, also took his time to pose for a photo with the Walia staff.

Last week Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City and his wife, Chirlane McCray, followed suit and posed for a photo in front of Walia’s now famous Red, Green and Yellow side-wall.

“A visit to the restaurant by such personalities is a testament to the popularity of Ethiopian food in the U.S.” The owner said. “Walia is blessed by attracting the Mayor of America’s big city and financial center of the world.”

You can learn more about Walia restaurant at www.waliaethiopian.com.

—
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Events

Chester Higgins Zéma: Ethiopia Photos

May 20, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
News Update

Press release

New York — Skoto Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition Zéma, A Love Song celebrating Ethiopia’s unique landscape and people as well as impressionistic imagery honoring ancestral spirits along the Blue Nile by the acclaimed American photographer Chester Higgins. This will be his first solo show at the gallery. The artist will be present at the reception on Thursday, May 21st, 6-8pm.

With his camera, Chester Higgins “wrestles with issues of memory, place and identity, he sees his life as a narrative and his photography as its expression. His art gives visual voice to his personal and collective memories. It is inside ordinary moments where he finds windows into larger meaning. Light, perspective, and points in time are the pivotal elements he uses to reveal an interior presence within his subjects as he searches for what he identifies as the Signature of the Spirit. The works of Chester Higgins challenges us to see the full breadth of our humanity. Through his portraits and studies of living rituals, traditional ceremonies and the monuments and ruins of ancient civilizations, viewers gain a rare insight into cultural behavior — a window to another place and time.

Higgins is the author of the photo collections Black Woman, Drums of Life, Some Time Ago, Feeling the Spirit: Searching the World for the People of Africa — a comprehensive look at the African Diaspora — and Elder Grace: The Nobility of Aging. His memoir entitled, Echo of the Spirit: A Photographer’s Journey and illustrated Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile. Higgins photographs have appeared in ArtNews, New York Times Sunday Magazine, Look, Life, Newsweek, Fortune, Geo, The New Yorker and Archaeology. His work is the topic of two PBS films, “An American Photographer: Chester Higgins Jr.,” and “Brotherman” and has been featured on CBS: “Sunday Morning News,” PBS: “The NewsHour,” ABC: “Like It Is,” and “Freedom Forum.

His solo exhibitions have appeared at the International Center of Photography, The Smithsonian Institution, The Museum of African Art, The Museum of Photographic Arts, The Schomburg Center, The Newark Museum, National Civil Rights Museum, The Field Museum of History, The New-York Historical Society and the Windows Gallery/Kimmel Center of New York University and The Dapper Museum in Paris.

He is the recipient of grants from The Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the International Center of Photography, the Open Society Institute, The National Endowment for the Arts and the Andy Warhol Foundation (ICP). He recently retired from the New York Times as a staff photographer for nearly four decades.

Artist Statement

Wrestling with issues of memory, place and identity, I see my life as a narrative and my photography as its expression. My art gives visual voice to my personal and collective memories. It is inside ordinary moments where I find windows into larger meaning. Light, perspective, and points in time are the pivotal elements I use to reveal an interior presence within my subjects as I search for what I identify as the Signature of the Spirit.

Apparitions: “The revelation of the Spirit comes in a fleeting moment, ethereal and unreal, yet its impact on our senses can be profound and unrelenting. We perceive the Spirit on many levels, in the most mysterious of ways. Its appearance is by nature impermanent; like smoke, it cannot be contained. The Spirit affects us in ways like none other because we have no reference; by definition, it is the other—the other side, the other way.

Like people who see divinity in the complexity of Nature, I believe there is a Spirit in all things. To me, dried plant leaves are the remains of the once fuller Spirit that inhabited the plant. Life is fleeting, but in its departure I believe the Spirit is the only thing that can transit time and space.

My new imagery comes from a decade of falling in love with plant leaves. I’ve experimented with different leaves, but for me it is the very large leaves of tropical plants that tend to dry in the most interesting manner. Each summer I plant bulbs, tend them and, when they begin to die back, harvest the leaves. These are hung to dry inside the studio for a few months before I start making computer-generated images of them. I position them and use software to accentuate a more abstract expression. By freeing the image from its reality, I believe I allow the Spirit to linger and viewers to commune with it—to embrace the Spirit and make it their own.

I title these abstract images of plant leaves after the ancestors. In ZEMA, I am naming them after ancient Ethiopian ancestors.”

Chester Higgins, 2015
Brooklyn, New York

—
If You Go:
Chester Higgins Zéma Photographs
Opens May 21, 6-8pm
529 West 20th Street, 5FL
New York, NY 10011 212-352 8058
info@skotogallery.com
www.skotogallery.com

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Opinion

US Enables Authoritarianism in Ethiopia

May 20, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Aljazeera America

By Awol Allo

It was only two months ago during the Israeli election that the White House was scrambling to convince the American public that the United States does not intervene in the electoral processes of other democracies.

“This administration goes to great lengths to ensure that we don’t give even the appearance of interfering or attempting to influence the outcome of a democratically held election in another country,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in defense of President Barack Obama’s refusal to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But the U.S. makes no apologies for its interventions on behalf of autocratic regimes elsewhere. For example, during a recent visit to Ethiopia, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman praised Ethiopia as a vibrant and progressive democracy.

“Ethiopia is a democracy that is moving forward in an election that we expect to be free, fair, credible, open and inclusive,” she said. “Every time there is an election, it gets better and better.”

Sherman’s remarks drew the ire of activists and human rights organizations. Daniel Calingaert, the executive vice president of Freedom House, dismissed her praise as “woefully ignorant” and at odds with the reality of life as lived by ordinary Ethiopians. Not only were her claims inconsistent with human rights reports, but they also fly in the face of her department’s annual country surveys, which tell a radically different story.

In its latest Ethiopia report, for example, the State Department identified significant human rights violations, including restrictions on freedom of speech, Stalinist-style show trials, and crackdowns on free press, opposition leaders, activists and critical journalists. The report and others by human rights groups reveal a consistent and widespread pattern of abuse, including torture, arbitrary killings, restrictions on freedom of association, interference in freedom of religion and the politicized use of the country’s anti-terrorism proclamation.

No Western Observers for Ethiopian Elections

May 20, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

By Marthe van der Wolf

May 20, 2015

ADDIS ABABA — The only international observers during Ethiopia’s elections Sunday will be from the African Union, with opposition parties already feeling the AU observers are not demanding enough in their criticism of Ethiopia’s election process, which is dominated by the ruling party.

Nine long-term AU observers (LTOs) arrived in April, and another 50 short-term observers arrived last week.

Former Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, head of the mission, commended Ethiopia for being stable and peaceful even while located in a volatile region.

“The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia is appointed by the prime minister and approved by the parliament of Ethiopia. The AU LTOs noted that some interlocutors have expressed the concern in the manner of the appointment of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia and urged that more political stakeholders be consulted in order for the process to be more transparent and inclusive,” Pohamba said.

Anti-terrorism law

The long-term observers also raised concerns about Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law and how it could be used to undermine freedom of expression and the media’s right to protection of their sources and rights.

The long-term observers of the African Union have so far visited 20 districts in eight regions and will leave after the first week of June.

But opposition parties are not impressed with the African Union observers.

Blue Party spokesman Yonathan Tesfaye said, “We don’t think the AU is an international observer, it’s a legitimacy of dictatorship. It’s just a cover. You have the U.S. who refused one way or another, you have the EU who somehow admitted that the previous observations [hadn’t] done anything.”

Ethiopia’s last elections in 2010 were observed by a European Union mission. The The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) party won those elections in a landslide, taking all but one seat in parliament.

According to a recent European Union statement, the EU decided to sit out this year’s elections because its previous recommendations to Ethiopia were not accepted.

Government spokesman Redwan Hussein said there was a difference of opinion between the Ethiopian government and the final recommendations of the EU mission.

‘Nothing to do with elections’

“Whatever prescription they made, it had nothing to do with the election. It has to do with the entire democratic system, and legal system and policy issues. So we didn’t subscribe to that subscription because it has nothing to do with elections,” Hussein said.

Nearly 37 million Ethiopians are registered for the Sunday elections. More than 5,800 candidates from 58 political parties are running for parliament and regional offices.

Fewew than 1,300 of the candidates are female — a situation the African Union attributes to a lack of resources and lack of encouragement in Ethiopia’s culture.
—
Related:
As Ethiopia Votes, What’s ‘Free and Fair’ Got to Do With It? — The Washington Post
Washington Enables Authoritarianism in Ethiopia (Aljazeera America)
Ethiopian PM Faces His First Election Ever (VOA News)
Wendy Sherman Says Editorial on US-Ethiopia ‘Mischaracterized My Remarks’ (The Washington Post)
The United States’ Irresponsible Praise of Ethiopia’s Regime — The Washington Post
U.S. Wrong to Endorse Ethiopia’s Elections (Freedom House)

Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.

Podcast

Ethiopian PM Faces His First Election Ever

May 20, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

By Marthe van der Wolf

ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who assumed power in 2012 after the death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, has never had to participate in an election before.

He took over the office and the leadership of the ruling party, the EPRDF, after the death of Zenawi, who ruled the East African nation for 21 years.

Special Adviser to the Prime Minister Getachew Redda had already worked closely with Hailemariam when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs. He described Ethiopia’s leader as dedicated and committed.

“The first achievement that Hailemariam has is as leader of EPRDF,” he said. “He presided over an organization, which many thought would be in crisis following the death of an important [figure] such as Meles Zenawi. So that by itself is an important achievement on his right.”

Ethiopia will be voting Sunday, May 24. It is widely expected that the ruling party — the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democracy Front — will win for the fifth consecutive time and that Hailemariam will continue in his current position.

Parliament member Girma Seifu of opposition party UDJ, Unity for Democracy and Justice, experienced both Meles and the current prime minister.

He said he was optimistic when Hailemariam assumed office.

“The very good reason that makes me optimist was his civil nature, because he was not in the fight with the Derg regime,” Girma said. “Rather he was a civil employee in the Derg regime. So that he has no negative attitude or any other revenge mentality.”

Meles came to power in 1991 after being part of the guerilla movement that overthrew the former Derg regime, a military junta led by Mengistu Hailemariam.

Desalegn was not part of the struggle. He trained as an engineer and worked as a university dean and administrator of the Southern Regions in Ethiopia before becoming a special adviser to Meles and then foreign minister in 2010.

He also comes from a small Southern ethnic group, the Wolayta. He is openly Protestant in a party with a communist background and in a country where most citizens are Orthodox or Muslim.

Despite his different background, opposition leader Girma said Hailemariam did not meet his expectations:

“In all matters, he didn’t make any change in the Ethiopian democratic process,” Girma said. “So he failed us.”

During pre-election weeks in Ethiopia, there are no large posters with the prime minister’s face around the capital city, Addis Ababa.

Political analyst Hallelujah Lulie of the Institute for Security Studies says that while Meles essentially led the government on his own, a collective leadership was put in place after Hailemariam was inaugurated in 2012.

Therefore he believes it is too early to clearly define what kind of leader the current prime minister is.

“Now I see Hailemariam as a person who is just finishing and serving another person’s term,” he said. “So if Hailemariam comes out, I think we should judge his legacy, his competence and accomplishments after the formation of the new government, after the election. Now I think his major priority, I believe, at this specific point is continuity.”

Ethiopia’s government policy is focused on an agricultural-led economic transformation aimed at lifting the country to middle-income status by 2025.

Special adviser Getachew said no major changes should be expected if the EPRDF rules for another five years. He said the current policies are working.

Ethiopia is the second most populated country in Africa after Nigeria. It is the seat of the African Union and is often applauded for its economic performance and military intervention against the militant group al-Shabab in neighboring Somalia.

At the same time, almost 30 percent of its citizens live below the poverty line, according to the United Nations Development Program. And international organizations frequently criticize the government for repressing critical voices.
—
Related:
No Western Observers for Ethiopian Elections (VOA)
As Ethiopia Votes, What’s ‘Free and Fair’ Got to Do With It? — The Washington Post
Wendy Sherman Says Editorial on US-Ethiopia ‘Mischaracterized My Remarks’ (The Washington Post)
The United States’ Irresponsible Praise of Ethiopia’s Regime — The Washington Post
U.S. Wrong to Endorse Ethiopia’s Elections (Freedom House)

Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.

Podcast

As Ethiopian-Israeli Protests Continue, Where Do Women Fit In?

May 20, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Forward

By Sarah Breger

On Monday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv to protest police brutality and discrimination against the Ethiopian-Israeli community. Two weeks ago, protests by Israel’s Ethiopian minority against police brutality and discrimination in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv drew international attention.

While the protests were sparked by a video of an Ethiopian soldier in uniform being attacked by police officers, the demonstrations also signify the frustrations of the 135,000-Ethiopian Jews currently living in Israel toward the pervasive discrimination and continuing segregation from Israeli society. Since then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced the formation of a ministerial committee to investigate issues concerning Ethiopian Israelis.

The Sisterhood spoke with Dorit Roer-Strier, a professor at Hebrew University’s School of Social Work, about the current protests and specific barriers Ethiopian women face.

Chester Higgins’ Homage to Ethiopia

May 19, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The New York Times

By Fayemi Shakur

Chester Higgins Jr. has traveled to Africa every year since 1971 as a way to meditate, disconnect and examine his life. Through the experience of photographing new people and places, his art both shapes and reflects his narrative. And nowhere is that truer for him than in Ethiopia, a place that has long enchanted him.

“It’s a great relief to step out of my comfort zone and live in a place for six weeks without having to worry about how people react to me,” said Mr. Higgins, whose work from Ethiopia is on display beginning this month at the Skoto Gallery in New York. “I think the problem we have as artists in America is pretty soon you can get locked into a paradigm that inhibits your creative expansion. One gains a cognitive freedom when you embrace the understanding that the world is much larger than your immediate reality. When I travel to Ethiopia or Africa I’m not in search of something exotic, I’m in search of reflections of myself. In Ethiopia, I’m no longer in a society where I am a minority. I am the majority.”

Mr. Higgins, a former staff photographer for The New York Times, has published several collections, including “Feeling the Spirit: Searching the World for the People of Africa.”

“You would never travel to Africa if you listened to the news,” Mr. Higgins said. “I wanted people who couldn’t travel to get a feel from the book of what people are like elsewhere to expand horizons and perspectives.”

He first went to Ethiopia in 1973, prompted by news that African heads of state were gathering for an Organization of African Unity meeting in Addis Ababa. On that trip, he met and photographed the emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, and other heads of state. Taken by the calm sense of self he found among the Ethiopian people, he returned the following year to see other parts of the country.

As Ethiopia Votes, What’s ‘Free and Fair’ Got to Do With It? — The Washington Post

May 19, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Washington Post

By Terrence Lyons

Ethiopia, Washington’s security partner and Africa’s second most populous country, is scheduled to hold national elections on May 24. The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and its allied parties won 99.6 percent of the seats in the last round of elections in 2010. There is no doubt that the ruling party will win again.

The party has ruled since 1991 when it seized power following a prolonged civil war. It dominates all major political, economic, and social institutions, has virtually eliminated independent political space, and opposition parties are fractured and harassed. Ethiopia has jailed more journalists than any other country in Africa.

The EPRDF is an extremely strong and effective authoritarian party. Yet Wendy Sherman, the Under Secretary of Political Affairs in the Department of State, recently said, “Ethiopia is a democracy that is moving forward in an election that we expect to be free, fair and credible.” What roles do elections play in authoritarian states and what, if anything, do they have to do with “free, fair, and credible” standards?

Part of the answer is to recognize that elections and political parties in autocratic states play different roles than they do in democratic states. Electoral processes are used by authoritarian regimes to consolidate power and to demonstrate the ruling party’s dominance, as argued by scholars of comparative politics such as Schedler and Gandhi and Lust-Okar. Research by Geddes shows that single-party authoritarian regimes tend to be more stable and last longer than military or personalistic ones. Strong parties manage instability by encouraging intra-elite compromise, co-opting opposition, and institutionalizing incentives to reward loyalty. Elections and strong political parties thereby contribute to “authoritarian resilience,” as scholars note with reference to China, Iran and Syria, and Zimbabwe.

