Many of you may have seen the spider that has started crawling here. Some readers say it is creeping them out. Can any one guess why it is here?

Are We in the Gray Area?

By Afura Burtukana

Despotic governments all over the world almost always face resistance. The forms of resistance range from civil disobedience to armed struggle. Philosophers and activists have argued for and against both kind of resistance. Their bases for the argument are the severity of casualties, the length of time elapse, and requirement of resources among others. The objective is the effectiveness of the resistance which by itself is a base for the argument.

Civil disobedience is a type of passive resistance (some thinkers do not accept the passiveness of civil disobedience) which uses non-violent technique of refusal to obey civil laws or follow a policy believed to be unjust in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation. Practitioners of civil disobedience claim the moral high ground and base their action on moral rights to recruit followers. It includes forms of disobedience like demonstrations, strikes, sit-in, mass gathering, disseminating flyers, taking over buildings, chaining themselves with each other etc. The practitioners of civil disobedience include religious groups, labor movements, suffragists (political franchise/ voter’s right), feminists, war resisters and other dissenters.

The critiques of civil disobedience argue that the movement is against the status-quo which sets up the laws of the nation-state and thus that makes it loose the moral high ground and actually illegal. The resistance is also not as passive as it claims to be as the nature itself makes it active. The other case against civil disobedience is that it is rather violent and usually is followed by mass unrest. While many cast their doubt about the effectiveness of non-violent civil disobedience, other say even if it works, it is just too slow; many will be jailed, wounded, killed or forced to flee, in the mean time.

However, proponents for civil disobedience argue that it is against laws and policies which are unjust to their conscious and they primarily abide to their conscious than the rules of the government. Saint Augustine said that “An unjust law is no law at all one who breaks an unjust law must do it openly, lovingly… and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law. The movement is also passive, according to them, because they are reacting to atrocities committed by the government. By nature, civil disobedience is non-violent but of course, more often than not ends up with the violent action of the government which creates the unrest. The nonviolent activist had to be ready to pay the ultimate sacrifices for the cause. The nonviolent activist, while willing to die, should never kill. The beauty of it is, at the end of the struggle all sides will emerge as winners-a positive sum game unlike armed struggle where it leaves the losers as losers- zero-sum game. “Through our pain we will make them see their injustice” said Gandhi. And those who claim that non-violent way of struggle is too slow have to prove that the armed struggle is no slower.

The legendary freedom fighters Mohandas Gandhi (Mahatma Means Great Soul.) and Martin Luther King (MLK) are exemplifiers of using civil disobedience. The theory, however, dates back to 1849 long before the legendaries (it actually can be even traced in the Holy books of the Bible and Koran). In 1849 Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay titled On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. According to the essay it is individuals who, using their conscious, gave power to the state and that same conscious should be used to refute unjust laws dictated by the states. Foremost, people should abide to their own conscious before they do to their government. The essay contains his famous statement that ‘government is best which governs least’. The essay of Thoreau impacted the practices of both Gandhi and King.

Gandhi was able to implement the theory of Thoreau by developing the notion of Satyagraha (Sanskrit: holding to truth). He combined the theory with Indian tradition and added some self-discipline and moral standards. The civil disobedience compelled The British Empire to withdraw from India. Some activists argue in the line of the democratic nature of the then British Empire and question whether that would have worked if it was in different places and/or time. Like my History Professor used to say, It is hard to deal with the IFs of history.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the 1950s and 60s civil right movements in the United States of America. Just like Gandhi, his non-violent civil disobedience, though marred by massive government carnages, paid off by the passage of a civil rights legislation. On his famous letter from the Birmingham Jail, where he was arrested due to the movement he was leading, he wrote My friends I must say to you we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure.

As explained above non-violent civil disobedience is throbbing by nature. In due course re-thinking might emerge. The Great African Leader Nelson Mandela in his speech once said ‘As violence in this country was inevitable, it would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and nonviolence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force’.

