I am an Amara. “ene Amara negne.”- By Yilma Bekele

“Ich bin ein Berliner.”  - “I am a Berliner” Those words were spoken by President John F. Kennedy on June 26, 1963 in West Berlin. He said that to show solidarity with the people of Berlin after the East Germans with the approval of the Soviet Union erected the Berlin Wall to prevent their captive citizens from fleeing to the west.

The passage I like the most is when he said “Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was civis romanus sum ["I am a Roman citizen"]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is “Ich bin ein Berliner!”… All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner!”

Today it feels me with so much pride to say all Ethiopians where ever we live say in unison “ene Amara negene” Injustice against any of Ethiopia’s children is injustice to all of her children. We feel each other’s pain. When one Ethiopian is marginalized, when a single Ethiopian is put in harm’s way it is an affront to each one of us and we all suffer. It was none other than Martin Luther King Jr. who took injustice to heart when he declared “he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

ኮሎኔል መንግስቱ ኃይለማርያም አልሞቱም

(EMF) የቀድሞው የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ፕሬዘዳንት የነበሩት ኮ/ል መንግስቱ ኃይለማርያም እንደሞቱ ተደርጎ በኢትዮጵያ እና ከኢትዮጵያ ውጪ ብእሚገኙ ሚዲያዎች ሲወራ ሰንብቷል። ኢ.ኤም.ኤፍ. ከኮ/ል መንግስቱ የቅርብ ቤተሰብ እንዳረጋገጠው ከሆነ፤ ወሬው ከወሬ ያላለፈ የውሸት ዜና ነው ብለዋል። ከዚህ በፊት ከኮሎኔል መንግስቱ ጋር ባደረግነው ቃለ ምልልስ፤ “ወያኔ እንኳንስ በህይወት እያለሁ፤ ሞቼ አስከረኔንም አያገኘውም።” የሚል ምላሽ መስጠታቸው ይታወሳል። እስካሁን የዜና ምንጭ ተብሎ የሚጠቀሰው የዙምባብዌ ቴሌቪዥን ነው። ሆኖም ቴሌቪዥኑ ይን በተመለከተ ምንም ነገር አላለም። ነገር ግን ቴሌቪዥኑን ጠቅሶ ሌላ ድረ ገፅ ባለፈው ኤፕሪል ፉል April Fool እለት ህዝቡን ለማሞኘት ይህን ዜና ሰርቶት ነበር። የሚገርመው ነገር April fool ካለፈ 3 ሳምንታት ተቆጥረዋል።

First, his death reported on April fool, now the news spreading again. Col. Mengistu is not dead!

ጊዜው ቢዘገይም  ይህንን ዜና ይዘው ወሬውን የሚያባዙት ሰዎች በራሳቸው ተሞኝተዋል ማለት ነው። 3 ሳምንታት ቢቆጠሩም… 

እነዚህን የሞኝ ወሬ ሳያረጋግጡ የሚነዙትን ሰዎች April Fool እንበላቸው (ከፈገግታ ጋር)።

ማጠቃለያችን የሚሆነው… “ኮሎኔል መንግስቱ አልሞቱም።” የሚለው ርእሳችን ነው።

US State Department condemns Ethiopia’s human rights record

… Several news blogs and Web sites run by opposition diaspora groups were not accessible. These included Addis Neger, Nazret, Ethiopian Review, CyberEthiopia, Quatero Amharic Magazine, Tensae Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian Media Forum. A foreign government news Web site was only available periodically, although users could generally access it via proxy sites. Authorities took steps to block access to Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers that let users circumvent government screening of Internet browsing and email. According to the government, 4 percent of individuals subscribed to Internet access. ….

Read full report from State Department.

US-BACKED EGYPT MILITARY “TO CONTROL NILE” | ISRAELI MEDIA

April 23rd, 2013 –

Egypt’s military, financed by the United States, has been preparing for what could be a war for control of the Nile.

Western intelligence sources said the military command has urged President Mohammed Morsi for a buildup meant to block any attempt to divert the Nile. They said the military envisioned a crisis with Ethiopia that could threaten water supplies to Egypt and Sudan.

“For the Egyptian military and government, this is perhaps the most burning security issue today,” a source said.

The sources said Morsi has sought to form a military alliance with Sudan to prevent Ethiopia from constructing a dam along the Nile. The Renaissance Dam was meant to draw 84 billion cubic meters of water from the Nile, sufficient for hydroelectric power.