“Red Leaves” Starring Debebe Eshetu

May 18, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Monday, May 18th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — The renown Ethiopian actor Debebe Eshetu plays the lead role in the new award-winning Ethiopian-Israeli movie Red Leaves (debut film by director Bazi Gete) that explores complicated issues related to immigration, family, culture, and the process of adopting to a new country.

The film, which screens at the opening of the 12th annual Sheba Film Festival at the JCC in New York on Tuesday, May 19th, tells the story of a recently widowed “Seventy-four-year-old Meseganio Tadela [who] immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia with his family 28 years ago,” according to the synopsis.

“He chooses to zealously retain his culture, and in effect talks very little and hardly speaks Hebrew. After losing his wife, Meseganio sets out on a journey that leads him through his children’s homes. As the harsh reality begins to hit him that he belongs to a rapidly disappearing class that believes in preserving Ethiopian culture, he struggles to survive according to his own rules.”

Debebe — whose international credits include a role in the 1973 US film Shaft in Africa — is the only professional actor featured in the 80 minute movie in Hebrew & Amharic with English subtitles made in 2014.

“Other than lead actor Debebe Eshetu, Gete cast non-actors in his debut feature, which he shot in a documentary style mainly in Tel Aviv,” adds Screen Daily. “Each actor knew where he was going and we simply rolled and kept on filming through the scene. “I think it was a wise choice. This almost documentary cinematic style serves the film’s voice and preserves its authenticity,” Gete says.”

Other films scheduled to screen at the 2015 Sheba Film Festival include Asni: The Life of Asnaketch Worku, Courage, Passion & Glamor in Ethiopia by director Rachel Samuel of Ethiopia and The Village of Peace by Israeli filmmakers Ben Schuder & Niko Philipides.

—
If You Go:
12th annual Sheba Film Festival
Venue: JCC Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave
New York. NY 10023

Venue: TSION CAFE
763 St.Nicholas Ave
(Btwen 148 St& 149 streets)
New York, NY 10031

More info & tickets at www.binacf.org.

Related:
Preview: 2015 Sheba Film Festival

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Events, Featured

Aster Aweke Live in NYC June 5th

May 17, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Sunday, May 17th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — Aster Aweke returns to SOB’s in New York City on Friday, June 5th.

The opening act for Aster’s concert is Dance Theater of Nepal Master Musicians who will be fundraising for the victims of the earthquake in their country. “We are combining the two cultures to show that Ethiopians are extending their hands to Nepal,” the announcement said.

The event is sponsored by several Ethiopian restaurants in New York including Bunna, Ghenet and Bati in Brooklyn, as well as Awash, Meskerem, Injera and Queen of Sheba in Manhattan.

Aster, who has been dubbed the queen of Ethiopian pop music, has been entertaining her fans around the world for more than 30 years. Her label Kabu Records notes: “Her songs have become anthems to her fans in Ethiopia, as well as to Ethiopians living abroad, and she continues to win the hearts and minds of world music lovers.”

—
If You Go:
Aster Aweke Live at SOB’s
Friday, June 5th, 2015
Door opens at 11pm
Admission $30 in advance
For info and Table reservation call:
917.943.7817 or 917.821.9213
www.sobs.com

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Featured

Netanyahu, President Rivlin Show Strong Support to Ethiopian Jews in Israel

May 17, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Jerusalem Post

By HERB KEINON, GREER FAY CASHMAN

Calling the Ethiopian immigrants “flesh of our flesh, equal among equals,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that there is no place for racism and discrimination in Israeli society.

“We will fight with all our strength against those unacceptable phenomena,” he said of racism and discrimination at an annual ceremony at Mt. Herzl commemorating Ethiopian Jews who died while trying to make their way to Israel. “We will uproot this from our lives. We will turn it into something inferior, despicable.”

Netanyahu’s comments came just two weeks after protests by Ethiopian-Israelis against discrimination rocked the country.

Courtesy: Prime Minister’s Office – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin attend ceremony commemorating Ethiopian Jews who perished while making aliyah.

Adega 911: New Website Launched to Assist Ethiopian Migrants in Danger

May 15, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Friday, May 15th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — For the past two weeks a group of tech-savvy Ethiopian American social activists in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area have been working on building an online hub where people can post and track missing loved ones in Libya, Yemen and South Africa, as well as other countries where Ethiopian migrant workers face constant dangers. The result is a new website called Adega911.com, which the creators say is “dedicated to helping our compatriots, who find themselves under trying circumstances, in troubled areas of the world and in need of intervention to save their lives.”

Adega 911 allows users to report information both publicly and anonymously regarding missing persons that will in turn will be publicized via social media platforms. “We will post and share your plea on Facebook and Twitter,” the webmaster said. “The site plans to be a place for getting pertinent list of resources, teach about the dangers of crossing through unstable countries and harsh environments, and an open space for dialoguing with community organizations on how to deal with migrant concerns. We believe we have a lot to learn but wanted to share what we have done.”

In addition, the website aims to “provide a forum for the families of migrant workers, loved ones and others to confidentially post any information about them in order to help locate and remove them from harm’s way. It also serves as a forum for the public to anonymously post any helpful information that may lead to the rescue of any missing persons; provide a centralized place where individuals, aid organizations, government entities and others can confidently and securely offer any assistance at their disposal to help in this effort; coordinate any offered help to bring about the desired outcome of bringing misplaced workers and others home or relocating them to safety; build a database of information about conditions or other factors that may be relevant; as well as raise public awareness of the plight of migrant workers and others trapped in these circumstances by providing accurate and reliable information about their conditions.”

The site is still a work in progress and the creators say they welcome constructive criticism.

—-
Learn more at www.adega911.com.

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Sports

Gedion Zelalem to play for U.S. at FIFA Under-20 World Cup

May 14, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Fox Soccer

BY Kyle McCarthy

FIFA has cleared Arsenal midfielder Gedion Zelalem to feature for the United States and play in the upcoming Under-20 World Cup.

U.S. Soccer announced the decision on Wednesday afternoon and ended the protracted saga about Zelalem’s international fate in the process.

Zelalem needed to receive approval from FIFA to turn out for the U.S. after receiving his citizenship in December. He did not fulfill the immediate requirements of living five years in his adopted country prior to turning 18, but U.S. Soccer appealed his case to FIFA and successfully argued that Zelalem — also eligible to feature for Germany (his birthplace) and Ethiopia (his father’s native country) — should receive clearance based upon the specific circumstances in his case.

The decision paves the way for Zelalem to assume his place in the under-20 squad for the upcoming World Cup and subsequently state his claims for inclusion with the senior team in the future.

Photos: Col. John Robinson Bust Unveiled in Ethiopia

May 13, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Wednesday, May 13th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — Last week, on Ethiopian Patriots Day, the unveiling of a bust in commemoration of Col. John Robinson was held at Gulele Cemetery in Addis Ababa in the presence of Ethiopian officials and foreign embassy dignitaries.

Robinson, a.k.a. The Brown Condor, was an African American pilot who fought alongside Ethiopians during the war against Fascist Italy and is also credited for training commercial pilots and laying the groundwork for what would eventually become Ethiopian Airlines.

The ceremony was organized by the Ethiopian Patriots Association in collaboration with the International Council for the Commemoration of Col John Robinson.

Below are photos from the event:

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Featured

Kemekem: US Ethiopian Artist Meklit Hadero’s Ode to the ‘Afro’

May 13, 2015 Tadias Magazine

BBC News

A song praising the perfect ‘Afro’ hairdo features in the new album by Ethiopian-American artist Meklit Hadero.

She draws on influences from America, where she grew up, and Ethiopia, where she was born, and told the BBC what inspires her music.

Eritirean Diplomat Defects to Ethiopia

May 13, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Reuters

BY AARON MAASHO

ADDIS ABABA — An Eritrean diplomat from the Red Sea state’s mission to the African Union is seeking asylum in Ethiopia, state-run media said, citing rights abuses at home.

Mohammed Idris, a member of the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), had served with Eritrea’s diplomatic mission in Addis Ababa for the past five years, the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) said in a report.

“A people that for a long time fought for justice and freedom are now being subjected to injustice,” Mohammed told the outlet on Tuesday. “This forced me to take this decision.”

Rights groups and critics accuse Eritrea of rights abuses, including imposing indefinite military service with poor pay. Many of those fleeing the country, which won independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year war, say they are escaping conscription.

Eritrean officials could not immediately be reached to comment on the case of Idris. But the government in Asmara routinely denies charges of rights abuses and has in the past blamed lengthy military service on an unresolved border dispute with Ethiopia.

Cop Who Beat Ethio-Israeli Soldier Fired

May 13, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Times of IsraeL

BY DANIEL BERNSTEIN

Police officer caught on video beating Ethiopian-born soldier Damas Pakada will be fired and may face criminal charges, police chief Yohanan Danino announced Wednesday.

The news came as police geared up for fresh protests against police brutality in Tel Aviv planned for next week, after a previous protest sparked by a video of Pakada’s beating turned into a violent melee earlier this month.

Danino said the officer was fired following a dismissal hearing on Tuesday. “[The officer] made many claims, and there was a thorough discussion on this matter, which included the legal counsel, the department of discipline, the attorney general and the head of human resources,” he said during a conference in a northern Israeli college.

“After listening to everyone, I decided to fire him from the police force.”

The beating of Pakada was among the catalysts for Ethiopian-Israeli protests against police brutality and racism that turned violent in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv this month. Activists have repeatedly called for the officer’s dismissal.

The police chief added that the officer’s layoff was independent of the criminal investigation he is currently facing.

“If [the police investigation unit] decides there is sufficient evidence, he will be indicted and will receive his punishment,” he said.

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Opinion

‘Libya is Full of Cruelty’ – Amnesty

May 11, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Amnesty International

Monday, May 11, 2015

Widespread abuses by armed groups, smugglers, traffickers and organized criminal groups in Libya as well as systematic exploitation, lawlessness and armed conflicts are pushing hundreds of thousands of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees to risk their lives by attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the continuing influx of refugees and migrants and the scale of abuses against foreign nationals in Libya, the European Union (EU) has failed for a long time to respond to a growing humanitarian crisis and provide the necessary resources to save lives at sea. In 2015 alone, over 1,700 persons died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

According to 70 new testimonies collected by Amnesty International in Sicily and in Tunisia between August 2014 and March 2015, foreign nationals travelling irregularly to and from Libya face abuses, including abductions for ransom, torture and other ill-treatment, and in some cases rape and other forms of sexual violence at all stages of the smuggling routes running from west and east Africa towards the Libyan coast. Most often they are handed over to criminal groups upon entry to Libya at the country’s southern borders or in major transit cities along the migration routes such as Ajdabya and Sabha. At times, the smugglers themselves hold the migrants and refugees in remote areas in the desert forcing them to call their families to pay a ransom.

Despite ongoing armed conflicts between various coalitions of armed groups, and the establishment of two parallel governments contending for power, the systematic detention of foreign nationals for migration-related offences has continued. Torture and other ill-treatment in immigration detention centres have remained widespread. In many cases, migrants and refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea have been subjected to prolonged beatings in such facilities following their interception and arrest by the Libyan coastguard or militias acting on their own initiative in the absence of strong state institutions. Women held in these facilities, which lack female guards, are vulnerable to sexual violence and harassment.

The recent videos showing the summary killings of at least 28 Ethiopian Christians claimed by the armed group calling itself the Islamic State (IS) in two separate locations has drawn the world’s attention to some of the serious human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war perpetrated with complete impunity in in the context of several interconnected armed conflicts. These deplorable murders follow the summary killing of a group of 21 Christian Copts, most of them Egyptians, which was claimed by the same armed group earlier this year.

Chaos and lawlessness appear to have sparked increased xenophobia against foreign nationals amongst some local communities who blame them for the rise of smuggling networks and criminality. Research conducted by Amnesty International reveals that migrants and refugees are increasingly exploited and forced to work without pay, physically assaulted and robbed in their homes or in the streets. Religious minorities, in particular Christian migrants and refugees, are at highest risk of abuses, including abductions, torture and other ill-treatment and unlawful killings, from armed groups that seek to enforce their own interpretation of Islamic law and have been responsible for serious human rights abuses. They also face widespread discrimination and persecution from their employers, criminal groups and in immigration detention centres. In some cases the detention and abuse of foreign nationals, in particular sub-Saharan Africans, have been motivated by a fear of illnesses, which was exacerbated by last year’s outbreak of Ebola.

As violence continues in Libya, neighbouring countries, including Algeria,Tunisia and Egypt, have sealed off their borders and imposed more stringent entry requirements out of fear of the conflict spilling over. Migrants and refugees who cannot obtain valid visas who have had their passports stolen or confiscated from them by smugglers, criminal gangs or their Libyan employers often are effectively left with no viable alternative to embarking on the perilous sea route to Europe.

In light of the seriousness of the abuses faced by foreign nationals in Libya and in order to reduce deaths at sea, Amnesty International is calling on Tunisia and Egypt to keep their borders open to all those in need of international protection. Amnesty International is also calling on the international community to ensure the safety of migrants and refugees who are currently trapped in Libya.

The recent deaths of over 1,000 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya in one week alone shocked the world and prompted the EU to finally act and adopt a set of measures to prevent deaths at sea, fight traffickers and prevent irregular migration flows. Extra resources for search and rescue were committed by EU leaders on 23 April 2015. In order to save lives, however, it is essential that such resources are delivered promptly and remain available for so long as high numbers of refugees and migrants continue to depart from Libya on unsafe boats. It is crucial that ships are deployed along the main migration routes and in the areas where most calls for assistance come from and a great number of shipwrecks occur, which is approximately 40 nautical miles from the Libyan coast.

While Amnesty International welcomes the EU’s commitment to increase resources for search and rescue operations, it is also concerned that some of the proposed measures, in particular plans to “systematically identify, capture and destroy vessels before they are used by traffickers” would effectively contribute to migrants and refugees being trapped in Libya and expose them to a risk of serious human rights abuses. Amid lawlessness, the breakdown of state institutions and fighting, smugglers’ networks in Libya are thriving and exposing persons in need of international protection to serious human rights abuses. However, focusing solely on combating transnational organized crime and smuggling without allowing thousands of migrants and refugees to access a place of safety would be grossly inadequate.

As more people are drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, the priority for the international community must be to dramatically expand search and rescue operations and take effective steps to urgently address human rights abuses and serious violations of international humanitarian law in Libya. EU governments must also increase the number of resettlement places, humanitarian admissions and visas for people in need of international protection.

Click here to read the full report at Amnesty.eu »
—
Related:
Ethiopians rescued from Libya arrive in Addis Ababa (BBC)
Photos: New York Ethiopians Hold Vigil in Times Square for Victims of ISIL Violence (TADIAS)

In Pictures: Washington, D.C Candlelight Vigil for Ethiopian ISIL Victims in Libya (TADIAS)

Vigil Held in Nashville for Ethiopian Christians Killed by ISIS (WSMV-TV Nashville)
Denver’s Ethiopian Community Mourns Countrymen Killed by Islamic State (The Denver Post)
In Atlanta Suburb of Clarkston, Georgia Christians, Muslims Honor ISIS Victims (WABE Radio)
Addressing Ethiopia’s Migrant Crisis (TADIAS)

Grief Mixes With Anger Over Christian Ethiopian Deaths (NY Times)
Anti-ISIL rally turns violent in Ethiopia (AlJazeera)
Ethiopian police tear-gas crowds protesting against Libya killings (Reuters)
Protest held in Ethiopia over killings by Islamic extremists (AP)
Ethiopians struggle to come to terms with beheadings of compatriots in Libya (Reuters)
Ethiopians Shocked by Islamic State Killings (AP)
Ethiopia in Mourning for Victims of Islamic State Violence (BBC)
Ethiopia Declares 3 Days of Mourning for Citizens Killed by Islamic State in Libya (VOA)
Ethiopia Condemns Purported Executions in Libya of Christians (AFP)
Video: Islamic State kills Ethiopian Christians in Libya (AP)
ISIS ‘executes’ Ethiopia Christians in Libya (Al-Arabiya‎)
ISIS Video Purports to Show Killing of Ethiopian Christians in Libya (NY Times)

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Featured

Ethiopian-Israelis Demand Ministerial Committees to Help Community

May 11, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Times of Israel

BY STUART WINER

Protest leaders say charges against those arrested at demonstration should be dropped, ask for improvements in housing, education

The leaders of a protest movement alleging systemic discrimination against the Ethiopian-Israeli community demanded on Sunday that the government improve education and housing, and set up ministerial committees to address Ethiopian needs. They also demanded that charges against community members arrested at a recent riot in Tel Aviv be dropped.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv, a panel of activist leaders expressed their frustration with what they said was the government’s shortcomings in addressing the quality of life of the Ethiopian-Israeli community.

