Ruth Eglash , THE JERUSALEM POST

Interior Ministry representatives will continue checking the eligibility for aliya of some 3,000 Ethiopian Falash Mura, who claim that under a 2003 government directive they should be allowed to immigrate to Israel, the government announced Sunday.

The decision to continue the flow of immigration from the African nation follows more than a year of high-profile protests from the local Ethiopian community and its supporters after Interior Ministry officials declared that all eligible Falash Mura – Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors converted to Christianity under duress more than a century ago – had been checked and approved for aliya.

In January, the ministry recalled its Gondar-based representative.

Despite claims that aliya from Ethiopia was all but over, local community members, representatives of North American Jewry and a growing number of MKs believe that there are still between 9,000-15,000 Falash Mura who fit the criteria. Over the past year, they have demanded the government continue checking their applications.

Sunday’s decision will allow almost a third of those to at least try proving that they fit the criteria, which includes a maternal link to Judaism and relatives already living in Israel.

In addition, the Interior Ministry will now be obliged to determine an official policy on immigration from Ethiopia.

“We welcome the government’s decision,” said a spokesman for the Public Council for Ethiopian Jews, an impromptu committee consisting of former Supreme Court president Meir Shamgar, former Supreme Court justice Menachem Elon, Prof. Irwin Kotler, Ethiopian Rabbi Yosef Adaneh, and other prominent figures, which was set up a year ago to lobby the government to continue bringing Jews from Ethiopia.

“However, there are still thousands more Jews in Ethiopia, currently living in appalling conditions, that appear on the initial Efrati list [the official registry of eligible Falash Mura that the government is now following] and should be allowed to come to Israel but who have still not been checked,” the spokesman continued.

“The committee calls on the government to uphold its 2003 commitment and to continue with the aliya until every last Falash Mura that fits the criteria has arrived in Israel.”

The debate over continuing the immigration of the remaining Falash Mura stems from a 1999 census compiled by then Interior Ministry Director-General David Efrati and Rabbi Menachem Waldman, an expert in the field of Falash Mura conversion.

According to that register, 17,500 people were eligible for aliya. Of that initial figure, 16,000 people have already arrived in Israel, while a total of over 20,000 have actually been checked by Interior Ministry officials.

However, in a previous interview with The Jerusalem Post, Waldman said that some people’s names were taken off the list and that “while it is a useful guide, the list should not override the government’s decision to allow people who can prove their Jewish matrilineal lineage to come here.”

Also, community leaders in Israel claim that the list, which was divided into three volumes – Falash Mura in Addis Ababa, Gondar and those living in the outlying villages – was partially lost, and data on people from the villages is therefore not complete.

The government’s most recent decision will see the arrival in Israel each month of 100 families, a fall from the previous quota of 300.

The Jewish Agency for Israel will continue to facilitate the aliya of those who have been approved and will aid in their absorption here following their arrival.

The following information is about the phone and internet communications that are available in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the cost of these services.

Telephone Service
International telephone service in Ethiopia is quite expensive compared to many other countries. Telephone calling cards do not work here and none are issued in Ethiopia. Calling from Addis Ababa to other countries require using the Ethiopian international direct dialing rates.

It is possible to obtain calling cards, issued outside the country for calling into Ethiopia, but the rates, about 35 cents a minute, are more expensive than the calling cards for many other countries. However, this is much cheaper than calling from Ethiopia. Not all calling card providers provide calling cards for Ethiopia.

Mobile Phones
Most out-of-country cellular phone services will not work in Addis Ababa. However, it is possible to obtain mobile phone service here. If you have an unlocked cell phone that uses a SIM card, you can replace the SIM card with one from Ethiopia.

We bought an Ethiopian SIM card from a cell phone shop at the Addis Ababa Hilton Hotel and installed it in our unlocked cell phone. The SIM card cost us 368 BIRR ($38 USD) and we had to fill out a one-page application form and provide a copy of my passport. We also paid 100 BIRR ($10.40 USD) for additional air time (this is a prepaid service). The shop lady told us that local calls were .75 BIRR ($.08 USD) per minute, and international calls were 13 BIRR ($1.35 USD) per minute. The local calls worked on our cell phone instantly, but it took a couple of days before we were able to call internationally. We were not able to get the text messaging service to work yet, but other people here with cell phones can text message OK. We were advised by friends that the phone settings may need to be corrected.

