The 2011 Ethiopian Review Top 20 Non-Ethiopians Who are Best Friends of the Struggle for Freedom in Ethiopia.
- Mohamed Keita, advocacy coordinator for CPJ‘s Africa Program, consistently gives voice to the repressed media in Ethiopia.
- Ana Gomez, member of the European Parliament from Portugal, put other European leaders to shame with her honesty and candor about the Western-backed dictatorship in Ethiopia.
- Gregory Stanton, President of Genocide Watch, speaks out the truth about Ethiopia.
- Ted Vestal, professor at University of Oklahoma a long time friend of Ethiopia, refused to be in the service of dictators.
- Patrick Leahy and Russ Feingold, U.S. Senators, oppose the U.S. Government’s anti-human rights policy in Ethiopia.
- Christopher Smith, U.S. Congressman, helped pass a legislation (Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007) restricting U.S. assistance to the dictatorial regime in Ethiopia unless it stops violating human rights. Jendayi Frazer and other U.S. Department officials succeeded in convincing some senators to kill the legislation in the Senate.
- Donald Payne, U.S. Congressman, collaborated with Chris Smith.
- Human Right Watch, an international human rights advocacy group, documents human rights violations in Ethiopia.
- Amnesty International, international human rights group, has complied enough documents on atrocities in Ethiopia that could land the perpetrators, Meles Zenawi and gang, in prison for a long time.
- Voice of America, overcomes the signal jamming effort by the Meles regime to provide news and information to over 20 million Ethiopians.
- German Radio, has been serving the people of Ethiopia for over 40 years.
- Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder, exposed what the U.S. knows about the TPLF regime crimes against the people of Ethiopia, including exploding bombs among civilians and blaming it on opposition groups.
- BBC, exposed U.K. Government’s complicity in Meles Zenawi regime’s atrocities in Ethiopia.
- Gene Sharp, Albert Einstein Institute founder, educates freedom fighters how to overthrow repressive regimes, translated the manual, From Dictatorship to Democracy into Amharic.
- Mary Ann Jolley, investigative journalist with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, produced a documentary and written about the adoption scam in Ethiopia and corruption inside international NGOs.
- Facebook and Google, made it easier for Ethiopian freedom fighters to communicate and exchange information.
- George Ayittey, internationally renowned economist, professor at American University in Washington DC, a persistent and powerful critic of the dictatorship in Ethiopia, and all African dictators.
- Anthony Mitchell, AP Correspondent in Addis Ababa, expelled by the Woyanne propaganda chief for having the courage — unlike the current foreign correspondents in Addis Ababa — to report the truth. In 2007 Mitchell died in a place crash in Cameroon. RIP.
- Richard Pankhurst, professor, documents Ethiopian history and heritage.
- Reginald and Catherine Hamlin, physicians, moved from Australia to Ethiopia and opened a hospital that serves the needs of Ethiopian women.
We would like to hear your views about the Top 20 List. Your feedback is taken into consideration when preparing the Top 20s. Please leave your comment below. The next Top 20 list will be richest Ethiopians.
41 thoughts on “Top 20 Best Friends of Ethiopia”
For me Facebook is #1. People should encouraged to use it more. In addition to that, latin writing should be promoted and should be legal so that everybody will participate in the network. Geez alphabet is becoming a barier for our society in the Internet world.
Ethiopian replies:
December 7th, 2011 at 10:42 PM
Yehonk doma neger neh, Geez or Amharic is your traditional language understood by all Ethiopian, educated or non-educated, and remember, to use Facebook, it takes a little bit of some computer understanding that comes from some sort of education which means, understanding Geez alphabet is something very easy by any anyone who sits on the computer, If you don’t have respect for your own Alphabet then Ethiopia’s case doesn’t concern you and get your freakin’ ass out of Ethiopian’s network. Gegema Latin wannabe.
zinaw replies:
December 9th, 2011 at 1:56 AM
Why then curse is needed, if you think you are sharp like a razor blade?. sorry. let me go back to the intellectual business. better to go to the other comments and learn something productive.
Anonymous replies:
December 10th, 2011 at 11:17 AM
@ Ethiopian:
How u call some one else “doma” when u are the PERFECT DOMA ?
Are u sure when u say “Geez or Amharic is your traditional language understood by all Ethiopian,educated or non-educated”?
Is geez and amharic understood by ALL Ethiopians???
If u insult the other one because u think he is mistaken, what do u deserve then when u are making such a huge mistake/lie?
Get mature,man!
Ethiopian Heritage replies:
December 8th, 2011 at 4:29 PM
Geez should be also the alphabet for all Africa, i know there are African groups who are advocating that.