“The decision makers neglected the Ethiopian community and ignored the harsh realities, in which an entire generation feels that it is not part of society and has no place in it,” said Inbar Bugale, one of the leaders of the movement, reading from a prepared statement.

Members of the Ethiopian-Israeli community say they are protesting years of institutional racism and discrimination, as well as ongoing police brutality. The release of a video showing police beating an Ethiopian-born soldier, apparently unprovoked, sparked the protests last month.

The activists stated Sunday that not only was the national government to blame for the situation, but also the local authorities. They called for greater monitoring to ensure that the Ethiopian community is not marginalized.

“There should be no discrimination toward the community. They should treat us like every other citizen,” Bugale said.

Bugale rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call last week for the establishment of a ministerial committee to assess the situation of the Ethiopian community and claimed that three years ago, Netanyahu had publicly declared that “there is no place in Israel for racism.

“We will not give up just because of Netanyahu’s announcement to set up a ministerial committee; we have already heard that from the prime minister,” she related. “Then, just as today, he promised to root out racism; then, too, he promised to fight it.”

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Opinion

Ethiopian-Israelis Want Police Officer Who Beat Soldier To Go On Trial

May 11, 2015 Tadias Magazine

JTA

News Brief

JERUSALEM — Ethiopian-Israeli activists called for a police officer caught on camera beating an Ethiopian-Israeli soldier to be put on trial.

At a news conference Sunday in Tel Aviv, the activists also demanded that charges be dropped against protesters arrested in the city last week during a demonstration spurred by the attack that turned violent, The Jerusalem Post reported. They also called for improved conditions for Ethiopian-Israelis in the areas of education, housing and welfare.

“Decision-makers abandoned Ethiopian-Israelis as though they were foreign implants and and not a basic part of the foundation of Israeli society,” activist Inbar Bugale said. “They have ignored the difficult reality that there is an entire young generation that feels it is not part of the Israeli society.”

Also Sunday, the Jewish Agency for Israel said it would immigrants’ eligibility to reside in its absorption centers from two years to three. Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency, said the decision would be implemented immediately and that the Jewish Agency would assume the costs of the third year — the Israeli government funds the first two.

Sharansky called upon the Israeli government to accelerate the development of permanent housing solutions for the Ethiopian immigrants.

“Integrating Ethiopian immigrants into Israeli society is a national mission of tremendous importance, and that begins with the move from immigrant absorption centers to permanent housing,” he said.

Some 4,755 Ethiopian immigrants currently reside in Jewish Agency immigrant absorption centers, including 853 residing there beyond their period of eligibility, according to the Jewish Agency.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry reportedly has issued a statement expressing concern over Israel’s treatment of Ethiopian immigrants to Israel. The statement extensively quotes statements by Israeli officials admitting that the county has erred in its integration of Ethiopian-Israelis, Ynet reported.

Ethiopian government officials reportedly summoned Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Belaynesh Zevadia, to discuss the issue and the recent violent protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

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Art, Featured

Julie Mehretu: Multiple Identities

May 10, 2015 Tadias Magazine

NBC News

BY JULIE CERULLO

As a child, Julie Mehretu liked to make stuff.

“I was always…very interested in making, drawing and painting,” she said, “constantly.” But even as a young adult, she recalls, “I didn’t necessarily maybe know that I could have a life as an artist.”

In 2013 her painting “Retopistics: A Renegade Excavation” commanded $4.6 million at a Christie’s auction, ranking her among the top ten most expensive living female artists, according to art and literature website, Culture Type.

The daughter of an American Montessori School teacher and an Ethiopian college professor, Mehretu embodies multiple identities. She’s Ethiopian-American. She’s half black. She’s married to a woman. She’s a mother. And she’s a renowned artist. For Mehretu, making art, “is about trying to make sense of who you are,” she said.

Mehretu spent her early childhood in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her parents planned to raise her there. But by 1977, she said, “Ethiopia really became a casualty of the Cold War.” So they left.

(Photo by Teju Cole)

They resettled in East Lansing, Michigan, where both her parents resumed teaching. Mehretu recalls that she was excited about coming to America, but she missed Addis Ababa, the place she knew as home. “I had this wonderful childhood there,” she said.

Mehretu is still close to her roots there. She proudly shared that some of her work hangs at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa.

Mehretu works primarily in abstraction. Her pieces are large scale as in 23 by 80 feet – about the size of a tennis court. They resemble networks of fast moving, interconnected and balanced galaxies. She lives and works in New York, along with her wife and two school age sons. She says, though, that New York is somewhat myopic.

Even at the forefront of contemporary art, Mehretu articulates a sense of challenge about being a black woman of African descent in the American art world. “I think it’s difficult for black artists still,” she says, “to work in languages where you’re not really talking about blackness.”

For Mehretu, the process of making art is one of self-discovery but she doesn’t force that discovery back into her work. Rather, what she makes is much more reflective of the world around her than of herself. “In Europe,” she says, “or in other places on the continent it’s more about what the work is and what the work is doing than who the artist is. That’s always, I think, where the conversation should be.”

Teddy Mitiku’s Saxophone Being Auctioned on Ebay

May 10, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Sunday, May 10th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — A saxophone that used be owned by legendary Ethiopian musician Teddy Mitiku is being auctioned on Ebay by his family. The instrument (Selmer Series III Alto Sax) is in “solid shape and was well cared for,” said the saxophone dealer coordinating the sale on behalf of Teddy’s widow.

Teddy who had lived in the United States since 1983 passed away in 2013 at the age of 58 after a long illness. He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Meaza Bezu, a daughter, Makeda, and his brother, the renowned singer-musician Teshome Mitiku.

“Teddy was a member of the legendary Soul Ekos Band—the first independent musical ensemble to be recorded in Ethiopia,” the announcement added. “He was also the cornerstone of many other famous bands formed in Ethiopia in the 1960s and ’70s. His instrumental renditions have been continuously popular. Teddy had a unique style beloved by Ethiopians. During his long career, Teddy performed with numerous top Ethiopian musicians, including the legendary singer Tilahun Gessesse, and the “father of Ethio-jazz” Mulatu Astatke. He was also a member of the Ibex Band, as one half of the group’s two-saxophone horn section on the classic Mahmoud Ahmed record Ere Mela Mela.”

The saxophone being sold, according to the dealer, was recently “disassembled, cleaned and adjusted in preparation for sale. The pads are old and while the horn is playing it is not up to its potential. You might be able to start swapping pads out one by one but really it needs a standard overhaul and it will be ready for years of serious use. You should plan at the least on having several pads changed and ideally have them all done. The tone is rich and full and will work well in a wide variety of playing situations. Classical players can use them but so can jazz and R+B players. Case is a black, hardshell contoured Pro Tec in good clean used condition.”

Below are photos of Teddy Mitiku’s Saxophone. You can learn more about the auction at ebay.com.

Teddy Mitiku’s Saxophone. (Photo: Ebay)

(Photo: Ebay)

Video: Ethiopian Instrumental Music Teddy Mitiku (Amalele)

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Podcast

Egypt: Ethiopians Rescued From Libya

May 10, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Mail & Guardian Africa

Egypt’s Sisi Continues to Woo Addis Ababa, Says Ethiopians ‘rescued’ from Libya

Unlike his predecessors, the Egyptian leader has courted sub-Saharan Africa rather vigorously.

EGYPT’S president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said his country “rescued” 27 Ethiopians from war-torn Libya.

It was not immediately clear how the Ethiopians were rescued, but Sisi’s office said the group flown in on an Egyptian plane was “liberated by Egyptian and Libyan security services”.

“All efforts were made to bring the Ethiopians to Egypt safely… Egyptian services participated in this effort to protect, rescue and secure our Ethiopian brothers,” Sisi told reporters at Cairo airport.

Clearly, though, there was more to the rescue of the Ethiopians than a rescue.

Their release comes weeks after a purported video released by the Islamic State jihadist group showed the executions of some 30 Ethiopian Christians captured in Libya.

Sisi said Egypt was “pained by the gruesome beheading of innocent Ethiopians in Libya” and that the rescued Ethiopians were living in dire conditions in the war-strewn country.

“What is happening in Libya is a matter that concerns us and we tell the whole world that Libya should return to be a safe and stable country for its people and even to its visitors,” Sisi said.

Libya has plunged into chaos since the toppling of long-time autocrat Moamer Kadhafi, with rival militias fighting for the control of country’s oilfields and territories.

The killing of Ethiopians came weeks after the jihadists posted a similar video showing the beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians, all but one of them Egyptians, on a beach in Libya.

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Events

Denver: Watch Ethiopian Documentary and Raise Fund for Nepal Earthquake

May 10, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
Events News

Published: Sunday, May 10th, 2015

Denver, Colorado — The Denver Lion’s Foundation will host a screening of Mel Tewahade’s documentary Peace Corps in Ethiopia on May 17th at Yak and Yeti Restaurant in Denver.

The event is also a fundraiser for people affected by the Nepal earthquake, which so far has killed over 5000 people. “A full Nepal buffet cuisine will be provided and cash bar,” organizers announced.

“We at the Lions Foundation and members of the Ethiopian community in Colorado are proud to work together to uplift our brothers and sisters in Nepal in this moment of challenge.”

Peace Corps in Ethiopia documents programs to improve education there during the 60s and early 70s. The film is a follow up to Mel’s Point Four documentary series, and was spurred by a 2012 trip to Ethiopia where the filmmaker accompanied over one hundred returning former Peace Corps friends on a 50th anniversary trip.

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If You Go:
May 17,2015 at 6PM
Yak and Yeti Restauran
9755 E Hampden Ave
Denver, CO 80231
www.denverlions.org

Related:
Video: Mel Tewahade – Point Four Documentary (Oklahoma State TV)

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Podcast

A Stop at Tsion: Harlem’s Food Scene

May 7, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Liben Eabisa

Published: Thursday, May 7th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — The thriving dining scene in Harlem will be in full display this month as local restaurateurs launch the first ever Harlem EatUp Festival in May highlighting the uptown neighborhood’s eclectic food taste along with music, art and cultural celebrations. So far celebrity chefs, including Marcus Samuelsson, Joseph “JJ” Johnson, Melba Wilson, and Frank Pellegrino Jr., have announced that they will take part in the festivities scheduled to take place from May 14th to May 17th.

As the food festival approaches, we made a stop at Tsion Cafe, one of Harlem’s newest establishments that serves Ethiopian and Israeli cuisine, and hosts spoken word sessions, book talks and art shows.

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Featured

Fix Challenges Facing Ethiopian Israelis

May 7, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Breaking Israel News

By Michael Freund

This past Sunday night, the heart of Tel Aviv was transformed into a war zone. It was hard to watch the painful scenes from Rabin Square, where police deployed water cannons and stun grenades as a peaceful rally by Ethiopian Israelis devolved into chaos.

Nonetheless, the violence that erupted should hardly come as a surprise.

Given the failures that have characterized efforts to integrate Ethiopian Jews into the Jewish state, the turmoil that ensued was as predictable as it was lamentable.

Indeed, it was just two years ago this week that state comptroller Joseph Shapira issued his first annual report, which included a whopping 74 pages on how successive Israeli governments have botched their handling of this important issue, their efforts hampered by waste, inefficiency and lack of proper oversight.

Shapira noted, for example, that programs to assist Ethiopian high-school students with their matriculation exams were run by both the Education and Absorption Ministries without any coordination between the two. As a result, there were cases in which the two programs were run in the same school at the same time, resulting in double the overhead costs, without either government office being aware of the redundancy.

In another instance, the government launched a special initiative to help families that had immigrated from Ethiopia to obtain mortgages with favorable terms. But Shapira found that over the course of four years, a grand total of two Ethiopian families had benefited from the program.

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Opinion

Wendy Sherman Says Editorial on US-Ethiopia ‘Mischaracterized My Remarks’

May 7, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Washington Post

By Wendy R. Sherman, Washington

Regarding the May 1 editorial “Make-believe on Ethiopia”:

Ethiopia is a valuable partner in a critical region, from peacekeeping to fighting al-Shabab to pursuing peace in South Sudan. Ethiopia, among the world’s fastest-growing economies, has made significant progress toward its Millennium Development Goals.

But stability, security and economic development are sustainable only with the development of democratic values. Ethiopia has a long road to full democracy, as I publicly said there. As President Obama suggested, my comments were aspirational in hopes that the upcoming election would be a step forward. Later in the trip, I said, “Ethiopia is a young country in terms of democracy and over time we hope the political system matures in a way that provides real choices for the people.” I highlighted that more journalists are in jail in Ethiopia than anywhere else in Africa. Civil society leaders told me, “They are about solving problems and being advocates for people who don’t believe they have a voice.”

The United States maintains a frank discussion with Ethiopia regarding democracy and human rights. In my meetings in Addis Ababa, I expressed concerns about restrictions on political space, arrests and imprisonments of independent journalists and use of antiterrorism legislation to stifle political dissent.

It is unfortunate the editorial mischaracterized my remarks and, more important, underestimated the fullness of our bilateral relationship. The U.S. government closely monitors the human rights situation and works with Ethiopia to foster a true democracy as part of our valued relationship.

Message From Ethiopian Israeli Attorneys

May 6, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
News Update

Press Release

As a supporter of Tebeka, you know that Tebeka’s staff, board members, and volunteers have been working to address and eliminate discrimination against the Ethiopian Israeli community for over 14 years. While the protests of the last two weeks were triggered by the unprovoked and unwarranted beating of an Ethiopian Israeli soldier by Israeli police officers, the magnitude of these protests is fueled by frustration over the many years of police violence and broader discrimination against the Ethiopian community. In this Jerusalem Post article, Tebeka’s Executive Director, Fentahun Assefa-Dawit, and other Ethiopian Israeli leaders discuss long-standing issues of discrimination, police violence, and mistrust.

It is unfortunate that a number of protesters and police officers were injured during otherwise peaceful and legitimate protests. We wish the injured a fast and full recovery. Tebeka supports peaceful demonstrations for equal rights and is providing legal assistance and representation to community members arrested during the protests.

Earlier this week Fentahun was invited to urgent meetings with the Israel Chief of Police, Yochanan Danino, to discuss police violence and discrimination against Ethiopian Israelis. Chief Danino acknowledged the problem and has committed to setting up a special task force that will include high-ranking officers and representatives from the Ethiopian community. The task force will examine community concerns and demands including:

Re-opening the case files of Ethiopian teens and young adults arrested for police assault to determine if these cases involved police discrimination and violence. The Ethiopian-Israeli soldier who was beaten by police was subsequently charged with police assault, suggesting a more widespread use of this charge following police violence against Ethiopian Israelis.

Incorporating education on diversity and discrimination into police force training and on-going professional development.

Equipping police officers with body cameras.

Introducing a culture of community engagement in the police force in order to create mutual trust and understanding between the police, Israeli public, and particularly the Ethiopian community.

On Monday, Fentahun was invited to a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss discrimination facing the Ethiopian community and policy changes needed to eliminate racism and discrimination and promote a more just Israeli society for Ethiopian Israelis and all minority groups. Thanks in part to Tebeka’s recommendations, Prime Minister Netanyahu has made three commitments:

PM Netanyahu demanded from the Chief of Police an immediate improvement in police interaction with the Ethiopian community, prioritization of the task force described above, and an intermediate report on the progress of the task force within 30 days.