In our own countries case, the drums and tone of war are beginning to have higher pitch. Now-a-day the sounds of, we tried it and did not work or I told you so are becoming louder. The news of clashes here and there, this group captured/librated this and that area are becoming headlines. Zemual Goradew and like our own famous journalist and writer Zenaneh Mekkonen wrote in his book Netsannet 1987-88

Kermo Kermo Temelese
Wurse Huno Derese;
Denum Nafekew Mesel;
Wond Wondun Lememiret Sil.

The message is that, the non-violent civil disobedience method launched by parties opposing the ruling incumbent, at best are taking too long and the public is running out of patience or it totally failed. The reason, they attest, is mainly the nature of the EPRDF which at any rate does not give any room for a civilized non-violent method of protest. The academia behind these groups argues that Gandhi’s Satyagraha was a success because to an extent the British colonizer understood civility and hence was able to communicate in that language. To the contrary the EPRDF has not yet graduated from Gorilla to Statesmanship and has got to study the vocabularies. Hence, they continue, we have to talk to the government in the language it understands.

They also seem to be convinced that we have given the non-violent civil disobedience all it got but it was just a futile exercise. The majority of the leaders have been arrested, many have been killed and the rest have left either the country and/or the struggle. To the dismay of many, a few have betrayed. Accordingly, these have left the populous in despair and to be desperate. There is a power vacuum, and the room for civil disobedience hereafter is close to none.

Senior members of Kinijit, have time and again, asserted that their party will not abandon its peaceful way of struggling. The objective, they say, is not just a power transition from EPRDF to others but the bottom line is the process of transition. If the Dergue and EPRDF have shown the intention of being life time rulers of the country, by the virtue of the power thrown to them through the barrel of the gun, just like all other dictators through out the world, they ask, give us just one reason why we should trust others to be democratic and willing to give up power through the ballot? They again ask for a guarantee that the armed struggle will be less demanding in terms of resources and sacrifices. In fact, they say, the sacrifice is more sever on the non-violent method when it comes to the leadership level. The proponents of the armed struggle have got to guarantee, again, that their movement will be less time consuming, comparatively. From the outset, say Kinijit leaders, they knew what the price for a non-violent civil disobedience would be, and they were ready for it. When one group of leadership is out of function, the other takes over. And the seemingly No Action, No News, No Leadership Time Zone is just a natural component of the struggle.

The leaders of kinijit, who have lived up to their promises and are anguishing in jail, have twice sent a message to the people appealing to them to never give up hope and abandon the non-violent method, Fellow Ethiopians!! We the leaders, members and supporters of CUDP both inside and outside of prison will continue our peaceful struggle. Therefore, we respectfully call on you to stand with us and continue mobilizing for the peaceful, legal struggle both within and outside of the country until the ruling party comes to the table in search of a negotiated resolution of all outstanding issues that led up to the current crisis. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and nelson Mandela did the same years ago. The people of Ethiopia has shown to all political leaders, the incumbent and opposition alike, and to the whole wide world, during the 2005 National Election, that they are a civilized society who knew its democratic right and will settle for nothing less. They have what it takes to make that happen.

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The writer can be reached at [email protected]

By Yilma bekele

Human knowledge is an accumulation of experiences building on what works and discarding the mishaps. Thus we look back and see what others did when faced with the predicament as we are today. There is no lack of reference. Everything being done in the name of the people for the people have been done before. It is nothing new. Dictators always justify their evil actions as a service to the people. During the Vietnam conflict the US used to destroy the village to save it from the enemy. They called it ‘destroy the village to save the village.’ That is what the minority regime is doing in Ethiopia, ‘destroy the country to save the country.’

So if our situation is no different from others before us, the question is what did they do to achieve democracy, human rights and the rule of law in their community? Today in the year 2008 except for a handful of states the planet is filled with free people and free nations with soaring achievements in science technology and the ever-elusive pursuit of happiness.

How did they do it?