አማረ replies:
December 11th, 2011 at 7:39 PM
ግእዝ እንኳን አፍሪካዎች ኦሮሞዎችና ኦጋዴኖች አይፈልጉትም። ሙዚየም መግባት ያለበት ፊደል ነው። ትግሬዎችና ኤርትራዎች መጠቀም መብታቸው ነው።አማራዎች ግን ይህንን ፊደል መተው አለባቸው። ኋላ ቀርና ለቴክኖሎጂ የማይመች ነው። ኦሮሞዎች ላቲንን ስለሚጠቀሙ ብዙ አድቫንቴጅ አግኝተዋል።
Thanks Elias. Resourceful and insightful in your thoughts and actions. I wish I was honored with the badge of honor you are wearing as the terrifying fighter who Meles is wetting his pants for and calls you and the likes of you terrorist…
Anonymous replies:
December 5th, 2011 at 5:07 PM
Hello Mr Elias !
I like your invistigative attempts.
But I don’t agrre what you have written about Richard Pankhrust’s
contribution and his being ”a friend of Ethiopia” case.
Professor R Pankhrust is a well known palace story recorder since
the era of the Empiror. And he with other mainstrean so-called historians are not really respected with so many Nations and nationalities in THE COUNTRY appart from the ruling cliques and the associates.
Gaachana Biyyaa
Elais it is Mohamed Asim Keita not Hassim….Yes he is the best. Keita is a good African, human rights activist and staff of CPJ. God Bless
Oh congratulations Elias….
Well-done Elias!
It was nice for we, the readers, to know how ER has rated the list of distinguished personalities, just for transparency. Correct also Ana Gomez’s info. She is not from Spain. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/28306/Ana_GOMES.html
Elias, honorable Ana Maria Gomez is from Portugal
Senator Russ Feingold is a former Senator. He is not in the Senate now.He lost his seat in the last election. Otherwise he is a staunch supporter of Ethiopian oppositions and a loyal friend of Ethiopia !!! Thank You !!!!
Ato Elias,
Please include in the list Professor Claude Sumner, who has spent all his life in Ethiopia teaching philosophy and conducting extensive reaserch on Ethiopian piolosophy. He is the first English-speaking scholar to introduce the thoughts of Zara Yacob to the philosophical world.
==============
Claude Sumner
Pasted from
Claude Sumner who describes himself as “a Canadian by Birth, and an Ethiopian by choice”[1] was the first English-speaking scholar to introduce the thoughts of Zara Yacob to the philosophical world. Sumner undertook the task of comparing Zara Yacob with Descartes on methods of thinking. For Sumner, modern philosophy began in Ethiopia with Zara Yaqob at the same time as in England and France.
Someone recently theorized that the West deliberately ignores the plight of the majority Ethiopians because of the humiliation Italy suffered during the Adwa War. On another occasion, a white gentlemen from Louisiana not long ago mockingly kept saying Ethiopians are “intelligent”, “superb”, “never been dominated” (he was quoting verbatim from an Ethiopian/s he worked with) etc., but in the end, like a spiteful women, brow beat and put down the Ethiopian he was talking with. Could the Adwa War really be factor in the West’s turning its deaf ears? This could be a mystery solver here. In light of the West’s oblivion, the 20 friends are light-houses on dark ocean sides – Thank you. The bible says, “you will be exiled with your enemies”, therefore, as we are challenged on every single issues and rights, so were the 20 friends: slandered and humiliated by the unscrupulous (ይሉኙታቢስ) Woeyane.
ቢሆን ምኞታችን የኛ የሁላችን
ቢፈቅድልን ለኛ ለሁላችን በውነት ባንድነት አጊጠን
ክብሯን ጌጧን ብናይ ደጉ ዘመን ደርሰን:
አይሳነው እሱ ያድርሰናል በውነት ከልብ ከለምመነው:
አማኑሄል ቢፈቅድ ተንኮለኛው ሁሉ ክፍ የሚሰራው:
የሰው ድንበር ገፍቶ ድሃ የሚበድለው:
በሰው ትከሻ ላይ የሚደላደለው: ልቡን የሚነፋው:
ሰው ሰርቶ እንዳይበላ ውሎ እንዳይገባ ህይወት የሚያጠፋው:
በዝሙት በስስት በከንቱ አሉባልታ ስጋውን የጎዳው:
ዘመድን ከዘመድ ወገንን ክወገን ጎረቤት ሰፈርን የሚያበጣብጠው:
አምነትን ለውጦ ክዶ የሚያስግደው:
ሀይማኖቱን ክብሩን ሀገሩን ታሪኩን ለገንዘብ የሸጠው:
በሚያልፍ በሚጠፋ በሃላፊ ንብረት በጥቅም የተገዛው:
ቢሆን ነው የኛ ምኞት ፈጣሪ አምላካችን ልቦና ቢሰጠው:
ፍቅርና ሰላምን ምህራት ቢያድለው::
አልመለስ ካለም ሰላምና ፍቅርን ምረትን ከጠላ:
ጠማማ ልብ ይዞ ከጠፋበት መላ:
ይህ ሁሉ ኩታንኩት የሀገር የወገን የታሪክ አተላ:
ሁሉ በጁ የሆነ ፈጣሪ አምላካችን ያውቅበታል መላ:
ሁሉን በመስመሩ እሱ ያበጀዎል ያሰነዳደዎል:
አይፈጅበት ጊዜ አይደክም እንደሰው ሁሉን ያበጀዎል:
ጩኸት ልመናችን ይሁን ለሃይማኖት ላልንባት ምድር:
ሁሉም የሚገኘው መብላት መጠጣት መደሰቱ ሳይቀር:
ሀገር ሰላም ሲሆን ምድር ስትባረክ ዳር አስከ ምድር ዳር:
ያኔ ነው ደስታ ያኔ ነው ኑሯችን ፍቅራችን ሲሰምር:
መድኋኔአለም ባርኮ ሲሰጠን ኧረኛ የሃይማኖት ያገር::
ያሁኑ ኑሯችን እንዲያው ምን መላ አለው ምኑስ ያምርብናል?