Promised to establish an inter-ministerial commission headed by the Prime Minister to address the socio-economic disparities experienced by the Ethiopian Israeli community. He also agreed to allocate the necessary budget to address the issues identified by the commission.

Personally take up the issue of racism against all groups in Israel during his term in office.

Damas Pakada, the Ethiopian Israeli soldier beaten by Israeli police, which was caught on video and mobilized the community, sparking protests and demonstrations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. (FEJ)

Tebeka’s staff is currently working around the clock to respond to the urgent needs of protestors and victims of police violence, as well as policy meetings with Israeli officials. While media attention may soon shift to other topics, Tebeka commits to continue to address police violence and discrimination against the Ethiopian community until we bring an end to discrimination and inequality. Over the next year, Tebeka will be investigating prior cases in which Ethiopian Israelis were charged with police assault, as well as representing new and previously unknown victims of police violence. Tebeka will participate in policy meetings, task forces and commissions to address police violence and broader discrimination. Tebeka will also follow up regularly with the Chief of Police and Prime Minister to ensure implementation of the promises made this week.

Tebeka’s long-term commitment to this work is only possibly thanks to the generous support of our donors. Please show your continued financial support (click here) for Tebeka’s work to ensure equality and justice for all Ethiopian Israelis. If you would like to make a very large gift, please contact Fentahun Assefa-Dawit at Fentahun@tebeka.org.il or +972-54-4713292 to discuss a strategic funding partnership.

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You can learn more about Tebeka at www.tebeka.org.il.

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Featured

Soldier Becomes Unlikely Face of Ethiopian-Israeli Discontent (Video)

May 5, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The New York Times

By ISABEL KERSHNER and JODI RUDOREN

JERUSALEM — A slender and boyish-looking Israeli soldier, wearing a skullcap and an army shirt with sleeves too long for him, has become the unlikely and unwitting face of an outburst of anger and violent protests that have shaken Israel.

But Demas Fikadey, a 21-year-old soldier of Ethiopian descent, said he did not see himself as a symbol or a hero.

He was heading home alone, in uniform, on April 26 when he was beaten by two Israeli police officers in the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon, where he lives. The seemingly unprovoked assault, caught on video, was broadcast on national television and went viral on social networks, unleashing the pent-up rage of a young generation of Ethiopian-Israelis who have taken to the streets in recent days.

“It just happened to me,” Mr. Fikadey said in an interview Monday, more than a week after his assault and a day after thousands of demonstrators converged on Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square to protest police harassment and the discrimination many Israelis of Ethiopian descent say they experience regularly.

Ethiopian-Israelis confronted Israeli security forces in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Israeli leaders appealed for calm after a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Sunday night in which 56 police officers were injured and 43 protesters were arrested. Credit Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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Podcast

US Air Force Says Looking for Alleged Deserter in Ethiopia for Questioning

May 5, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Air Force Times

By Jeff Schogol, Staff writer

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations is looking for an alleged deserter whose last known location is in Ethiopia.

Staff Sgt. Tefera Melaku Workneh is wanted for questioning, according to an April post on OSI’s Facebook page. He is assigned to the 60th Comptroller Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, California.

Workneh is described as standing 70 inches tall and weighing 149 pounds. He is originally from Ethiopia, where he was believed to be as of March 31.

According to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a member of the armed forces is guilty of desertion if he:

“Without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently.

“Quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or

“Without being regularly separated from one of the armed forces enlists or accepts an appointment in the same or another on of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated, or enters any foreign armed service except when authorized by the United States.”

Investigators have no information about Workneh’s current whereabouts, OSI spokeswoman Linda Card said.

“My understanding is that Airman Workneh is from Ethiopia and that is his last known location,” Card said in an email to Air Force Times. “Where in Ethiopia, we don’t know. And what he’s doing there other than it’s his home, we don’t know.”

Card also said she has not heard any information indicating that Workneh has gone missing or been kidnapped.

“Nobody knows where he is or what he’s doing until we get some leads and find him,” she said.

OSI asks that anyone with information about Workneh’s current whereabouts call 707-424-6904.
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Podcast

Girma Yifrashewa’s Blend of European Piano and Ethiopian Music

May 4, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Washington Post

By Michael J. West

“There is no place in Ethiopia where Girma could do this!” an immigrant from Addis Ababa explained during Sunday night’s intermission at Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club. “People there don’t pay attenton to classical music. It’s all cultural, traditional music.” Pianist and composer Girma Yifrashewa, then, is as unique in his homeland as he is in the United States: a man who has studied the European piano repertoire and has applied its devices to Ethiopian traditional music. At the club, he showcased both traditions in one of this year’s most mesmerizing concerts.

Yifrashewa made headway in the States with the release of 2014’s “Love & Peace,” featuring five original compositions for solo piano. (NPR named one piece, “Sememen,” its song of the year for classical and jazz.) But with the exception of the opener, a somber new piece dedicated to the recent Ethiopian victims of the Islamic State, his first set on Sunday was all repertory. His choices, though, were very revealing: heavy on Chopin (who wrote three of the seven selections), with his static harmony and dense latticework, and nearly all waltzes, including Tchaikovsky’s “Autumn” and Liszt’s “Consolation No. 3,” as well as his own composition.

This formed important context; waltz time (3/4 and 6/8) is very important in Ethiopian music, and Chopin, as became clear in the second half, is a major influence on Yifrashewa’s composing. They were also beautiful performances in their own right, Yifrashewa employing a tenderness of tone and light rhythmic touch that added heft to his more emphatic attack on pieces by Chopin and Schumann.

Ethiopian-Israeli Protest Turns Violent

May 4, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The New York Times

By ISABEL KERSHNERMAY

TEL AVIV — A protest on Sunday by thousands of Ethiopian-Israelis and sympathizers against police harassment and brutality turned by nightfall into a chaotic and unusually violent confrontation with the police in the center of Tel Aviv.

The demonstration began peacefully in the afternoon with protesters blocking main thoroughfares of Tel Aviv, paralyzing the heart of the city for hours as officers looked on and stopped the traffic. Later, demonstrators hurled stones, overturned a police vehicle and clashed with the police in Rabin Square. Officers responded with stun grenades and water cannons.

About 46 people were slightly injured, half of them police officers, and at least 26 protesters had been arrested by midnight, according to the police.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for calm, saying, “All claims will be looked into but there is no place for violence and such disturbances.”

The police said that agitators had stirred up the atmosphere. Many here compared the cry of the young, angry generation of Ethiopian-Israelis who came out on Sunday to the tensions in American cities like Baltimore or Ferguson, Mo., that have been roiled by friction between blacks and the police.

‘Straight Talk’ on South Africa Xenophobia

May 3, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

By Paul Sisco

Xenophobia is defined as the unreasoned fear or hatred of foreigners. And that’s the name being given to a recent outbreak of violence against foreigners in South Africa – blamed for at least seven deaths and the departure of hundreds of mostly African immigrants. Paul Sisco has more from the most recent edition of VOA’s Straight Talk Africa.

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Featured

Ethiopian Cafés Popping Up Across US

May 3, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Sunday, May 3rd, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — Last year we featured an interview with Elias Gurmu and his wife, Sarina Prabasi, owners of Café Buunni, a specialty coffee shop in New York City that offers certified organic and micro-roasted coffee sourced from Ethiopia. Café Buunni opened in 2012 soon after the owners had relocated to New York from Addis Ababa. Elias and Sarina met in Ethiopia several years ago while Sarina was working for a non-profit organization and Elias was employed as a distribution agent for DKT International.

The Guardian followed up with the couple this week in a piece entitled, Ethiopian Coffee Shops Sprout up Across the US…Thanks to Starbucks, highlighting Café Buunni as one of several Ethiopian-owned cafes that have opened in major American cities despite the obvious competition from mega corporations like Starbucks.

Café Buunni is “the only Ethiopian-owned (technically co-owned, as Prabasi is originally from Nepal) and run coffee shop in New York City. But it’s one of a dozen coffee houses that have been popping up across the country, including in Chicago; Washington, DC; Minnesota’s Twin Cities; and San Francisco,” writes Nina Roberts in the Guardian.

“The trend is a sign of the growing number of Ethiopian immigrants in the US. It’s also a testament to the country’s gourmet coffee revolution. And that, Prabasi says, is thanks – at least partly – to Starbucks.”

The Guardian adds: “Unlike the nearby Washington Heights Starbucks, Café Buunni has a distinct neighborhood feel. The full-bodied aromas of Yirgacheffe, Harrar, Limu and other prized Ethiopian coffees have long replaced the smells of leather and shoe polish. The towering Gurmu is often stationed behind the gleaming espresso machine, young baristas working around him. From its first week in operation, the cafe has become a neighborhood sensation. It is nearly always full, with a line out the door on weekday mornings and weekends, and goes through 200lbs of coffee a week. It has also exceeded all of its owners’ financial expectations, breaking even in a mere six months and turning a profit soon afterward, Prabasi says.”

Read the full article and watch video at The Guardian »

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Podcast

Decision to Prosecute Baltimore Police Officers Sparks Celebrations (Video)

May 2, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

Updated: May 02, 2015

The decision to bring charges against six Baltimore police officers in the death of Freddie Gray set off jubilant reactions across the city Friday, in stark contrast to Monday’s violence.

Maryland state prosecutor Marilyn J. Mosby announced that the officers would face charges ranging from second-degree murder to assault and manslaughter in Gray’s death.

A large crowd in a festive mood marched through downtown early in the evening, passing lines of police officers at intersections and other officers on horseback. Armored National Guardsmen and police in riot gear waited some distance away.

The line of mostly young, racially diverse marchers stretched for several blocks, making the demonstration one of Baltimore’s largest since Gray’s death. It moved quickly, punctuated by shouted chants and the honking horns of passing motorists’ vehicles.

The procession began at Baltimore’s harbor and at one point passed the intersection of Pennsylvania and North avenues, where Monday’s violent protest largely took place. By dusk, the crowd had grown to more than 1,000 people. One marcher called the mood “joyous.”

WATCH: Celebration Erupts in Baltimore After Police Officers Charged in Freddie Gray’s Death

Marchers eventually gathered at City Hall. As a 10 p.m. curfew approached, the mood was still jubilant.

However, Baltimore police arrested a group of protesters who remained in a plaza near City Hall after the curfew took effect. Scuffles occurred, but the situation remained largely peaceful.

The protesters who defied the curfew complained there was no longer a need for the curfew following the charges against the police officers were announced.

Some observers said the police took a more aggressive posture Friday night with demonstrators than they had earlier in the week before the charges were announced.

Elsewhere, hundreds of people rallied in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday afternoon in support of the Baltimore protesters, as well as in defense of protesters who were charged in a demonstration by the organization Black Lives Matter in December.

In Chicago, parents took children to a demonstration to teach them how to them to react to police officers.

In other cities, traditional May Day demonstrations were expected to be rededicated to support Black Lives Matter. May Day has traditionally been a day when the labor movement demonstrated for workers’ rights.

More protests were expected Friday night.

‘Ecstatic’ about the charges

Residents of the Sandtown neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland react to the State’s Attorney’s announcement ruling Freddie Gray’s death a homicide, May 1, 2015. (Photo: C. Simkins / VOA)

Earlier in the day in Baltimore, at the location of Monday’s worst rioting, there were also horns honking and people in the streets cheering.

Among those cheering was Keona, one of the citizens who videotaped Gray’s arrest. She said she was very pleased with the decision to charge the police officers.

WATCH: Keona talks to VOA’s Victoria Macchi:

“I am shocked that they were charged, but I am happy they were charged,” James Crump, 46, a medical technician, told the Associated Press. “People are happy and celebrating, and it’s not even New Year’s Eve.”

Ciara Ford of Baltimore told AP she was surprised by the decision to prosecute the police suspects.

“I’m ecstatic,” she said. “I hope this can restore some peace.”

Ted Sutton, a community activist, was surprised by how quickly the decision to prosecute was made.

“She took the time to critique the evidence,” he told AP, referring to the prosecutor. “To have each person charged with what they actually did, to have it come out this quick … this is something else.”

However, not all Baltimore residents were satisfied with the charges.

Renee Mikins, a Baltimore resident, told VOA that the charges should have been more severe. She said the charges were a “whitewashing” and that the officers should have been charged with first- and second-degree murder.

VOA’s Chris Simkins and Victoria Macchi contributed to this report from Baltimore. Some information for this report came from the Associated Press.

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Featured

African American Pilot Col. John Robinson (Brown Condor) to be Honored in Ethiopia

May 1, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Taias Staff

Published: Friday, May 1st, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — Ethiopia will host the first annual national commemoration of American pilot Col. John C. Robinson, who was nicknamed “The Brown Condor” for his heroic commanding of the Ethiopian Air Force during the war against Fascist Italy. Robinson will be honored on May 5, 2015 on Ethiopian Patriots’ Day at Victory Square in Addis Ababa.

“Col. John C. Robinson was an inspiring African American aviation pioneer and a brave Ethiopian war hero,” said the International Council for the Commemoration of Col. John C. Robinson in a press release. “He was instrumental in the formation of what was to become the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII fame, led Ethiopian Air Forces against Italian aggression, and trained numerous military and civilian pilots for Ethiopia. Among his many accomplishments, he established the first African American owned airline and pilot school in Chicago, USA, and founded the American Institute School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After sacrificing his life for Ethiopia, Col. Robinson is finally receiving his due recognition.” Robinson died in a plane crash in Ethiopia in 1954. He is buried at Gullele cemetery in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian historian Ayele Bekerie writes: “When the Italo-Ethiopian War erupted, [Robinson] left his family and went to Ethiopia to fight alongside the Ethiopians. According to William R. Scott, who conducted thorough research in documenting the life and accomplishments of John Robinson, wrote about Robinson’s ability to overcome racial barriers to go to an aviation school in the United States. In Ethiopia, Robinson served as a courier between Haile Selassie and his army commanders in the war zone.”

Expected guests at the event include Mulatu Teshome, President of Ethiopia, and former President of Ethiopia Girma W/Giorgis, as well as Abune Mathias who will provide the benediction.

The Press release added: International guest and official representatives of the embassies as well as thousands of Ethiopians will witness the unveiling of a bust, in the likeness of this great American hero, who dedicated his life to defending Ethiopia during the Ethio-Italian War of 1935, and preparing it to achieve the commercial status it receives today in the airline industry. Other activities will take place, including the unveiling of a mural, by Ethiopian artist Ato Fasil Dawit, depicting the life of Col. Robinson that is planned to be displayed at the Bole International Airport. Throughout the week of May 3rd, several lunches and dinners are planned with members of the Council, US and other embassy personnel and guests. Future plans include official recognition from the US government for his lifetime achievements to American aviation.

Below is a text of the remarks made by U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Patricia M. Haslach at the Dedication of a Reading Garden in Honor of John Robinson on February 19, 2015 at the U.S. Embassy, Addis Ababa.

As Prepared for Delivery on February 19, 2015 at the U.S. Embassy, Addis Ababa

Your Excellency Girma Wolde Giorgis,

Former President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,

Mr. Henok Tefera, Vice President for Strategic Communications of Ethiopian Airlines

Invited guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that the Embassy of the United States of America recognizes the contributions of U.S. citizen John Charles Robinson who came to the aid of Ethiopia during its time of need in the struggle against fascist occupation in the 1930’s, and who again returned to a peaceful and independent Ethiopia following World War II to help establish a professional Ethiopian Air Force and Ethiopian Airlines.

John Charles Robinson was born in 1903 in Florida and grew up in a very segregated South. In 1910, when John was 7, he saw his first aircraft, a float plane that taxied to the beach. John Robinson knew that he wanted one day to fly an airplane, and he set out to overcome the obstacle of segregation. He did this by learning to excel at school and later at work, to never let disappointments overcome his determination and to wear his successes with modesty.