If you do not have an unlocked cell phone that uses a SIM card, you may have to buy a cell phone in Addis Ababa. The prices of the Nokia cell phones sold at the cell phone shop range from 750 BIRR ($78 USD) to 3,000 BIRR ($312 USD).

Internet
Internet service in Ethiopia is slow and expensive compared to most other countries. The major hotels have broadband internet service but it does slow down to a crawl during periods of high internet usage.

Houses in Addis Ababa that have internet access use mostly dial-up service. Broadband access is expensive and takes about one year to get it installed. The following are the internet prices.

Type of Service Initial Price Monthly Price
64Kbs ADSL 4,608 BIRR 1,986 BIRR
128Kbs ADSL 7,533 BIRR 3,140 BIRR
256Kbs ADSL 13,925 BIRR 6,096 BIRR
512Kbs ADSL 26,708 BIRR 12,008 BIRR
1Mb ADSL 52,274 BIRR 23,832 BIRR
2Mb ADSL 103,406 BIRR 41,479 BIRR
Dial-UP 156 BIRR 60 BIRR
(Presently 9.6 BIRR = $1 USD)
The above ADSL prices are with leased lines. Shared DSL is not available yet.

Dial-Up monthly price includes 900 minutes free service. Over 900 minutes cost 0.04 BIRR per minute, except on working days from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm which is 0.07 BIRR per minute.

Source: Danmarie

Internet phone services such as Skype are illegal to use in Ethiopia and the Skype website is blocked.

Internet Cafe’s are popular in Addis Ababa and several have 128Kbs broadband service.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) — Two Ethiopian companies said on Monday they will work with Chinese telecoms gear maker ZTE Corp to build the African nation’s first mobile phone assembly plant.

The $5.2 million facility in the northern town of Bhar Dar will be able to produce more than 3,000 handsets a day once it is up and running in 18 months’ time, Janora Technology, one of the two Ethiopian firms, said in a statement.

The other local company is the Organisation for the Rehabilitation and Development of Amhara Region.

Janora said it and TIRET would build the factory, while ZTE would provide the machinery and technological know-how.

Industry sources said ZTE would also set up a CDMA network with capacity for 2.4 million Ethiopian subscribers.

Demand for mobile phones in the Horn of Africa nation has risen sharply following the upgrading of services and the expansion of state-owned Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation.

(Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Daniel Wallis and David Holmes)

By Obang Metho

We in the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia want to extend our warmest greetings to our fellow Ethiopians for a Happy New Year.

Only one year ago we Ethiopians celebrated the New Ethiopian Millennium with many hope-filled celebrations that the “turn of the millennium” would bring a “turn around” for Ethiopians. Unfortunately, as most every Ethiopian knows, we have instead experienced worsening conditions in Ethiopia in almost every arena, with little promise that our situation will not continue to decline.

In light of this, do we have reason to expect that the New Year will be different? Yes and no! Yes, if we learn from our past mistakes and no, if do not! That is, our hope for a better year is to a large extent, conditional, that is, it is based on what we Ethiopians do in the next months and throughout the year and our compassion towards others in greater need than ourselves, will make the key difference.

The emphasis must be on our own personal responsibility and personal accountability responding with humanity towards others, as this is where the change must start! This is change that is driven by a change of thinking that comes from leaving behind those attitudes, beliefs, prejudices and ideas that have contributed to the virus that dehumanizes our society that has infected Ethiopia—ethnic hatred, tribal favoritism, selfish ambition, lack of compassion, numbed consciences, the devaluation and abuse of other human beings, violence, pride, deceit, corruption, stirring up division, unhealthy competition, apathy, the expectation of a “hand-out” to take care of one’s own problem or the problems of others rather than taking the initiative and the worship of leaders and demonization of those with whom we disagree.

We have developed a culture of victims and perpetrators that continues to be recycled into new victims and perpetrators, regardless of who is in power—on the small scale—in our homes, communities, businesses and on the streets of our cities, and also on the national scale between those in power and those who suffer the consequences from the actions of those in power.

If we stubbornly refuse to admit the truth and to make the necessary changes, we will only add to our misery; however, if we use our individual and collective failure(s) to push us to become more compassionate and healthy individuals and thereby, a more compassionate and healthy society that can work together, we have much reason to have hope for our future and for the future of our children. The more of us that do this, the greater the impact we will collectively have on our society.

