It seems that the Woyanne regime is telling Somalis that it is the Amharas who are occupying their country, as the article below by Time Magazine shows. Ethiopians must inform the people of Somali that it is the Woyanne terrorist regime led by Meles Zenawi’s crime family that is occupying and pillaging their country. There are some hodam Amharas, Oromos, and others who are supporting the Woyanne regime, but as a people, Amharas have nothing to do with the invasion. In fact, most Amharas bitterly oppose the invasion of Somalia by the Woyanne regime acting as an Ethiopian government.
Black Hawk Down, and on Display
“Close the door,” shouts the lady sitting in front of me. One of her grandchildren quickly obliges and the metal-sheeted door is shut with a squeak. It is mid-day in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu but there is little activity on the usually bustling streets of the neighboring market. Ethiopian soldiers are busy rooting out alleged al-Qaeda terrorists and members of the Islamic Courts Union, which held sway over the city and most of the country until the end of 2006. At the smallest hint of trouble, the soldiers are quick to respond with bursts of gunfire in all directions. The last thing my interviewee wants is lead pouring in through her front door.
Her name is Hawo Hussein Adan, more popularly known as “The Helicopter Woman.” She resides in a squalid two-room house with bullet-riddled walls but she prefers to live in its tiny courtyard amidst the chicken that scurry about at her feet. She hasn’t budged from this spot for 17 years. But despite a foot injury and her relatively run-down lifestyle, the helicopter woman is renowned here in Mogadishu as a symbol of defiance and resilience for many Somalis in the city. The Somalis who visit the helicopter w oman today see her as a symbol of nationalism — and her guardianship of the relic that provides her nickname resonates with Somali belief in their own courage in the face of foreign encroachment. Says one neighbor, “She is a strong woman.”
Adan won her strange appellation when one of the U.S. Black Hawk helicopters fell on her house in October 1993, in the middle of a U.N. humanitarian intervention gone disastrously awry. Adan managed to retain a part of the helicopter’s remains before everything else inside the aircraft was destroyed or looted. The piece sits in a corner of the courtyard as proof of what she has gone through and her small but emotional part in the country’s history.
During my visit, she recounted the fateful afternoon in October, 1993 when she lost her home. “We were 20 people inside the room when the helicopter fell on our house. Militia first attacked [it from the] Bakara market. It came down and fell among our houses. When the chopper fell, a wounded American jumped away. He along with others ran from the back of our house to the front and stood near us. When he came to the front of our house, he stopped there and he killed several people. He killed one man there, there and there,” she says, pointing around the neighborhood. “Everyone was afraid and ran away from him. When he did such a thing, some of our Somali men came from behind the trees and hiding, they caught the wounded man. When he was captured, some of the Somali men fought with each other about what to do with him. They said, ‘We should kill him’. Some said, ‘We should not kill him because some of our men are taken by the Americans. We should keep him to help us release them.'” The American, pilot Michael Durant, was held by the Somalis for 11 days.
Adan managed to escape from the conflagration unscathed but two of her children were killed under the falling debris. (She also lost 100 kilos of food and 11 of her goats). Her house was among several in the neighborhood consumed by the ensuing fire. “It was very troubling. I was afraid. We were afraid, all of us because our houses were destroyed, our people were killed, our land was captured, so that’s why we were afraid.”
Like many she sees what’s happening today as a continuation of the crisis from the early 90’s. Since the beginning of this year, Ethiopian troops have taken over the city in an attempt to rid the capital of remnants of the earlier Union of Islamic Courts. But Adan, again like the rest of her countrymen, sees nothing positive in this.”I’m praying to God to take those Amharra and Christians away from us,” she says. Amharra is a reference to the Ethiopians; Christians refers to all Westerners. “I don’t need any Amharra or Christians.” The best solution to all of Somalia’s problems, she feels, is in leaving Somalis alone. Declares the Helicopter Woman: “Allah can give us everything we need.”