ክርስትናው ያንገት የለ ከልባችን ኑሮአችንም የግድ ከሞት ጋር መታገል:
ስሙ እንዳይቀርብን ራስን ማታለል ሆኗል ይኛ ትግል:
እንዲያው አልረታም አልሞት ባይ ተጋዳይ ሆነና ነገሩ:
ሁሉም ተቅበዝብዞ የሚያደርገው ጠፍቶበት ርቆበት ሚስጥሩ:
ካህን አይል ዲያቆን መነኩሴው ጳጳሱ መቀበጣጠሩ:
ሁሉም መላ ጠፍቶበት ቅን እንዳይናገር ደግሞ እንዳይሰራ ጠፍቶበት ማገሩ:
በገዛ እጁ ታስሮ ከፈጣሪ ርቆ ከዲያብሎስ ጋር ሆነ ሁሉም ፍቅሩ::
አሁን ግን ይበቃል ያለፈው ኑሮአችን የሱ ግርብትና:
አውልቀን እንጣለው እንካደው በእውነት ይቅርብን ሰንፍና…
መጥቷል ደግ ዘመን ቆሟል ከፊታችን ደስ ደስ እያለው:
ማነው ያሰበበት ሰንቁን የቋጠረው ከዚያ የሚያደርሰው:
ከፈጣሪው ጋር በሃይማኖት በእምነት ቃል የተግባባው?
ሊገለጽ ነው ክብሩ ምጥቷል ተሸልሞ ቴዎድሮስ ብቅ ሊል:
ሊያምርባት ኢትዮጵያ ልትከብር ልትዋብ ሊያበራ የርሷ ድል:
ሰባ አለም ሁሉ የናቃት የጠላት በፊቷ ሊማልል::
ይህንን የመሰለ ጸጋ ክብር ሳናይ ሞት እንዳይቀድመን…
– ፍኖተ ሰላም
although some of the listed could be described as friends of ethiopia i would not put most or all in the top 20 list.some of the listed are just doing their job and many among them are controversial(you said bbc?lol). also becareful to call people like no. 20 friends. true charity takes place in secret as for example the christian faith demands,the moment you go public with it it is a different story. in general the choice is not good and shows ferenji-amlakinet.
Ethiopian replies:
December 7th, 2011 at 10:50 PM
Selam yene wondim Kuratu, even though I agree on what you said about BBC, the “ferenji-amlakinet” thing you said is very much unrelated to the main objective here, the title of the list is not “Top 20 Ethiopians”, its Top 2o Friends of Ethiopia which implies that the list doesn’t consist Ethiopians. As for me, Ana Gomez must top the list and I believe Richard Pankhurst is Ethiopian citizen thus can not be included even though my respect for him and his family of the past and present is immense.
In addition to the adoption story Mary Ann Jolley and the Foreign Department of ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) did different critical stories. They exposed the true nature of the perpetrators as well as the cheap bogus charity originations. They risked their life to reveal the truth and be voice for the voiceless. Because of their stories countries changed their regulation toward handling aid, adoption and etc. I encourage you to watch the stories made by ABC about Ethiopia. Thus Mary and ABC are more than a friend for us.
Hailu replies:
December 6th, 2011 at 3:29 PM
12.Bekele says:
“Because of their stories countries changed their regulation toward handling aid, adoption and etc.”
How untrue.
Where did you get such a mindset boy or are you a white man ?
The truth is that western governments do not need such stories to be broadcast to learn about the problem. They are very well informed about what is happening in Ethiopia through their different channels, including the Vatican.