This cannot happen unless Ethiopians work together in solidarity based on shared principles of freedom, justice, equality, human rights and civility as its foundation and compassion as the thread that connects all of these principles together within our society.

Before we talk about what we want for the next year, let us openly address the serious problems that have developed over the last year. We are reminding people that this “better year” for which we are hoping, will not be possible without our commitment to making such changes. In fact, without such changes, Ethiopia faces the possibility of implosion and disintegration.

We must face the fact that right now, Ethiopia is dying—literally, as a people, and figuratively, as a nation. If we do not face the desperate urgency of our crisis, we will be so disconnected from reality that we will be unwilling or unmotivated to take action to save the life of this people and nation!

What is the evidence of our dying people?

Let us first look at our people. The conditions under which the vast majority live are so difficult that many Ethiopians must concentrate all their energy on merely surviving. Pervasive hunger, malnutrition and death—of not only children, but also adults in the rural areas as well as the cities—from starvation is worsened by rising prices, drought, floods and the overall mismanagement by the government in genuinely dealing with this crisis. Why should the cost of one chicken have doubled in the last months to now cost 100 birr ($10)? Why should a middle class working Ethiopian man be picked up on the streets because he collapsed into unconsciousness because he had not eaten for days due to giving all the food to his children.

These are only two examples of a widespread problem affecting countless millions some who say Ethiopians are even too weak to get angry, to protest, to rally or even to think. Without food, not only does the body stop working, the brain will not function properly either. As a result, there is no way of counting how many are dying such silence.

Our hope in our TPLF government in taking remedial action is less than ever. For instance, how can we hope that Meles will take steps to resolve this food crisis when he and his government deny the magnitude of the problem or while they actively contribute to the problem by displacing Ethiopians and destroying their homes, livestock and crops in such places as the Ogaden?

How can we hope that Meles will help enhance the productivity of farmers, while refusing to move from feudalistic or socialistic models of government owned land where the land cannot be used as capital, but can only be leased by subsistence farmers? Reports indicate that these small farmers are so hungry that they are eating their seed and selling their farm tools just to survive.

Those Ethiopians who are being “given” opportunities to manage more efficient and large-scale farms are almost entirely those within the small group of “favored” Woyane supporters whose food may be destined for other countries like Saudi Arabia rather than Ethiopia or who are using thousands of hectares of land to raise flowers for export to Europe at this time of crisis where there is not enough food to cover the needs of Ethiopians. If the profits from the flowers would not be destined for the pockets of only a few, there might be some rationale in this economic endeavor.

The list of additional negative things that plague our people and threaten their lives are countless; to name a few—the lack of clean water, lack of education, lack of employment for even the educated where they are forced to beg in the streets, lack of health care for pregnant mothers, children and those with HIV/AIDS.

What is the evidence of a “dying nation?”

Let us also look at the evidence that, without intervention, Ethiopia is “dying” as a nation. The repression of freedom has worsened in the last year. Political parties within the country are so controlled that they have little chance of representing the huge mass of Ethiopians who are profoundly dissatisfied with the current regime.

During the local elections in April, the government made it so difficult to run for office that they were almost exclusively, the only ones to run throughout the country, assuming different names of parties in different places, but no one is fooled and everybody knows it is the TPLF.

The repression of the media is almost complete. Our people are blocked from knowing what is going on in Ethiopia or in the outside world. On the other hand, no information can easily get out of the country either. As a result, Ethiopians are screaming in silence due to fear of reprisals if they are audibly heard.

The territorial integrity of Ethiopia is being violated as well. Meles is giving our land away to the Sudan or to Djibouti without our permission. Our economy benefits only the few “elite” in power and rumblings among numerous armed groups threaten violence while the Meles regime continues its divide and conquer ethnic politics as if hoping that the country will break into pieces so that the individual parts are “more manageable!” Some outsiders seem to have their own hidden agendas for a broken-up Ethiopia that would also make Ethiopia less of a threat to their interests.