He enrolled in the Tuskegee Institute and learned to become an automobile mechanic. He decided there would be better job opportunities in the North, so he moved to Detroit where he earned a reputation as an exceptionally good mechanic. Moving to Chicago, he wanted to enroll in the Curtiss-Wright Aviation School, but black students were not welcome. Although he had a full-time job in an auto garage, he signed on as a nighttime janitor in a Curtiss-Wright classroom, absorbing the instructor’s ground-school lectures. The instructor realized how determined John was and persuaded the school to let him enroll.

After graduation, John went on to form a small flying school, encouraging young black men to enroll. This fact came to the attention of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, who was working to modernize his country. He invited Robinson to come to Ethiopia to head his Air Force. Robinson came to Ethiopia and built a cadre of black pilots and ground crews and was named the Commander of the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force.

John Robinson joined Ethiopia in its fight against fascist Italy, but, ultimately, the Italians conquered Ethiopia, if only temporarily. Haile Selassie escaped to England and John Robinson to America. Back home, his aviation school thrived. Tuskegee, to which he had proposed an aircraft school in the 1930s, finally had one and turned out hundreds of who became the Tuskegee Airmen, who gained fame in World War II. After the war, Haile Selassie invited Robinson back to Ethiopia, first to rebuild his Air Force, then to create Ethiopian Airlines. As with everything else, this remarkable man performed these jobs with determination and thoroughness.

In the history of U.S.-Ethiopian relations, beginning with the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1903, there have been many individuals from both our countries who have brought our nations together in common endeavors for our mutual benefit. John Robinson’s story stands out as a remarkable example of the individual bonds between the peoples of our two countries.

Today, we honor the spirit of this bond between the Ethiopian and American peoples by dedicating a Reading Garden in memory of Col. John Robinson who gave his life for Ethiopia 60 years ago. The establishment of this reading garden at the U.S. Embassy is part of our month long celebration of Black History month, and will commemorate the extraordinary contributions of Col. Robinson, who lost his life in the service to the Ethiopia on March 26, 1954.

We are indebted to and appreciate the contributions of John C. Robinson, and commit to honoring his name and memory so that future generations may aspire to follow in his footsteps in strengthening the partnership between our two nations.

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Events

Miazia 27 Pan-African Celebration in DC

May 1, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
Events News

Published: Friday, May 1st, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — The 6th Wreath Laying Ceremony and the Miazia 27 Pan-African Celebration will be held in Washington, D.C. this weekend. The annual event starts with a wreath laying ceremony on Sunday afternoon from 4 to 5 pm at the African American Civil War Memorial. The Afro-American Iskista group and the African Heritage Dancers & Drummers are also scheduled to perform at the program.

“We use the occasion to honor Americans of African descent who fought for freedom in the American Civil War, and the Ethiopians who fought for freedom at Adwa and during World War II,” organizer Tamrat G. Medhin said. “The commemorative celebration includes cultural shows and wreath laying in front of the African American Civil War Memorial Statue followed by a panel discussion at the museum to highlight the impact of the African struggle both on the continent and in the Diaspora to be free.”

Photos from past Miazia 27 Pan-African Celebration in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy photo)

Tamrat Medhin (top left) receiving a Pan-African Bridge Building award from former DC Mayor Vincent C. Gray on September 30th, 2013 during the 4th Annual DC African Heritage Cerebration. (Courtesy photo)

—
If You Go:
Sunday May 3, 2015
African American Civil War Memorial, Washington DC
time : 4pm to 5pm

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Podcast

Meskerem DC Closes After 30 Years

April 30, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Thursday, April 30th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — Meskerem, one of the first Ethiopian restaurants to open in the United States, has closed. The historic restaurant had been in operation for three decades in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

According to the real estate company Redfin, the building that housed the long-running Ethiopian eatery was sold on April 16th for $1.7 million.

The Washington Post’s Tim Carman notes: “The establishment had been holding down the same address on 18th Street NW since the mid-1980s (some say 1985, others say 1986) when its owners were among the first wave of Ethiopian immigrants who fled after a Marxist military junta overthrew the emperor in 1974. The East African newcomers quickly established a foothold in Adams Morgan, which was the unofficial Little Ethiopia long before savvy Ninth Street restaurateurs lobbied for the name in 2005.”

The former Meskerem Ethiopian restaurant in Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C. (Photo: DC Urban Turf)

Meskerem’s three floors interior was decorated with traditional Ethiopian symbols throughout the restaurant. (Photo: MRIS 2014)

Meskerem Ethiopian restaurant in Washington, D.C. (Photograph: Brian Oh)

Requiem for an Adams Morgan original: Meskerem has called it quits after 30 years. (The Washington Post)

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Opinion

The United States’ Irresponsible Praise of Ethiopia’s Regime — The Washington Post

April 30, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Washington Post

By Editorial Board

ETHIOPIA’S ELECTIONS, scheduled for May 24, are shaping up to be anything but democratic. A country that has often been held up as a poster child for development has been stifling civic freedoms and systematically cracking down on independent journalism for several years.

It was consequently startling to hear the State Department’s undersecretary of state for political affairs, Wendy Sherman, declare during a visit to Addis Ababa on April 16 that “Ethiopia is a democracy that is moving forward in an election that we expect to be free, fair and credible.” The ensuing backlash from Ethiopians and human rights advocates was deserved.

Ms. Sherman’s lavish praise was particularly unjustified given Ethiopia’s record on press freedom: It has imprisoned 19 journalists, more than any other country in Africa. According to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the country ranks fourth on its list of the top 10 most censored countries in the world. At least 16 journalists have been forced into exile, and a number of independent publications have shut down due to official pressure.

Last weekend marked one year since six bloggers were arrested and jailed without trial. The “Zone 9” bloggers, who used their online platforms to write about human rights and social justice and to agitate for a democracy in Ethiopia, were charged with terrorism under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, which has been used to clamp down on numerous journalists critical of the regime. Today, the bloggers remain imprisoned, awaiting what will likely be a trial by farce.

As for the elections, opposition parties say the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front , led by Hailemariam Desalegn, has undermined their efforts to register candidates for the May vote. Since last year, members of opposition parties and their supporters have been arrested and harassed. In March, the sole opposition leader in Parliament said he would not run for reelection due to state interference with his party’s affairs.

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Featured

Israel’s Ethiopians Protest in Jerusalem

April 30, 2015 Tadias Magazine

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

APRIL 30, 2015

JERUSALEM — Hundreds of protesters, mainly members of Israel’s Ethiopian immigrant community, have rallied in Jerusalem, pelting the police with stones and bottles and denouncing what they said was discrimination against them because of their race.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said two officers were hurt in Thursday evening’s protest. The protesters blocked roads and marched toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat arrived at the scene to appeal to the protesters to restore calm.

Tempers flared this week when a video emerged of an Ethiopian Israeli in army uniform being beaten by police in an alleged racist attack. Netanyahu condemned that attack.

Thousands of Ethiopian Jews live in Israel, many of them secretly airlifted in 1984 and 1990, but their absorption into Israeli society has been rocky.

Watch: Israelis of Ethiopian origin protest police violence in Jerusalem (Reuters)

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Podcast

Ethiopia Drafts New Human Trafficking Law

April 29, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Associated Press

By ELIAS MESERET

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia is drafting a new law to stiffen punishments for human trafficking in an attempt to stem a wave of dangerous migrations to Europe, the Ministry of Justice said.

Ethiopian officials said they are working through their embassies in Khartoum, Sudan, and in Cairo to bring migrants back home. The Ethiopian ambassador in Egypt, Mohammed Dirir, said more than 190 Ethiopian migrants in the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi have so far registered to return home.

“We are also working with local authorities to secure the release of 40 Ethiopian migrants that are currently in a prison called Koyfiya around Benghazi (Libya),” Dirir told state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate.

Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister, Tedros Adhanom, told Parliament last week that most smugglers of Ethiopian migrants are Ethiopians. He said the smugglers have established networks in different migration routes.

The Ministry said human smuggling is increasing alarmingly despite measure taken previously by the government against people involved in trafficking people.

“The main reason for this is measures taken against individuals that are involved in human smuggling have not been severe enough,” Minister of Justice Getachew Ambaye told Fana. “We have established that smugglers are responsible for the current rise of migrants from the country.”

Ethiopia’s current laws stipulate prison terms ranging from five to 20 years for crimes related to human smuggling and a maximum fine of $2,500.

“These law provisions don’t go in line with the level of crime that is being committed by the smugglers so we are drafting a new law that will have severe terms,” Getachew said.
—
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Featured

Lamb: Yared Zeleke’s Film at Cannes 2015

April 29, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — Another movie from Ethiopia is creating a social media buzz in the international movie circuit. The latest comes from Yared Zeleke and is called Lamb, which tells the growing-up story of a 9 year-old boy named Ephraim and his friend Chuni in Ethiopia’s spectacular countryside during hard times. The feature drama, produced by Addis Ababa-based Slum Kid Films, has been selected to screen at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in France. It is the first time in the festival’s history that an Ethiopian film has been chosen for screening.

In an interview with the Manhattan Digest, Yared who holds an M.F.A. in Writing and Directing from New York University, said: “I grew up in the slums of Addis Ababa during one of the darkest periods of Ethiopia’s 3,000-year history. Emperor Haile Selassie had just been deposed in a military coup and the country was consequently thrown into cycles of war and famine. The ongoing conflict and chaos in my country caused me to also lose my family and home while a young boy. Despite the disturbances, I had a happy childhood.”

Yared now lives back in Addis Ababa and has “worked for various NGOs in Ethiopia, the U.S., Namibia, and Norway before pursuing filmmaking. Yared has written, produced, directed, and edited several short documentary (“Allula”) and fiction films (“Lottery Boy”). He also worked for director Joshua Litle on his award winning documentary, “The Furious Force of Rhymes.” In his native Ethiopia, Yared edited documentaries for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).”

He told the Manhattan Digest that “My first feature, Lamb, is analogous to my life’s journey in that it is deeply personal and inescapably political. It is a semi-autobiographical drama about the heart, heartache, and humor of everyday life in my homeland.”

In the film “Ephraim’s affection for Chuni deepened after he lost his mother to famine the year before. Consequently, his beloved father sends him and Chuni far away from their drought-stricken homeland to live with his distant relatives in a greener part of the country. Ephraim soon finds himself to be a homesick outcast who is always getting into trouble. When his uncle orders him to slaughter the sheep for the upcoming holiday feast, Ephraim devises a devious scheme to save Chuni and return to his homeland.”

Screenshot from Yared Zeleke’s new film “Lamb.”

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Featured

Photos: New York Ethiopians Hold Vigil in Times Square for Victims of ISIL Violence

April 29, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — Hundreds from the Ethiopian community in the New York City area gathered at Times Square on Tuesday evening for a candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the recent ISIL violence in Libya.

The NYC event included both Christian and Muslim religious leaders who condemned the murders and called for Ethiopians to stand united. Speakers included Abune Basilios, Kes Mezgebu Menkir of the Beata le Mariam Church, Imam Yisaq Ibrahim of the Ethiopian Muslim Community of New York and Abreham Desta of the Evangelical Church of NY.

Additional speakers were Professor Getachew Haile, community activist Makda Amare, and Tsegereda Mulugeta.

In her speech Makda, Chairperson of Humanitarian Organization for Ethiopians in Need of NY & NJ, shared with the crowd current statistics highlighting the continuing plight of female migrant workers in the Middle East as well as the victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, and countless Ethiopian citizens who are currently stranded in Yemen in the midst of civil war. Makda said her organization is working with International Organization for Migration (IOM) to help those in Yemen, but urged others to participate and also called on the Ethiopian government to do more.

The evening also featured songs and the lighting of candles.

Below are photos:

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Featured

Zéma: Photo Exhibition in New York City

April 27, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Monday, April 27th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — Former New York Times photographer Chester Higgins’ upcoming exhibition at Skoto Gallery in Manhattan is timely and aptly tilted ZÉMA: A Love Song “celebrating Ethiopia’s unique landscape and people and presenting the artist’s impressionistic imagery honoring ancestral spirits along the Blue Nile.”

Higgins has been photographing Ethiopia since he first traveled there in 1973. Some of his stunning images of the country include iconic Christian and Muslim religious sites such as the Sof Omar Cave in Bale and the St. George church in Lalibela, as well as the Omo people in Southern Ethiopia.

“When I ﬁrst encountered the Omo, I had to think about how much of what was before me was a shadow of the past, smoke of the present or a light from the future,” he writes about his travels in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley. “In their homeland the relationship among the people, the land and the sky guides life in very pragmatic ways, revealing something about their spiritual sense of the cosmos. Against a dramatic starry backdrop, the Omo look for the sun’s appearance in different places on the horizon to tell the seasons. When twilight reveals the four stars of the Southern Cross, the two Pointers rising in a straight line at sunset and falling to the horizon at sunrise, they know the Omo River will soon ﬂood. It is time to migrate to higher ground. When the ﬂood recedes, they return to plant their crops.”

Regarding his approach to photography, Higgins adds: “Wrestling with issues of memory, place and identity, I see my life as a narrative and my photography as its expression. My art gives visual voice to my personal and collective memories. It is inside ordinary moments where I find windows into larger meaning. Light, perspective, and points in time are the pivotal elements I use to reveal an interior presence within my subjects as I search for what I identify as the Signature of the Spirit.”

Photos by Chester Higgins, Jr.

—
If You Go:
May 21-June 20, 2015
SkotoGallery
529 West 20thstreet, 5th Floor
New York, New York 10011
tel 212.352.8058
info@skotogallery.com
skotogallery.com

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Podcast

Vigil Held in Nashville for ISIS Victims

April 27, 2015 Tadias Magazine

WSMV-TV Nashville

By Cody Engdahl

NASHVILLE, TN — Hundreds showed up at a vigil along the Cumberland River on Sunday to stand up for the Ethiopian Christians who were executed by ISIS radicals because they would not convert to Islam.

Middle Tennessee has a large population of people of Ethiopian descent, many of whom still have family in Africa and in the Middle East, so for them, the threat is very real.

“ISIS is the cruelest, the worst group that the humankind has ever seen,” said Tewodros Tashu, who grew up in Ethiopia.

Tashu said he remembers a time when people loved each other as neighbors.

“When I was a little boy, we never had any distinction between Muslims and Christians. We grew up together without any differences, but right now, what’s going on is division,” he said.

Dary Hamz, who also grew up in Ethiopia, said the news of the killings was shocking to him.

“As a Muslim, it’s totally against what we believe,” he said.

Protesters said they hope that standing together here shows we can get past our differences.

“The only way this will stop, in my opinion, is if the people from all sides come together without going to the extremes,” Tashu said.

This was just one of many vigils held around the world. Ethiopia held three official days of mourning for the victims.

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Events

Preview: 2015 Sheba Film Festival

April 27, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Monday, April 27th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — The 12th annual Sheba Film Festival, which takes place at the JCC Manhattan and Tsion Cafe next month, features exciting new films from Ethiopia and Israel including Red Leavis by directors Bazi Gete and Haggai Arad from Israel, Asni: The Life of Asnaketch Worku, Courage, Passion & Glamor in Ethiopia by director Rachel Samuel of Ethiopia and The Village of Peace by Israeli filmmakers Ben Schuder & Niko Philipides.

The festival opens with the screening of Red Leavis at the JCC on Tuesday May 19th. The 80 minute movie with Hebrew & Amharic subtitles was made in 2014 and tells the story of 74-year-old Meseganio Tadela: “a hard, obstinate, and nervous man.” The synopsis adds: “He immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia 28 years ago with his family and has chosen to zealously retain his culture. He talks very little, and hardly speaks Hebrew; and after losing his wife, he is afraid of dying and being alone. He comes to realize that he belongs to a rapidly disappearing class that believes in retaining Ethiopian culture. The harsh reality hits him in the face. Having come to know some of life’s new realities, he tries to survive according to his own ways.”