Determination, hard work, sacrifice, focus and being blessed by a visionary leader are the main ingredients common to all.

Mahatma Gandhi is the face of non-violent struggle to achieve Independence (he called it Satyagraha – resistance to evil through active non-violent resistance) Gandhi could have asked his people to raise arms against the British. India has numerical superiority and a willing population to fight back while the enemy has to come from far and was weakened by WWII. But Gandhi choose the high road Power comes from a barrel of a gun was definitely not the Mahatma’s cup of tea. For Gandhi the struggle was not about getting rid of the British and hoisting a flag. It was the liberation of the whole person. He organized his people to practice brotherhood among the many ethnic and religious groups, to fight for women’s liberation, end the cast system and work for economic independence from the British.

When the British imposed ‘salt tax’ he advocated disobedience. He openly called and organized for the British to “quit India”. Gandhi advocated the use of boycott, peaceful resistance and strike to achieve freedom for his people. He practiced what he preached. He lived a simple life and went to prison several times for his defiant actions against injustice. His faith in the inevitability of good over evil never wavered. India won. Today it is the largest democracy in the world.

Martin Luther King was a disciple of the Mahatma. Faced with the scrooge of Segregation and unequal treatment MLK advocated non-violence to achieve justice and freedom. English colonists brought the first African slaves to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Slavery was abolished with Lincoln’s Emancipation proclamation of 1862 during the American Civil War and subsequent ratification of the 13th Amendment to the constitution in 1865. Unfortunate for Blacks the White Southerners passed what is known as “Jim Craw” laws which mandated the segregation of the races and the so called ‘separate but equal’ principle. It was a clever devise to disenfranchise Black people.

This state of affairs stayed unchanged till the 1960’s.

Then came the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama who was thrust into the llimelightof History and led his people to the ‘promised land.’ MLK believed in the power of peaceful resistance to achieve the desired goal. Towards this end he led the ‘Montgomery Bus Boycott’ to end racial segregation on city buses. He urged Black people not to ride the city bus until their demands are met. He won. He was the co-organizer of the ‘March on Washington DC’ demanding equal right to all. Over 200,000 people gathered and King made his famous ‘I have a dream speech’. Dr King advocated the use of boycott, peaceful protest and use of targeted strikes to achieve freedom for his people. He was imprisoned, faced police with attacked dogs, firefighters with high-pressure water hoses and opposition from some of his own people. The Civil Right Act of 1964 and Voting Right Act of 1965 are the achievements of a focused and relentless struggle to secure dignity and freedom. It was an active resistance against evil and injustice.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is another one of those rare human beings who are born to make a positive difference. He added value to the human experience. He was involved in the ‘Youth wing’ of The African National Congress (ANC) when he was young man and became deputy national president in 1952. Mandela was inspired by the teachings of Gandhi and the ANC and based his struggle on the principle of non-violence to get rid of Apartheid. He organized and led ‘peaceful protest’ and was arrested several times. However the 1960 incident known as the ‘Sharpeville Massacre’ where peaceful protesters were gunned down by the regime was a turning point in Mandela’s thinking. He came to the realization that the non-violent movement should be augumented by the use of force. He organized and led Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation or MK) the military wing of ANC. He raised funds and visited several African countries (Ghana, Algeria, Ethiopia) to arrange military training and logistical support.

During his trial in 1964 the ever-defiant leader told the white court:

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is n ideal for which I am prepared to die.

He was found guilty and spent the next 27 years in the Apartheid regime’s prison. The ANC leaders imprisonment gave strength to a new generation of activists. Mk carried military campaigns whenever appropriate while the non-violent struggle was carried out in the towns and villages all over the country. New Leaders like the young and charismatic Steven Biko emerged to unite their people. They took the struggle internationally and they urged the West to boycott and divest all investment in South Africa. Like Gandhi and MLK, Steven Biko understood that the inner self needs liberation too. He wrote: The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. The Soweto uprisings were organized and led by Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) which he was the president. He was murdered by the Apartheid regime. Black South Africans used boycott, peaceful resistance, International pressure and limited armed struggle to liberate their land and their people from a highly armed, organized and ruthless enemy.