8 thoughts on “Some Somalis believe that it is the Amharas who invaded them”
Elias, you are probably doing the best thing for next Amahara generation by telling Somalis that amharas have nothing to do with this war.
It is just amazing why most of the Diasopra is silent about this.We should flood their webesites(Somalis) and tell them the truth. Weyane is digging our own graves for us by picking a fight with Somalia. We have no business to be in their country as much as we do not want them marching into our own.
Elias thanks bro. May the God of our beloved ethiopia keep you safe and healthy.
In somalia has been a major propaganda spreaded since Mengestu era by EPRP, TPLF, EPLF,and ELF while those groups occupied office in Moqudusho by Sieadbaree rule. Some of Ethiopian refuges floded to somalia used to tell me, because of the above groups political association you should not admit that you are from Amhara tribe or christian. You do not even get refuge status or any assistace from UN in that country. I am an Amhara and Christian but I love the people of Somalia, I admire their strong stand against the invaders like Woyanne (Tigirian minority government) as well as the evil Gorge W.Bush policy to ward our moslem brother and sister. The somalian people showed the world the great heroism. They will win the invaders! We shall be with you for your freedom!!
Peace for Ethiopans and Somalians!!!
What You guys are trying to hide under the carpet is so bulky so much so that it will only dis/serve you as an obstacle causing you to trip over it; flipping you over like frying humberger , making you to turn yourselves belly up, thereby rendering you a laughing stock to your kids or wives and to your curious neighbours: Somalis and non-somalis.
Here is why I said that:
According to the unpublished folk literature – oral oxford dictionary or encyclopidia Brritanica , Amhara does not mean amything beyond any Amharic speaking Ethiopian such as members the Ethiopian Armed fotrces and other members of the federal institutions , who speak in Amharic as they do their jobs . Of course there is also an Amhara kilil to which the Amharic language may give its largest credit for serving it as an incubator after it came as a new born baby from Tigray; where it was born from a very old mother , geez , who gave birth to several daughter languages right after the overzealous Axumite clergy decided to incarcerate the old mom in the tewahdo church premises.
Tigrigna on the other hand being geez’s oldest daughterwas overwhelemed to raise so many lill siters , amharic and many other last minute daughters of geez . Therefore besides adopting tigre , which is now the second largest language in Eritrea, Tigrigna had to ask the help of agewigna , in Agew Midr or the entire central Ethiopia . Fortunately Agewigna willingly accepted Tigrigna’s request to help adopt and to raise baby Amharic.
Sidamigna was asked to Adopt Hadiyagna and Guragigna , and after a long huggling , Sidamigna also Accepted the adoption reques to raise the aforementioned two baby languages . Many other similar requests for the adoption of other tiny lill linquistic babies – such as for Hararigna, Gafatigna, Damotoigna, H/argobigna and for the other ” now-extinct languages” – were also put out in the media when Tigrigna advertised the adoption requests which were put out on the betekihnet media outlets. Those historic advertisements , you may call them ” plea for help”, were successfully accepted by, sometimes enforced upon , the other ageing hamitic languages which adpoted those beautiful lill baby daughters of geez.
Interestingly all the hamitic groups of languages that adopted the various geez baby daughter languages died one after the other and Of all those semitic baby daughters of geez , it was Amharic that grew up the fastest; thereby replacing the various agewigna languages that adpoted it. Another interesting point is that eventhough the various adopted daughters of geez had tried their best to keep their own birth names, however, their hamitic adopters simply gave them names such as amharic , geez or Tigre; and as time went by even in this case the “Amhara’ name predominated , and at times , “Amhara” became synonumous with anything Habeshan. Fore example, among others, to the Muslims who live on all corners of Ethiopia, Amhara became synonymous to Tigray , Ethiopia , the orthodox christianity , etc. Thus, Herein comes the reason why , today as in the past many centuries , Somalis and Arabs had been refering to Ethiopia as Amhara. For them Mengistu is as As Amhara as HIM Rastafarai and Meles. For them – as long as the Army speaks in Amharic – there is no difference between the Current Ethiopian Army or the previous ones. Henestly speaking, this is not bad for Ethiopia and neither do we have to be squeamish about let alone trying to disown it. The Army needs to be seen as one entity that fights for Ethiopian soveregnity. It can be 100% Ormo , Hadiya, Tigray or Amhara, but as as long as it speaks in Amharic, it aint wrong or bad if it is identified as Amhara army. Incidentally ,for many centuries in the past, particularly Tigrayans used to call their Armies as Amhara. Ras Sehul Mikael’s famous Army was among the last so-called Amhara Army.