Asni will show on June 19th at Tsion Cafe. The director Rachel Samuel says: “When I was a 4-year old kid in Addis-Ababa listening to my father’s radio I heard a singer who mesmerized me. In an unknowing visceral response, Asnaketch Worku took root in my soul. Decades later it was an almost pre-destined privilege to direct a documentary on this extraordinary artist who is as much a cultural icon to Ethiopians as Billie Holiday is to Americans and Edith Piaf to the French. Asnaketch lived her life on the edge of her artistry, over the edge of her passions. But to separate Asnaketch from the social and political climate of conservative Ethiopia, particularly in 50’s and 60’s was impossible. Artists in that time were looked down upon, called derogatorily, “Azmari”, which the church deemed as, “…those not going to heaven.” So this doc is as much about my country, my music, my culture as it is about this original being, Asnaketch, who is a substantive part of the fabric of Ethiopia, past and present.”

Watch the trailer here: Asni – Courage, Passion & Glamor in Ethiopia

The Village of Peace, which also screens at Tsion Cafe on May 26th, is “A fascinating look at the community of African-Americans from Chicago, who in 1967 began a migration to Dimona, Israel. The founders of The Village of Peace recount their epic journey from the backdrop of oppression to what they now call home in the Negev Desert. Today, over 5,000 African-Hebrew Israelites live in Israel. The stories of four villagers are woven together to portray a community unlike any other. Inspired by ancient scripture, it includes polygamy, natural birth, veganism, and a rigorous emphasis on health. The community struggles with their immersion into Israeli society and the challenges of passing their traditions to future generations.”

—
If You Go:
JCC Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave
New York. NY 10023

TSION CAFE
763 St.Nicholas Ave
(Btwen 148 St& 149 streets)
New York, NY 10031

More info & tickets at www.binacf.org.

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Podcast

Skateboarding New Hobby for Addis’ Young

April 27, 2015 Tadias Magazine

ABC Australia

Swerving around potholes and speeding through chaotic traffic makes skateboarding the crowded streets of Ethiopia’s capital a risky game.

Yet growing numbers of fans are taking up this once unknown sport in Addis Ababa and attracting the support of skateboarders worldwide.

In the bustling market district of Shiro Meda, gangs of children rattle down the hills, flipping boards painted in the colours of Ethiopia – green, yellow and red – as they show off the latest tricks they have learnt.

It is a tough area, and skateboarding offers moments of fun and escape for the young people living here.

“There’s nothing for the kids in the neighbourhood, nothing to inspire them,” said Israel Dejene, founder of a local skateboarding group, who said he was inspired by watching children slide down the pavements with bits of plastic fixed to the bottom of their shoes for fun.

“These skate sessions are the only positive thing they can do,” added Israel, who named his “Megabiskate” project after the Ethiopian word “megabi”, meaning someone who “gives life to others”.

The group aims to use the sport to help the children, as “a tool to engage the kids, to develop self-esteem, confidence and an alternative lifestyle to the troubles” on the streets.

“Skateboarding creates a positive community, it teaches them to teach each other tricks and promotes a good self-image,” added the dreadlocked Rastafarian musician, who discovered the sport during a visit to Sweden, where he was fascinated by “this board that seemed attached to the feet in the air”.

The project has won international admirers: American professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Nyjah Huston visited in February bringing with them dozens of boards.

Their visit was excitedly reported on social media, putting the spotlight on Ethiopia’s small but growing community of skateboarders and inspiring still more to join.

—
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Featured

In Pictures: DC Vigil for ISIL Victims in Libya

April 25, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Updated: Thursday, April 30th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — A candlelight vigil is being held in various Ethiopian Diaspora communities in memory of the 30 people that were recently killed by ISIL militants in Libya. The terrorist network released a video last week showing the gruesome, on-camera execution of Ethiopian migrant workers, most of whom were Christians.

In New York a gathering in honor of the victims was held on Tuesday, April 28th at Times Square. In addition, a special prayer service was held on Sunday afternoon at Medhanealem church in the Bronx.

Below are photos from a similar gathering held in Washington, D.C. earlier last week on Thursday, April 23rd, which attracted hundreds of people, both Christians and Muslims, who met at the Washington Monument and walked together to the White House.

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Podcast

Denver Ethiopians Mourn IS Killings in Libya

April 25, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Denver Post

By Bruce Finley

The beheading and shooting of 30 Ethiopian migrants by Islamic State fighters last week in Libya is tormenting metro Denver’s 30,000-strong Ethiopian-American community.

Some say they couldn’t eat or sleep after watching horrific videos.

On Saturday night, more than 500 gathered at St. Mary’s Ethiopian Orthodox Church to mourn. They held candles, sang, wept and prayed before photos of the victims.

“It is incomprehensible for our minds to understand how any human being could do such a thing to another. We stand together to mourn our brethren and pray for peace,” community spokesman Neb Asfaw said. “The terrorists will not break our spirit. We stand together with our faith strengthened by the courage our brothers showed.”

Sefne Eshete Worku prays with fellow congregants at St. Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Church honoring the 30 Ethiopian Christians were killed by ISIL in Libya on Saturday, April 25, 2015. (The Denver Post)

A 29-minute video circulated last Sunday by the Islamic State showed dozens of militants holding separate groups of migrants captive in Libya. Islamic State operatives described the captives as “followers of the cross from the enemy Ethiopian Church.” They were lined up and shot in a desert. A dozen were filmed as militants marched them along a beach before beheading them. Images of bloody severed heads appeared on Internet videos. Some videos now have been removed from websites.

In Atlanta Suburb of Clarkston, Georgia Christians, Muslims Honor ISIS Victims

April 25, 2015 Tadias Magazine

WABE Atlanta Radio

Alison Guillory

Thursday night, the Ethiopian community held a candlelight vigil in Clarkston, Georgia. The event was in remembrance of Ethiopian Christians killed by ISIS in Libya over the weekend.

Safi Ahmed is Muslim. He’s speaking to the crowd of 200 to 300 people gathered for the vigil. You don’t have to understand Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, to hear the passion in his voice.

Afterwards, he loosely translated his words.

“I was mentioning the way they [were] killed,” he said. “I also mentioned Libya and also, finally, I mentioned South Africa.”

Ahmed is talking about recent violence toward immigrants in South Africa which resulted in several deaths. That bothers a lot of people here — as much as the Libya killings.

But they’re also bothered by the stereotype that Christians and Muslims can’t live harmoniously.

Abdella Ahmed is also Muslim. He says ISIS, or the self-named “Islamic State,” has hijacked his faith.

“Islam is not about killing,” he says. “It’s about loving, and in Ethiopia for centuries, 3,000 years before, we’ve been living together side by side with our Christian brothers and sisters.”

Solomon Gizaw agrees. He’s a Christian, and he chairs the board of the Ethiopian Community Association in Atlanta. Gizaw says in Ethiopians of different faiths do more than just tolerate each other.

“For instance, if somebody’s going to give his daughter in marriage for another person, and he happens to be a Muslim, he prepares a special dish for Christians coming to that feast,” he says. “And vice-versa.”

That kind of mutual respect seems to exist in Clarkston, a small city in DeKalb County where refugees from all over the world have resettled.

“If Clarkston can do it, where you have so many different Muslim faiths, from 10 different countries, and you have Ethiopians that have Muslims and Christians, and all these other faiths and here we are able to co-exist in one square mile,” says Clarkston Mayor Ted Terry. “That gives me a little bit of hope for the future.”

Despite religious differences, Clarkston’s Ethiopian community is embracing each other as one big family during this time of grief.

Click here to listen to broadcast version of this story »
—
Related:
Candlelight Vigil for Ethiopian ISIL Victims to be Held in NY & Photos From DC (Tadias)
Vigil Held in Nashville for Ethiopian Christians Killed by ISIS (WSMV-TV Nashville)
Denver’s Ethiopian Community Mourns Countrymen Killed by Islamic State (The Denver Post)
Addressing Ethiopia’s Migrant Crisis (Tadias)
Grief Mixes With Anger Over Christian Ethiopian Deaths (NY Times)
Anti-ISIL rally turns violent in Ethiopia (AlJazeera)
Ethiopian police tear-gas crowds protesting against Libya killings (Reuters)
Protest held in Ethiopia over killings by Islamic extremists (AP)
Ethiopians struggle to come to terms with beheadings of compatriots in Libya (Reuters)
Ethiopians Shocked by Islamic State Killings (AP)
Ethiopia in Mourning for Victims of Islamic State Violence (BBC)
Ethiopia Declares 3 Days of Mourning for Citizens Killed by Islamic State in Libya (VOA)
Ethiopia Condemns Purported Executions in Libya of Christians (AFP)
Video: Islamic State kills Ethiopian Christians in Libya (AP)
ISIS ‘executes’ Ethiopia Christians in Libya (Al-Arabiya‎)
ISIS Video Purports to Show Killing of Ethiopian Christians in Libya (NY Times)

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Podcast

As Injera Goes Global, Teff Gets Expensive

April 25, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Aljazeera America

By James Jeffrey

Six days a week, an Ethiopian Airlines flight departs for Washington, D.C., with a fresh batch of 3,000 injera on board…Outside Ethiopian diaspora communities — and Ethiopian restaurants — teff remained largely anonymous for decades. But growing appetites for traditional crops and nutritious foods mean customers ranging from families to hipsters in New York and London are now seeking their fix too. The crop is now grown in about 25 U.S. states, but Ethiopians claim you can’t beat teff grown in its homeland for flavor and quality.

Previously heralded so-called superfoods, however, such as Andean quinoa, have illustrated hidden consequences for locals when their indigenous staples find eager customers in more affluent countries. Even before the growth in international demand, poor Ethiopians were struggling to afford increasingly expensive teff.

“A piece of injera used to cost about 50 santeem ($0.02), but now it’s nearly four Ethiopian birr ($0.19),” said Nathaniel, the manager of a hotel in the eastern Ethiopian town of Dire Dawa. It’s estimated that 29 percent of Ethiopia’s population lives on less than $2 a day.

Nathaniel said that the tables on the hotel terrace lacked lunch patrons because people can’t afford to eat out and that many locals, faced with low incomes and high food prices, skip breakfast each day and eat only a midmorning snack followed by an injera-based meal later in the afternoon

Letter From an Ethiopian Prison

April 24, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Guardian

By Natnael Feleke

Dear John Kerry,

I first came to know about you back in 2004, during the US presidential election, when you were running for office against George Bush. At just 17 years old I knew little about US politics – or politics in general – but I discussed the campaigns with my schoolmates.

A year later, the historic 2005 Ethiopian national election took place. This election differed from previous votes in that the lead up to it was mostly democratic. This left many Ethiopians hoping they would witness the first elected change of government in the country’s history. But it was not to be.

After polling day, we saw civilian bloodshed, and the arrest of thousands – including journalists and opposition leaders.

I was only young then, but the election gave me my first real experience of politics. It also left me with a strong desire to follow the repressive situation that was unfolding in Ethiopia.

It was this interest and commitment that led my friends and I to form the bloggers’ and pro-democracy activist group we called Zone 9.

The birth of Zone 9

All nine members of the blogging group are young and passionate about encouraging Ethiopia’s democracy.

We aimed to create a platform for Ethiopian youth to discuss political, economic and social issues when we launched our blog, with the motto, “we blog because we care”.

Although our arrest came two years after launching, our site was blocked in Ethiopia early on, but we continued to share our views via social media.

Finally, the regime took drastic measures: in April 2014 they arrested six members of Zone9, and three other journalists too.

We are now facing between eight and 18 years imprisonment.

This hasn’t come as a surprise. Whenever Ethiopians exercise their constitutional rights to free expression, the regime resorts to its security apparatus to silence them.

My charges are tied up with our meeting back in 2013. We met in Addis Ababa University: the minister of foreign affairs Tedros Adhanom invited me and a couple of others for a discussion, in which I raised my concerns about the regime’s tactics to push young citizens away from participating in politics.

I highlighted the negative impact this was having on the political sphere. I told you that I was risking a lot merely by expressing my thoughts freely. At that time, my arrest was only an abstract possibility.

Read the full letter at The Guardian »
—
Related:
Media Crackdown in Ethiopia By JASON MCLURE (Audio)

One Year After Arrest Zone 9 Bloggers Remain Imprisoned as Trial Drags On
Ethiopian bloggers on trial in case seen as crackdown on free expression (Washington Post)
Continued Detention of Ethiopian Journalists Unacceptable – UN Human Rights Experts
U.S. Students Feature Ethiopia’s Reeyot Alemu in ‘Press Uncuffed’ Campaign
Crackdown on Media & Opposition Costs Ethiopia Development Aid Money
As Election Nears, Increased Focus on the State of Media in Ethiopia

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Podcast

The Gatekeepers of Ethiopia’s Forests

April 24, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Africa Geographic Magazine

By Lori Robinson

24 April 2015

In the highlands of Ethiopia, American scientist Meg Lowman is working with local forest ecologist Alemayehu Wassie to protect ancient church forests.

As in many developing countries, much of Ethiopia’s original forests have been cleared for subsistence agriculture and for harvesting timber and firewood, diminishing northern Ethiopia’s forest cover from 45% of its territory in the early 20th century to less than 5 percent today.

A large portion of the remaining forests is concentrated in the northern part of the country, especially in the Lake Tana area. There, bright-green patches of trees surround 3,500 Orthodox Tewahido Churches – a consequence of the Church’s belief in maintaining a woodland home for all God’s creatures around the place of worship.

The forests are said to be necklaces around the church, and the tree canopy is believed to prevent prayers from being lost to the sky. According to the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, an estimated five to ten percent of wild lands across the globe are currently held by religious organisations.

Ranging in size from five acres to more than 1,000, some of Ethiopia’s church forests are more than 1,500 years old. All are remnants of the country’s Afromontane forests, are cooler and more humid than the surrounding lowlands, and many have fresh water springs. These church forests have become the centerpiece in the struggle to conserve what remains of northern Ethiopia’s biodiversity.

“They are native seed banks for the future of that landscape,” says Dr. Wassie.

Read more and see photos at magazine.africageographic.com »
—
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Featured, News

Addressing Ethiopia’s Migrant Crisis

April 23, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
Editorial

Published: Thursday, April 23rd, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — The despicable ISIL propaganda video that was recently released by terrorists showing the beheading and shooting of at least 30 Ethiopian Christians is the worst in a long series of disturbing violent acts endured by Ethiopian citizens all over the Arab world.

Sadly, today we live in an era where we are accustomed to watching from afar the plight of Ethiopian nationals as they migrate in large numbers every year in search of jobs and better economic opportunities, and are being publicly abused and murdered in foreign lands.

But as we gather this week in our churches, mosques and streets to mourn and honor the victims in Libya, we should also keep in mind those Ethiopians who need our immediate help and protection in South Africa and Yemen.

As Ethiopian American writer and activist Kumera Genet correctly pointed out in a recent interview that he conducted with individuals in the Middle East regarding the migrant issue: “There have been few coordinated efforts by the African Diaspora to directly support migrant workers in the Middle East in three years since Alem Dechasa’s death.” Coincidentally it was three years ago last month that the Alem Dechasa video surfaced in Lebanon showing the 33-year-old Ethiopian domestic worker and a mother of two children being physically abused by her employer outside the Ethiopian embassy in Beirut. The shocking incident took place only days before Alem was officially declared dead “due to suicide.”

“Often lost in the discourse around migrant rights is that there are local efforts to support the migrant worker community,” Kumera said. “I feel this is important context to better understand how individuals living outside of the Middle East can assist in improving the lives of migrants.” He added: “The news that reaches the Diaspora is normally about the tragedies. This is an unsustainable way of engaging in the issue and in the interim between public abuses, there is little real relationship building with potential allies.”

In addition to pushing governments to respond to the root causes that force people to migrate under life-threatening conditions, we urge interested individuals and organizations to launch private, independent initiatives and collaborations with both local and international agencies to tackle the problem in a meaningful way — one that acknowledges not just the tragedies of xenophobia or terrorism but also honestly addresses the lack of adequate economic resources faced by those who choose to make these dangerous journeys by land and sea.

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Podcast

Zone 9 Bloggers Mark One Year in Prison

April 23, 2015 Tadias Magazine

CPJ

By Kerry Paterson/CPJ Africa Research Associate

It will be one year this weekend since six bloggers were arrested in Addis Ababa, just days after the group announced on Facebook that their Zone 9 blog would resume publishing after seven months of inactivity. As the anniversary of the arrests approaches on Saturday, Soleyana S. Gebremichale, one of the Zone 9 founders who was charged in absentia, told me the situation was not hopeless.