All three examples above are a lesson on the need for organization, defined goal, and the most vital aspect of all, the involvement of the masses of people who are the major stakeholders in this epic journey. Our country Ethiopia has seen a successive of rulers who have chosen the path of coercion, intimidation and the power of the gun to further their personal narrow vision. Gandhi, MLK or Mandela showed by their actions that freedom is not free. There is a price to pay and they were willing and ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice with their life. Unlike some who fight the oppressor so they could sit on his chair, these three believed that without the liberation of the inner soul, what is achieved would be no better that what was struggled against. Liberation be it personal or a Nation is a long and arduous process. It requires personal sacrifice, determination and love for your fellow human.

The Imperial regime in Ethiopia was brought down by the intllegencia led uprising and its own crumbling feudal system. The goal was to bring down the regime without any further thought with what to replace it with. This vacuum of planning gave an opportunity to the most organized group in the society, the military. Our well-meaning compatriots paid a heavy price. We suffered over seventeen years of hell on earth. An obscure outfit calling itself the TPLF/EPDRF replaced the Military regime. Again a vacuum was created and it was filled by the first in line with enough force. We have witnessed another seventeen years of one party, one man, with old and tired philosophy asserting his rule by the power of the gun.

The May 2005 general election is a testimonial to the readiness of our people to be part of the process of good governance thru participation. But those in power were not willing to accommodate their demands. We have a choice in front of us. We can accept the status quo and wait. We can organize an armed form of struggle. We can carry out a non-violent peaceful struggle. Or we can combine the two like in South Africa. Whatever road we choose, it requires some form of action from each of us. Each and every one of us has to assume personal responsibility for our actions. It is each individual Ethiopian which makes the larger ‘we Ethiopians’.

When Gandhi opposed the ‘salt tax’ by the British he led his people to the ocean to extract salt. When MLK paid the same amount like the Whites but was told to sit in the back of the bus was wrong he urged his people to boycott the city bus. Foreign investment by the US and Europeans was creating jobs for the Black population in South Africa. Steven Biko and ANC advocated divestment because the tax and other income were propping up the Apartheid regime. Steven Biko wrote ‘those who professed to worry over Blacks suffering if the economy deteriorated had missed the point. We’re already suffering’ He often reminded us ‘those who live in constant fear of being shot, beaten, or detained without charge, for those whose children already live in abject poverty and near starvation, an economic downturn is not the major area of concern.’ Nobel Laureate Albert Lutuli, president of the African National Congress in one of his speeches said: The economic boycott of South Africa will entail undoubted hardship for African. We do not doubt that. But if it is a method which shortens the day of bloodshed, the suffering to us will be a price we are willing to pay.

Gandhi, MLK or Mandela did not entertain the illusion that others will fight for their freedom. They did not blame outsiders nor wait for foreign forces to liberate them. They took it upon themselves to cut the chains. Words have to be translated into action. Methods proven by others to work have to be put into practice. Volumes have been written about the crimes of the TPLF regime. We have heard enough about the narrow- minded psychopaths sitting in Arat Kilo. I doubt nothing new will be revealed. What is lacking in all this discourse is answering the simple but important question of what are you going to do about it?

Yes, what are you doing about it? It is not the lack of a credible opposition because you are it! It is not ignorance regarding what to do, because the issue has been answered by those before you. It is not that the TPLF regime is so mighty and powerful because the Vietnamese, the Afghanis and others have shown that even super powers cannot match the wrath of oppressed people. No matter how you look at it, it boils down to personal responsibility. Somebody have to do the job, and you cannot point your finger at others.