But be they being mis/led from such Army “nomenclature or from the Ethiopian orthodox religious expression of ” Eslam ena Amhara” , for our neighbours Ojulu, Okello, Raggassa, Hagos , Zeleqe, Shengogo , Oitambo, , Delebo , etc, are Amhara Ethiopians; ie, as far as they do not carry names such as Abdella, Fatuma or Mohammed. At least for our nextdoor , medieval neighbours, Ethiopians are “Amharas” . Thus as you can surmise, it is their problem and not ours, or is it??. We have done our share to show them why Ethiopia is a complex country with complex , colourful composition . We told them why Ethiopia is a country of Various religions, among others, in which Islam and christianity share the two largest slices of the Ethiopian pie. If it is in ethnic and in religious terms why Somalis ,Eritreans or Arabs are still refering to Ethiopia as Amhara, as I’ve laid it out very clearly, they are largely wrong. However if they are to be correct, if they care to do so, these medieval nehgbours of Ethiopia must qaualify the ” Amhara” term a bit differently . Today thanks to EPRDF since we have demarcated an Amhara enclave for the Ethiopians whose first language is designed to be Amharic, even if Amharic is serving us as our state language, “amhara” aint equal to “Ethiopia” .
Scholarly articles indicate Amharic is not a direct baby of Geez as was presumed by many. Evidence has shown that Amharic sprung out from one of a sister language of Geez on its own which makes it Amharic language to be a cousin/not a sister language of Tigrigna and other semetic Ethiopian language.
There fore Tigrigna baby sitting Amharic is and previous amharic speakers being hamatic is your unscientific and bogus calculation or shall i call it fantacy?
For somalians calling the TPLF Amhara(in their language Amxara) is something i notices many times in their writing. This, as Elias said need to be corrected and the present Amhara population is not and wasn’t being adventurous in their country killing their children and mothers. It is the Tigray peoples libration that is making their country hell to live up on. There fore, their anger should not be directed to the poor Amharans who are subjugated like them, but for the merceneries of the Tigray people liberation front who was sent there by Bush.
Don’t worrie about Times Megazine report “Amharra is a reference to the Ethiopians”. The term Amharra in this days stand for United Ethiopians Or the philosophy of Ethiopianism. For Which most of as even Black Africans are proud of it.
Long live Ethiopiawinet!!!!1
Another good Article!!. It is true that we (Somali People) call all ethiopians and their country (Amhara). But some Somalis like myself, now understand the difference.
All we need is to educate each other about misunderstandings and the hatred created by the previous regimes including the current ones in Somalia and in Ethiopia.
EVERYTIME A PROBLEM ARISES IT IS THE “AMHARA” TO BLAME!
Elias Kifle on purpose manipulating the issue ,and put more fuel on the fire.Amhara is a general name for people who are not Muslims,and belong to the central and northern part of Ethiopia.When the Somalians refer to Amahra it could mean;Gurage, Tigre,Amhara,and many more.15 years ago I travelled to the town of Harar,in one of the hospitals where I visited ,I heared some oromo patients ,refer to an Eritrean doctor as Amhara just because he was not Oromo.This is all about it ,no matter what Elias and Meles say, if Somalians want revenge they will not excuse wether you are Tigre or what.