“International advocacy is important not only to pressure the Ethiopian government but also to show solidarity for people in prison,” Soleyana, who is currently based in Washington, D.C., said. “The words and support that we show them are their strength in prison.”

The six Zone 9 bloggers, arrested along with three journalists not connected to the blog, were held in detention until mid-July when a court in Addis Ababa charged all those being held, and Soleyana, with terrorism. Working with human rights organizations and participating in an email encryption training session were among the activities that led to the charges, according to reports. Their charge sheet, translated into English from Amharic, can be found here in full.

The Zone 9 bloggers–Befekadu Hailu, Atnaf Berhane, Natnail Feleke, Mahlet Fantahun, Zelalem Kibret, and Abel Wabella–and three journalists–Edom Kassaye, Tesfalem Waldyes, and Asmamaw Hailegeorgis–have now spent a full year in prison.

Among them is a lawyer and lecturer, an economist, and an IT specialist. One of them is a data expert in Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health, another is an engineer for Ethiopian Airlines. They are writers, advocates, and activists, but the Zone 9 bloggers are not terrorists.

According to reports, these young professionals from a range of backgrounds were united by a desire for a more just, transparent, and democratic Ethiopia. The Zone 9 bloggers used their blog, which is still running, as a platform to write about social justice, democracy, and human rights. They spoke out about censorship and challenged corruption.

“Zone 9 existed because we had a hope that we could contribute for the public discourse,” Soleyana told me.

The trial has been adjourned 26 times, most recently on April 8, according to a site that tracks its progress. The proceedings are scheduled to resume on May 26.

Grief Mixes With Anger Over Christian Ethiopian Deaths

April 23, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The New York Times

By Jacey Fortin

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — In a downtrodden neighborhood called Cherkos, not far from the headquarters of the African Union, an olive-green tent stands as a tangible symbol of this nation’s grief.

Two bereft families have gathered under its shade to mourn the loss of Eyasu Yikunoamlak and Balcha Belete, Ethiopian migrants who were killed in Libya by militants claiming to represent the Islamic State.

“Eyasu was a good person who just wanted to make money to help our mother, who is very sick,” said the victim’s brother, Seyoum Yikunoamlak, as women in black scarves wailed around him. “He was a follower of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and that is why they slaughtered him.”

Mr. Seyoum said he had helped his brother pay $4,400 to a smuggler for an illegal journey to Italy. But on Sunday, a video surfaced online revealing that his brother was among about 30 people who appeared to have been shot or beheaded by masked militants in Libya. The Ethiopian government is trying to determine how many were Ethiopian citizens.

The killings are the latest warning to Ethiopians seeking passage to foreign countries for economic opportunity.

People trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea risk drowning en route, as happened just days ago when a boat carrying hundreds capsized off the Libyan coast.

Ethiopians traveling to the Middle East for work have faced mistreatment, mass deportations or, as in Yemen, outbreaks of war.

Immigrants to South Africa have endured a surge of xenophobic attacks this month.

In Ethiopia Protest Against Libya Killings Spiral Into Violence (Video)

April 23, 2015 Tadias Magazine

AlJazeera

Tens of thousands of Ethiopians have marched in a government-supported rally against the killing of Ethiopian Christians in Libya, but some demonstrators directed their anger at the authorities, prompting clashes with the police.

Wednesday’s march at Addis Ababa’s Meskel Square turned violent as stone-throwing protesters clashed with the police, who used tear gas against the crowd and arrested at least 100 people.

“We are tired of speeches and propaganda! We want action! Revenge for our brothers!” shouted a group of youths, referring to Ethiopians seen apparently being beheaded or shot in a video released on Sunday by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Libya.

“Ethiopia sent troops to Somalia, Liberia, Burundi, but the government is not capable of protecting its own citizens!” shouted one protester, referring to its peacekeeping roles in the African Union and United Nations.

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Podcast

Ethiopian Mass Protest Against IS Killings

April 22, 2015 Tadias Magazine

BBC News

22 April 2015

Tens of thousands of Ethiopians have attended a rally in the capital, Addis Ababa, condemning the murders of Ethiopians by Islamic State militants.

More than 20 migrant workers – most thought to be Ethiopian Christians – were killed by the Libyan branch of IS.

It released videos on Sunday of some of the men being beheaded and others shot.

Ethiopia’s prime minister warned the protesters about the dangers of illegal immigration and described the killings as “Satanic”.

IS and other jihadist groups are active in many towns in Libya, which has been torn by civil conflict since last year – and has been unstable since long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.

Ethiopians Struggle to Come to Terms With Beheadings of Compatriots in Libya

April 21, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Reuters

BY AARON MAASHO

ADDIS ABABA — Hundreds of grieving relatives gathered outside the homes of two Ethiopians who were among dozens shown being shot and beheaded in a video purportedly made by Islamic State militants in Libya, struggling to make sense of their loved ones’ fate.

Only two of the 30 Ethiopian Christian prisoners displayed being killed in two groups by masked jihadists in a video released over the weekend have been identified by name.

The pair were close friends who grew up as neighbors in the impoverished Cherkos district of the capital Addis Ababa.

“My son is gone. I cannot bear it. I am burning,” a sobbing Ahaza Kasaye, mother of Eyasu Yekuno-Amlak, said at the gathering of family members on Tuesday.

Eyasu’s dreadlocks enabled his family and friends to quickly recognize him in a group of prisoners seen in the video trudging along a beach in orange jump suits before their captors beheaded them as they knelt on the ground.

Though the bodies of the prisoners have not been returned or recovered, mourners erected a tent and a priest delivered a sermon. Wailing mourners held aloft pictures of both victims.

Dozens of others – young men who were both neighbors and friends of the two men – briefly took to the streets and demonstrated in Addis Ababa’s main square before being dispersed by police.

Across town, Ethiopia’s House of Representatives opened an emergency session with a minute’s silence, before voting to observe three days of national mourning and fly the Ethiopian flag at half mast from Wednesday.

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Featured

Ethiopians Stranded in Yemen

April 21, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Aljazeera America

by Michael Pizzi

Tens of thousands of East African refugees and asylum-seekers are at risk of being left behind in Yemen’s roiling violence, deprived not only of safe options for evacuation but also of a home country that might take them in, activists and U.N. officials said this week.

Since pitched fighting between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and forces loyal to the ousted president erupted in March, escape from the country has been arduous even for foreign citizens and wealthy Yemenis. Airports are under fire and commercial transportation cut off, forcing the most desperate to charter simple power boats and make harrowing journeys across the Red Sea.

But for the over 250,000 registered Somali, Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees and asylum-seekers, the situation is even more trying. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners have a contingency plan to receive 100,000 refugees in Somalia’s relatively stable regions of Somaliland and Puntland, and another 30,000 in Djibouti, but that process will unfold over the next six months. And it is barely underway.

“The reality is that there are limited options for people to get out,” said Charlotte Ridung, the Officer-in-Charge for the UNHCR in Yemen. “Some have fled by boat, but many ports are closed, and fuel is an issue so the options for escape are indeed limited.”

As gunbattles and aerial bombardment engulf the port city of Aden, at least 2,000 people have fled urban areas to take shelter in the nearby Kharraz refugee camp, Ridung said. Thousands more refugees and Yemenis alike have begun to make the dangerous voyage across the water, including 915 people who fronted $50 each for boats from the Yemeni port of Mukha to Somalia — among them Somalis returning home for the first time in decades.

There, the UNHCR registered “women and children who arrived extremely thirsty and asking for water,” Ridung said. They included a pregnant woman who was immediately transferred to a hospital to deliver her baby.

Meanwhile, asylum-seekers and migrants traveling in the opposite direction from East Africa continue to arrive in war-wracked Yemen. Last Sunday, the UNHCR registered another 251 people, mostly Ethiopians and Somalis, who arrived by boat at the port city of Mayfa’a. Whether they were unaware of the violence in Yemen or hopeful mass evacuations from the country might take them somewhere safer is unclear.

Read more »
—
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Podcast

South Africa Turns on Its Immigrants

April 21, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The New York Times

By DANIEL MAGAZINER and SEAN JACOBS

Updated: APRIL 24, 2015

For the third time in seven years, violence against immigrants has broken out across South Africa. Pogroms that began in late March in Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal Province, have now spread to Johannesburg.

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, approximately five million immigrants have settled in South Africa; most are Africans from further north pursuing economic opportunity or refugees seeking the political stability of the continent’s most highly developed nation.

Black South Africans, most of whom remain poor and marginalized in the post-apartheid era, have watched warily for years as networks of Malawians, Somalis, Ethiopians, Zimbabweans, Nigerians and Mozambicans have begun to build small businesses and take advantage of South Africa’s opportunities.

The most recent paroxysm of violence appears to have been prompted by derogatory remarks by the Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini, who demanded that foreigners leave the country, insinuating that they are “lice” and “ants.” The king has since issued a half-apology, saying his statements were taken out of context. Many of his subjects, though, took his words literally.

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Events

Art Talk: Photography in Ethiopia & Guyana

April 21, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Tuesday, April 21st, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — Award-winning photographers Aida Muluneh from Ethiopia and Grace Aneiza Ali of Guyana will present their work and participate in a conversation about photography in their respective countries at an event hosted by the Independent Curators International (ICI) next week in New York City.

ICI announced that the two artists “will offer their thoughts on the connections and intersections on the contemporary photography coming out of these two regions and the ways in which both photography communities negotiate politics of representation.”

“Via her work as a photographer, and founder/curator of the Addis Foto Fest, Addis Ababa’s first international photography festival, Aida Muluneh has been forging new platforms to explore the ways in which the image of Africa is projected, interpreted, negotiated, and marketed in the global world,” ICI added.

“Through various multi-media projects, Grace Aneiza Ali, a recent Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow, explores how photographers in Guyana and its diaspora are countering the “picturing paradise” narrative the global public often sees of the Caribbean/South American region and the ways they are moving away from satisfying global appetites for the tropical and the exotic.”

Below is more on the presenters:

Aida Muluneh

Aida Muluneh is the Director/Founder of Desta for Africa. Established in 2010, it is the vision of award-winning photographer Muluneh. Born in Ethiopia in 1974, Aida left the country at a young age and spent an itinerant childhood between Yemen and England. After several years in a boarding school in Cyprus, she finally settled in Canada in 1985. In 2000, she graduated with a degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. in the Communications Department with a major in film. After graduation she worked as a photojournalist at the Washington Post and other publications. As an exhibiting artist, a collection of her images can be found in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art and the Museum of Biblical Art in the United States. She is the 2007 recipient of the European Union Prize in the Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie in Bamoko, Mali, as well as the 2010 winner of the CRAF International Award of photography in Spilimbergo, Italy. Aida is the founder of the first international photography festival in Ethiopia, the Addis Foto Fest. She continues to curate and develop cultural projects with local and international institutions through her company DESTA (Developing and Educating Society Through Art) For Africa in Addis Ababa.

Grace Aneiza Ali

Guyanese-born Grace Aneiza Ali is the founder and editorial director of the award-winning OF NOTE, an online magazine centered on art and activism. She is a faculty member in the Department of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the City College of New York, CUNY, and recipient of the 2014 Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award. She was a awarded a Curatorial Fellowship from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for a 2016 upcoming exhibition on contemporary photography on Guyana. Her essays on contemporary art and photography have been published in Nueva Luz Photographic Journal, Small Axe Journal, among others. Highlights of her curatorial work include: Guest Curator for the 2014 Addis Foto Fest; Guest Editor of the Fall 2013 Nueva Luz Photographic Journal and author of its critical essay on contemporary Guyanese photography; and host of the “Visually Speaking” photojournalism series at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center.

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If You Go:
Conversation on Photography in Ethiopia and Guyana
Aida Muluneh and Grace Aneiza Ali
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
6:30–8pm
ICI Curatorial Hub
401 Broadway, Suite 1620
FREE and open to the public
RSVP at rsvp@curatorsintl.org with AIDA in the subject line.
www.curatorsintl.org

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Featured

Ethiopians Shocked by IS Killings (AP)

April 20, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Associated Press

Monday, April 20, 2015

Many in Ethiopia are reeling from the news that several Ethiopians were killed in Libya by the Islamic State group, which over the weekend released a video purporting to show the killings.

The killings, which have shocked many in the predominantly Christian country, were condemned by Pope Francis and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The victims were planning to go to Europe by boat from Libya but were captured and then killed by the Islamic extremists, said grieving family members and government officials. Ethiopia’s government on Monday declared three days of mourning.

Pope Francis on Monday sent a letter to the patriarch of Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church, Abuna Matthias, expressing “distress and sadness” at the “further shocking violence perpetrated against innocent Christians in Libya.

The pope has been very vocal in condemning the persecution of Christians across the globe in recent months, and stressed in the letter to the Ethiopian orthodox patriarch that “it makes no difference whether the victims are Catholic, Copt, Orthodox or Protestant.”

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the killings and “utterly deplores the targeting of people on the basis of their religious affiliation,” his spokesman said.

Some people gathered Monday gathered in an Addis Ababa slum to mourn two former residents whose faces were recognized in the Islamic State video. The 29-minute video, released on Sunday via social media accounts and websites used by the extremists, shows many Ethiopian Christians held captive in Libya being shot or beheaded by militants.

Eyasu Yikunoamlak and Balcha Belete left Ethiopia two months ago with the aim of reaching Europe. They are believed to have left Ethiopia through Sudan and later traveled to Libya where they planned to take a boat to Europe but they were seized by Islamic State militants, relatives told The Associated Press on Monday.

Relatives and friends of the two victims in Cherkos Village, a poor neighborhood of the Ethiopian capital, said Eyasu and Balcha grew up together and used to live in the same house.

Seyoum Yikunoamlak, the older brother of Eyasu, said he first learned about the death of his younger brother on Sunday evening while checking the news on Facebook.

“I was very worried how to tell our family but everyone is a Facebook user these days so people in our village told our family that Eyasu was among the group that are on the (Islamic State) video,” a tearful Seyoum said.

Family members stopped getting calls from Eyasu a month ago and grew worried, but news of a violent death was never expected, he said.

“His dream was to go to Italy and then reach the U.K. and help himself and his family members,” he said.

Redwan Hussein, an Ethiopian government spokesman, said on Sunday he believed the victims were Ethiopian migrants trying to reach Europe, an account bolstered by local residents who said impoverished young men are tempted to make the perilous journey to Europe.

“There is no job opportunity here. I will try my luck too, but not through Libya,” said Meshesa Mitiku, a longtime friend of the two victims. “I want to move out. There is no chance to improve yourself here. This is the whole community’s opinion.”
Ethiopia’s three days of mourning start Tuesday, when lawmakers will meet to discuss the killings and consider the country’s possible response, the government said in a statement.

Ethiopia has angered Islamic extremists over its military’s attacks on neighboring Somalia, whose population is almost entirely Muslim. A militant in the video said “Muslim blood that was shed under the hands of your religion is not cheap,” but the video did not specifically mention the Ethiopian government’s actions.

The Islamic State video showing the killing of the Ethiopians starts with what it called a history of Christian-Muslim relations, followed by scenes of militants destroying churches, graves and icons. A masked fighter brandishing a pistol delivers a long statement, saying Christians must convert to Islam or pay a special tax prescribed by the Quran.

Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed.

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Featured

Ethiopia Declares 3 Days of Mourning for Citizens Killed by Islamic State in Libya

April 20, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

Last updated on: April 20, 2015

Ethiopia has confirmed that 30 of its nationals were killed by Islamic State militants in Libya.

The confirmation came Monday, a day after the Islamic State group released a graphic video purporting to show Ethiopian Christians being decapitated or shot in the back of the head.

An Ethiopian government statement condemned what it called the “inhuman mass murder of its citizens.” The government declared three days of mourning Monday which will start Tuesday, when lawmakers will meet to discuss the killings and consider the country’s possible response, the government said in a statement.

The national flag also will fly at half-staff during the days of mourning.