We hope the opposition will get their act together and unite our people. It is vital that they access the situation in a new light in the aftermath of the 2005 election and devise new ways and means to challenge the minority regime. Like Gandhi who taught his people about love and truth, like Steven Biko who sought to ‘liberate the mind’ of the African so our leaders have to transcend above petty bickering and follow on the foot steps of these giants of history. It seems to come down to the old proven method of boycott, peaceful protest and use of targeted strikes.

For those of us in the Diaspora the issue is simple and strait forward. There are certain facts that are true and no amount of propaganda can change that. The Ethiopian regime is a regime on welfare. It cannot pay its bills without subsidy by the European Union, World Bank, IMF and a host of other world philantophic organizations. We have shown it how powerful we are when it was forced to release the political prisoners. They were released due to the intense pressure we exerted not out of goodness of the TPLF mafia. We have muscle and we flexed it. We have HR2003 in the pipeline. The regime is being forced to hire lobbyists trying to stop it. It is good. It is less money they will spend on public security and waging war. Our two years of organizational strength have forced TPLF officials to stay as prisoners inside the country. HR2003 will shut the door more. Are you calling, faxing, and organizing to help HR2003 become law?

In 2005 according to the UN we sent $591 million in remittance money. This is not counting the $5000.00 + every Ethiopian takes home in cash. The real number will be a billion dollars if not more. That is a net income to the TPLF machine. Those one million dollar houses built by the Diaspora and flashed all over, as accomplishment of the regime is your hard earned money at work. Do you really think those construction companies are not part of the TPLF empire? Denying the regime that income until it changes its belligerent ways is a legitimate means of struggle. Not going to visit unless it is a family emergency is a proven and effective method of boycott. What are our foreign friends to think when we are flocking like birds and investing our hard earned money with our national tormenters? Earning 20 to 100 dollars per hour in the west and going home and lording it over people is not a sign of love for one’s country. It is inflating the price of basic needs for our own family not to mention the psychological impact on their self worth. Our actions have consequences whether we mean good or bad.

To think that building a house on government leased land is a good investment is debatable. It might in the short run create low paying jobs for a few months, but the dollar donated to the regime causes more destruction in the long run. It is better to look at the bigger picture. The country belongs to the few in the ruling class. Talk to anybody who has recently visited the homeland. The presence of authority is all around. Fear is permeating the whole society. Both those in power and their subjects live on the edge. Would you like to live in such terror? Would you like to raise a family in such environment where hopelessness and resignation is the norm? I have a poster on my wall and it says ‘not a single rain drop believes it is to blame for the flood’ we think the same way. We do not think our single dollar makes a difference. But it does. A dollar here a dollar there is what makes million.

The question we all have to answer to ourselves is am I doing enough? Was I present when my country called for me? Freedom does not just happen. What little sacrifice did you do on your part to tell yourself, your children or your family and friends? We do not oppose those in power because we hate them. We do not disagree with them because they are from a certain region. We do not wish their destruction nor do we wish something bad to happen to them. They are part of us. But their misguided ways is hurting us. We want them to take notice that evil in the long run will fail. This what Mahatma Gandhi said in one of his ‘quit India’ speeches in1942:

We must, therefore, purge ourselves of hatred. Speaking for myself, I can say that I have never felt any hatred. As a matter of fact, I feel myself to be a greater friend of the British now than ever before. One reason is that they are today in distress. My very friendship, therefore, demands that I should try to save them from their mistakes. As I view the situation, they are on the brink of an abyss. It, therefore, becomes my duty to warn them of their danger even though it may, for the time being, anger them to the point of cutting off the friendly hand that is stretched out to help them. People may laugh, nevertheless that is my claim. At a time when I may have to launch the biggest struggle of my life, I may not harbour hatred against anybody.

He was indeed a beautiful human being.

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The writer can be reached at [email protected]

The famous Ethiopian singer Tamrat Mola is gravely ill. Ethiopian Television Network will air a live fundraising event to assist Artist Tamrat Mola’s needs for further treatment abroad. Tamirat needs your help to get the right medical service as soon as possible. Thursday March 20, 2008 @ 8 P.M EST. His friends and renowned Ethiopian artists
Tilahun Gessese, Mohamud ahmed, Neway Debebe and Gossaye Tesfaye will be in ETN studio to answer your questions and say thank you for your help. Watch the video below for more information.