For most of us, the millennium year has been one of the most difficult, despairing years we have faced, even worse than the previous few years. After the joy subsided from the Ethiopian Millennium celebrations of a year ago, today, we have sunk into a greater pit of despair, only made worse by the division of Kinijit and of most of the other political parties. Today, the future we were reaching for seems crushed. We are more fragmented than ever before. This includes not only the political parties, but also the armed groups like the OLF, the faith organizations and civic organizations. Right now, we have no one institution that is bringing hope to us.

A society that loses its compassion towards others loses its humanity
Societies without compassion for others are societies that will be unstable, conflict ridden and devoid of the joy, peace and deeper happiness that bring meaning to life and nation.

What makes people human is emotion. When you don’t have emotion, you do not feel or respond to the pain or suffering of others. A society that loses its compassion towards others loses its humanity and everyone suffers as a result. It becomes the survival of the fittest where you trust no one and only care about those closest to you. You will play favorites with these few while at the same time, cover for them and not hold them accountable because you cannot trust “outsiders.”

This is what is going on with the TPLF right now. This is one important reason that we are not seeing most of our Tigrayan brothers and sisters speaking up or rallying with other Ethiopians right now despite the fact that we know the majority of Tigrayans are not really benefitting under the TPLF. It is also their moral obligation to speak out like the rest of Ethiopians.We also know that Woyane are not only Tigrayan, but there are also Anuak Woyane, Amhara Woyane, Oromo Woyane, Ogedeni Woyane, Woyane Christians and Woyane Muslims. Without all of these Woyane from other ethnic groups and religions, the TPLF would not survive.

It is a “dog-eat-dog” society and one where the rule of law becomes the “law of the most powerful dog!” In Ethiopia, Meles is “top dog”, but there are countless layers of underlings who must be catered to in such a system who become the “victims.” Any of these victims are threats or “unimportant” to their survival and are dehumanized so no one cares about their suffering and the injustice perpetrated against them. They become “forgotten and neglected people.” In the eyes of too many, most of our society comes under this category.

Human beings are “used” or “abused” to advance one’s own interests instead of being viewed as fellow human beings, created in the image of God. This devaluation of others becomes especially true if they are from a devalued or opposing ethnic group, political group, religious group, from a different region, gender, class or educational level or from a category of people like “separatists,” “unemployed youths,” street people (beggars, homeless or prostitutes) or orphans.

Have you lost your sense of compassion towards other Ethiopians who have been devalued and dehumanized in this society? We lose touch with our own humanity as we do this. The more this happens, the more it becomes a societal problem that affects every Ethiopian because if “I can devalue you, you can devalue me!” It is a vicious cycle of dehumanization.

So, the question is, how can we expect to have a better year ahead if we fail to treat each other with respect and care? The future of Ethiopia depends on how we will treat each other, especially the most weak and vulnerable in our society. If you agree that this is a problem, what can we do to change?

The strength of our Ethiopian backbone is being tested

“Having backbone” is an expression commonly used to describe someone with strength of character, someone who does the “right” thing even when it is difficult or when it is at odds with others.

Right now, the strength of our “Ethiopian backbone” is being tested. Are we willing to make the New Year a better one for the Ethiopian people by stepping out with moral courage and conviction in order to bring compassion back into our society? We have been wounded by fear and abuse and have substituted survival for compassion. As more and more Ethiopians suffered, we looked away, not wanting to feel, but to escape. What small but practical steps can we now take to reverse this direction?

As each of you who were able, celebrated the New Year at home, eating with your family or going out for supper or as you bought gifts for someone special, remember those who do not have anything in Ethiopia.

Remember the homeless, dirty child with no clothes, walking barefoot and sleeping with no blanket in the streets. Remember the young girls who are selling their bodies in Addis Ababa and towns in our country in order to buy food. Remember the other beggars on the streets, all with their own stories and emotions. Each one of them is precious in God’s sight. They are unemployed youths, elderly widows, disabled veterans of the military, disabled or sick with HIV or some other disease. Many came from the rural areas, seeking employment or a better life and found nothing.

Think of the victims of the flood in Gambella, some who died and many others who are displaced and their crops are ruined. Think of the Ethiopian women who are daily being trafficked to the Middle East to be prostitutes or forced servants. Remember those who died trying to make it by boat across the Red Sea to Yemen, who could have made it except their boat was stolen and they were forced to swim at gunpoint.