CPJ: Ethiopia transfers journalist Woubshet Taye to remote prison

New York, April 22, 2013-The Committee to Protect Journalists protests Ethiopian authorities’ transfer of independent newspaper editor Woubshet Taye to a remote prison several hours away from his family’s home. Woubshet has been imprisoned since June 2011 on vague terrorism charges that CPJ has determined to be unsubstantiated.

“Moving detainees to prisons far from their families is a tactic long used by governments that wish to not only further penalize the individuals but to punish their loved ones as well,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “Woubshet Taye should not be in prison at all, never mind held in one so far from his family. We call on Ethiopian authorities to return him to a facility closer to his home, and to reconsider the unjust conviction that put him behind bars in the first place.”

Authorities on Friday transferred Woubshet from Kilinto Prison, outside Addis Ababa, to a detention facility in the town of Ziway, about 83 miles southeast of the capital, according to local journalists and the U.S.-based exile-run AwrambaTimes.com. The authorities did not provide a reason for the transfer. Local journalists told CPJ that Woubshet’s wife and four-year-old son would now have to travel more than four hours to reach the prison to visit the journalist.

The Audacity of Evil in Ethiopia By Prof Al. Mariam

Triumph of Evil?“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”, said Edmund Burke. But what happens when evil triumphs over a good young woman journalist named Reeyot Alemu in Ethiopia? Do good men and women turn a blind eye, plug their ears, turn their backs and stand in silence with pursed lips?

In an extraordinary letter dated April 10, 2013, the Committee to Protect Journalists pled with Berhan Hailu, “Minister of Justice” in Ethiopia, on behalf of the imprisoned 32-year old journalist urging that she be  provided urgent medical care and spared punishment in solitary confinement at the  filthy Meles Zenawi Prison in Kality just outside the capital Addis Ababa.

Prison authorities have threatened Reeyot with solitary confinement for two months as punishment for alleged bad behavior toward them and threatening to publicize human rights violations by prison guards, according to sources close to the journalist who spoke to the International Women’s Media Foundation on condition of anonymity.CPJ has independently verified the information. Reeyot has also been denied access to adequate medical treatment after she was diagnosed with a tumor in her breast…

ዜና በጨዋታ፤ …አማራ ኦሮሞ እስላም ክርስቲያኑ… ባንድ ላይ ተባብረው በ…ያዲግ ጨከኑ Abe Tokichaw

የቃላት መፍቻ… “…ያዲግ” የተባለው ኢህአዴግ በትክክል መጥራት ሲያቅተን ነው አሉ…!

“ኢህአዴግ እና ኢጣሊያን ዋነኛ የሚታወቁበት የአገዛዝ ስልት ከፋፍሎ የመግዛት ስልት ነው፡፡” እያሉ ምሁራኖች ይተነትናሉ፡፡ እኛም ኢህአዴግ ችርቻሮ ትወዳለች ብለን ብዙ ጊዜ ተናግረናል፡፡ በተደጋጋሚ እንዳየነው …ያዲግ ስታጠቃ እየነጠለች ነው፡፡ ሙስሊሙን ለብቻ፣ ክርስቲያኑን ለብቻ፣ ቆለኛውን ለብቻ፣ ደገኛውን ለብቻ፣ አማራውን ለብቻ ኦሮሞውን ለብቻ…

ታድያ ከሆነ ጊዜ በኋላ ይሄ ችርቻሮ ብዙ ያዋጣ አይመስለኝም፡፡ ክርስቲያኑ በሙስሊሙ ጥቃት አብሮ “ተክቢር” ሲል አሮሞው በአማራው ጥቃት አርማውን ይዞ “አሌሊ…” ሲል አማራው በኦሮሞው ጥቃት “ዘራፍ ወንዱ” ብሎ ሲነሳ እያየን ነው፡፡ … ይቺን ነው መሸሽ አሉ አብዬ መሸሻ ብለን እንቀጥላለን…

ዛሬ ሚያዝያ 12/2005 ዓ.ም በኖርዌይ ወይዘሮ መብራት በየነ የሚመሩት “የወዲህ በሉ” ቡድን ከስደተኞች ብር ወዲህ በሉ ለማለት ስብሰባ ጠርቶ ነበር፡፡ በስብሰባው በርካታ ኢትዮጵያውያን ቢገኙም፤ ለመንግስት ገንዘብ አለሰጡም… ለተወካዮቹ ሃርድ ሰጥተው አባረሯቸው እንጂ!