Marathon medallist’s claim about Beijing Olympics purely personal

(Xinhua) – The Ethiopian ambassador to China said on Wednesday the world marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie’s statement about not to compete in the Beijing Olympic marathon is a personal decision made without consulting the country’s Olympic committee.

The Ethiopian runner told Reuters and a few other western media on March 10 that he intends to opt out of the marathon in Beijing because the city’s air pollution might damage his health. But he said he would still attend the 10,000 meters event at the 2008 Games.

“We don’t know what made him to make the announcement, and we don’t understand why he chose this time to say it,” the Ethiopian Ambassador to China, Haile-Kiros Gessesse, told Xinhua reporters.

Gessesse said Beijing has improved its air quality since it won the Olympic bid in 2001, when it suffered from more serious air problems.

“I think his claim is not quite convincing to the public,” the ambassador said.

He said only the Ethiopian Olympic Committee could decide who will play and who will not and the committee has not yet decided the final list of athletes attending the 2008 Olympic games.

By Omar Faruk By Aweys Yusuf and Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU, (Reuters) – Battles erupted in Somalia’s capital on Wednesday between Islamist rebels and Ethiopian Woyanne troops backing the government a day after the United Nations said it was still too dangerous to send peacekeepers there.

Witnesses in northern Mogadishu said three Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers and at least one insurgent were killed as both sides traded heavy machinegun fire, grenades and artillery barrages.

“I was hiding in a wrecked building in the area where the fighting took place,” Abdullahi Hussein, a resident of the Suq Holana neighbourhood, told Reuters by telephone.

Late on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said insecurity in Somalia made it too dangerous to deploy a U.N. peacekeeping force there until far-reaching political and military conditions were met.

The African Union has called on the world body to send troops to replace a small AU mission and help the country’s interim government fend off the Islamist insurgency.

In a major report, Ban said U.N. officials had identified conditions that could lead to such a deployment.

They included a viable political process taking hold with 70 percent of parties agreeing to lay down their arms and work together in a power-sharing deal.

Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers currently supporting the government would have withdrawn or would be in the process of doing so.

“CONDITIONS NOT IN PLACE”

“A military technical agreement in support of peace would have been signed by the major clans and factions, which would list security arrangements, such as certain ways to achieve disarmament, in respect of heavy weapons as a minimum, and non-violent settlement of disputes,” Ban said.

“As detailed in the fact-finding report, these conditions are regrettably not in place.”

Ban said international factors including arms proliferation, the potential for a proxy war in Somalia between its neighbours and piracy, worsened an already complicated security issue.

The Security Council will discuss his report on Thursday and diplomats say it will again consider possibly sending U.N. peacekeepers — a move that is supported by South Africa but which permanent council members Britain and France are wary of.

About 2,600 A.U. troops from Uganda and Burundi have struggled to keep the peace in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, where Islamist rebels have waged an Iraq-style insurgency of assassinations, grenade attacks and roadside bombings.

(Additional reporting and writing by Daniel Wallis in Nairobi; Editing by Bryson Hull)

More from VOA >>

Deadly Battles Reported in Somali Capital

(VOA) – Residents of Somalia’s capital say at least eight people have been killed in renewed fighting between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian Woyanne troops backing the Somali government.

Witnesses say the sides traded heavy gunfire Wednesday in northern Mogadishu in the Suqaholaha neighborhood. They say at least three Ethiopian Woyanne troops and one insurgent are among the dead, along with civilians.

Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is prepared to recommend sending U.N. peacekeepers to Somalia, if key conditions are met.

Mr. Ban said those conditions include an agreement by the country’s major factions to cease hostilities and share power. He said another condition is the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops.

Some members of the U.N. Security Council have called for greater U.N. involvement in Somalia.