The 29-minute video, released on Sunday via social media accounts and websites is similar to one released in February showing militants cutting off the heads of Egyptian Christians.

Redwan Hussein, an Ethiopian government spokesman, said on Sunday that he believed the victims were Ethiopian migrants trying to reach Europe.

US condemnation

The White House has condemned “in the strongest terms” the mass murder.

“That these terrorists killed these men solely because of their faith lays bare the terrorists’ vicious senseless brutality,” a spokeswoman said Sunday, adding that the killings show the urgent need for a political settlement to the chaos in Libya, and a unified rejection of terrorist groups.

Ethiopia long has drawn the anger of Islamic extremists over its military’s attacks on neighboring Somalia, whose population is almost entirely Muslim. While a militant in the video at one point said, “Muslim blood that was shed under the hands of your religion is not cheap,” it did not specifically mention the Ethiopian government’s actions.

Arab League plans Cairo meeting

An Arab League official told the French news agency military chiefs from the region would meet in Cairo this week to discuss creating a joint force against the Islamic State group.

The United States already is leading an international coalition carrying out airstrkes against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq, allowing Iraqi forces to seize back areas from the militants.

Some material for this report came from AP.
—
Related:
Ethiopia in Mourning for Victims of Islamic State Violence (BBC)
Ethiopia Condemns Purported Executions in Libya of Christians (AFP)
Video: Islamic State kills Ethiopian Christians in Libya (AP)
ISIS ‘executes’ Ethiopia Christians in Libya (Al-Arabiya‎)
ISIS Video Purports to Show Killing of Ethiopian Christians in Libya (NY Times)

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Podcast

Lelisa Desisa Wins Boston Marathon

April 20, 2015 Tadias Magazine

The Boston Globe

By John Powers

APRIL 20, 2015

Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa ran away from the pack to post his second Boston Marathon men’s victory in three years, outkicking countryman Yemane Tsegay Monday to win by 31 seconds in a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 17 seconds on a breezy and overcast day.

“I am happy to win and for a strong Boston 2013,” said the 25-year-old Desisa, who two years won the race that was shattered by terrorist bombings near the Boylston Street finish line.

Desisa, who dropped out of last year’s event that was won by Meb Keflezighi, was content to run with nine rivals into a headwind through the Newton hills. But once he came onto the flats, he pulled away from Tsegay and Kenya’s Wilson Chebet, last year’s runner-up, to win by the largest margin since Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot in 2010.

US Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein finished seventh in his Boston debut in 2:11:20 while Keflezighi was eighth in 2:12:42.
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Podcast

Ethiopia Mourns Victims of IS Violence

April 20, 2015 Tadias Magazine

BBC News

April 20th, 2015

Ethiopia has declared three days of mourning following the killing by the Islamic State (IS) of more than 20 Ethiopian Christians in Libya.

The Libyan branch of IS on Sunday released a video showing one group of men being beheaded on a beach and another group being shot in a desert.

Ethiopia’s government has now confirmed that the people shown being killed were Ethiopian migrant workers.

IS and other jihadist groups are present in several Libyan towns.

Ethiopians have taken to social media to express their shock, anger and grief following the killings, reports the BBC’s Anne Soy.

The country’s parliament is expected to hold an emergency session.

The African Union, the European Union and the US have also expressed their solidarity with Ethiopia.

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Podcast

Ethiopia Condemns IS Killings of Christians

April 19, 2015 Tadias Magazine

April 19th, 2015

Addis Ababa – Ethiopia condemned Sunday the reported killing of Ethiopian Christians captured in Libya, and vowed to continue its fight against Islamist extremists.

“We strongly condemn such atrocities, whether they are Ethiopians are not,” Ethiopian Minster of Communications Redwan Hussein told AFP.

Ethiopia’s embassy in Egypt was working to verify if those killed were indeed Ethiopians, he added.

The Islamic State jihadist group on Sunday released a video purportedly showing the executions of some 30 Ethiopian Christians captured in Libya.

The 29-minute video purports to show militants holding two groups of captives, described in a text on the screen as “followers of the cross from the enemy Ethiopian Church”.

A masked fighter in black brandishing a pistol makes a statement threatening Christians if they do not convert to Islam.

A large number of Ethiopians leave their country — Africa’s second largest in terms of population with more than 90 million people — seeking work elsewhere.

Many travel to Libya and other north African nations for jobs, as well as to use it as a stepping stone before risking the dangerous sea crossing to Europe.

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Featured

Video: Islamic State kills Ethiopian Christians in Libya

April 19, 2015 Tadias Magazine

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By JON GAMBRELL and ELIAS MESERET

CAIRO (AP) — Islamic State militants in Libya shot and beheaded groups of captive Ethiopian Christians, a video purportedly from the extremists showed Sunday. The attack widens the circle of nations affected by the group’s atrocities while showing its growth beyond a self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

The release of the 29-minute video comes a day after Afghanistan’s president blamed the extremists for a suicide attack in his country that killed at least 35 people — and underscores the chaos gripping Libya after its 2011 civil war and the killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

It also mirrored a film released in February showing militants beheading 21 captured Egyptian Christians on a Libyan beach, which immediately drew Egyptian airstrikes on the group’s suspected positions in Libya. Whether Ethiopia would — or could — respond with similar military force remains unclear.

Ethiopia long has drawn the anger of Islamic extremists over its military’s attacks on neighboring Somalia, whose population is almost entirely Muslim. While the militant in the video at one point said “Muslim blood that was shed under the hands of your religion is not cheap,” it did not specifically mention the Ethiopian government’s actions.

The video, released via militant social media accounts and websites, could not be independently verified by The Associated Press. However, it corresponded to other videos released by the Islamic State group and bore the symbol of its al-Furqan media arm.

The video starts with what it called a history of Christian-Muslim relations, followed by scenes of militants destroying churches, graves and icons. A masked fighter brandishing a pistol delivers a long statement, saying Christians must convert to Islam or pay a special tax prescribed by the Quran.

It shows one group of captives, identified as Ethiopian Christians, purportedly held by an Islamic State affiliate in eastern Libya known as Barqa Province. It also shows another purportedly held by an affiliate in the southern Libyan calling itself the Fazzan Province. The video then switches between footage of the captives in the south being shot dead and the captives in the east being beheaded on a beach. It was not immediately possible to estimate how many captives were killed or confirm their identities.

In Ethiopia, government spokesman Redwan Hussein said officials were in contact with its embassy in Cairo to verify the video’s authenticity. Hussein said he believed those killed likely were Ethiopian migrants hoping to reach Europe. Libya has become a hub for migrants across Africa hoping to cross the Mediterranean to enter Europe for work and better lives.

“If this is confirmed, it will be a warning to people who wish to risk and travel to Europe though the dangerous route,” Hussein said.

Abba Kaletsidk Mulugeta, an official with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church’s Patriarchate Office, told the AP he also believed the victims likely were migrants.

“I believe this is just another case of the IS group killing Christians in the name of Islam. Our fellow citizens have just been killed on a faith-based violence that is totally unacceptable. This is outrageous,” Mulugeta said. “No religion orders the killing of other people, even people from another religion.”

Ethiopia’s options to retaliate remain slim, given its distance from Libya. However, Egyptian Ambassador to Ethiopia Mohammed Edrees said his country could partner with Addis Ababa to strike the militants.

“That could be an option,” Edrees told the AP. “We will see and explore what is possible to deal with group.”

Edrees said Ethiopian officials had yet to approach Egypt to discuss the idea.

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Podcast

Media Crackdown & Election in Ethiopia

April 18, 2015 Tadias Magazine

KBIA Radio

By JASON MCLURE

Ethiopia’s parliamentary elections are set to be held May 24th, but there is little doubt the ruling party will win an overwhelming majority amidst a crackdown on independent media and political dissidents. This week on Global Journalist, we look at why and how the restrictions on the media in Africa’s second-most populous country began, and speak with a journalist who spent more than a year in prison for reporting.

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Events

SEED: Society of Ethiopians Established in Diaspora Announces 2015 Honorees

April 18, 2015 Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Saturday, April 18th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — Society of Ethiopians Established in Diaspora (SEED) will hold its 23nd Annual Awards Gala at Georgetown University Hotel & Conference Center in Washington, D.C. on May 24th, 2015.

The organization announced that it will honor ten individuals from the Diaspora this year, including educators, former government officials, artists, activists, journalists and students. The honorees are Aklilu Habtewold, Tamagne Beyene, Yohannes Gebregeorgis, Jane Kurtz, Tesfaye Gessesse, Dr. Zebene Lemma, Dr. Teshome Wagaw and students Elizabeth Elsa Girma, Naomi Fesseha and Woudese Befikadu.

Last year, the awards went to Professor Donald N. Levine, Obang Metho, Menbere Aklilu, Ambassador Zewde Retta and the late Rachel Beckwith.

SEED said it is recognizing former Ethiopian Prime Minister Aklilu Habtewold posthumously “in acknowledgment of his outstanding lifelong public service with integrity, in appreciation of his contribution to the modernization and development of Ethiopia (including building Ethiopia’s defense capability at the time), in connecting Ethiopian Airlines to the rest of the world, in fighting against Italian aggression in his youth, for amicably resolving boarder conflicts with Ethiopia’s neighbors, for being instrumental to making Addis Ababa the home for the AU (OAU) headquarters, for bringing Ethiopia to the world stage by representing it with dignity and resolve in the UN, Europe, the US and Africa, and for his own academic accomplishments, demonstrated love of country.”

In addition, SEED will bestow the accolade on CNN Hero Yohannes Gebregeorgis and Jane Kurtz “as collaborative founders of Ethiopia Reads, an organization that brings books and libraries to rural Ethiopia, in appreciation of the rich and positive contributions they have made by exemplifying the highest ideals and standards education for our young people, as well as in recognition of their own inspiring academic excellence, prolific writings of children’s books, civic responsibilities and continuing the work respectively.”

Artist and Professor Tesfaye Gessesse is being honored “in acknowledgment of his outstanding life-long contributions to the preservation of our culture through his prolific writings, theatrical and poetic talents, as a playwright whose work has inspired many followers of his work, as a founder of Orchestra Ethiopia, as a distinguished role model to the countless young artists in Ethiopia and Ethiopians around the globe, as a venerated teacher with his own stellar academic accomplishments and for all of his lifetime achievements.”

Teshome Wagaw, a founding member of the Ethiopian Mahber of Michigan (EMM) and co-founder of the Ethiopian American Education Foundation (EAF), is also being honored. “Known to a great number of Ethiopians from the 1960s as a pioneer Voice of America Broadcaster, Professor Emeritus, Dr. Teshome Wagaw is an outstanding scholar and exemplary role model to Ethiopians everywhere,” SEED said. “Dr. Wagaw is loved and admired by many across generations.” The organization added: “SEED honors Dr. Wagaw in acknowledgement of his contribution to the development of higher education in Ethiopia (both as respected professor and author), in recognition of his own academic accomplishments, demonstrated patriotism, unselfish devotion to humanitarian causes, unfading interest and love of country.”

For more information on 2015 SEED honorees please visit www.ethioseed.com
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If You Go:
23rd ANNUAL SEED AWARDS DINNER
SUNDAY, May 24th, 2015 at 6:30pm
Georgetown University Hotel & Conference Center
Washington DC
Tickets: $75 online
$85 on-site, $35 Children under 12
Buy Tickets Online or make check payable to SEED
P.O. Box 848, Pomona, NJ, 082401
Phone: 609- 407-0496 or 234 -380-1533
www.ethioseed.com

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Podcast

Strong Words Start, May End, South African Xenophobic Attacks

April 18, 2015 Tadias Magazine

VOA News

By Anita Powell

JOHANNESBURG — After a protracted silence, South African President Jacob Zuma publicly has condemned a rise in attacks on foreign nationals in two major cities. But critics point out that the leadership in the Rainbow Nation — including Zuma himself — has been less than welcoming to foreign residents, and that a war of words started this conflagration. And the perpetual thorn in Zuma’s side, opposition rabblerouser Julius Malema, says Zuma is to blame for the fact that South Africans increasingly see violence as the solution to their problems.

“We condemn the violence in the strongest possible terms,” Zuma said. “The attacks violate all the values that South Africa embodies, especially the respect for human life, human rights, human dignity and Ubuntu. Our country stands firmly against all intolerances such as racism, xenophobia, homophobia and sexism.”

Strong words from President Jacob Zuma before a nation in the throes of violence against African immigrants. In recent weeks, his nation has seen an upswing in attacks against foreign residents — particularly lower-income residents originally from Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia and Zimbabwe.

Criticism

The violence started in the coastal city of Durban and then spread to the economic hub, Johannesburg. But Zuma’s words before parliament failed to satisfy his critics, who immediately pounced on him.

Zuma’s biggest critic, far-left politician Julius Malema, delivered a rousing speech that highlighted — in more ways than one — that the president’s stoic, often stilted rhetoric is an impediment to his message.

“Mr. President, you come here, you want to condemn violence against xenophobia. But the Cubans have taught us that body language speaks volumes than prepared speech,” he said.

“You come with a prepared speech, your body doesn’t suggest any other leader who is concerned about the killings in KwaZulu-Natal. But when you were defending the spending in Nkandla, your body language was very stronger than when you were condemning the violence … activities in the country. Fellow South Africans, we need each other, let us not kill each other. There is no country in Africa that can survive in isolation.”

Fanning the flames

After all, it was a speech that may have sparked this latest round of xenophobic attacks. In late March, the king of the Zulu people, Goodwill Zwelithini, delivered a speech that many construed as being derisive of foreign residents. Zuma’s son later publicly supported and added to the king’s sentiments, adding fuel to the fire.

Among the king’s reported remarks: “We ask foreign nationals to pack their belongings and go back to their countries.”

The king claims his words were poorly translated from isiZulu and that he was misinterpreted. He now faces a charge of hate speech.

Activist Tim Flack this week laid a complaint against the king. Flack’s day job is as an organizer for the South African National Defense Union, but he says he laid the hate speech charge in his personal capacity. He says that hate speech is imbedded in South African society.

Apartheid mentality lingers

“South Africa’s come from a very very, sort of, racist past, coming from the apartheid regime and moving over into democracy,” said Flack. “People have still got wounds from all those years back and now those guys that were young then have now had children, it’s sort of carrying on. It’s going to take a very long time before that sort of mentality of us and them … it’s always us and them. And this is mentality that’s been coded into us by the apartheid regime and it’s very difficult, it seems like it’s been very difficult for people to sort of let that go.”

More worrying, Malema says, is the tendency of South Africa’s leadership to react violently — as an example, he mentioned the 2012 mineworkers’ strike in the town of Marikana that led police to shoot dead 34 protesters.

Malema put the blame for this squarely on Zuma.

“It was through the state that our people were taught that the resolution to differences will be through violence,” he said. “It was under your leadership that when you disagreed with people in Marikana, you killed them. Because you never believed in peaceful resolution of differences.”

Rainbow Nation at risk?

This is not the South Africa that many people hoped for in 1994, when the nation ended its racist regime and dubbed itself the inclusive Rainbow Nation. And it’s not the nation that so many immigrants — from Africa and beyond — flocked to in search of a new life and better opportunities.

This, in the words of former President Nelson Mandela, is what that nation was about.

“Let be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement. Let freedom reign. I thank you,” Mandela said.

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Podcast

Ethiopia Fires Coach Mariano Barreto

April 18, 2015 Tadias Magazine

BBC Sport

By Betemariam Hailu

The Portuguese, a former Ghana coach, took charge of the Walia Antelopes last year, signing a two year contract.

But a disappointing reign saw Ethiopia finish bottom of their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group.

An official statement, sent to BBC Sport, says the EFF will pay an undisclosed amount of money to Baretto for ending the contract early.

Local media have reported on deep divisions between Barreto and the EFF’s technical department.

Ethiopia are drawn with Algeria, Lesotho and Seychelles in their 2017 Nations Cup qualifying group.
They kick off their campaign against Lesotho in June.

The EFF have declined to suggest who may be in the frame to take charge of the national side for the qualifiers.
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