Remember the mothers who just buried their children in the last few months because they had no food. Remember those parents who are inwardly suffering as their children are too weakened by hunger to cry out any longer for food. Remember the young child who is taking care of his or her younger siblings because their mother and father have died of HIV/AIDS.

Remember the victims of terror such as the young girl or mother who has been raped in the Ogaden by the same soldiers who are supposed to protect them. Remember those whose fathers and brothers have been killed, beaten or tortured as they were trying to protect their mothers and sisters from such assaults. Think about the families displaced from homes simply because they live near natural resources that others want and those others are willing to take their land by force.

Remember the mother, whose activist children were killed during the protests after the 2005 election. Remember the family members of those activists who are still waiting for the release of their children so they might come home. Remember these activists and the thousands of freedom fighters like them who are still behind bars, in the dark cells of prisons throughout Ethiopia the country—including journalists, artists and musicians like Teddy Afro who did nothing but speak out for what was right.

Remember the children who are not getting the opportunity to go to school because their father was killed. Remember the homeless who were evicted from their homes—later to be bulldozed down—because another Ethiopian from the West, with money, went to Ethiopia and leased their land from the government.
Remember the orphans who have such a fragile future. Remember the disabled who cannot walk, see, hear or is mentally disabled, but in this society, no one is taking care of them. Remember the soldier who lost both legs and cannot take care of himself.

This is not only limited to Ethiopians in the country. Think of the refugees from Ethiopia in foreign countries, in the Sudan, in Eritrea, in Kenya, in Egypt and even those in the west who are having a difficult time surviving away from family and home simply because they are trying to seek safety or a better opportunity in a foreign country.

Please, as you celebrate with joy, put yourselves in the shoes of those fellow Ethiopians who have nothing in terms of worldly possessions—who have been viewed as discardable people by their own government and by many within our society. Refuse to promote the devaluation of these human beings. These are our people. May God restore our compassion and our humanity.

If we are to be a caring people and a healthy society, we should see these Ethiopians as part of our family. God wants us to see them as our people, but we are not living up to what God expects of us. As we celebrate this day, think of the Ethiopians in pain, in misery, in sorrow, in loneliness and in hopelessness for “we are our brother’s keeper.”

For those in America, Canada and Europe, when you return to Ethiopia, do not treat the other Ethiopians—like the homeless and the disabled—as if they were not your own people. Do not consider yourself to be a tourist for you are one of them. Eat with the maid who is cooking the food. Be a Good Samaritan to those who have nothing. We should feel their pain and attempt to relieve their suffering, giving them the boost, wherever and whenever possible, that might enable them to survive or to become independent.

May the Next Year Be Known as the Year Ethiopians Showed Such Great Compassion that they Changed the Direction of Ethiopia!
If we are wishing for a better life and year, we have to change. If we are to improve the future for Ethiopia, we ought to do our part by caring for each other. Our actions should not be only limited to those who are privileged and educated, but it should be extended to the people who have nothing at all—which is the case for the majority of Ethiopians. This will require those who have more, to share, especially those Ethiopians who live in the western countries. They should share not only with their families, but also with other Ethiopians who are part of their greater family.

This New Year celebration should not be a year of wishing for something better, but a year of action towards the betterment of our people. Let this to be a year when we put our humanity before our ethnicity, a year when we can act on the belief that unless all Ethiopians are free, none of us will be free. Until we all have the basics to survive, we must share what we have.

Let this year be the year to forgive and heal the bitter divisions between the people. Let this year be the year when the divided political parties can see that there is something bigger than their own political party and that is God first, then our humanity and then our country. Let this be the year when people will work together for the common good despite our differences.

We hope that next year will become known as the pivotal year when Ethiopians came together in solidarity of purpose, becoming a society known for its compassion towards others. We in the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia hope you will join us in preparing the way for a better year and future.

We cannot avoid looking at the truth of what is at the heart of our failure—we have lost our compassion for others. A society that loses its compassion, loses its humanity. A society that loses its humanity loses its soul. A society that loses its soul, dies.

Listen and you will already hear the cries of a dying Ethiopia. Let us urgently call on God to help revive the soul of Ethiopia—that He might help us recover our soul, our humanity and our compassion before it is too late to save this nation and people!
– – – – – – – – –
The author can be reached at [email protected]
or The Committee for the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia
E-mail: [email protected]