Rather, while causing the problem by keeping the regime in power and then broadcasting such stories should be viewed as a smear campaign. What one observes in such broadcasts is that the audience is not told that the regime is supported by the US and the west and would collapse overnight without such support.
Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! TV/Radio program. She exposed the genocide in the Ogaden and accused the weyane regime of creating a man-made famine in Ethiopia by diverting food-aid to purchase weapons.
Hailu replies:
December 6th, 2011 at 4:01 PM
The same as above.This is not called exposing this is smear campaign.You guys’ thoughts are turned upside down.
On the enemy side we had: Paul Henze
how about the Swedish journalist who risking their life to report on the Oganden genocide?
How about that distinguished and beautiful African sister professor Dambisa Moyo(Economist)??
Yes Mohamed Hassim Keita for tirelessly supporting the movement for press freedom. Supporting the exiled journalists in all aspect of need including finical aid.
Mary ann Jolley for powerful stories.
thank you very much we just know who our enemy is Ethiopia has so many enemy and more we can say, actually we have so many good friends of this poor country Ethiopia and they are beside us for ever LONG LIVE ETHIOPIA!!!!!!!!1
Perfect!!!! These people and organizations deserve respect and gratitude for what they have done for rights, honor and history of our people be it Amharas, Oromos and the rest. Good job Brother Elias!!!!
Hi Elias,
My respect and love for you has risen, when I read your articles that makes Weyanes sleepless and terrorised.
God Bless you!
Keep it!
Go ahead!
These are my favourites among the listed:
George Ayittey,Donald Payne,Mohamed Hassim Keita,Ana Gomez,Ted Vestal,Patrick Leahy and Russ Feingold and Christopher Smith because they are individuals and the listed organizations are not my favourites not only because they are part of the international power structure that is behind Woyanes but also because of their records.
If we followed that logic we could also call Woyanes friends of Ethiopia because we can list some good things they did for Ethiopia like building roads,dams and homes.
Elias On the enemy list Paul Hinze, Josef stiglitz.Jeffery sachs ,George w Bush ,and the women who has been workin in state dept as africa chief,The British aid chief for africa who has throwing one lies after the other by the BBC recently about the fassade development,Herman Cohen. DLA piper i will keep giving some more individuals and institutes as next.
It is a shame to see BBC as friend of Ethiopia. Never BBC nor the British Empire has ever been FRIENDS.
Well done;I,particularly am,and generally,Ethiopians are genuinely indebted to Richard Pankhurst for the most invaluable work on Africa history and heritage he has done.Also,we Ethiopians thank him for being exellent thinker and knowledge and skill that he accumelated for years and shared his priceless findings in Ethiopia with the rest of the world communities.
God bless you …..Eliyas
Reverend Lawry of peoples Agenda in Atlanta – friend of Dr. King – plaayed a great role in exposing the human rights abuse in Ethiopia – in fact he turned down Meles’s invitation fiver years back and made great cpeeches on our rallies. Please include him.
Thank
We need friends who genuinely stand for justice, freedom and democracy.
However the fact remains that we are still responsible for sorting out the mess that is blighting the opposition forces inside and outside Ethiopia.
Outside observers are astonished why the opposition is so weak and divided, considering the brutality of the sodomite Tigre People liberation Front.
oromo liberation front or afar liberation front or ogaden liberation front or sidama liberation front etc cannot say they represent the Ethiopian people. they stand for their ethnic/tribal group. there is a legitimate demand for respect and equality of all ethnic/tribal groups. but this can only be achieved once we as a country collectively sort out the common problem facing us as a country. Ethnic and tribal division is THE POLITICS OF THE SODOMITE TIGRE PEOPLE LIBERATION FRONT. iF WE PLAY THEIR game we cant win and will continue to be victimised by the bestial TPLF.
Dick Gregory brought food aid during the famine.
jane replies:
December 8th, 2011 at 12:37 PM
and nobody cared for the 7 million starved in the US during the 1930s.
What about professor
Christopher Clapham of the
University of Cambridge
Centre of African Studies
I think we need to include him in the list.
A while back he prepared a very fine analysis concerning TPLF regime. Infact,citing the unti demmocratic nature of TPLF and her narrow social baseas her shortcomings,he predicted the Ethiopian prublic will rise and demand her removal.
comment 21 “If we followed that logic we could also call Woyanes friends of Ethiopia because we can list some good things they did for Ethiopia like building roads,dams and homes” The good fellow Hailu if you you think woyanne good deeds in your view be it but we know woyanne only a local thief, killer, looter (11.3 billion) only known and some more in underground, korojo gelbach, lier very very very backward collection of dudes that couldnot even manage dedebit let alone this great nation Ethiopia in the language you might understand that Ethiopia is shoes number 200 as shifta group can only wear 40 you
have your right to put them where ever you are if you have the self cifidence where ever you can not only in cyber from your kitcen.
BBC should definately be out of this list!