Ethiopian Review introduces a new tool for its readers. You can now type Amharigna, Oromigna, Guragigna, Tigrigna and all the other Ethiopian languages on any computer with an Internet connection and Ge’ez Unicode fonts. All you have to do is go to this page

 www.ethiopianreview.com/ethiopia/amharic.html

and start typing in the box. See the character map for reference.

You don’t have to install any software, but need to download a Ge’ez font, if you don’t have one already installed.

You can copy what you write, past and email it or save it on your word processing program such as Microsoft Word. You can also type your comments in Amharic and paste it in Ethiopian Review’s comments box or Forum to express your views in Amharic. See examples below.

የኢትዮጵያ ሊቃውንቶች

ዶክተር፣ ፕሮፌሰር፣ ጠቢብ ኢንጂነሮች. . .
ባለ ሁለት ዲግሪ፣ ባለ “ሦስት” እውቀቶች፣
ባለም ዙሪያ ያላችሁ እናንት የ”ጨው ዘሮች”…!
እስኪ ተሰብስቡ ባንድጋ ምከሩ፤
የኢትዮጵያን እጣ እድሏን ቀምሩ፤
“ሙጃሌ” ለማውጭያ፣ ለእሾኽ መመንገያ…
እስኪ “መርፌ” ስሩ!

By Donald N. Levine, University of Chicago

My title “An Ethiopian Dilemma” stands to evoke an association to the book by Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma, which played a signal role in helping Americans resolve their longstanding conflict of values regarding racial discrimination. My hope is to suggest ways in which a social scientist, and a ferinj at that, might help Ethiopians get a better grip on their country’s problems.

Although work by social scientists gets valued often for methods of securing more reliable data, there are three other ways in which our disciplines provide more objective analyses. One is to locate current issues in a larger historical context. One is to bring to bear sharper theoretical tools. And one is to undertake comparative analyses. Here I shall offer suggestions in all three modes.

First, to history. Not since the 16th Century has Ethiopia experienced changes so convulsive as in the past fifty years. The 16th-century changes were instigated by the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Suleiman, who gave arms and soldiers to satellite state Adal under Ahmad Grañ. Grañ assassinated the rightful Harari ruler Sultan Abu Beker Mohammed and abrogated the Islamic doctrine that Ethiopia was a righteous land to be spared jihad. His attacks destroyed vast stretches of highland Ethiopia and created a vacuum that invited Oromo peoples to conquer vast parts of the country, initiating the chronically contested multiethnic rulership of the Ethiopian state. Turks later invaded Ethiopia directly and wrested away Ethiopia’s historic coastal strip, paving the way for conflict three centuries later.

20th-century turbulence likewise stemmed from invasions: first Sudan, then Italy–twice. These invasions pushed Ethiopia toward deliberate programs of internal change, what sociologists call “defensive modernization.” One way or another, however, a push toward modernization was inevitable, given steady engulfment by a global civilization. What was not inevitable was how Ethiopia faced the challenges of becoming modern… [read more]

Another high-level delegation of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) led by Ato Muluneh Eyoel will tour Europe starting on August 20.

The five-member delegation includes Ato Muluneh Eyoel, Secretary General, and executive committee members Dr Yacho Hailemariam, Ato Abayneh Berhanu, Ato Kifle Tigneh, and Ato Aschalew Ketema.

The letter signed by Kinijit chairman Hailu Shawel specifies that the delegation’s tour is being coordinated and organized by the European and African Council of Kinijit Support Groups.

The Council said [በኣማርኛ, pdf] that details of the tour, such as itineraries, will be announced shortly.

The Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia: Mohamed Hussein heard the grenade explode and he froze. Hussein, 39, knew what was coming next, because he has been through it before: gunfire coming from every direction as soldiers frantically tried to kill the person who had thrown the weapon.

When the shots finally stopped, Hussein saw four bloodied corpses, all of them civilians caught in the crossfire. It’s a tragic, common story in this capital, where streets are marked with blood and the sight of burned out cars is common. Nearly 3,000 civilians have died since December as Islamic insurgents launched a guerrilla war against the government and its Ethiopian [Woyanne] military backers, human rights groups say.

“The whole time I was frozen in terror and shock,” Hussein said of the attack last month. “Government soldiers fired in every direction, killing four innocent people on the spot.”

The seemingly endless stream of death is shocking even in this bloodstained city: pregnant women, the elderly, entire families — all victims of Somalia’s devastating violence. Last month, five children who stopped to play with a land mine — apparently mistaking the device for a toy — were blown away when it detonated.

Somalia and Ethiopian Woyanne officials refused to say how many of their troops have been wounded or killed, and no other groups have compiled figures. The chaos makes counting difficult, but witness reports indicate the numbers of combatants killed are far fewer than the civilian casualties. Somali officials say they are desperately trying to pacify Mogadishu, but they need to wipe out insurgents.

Abdi Haji Gobdon, the government spokesman, refused further comment on civilian deaths.

John Holmes, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, has said the fighting in the city has violated international humanitarian law. “When you have a pitched battle going on in a city full of civilians, that is not in accordance with the Geneva Conventions,” he told The Associated Press in May.

Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned on each other. The U.N.-backed transitional government formed in 2004 has struggled to assert any real control.

A radical Islamic group with ties to al-Qaida ruled the capital and much of southern Somalia for six months last year, but they were driven out in December when Ethiopia’s Woyanne regime sent troops here. Remnants of the group have launched an Iraq-style insurgency, with near-daily roadside bombs, land mines and grenade attacks.

The attacks generally aim for Somali troops and their Woyanne allies. Yusuf Osman Hussein, a spokesman for Mogadishu police, said civilians are so often caught because officers and soldiers simply don’t know the people they’re targeting. The insurgents wear no uniforms.

“The attackers are in civilians clothes, so it would be difficult for the soldiers to recognize and chase them,” he said. “For their own defense they open fire, that is why the civilians are caught in the crossfire.”

He also said trained officers — unlike civilians — know how to recognize an imminent attack.

“The kind of bombs (insurgents) throw at the soldiers hiss seconds before they go off, and the soldiers immediately take positions and duck,” he said. “The untrained civilians are mainly caught.”

Ali Hassan, 44, said a roadside bomb went off near him recently, prompting a swift barrage of gunfire from soldiers.

“I was a breadwinner of large family before government soldiers crippled me,” said Hassan, 44. “I am always in a state of shock and sorrow, because I lost my precious leg. All this I blame on government soldiers.”

Sudan Ali Ahmed, chairman of Elman Human Rights, an independent Somali group, said 2,894 civilians have been killed since December. He said his organization collected the figures from hospitals, local residents and its own recording of burials in the Mogadishu.

A National Reconciliation Conference — which also has been the target of insurgents — has been going on since last month, but leaders of the Islamic group have not joined and are largely in hiding.

On Wednesday, officials said delegates at the reconciliation conference have signed a truce — but it does not include the Islamic militants who have been waging an insurgency.

The agreement was signed last week and took effect Aug. 1, which has now been designated a “national day of forgiveness,” Mohamed Ali Nur, Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya, said in Nairobi.

Nur did not say how the truce would be enforced, but said Somalia’s Islamic militants “are not for peace.”

___

AP writers Salad Duhul in Mogadishu and Elizabeth A. Kennedy and Tom Maliti in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.