የቀደሞዉ ጠ/ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ ትግራይን የእንዱስትሪ ክልል ለማድረግ ዝግጅት ጨርሰዉ እንደነበር ተሰማ

ሟቹ ጠ/ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ የትግራይን ክልል የአገሪቱ የእንዱስትሪ ማዕከል ለማድረግ ዝግጅት ጨርሶ እንደነበርና በአሁኑ ወቅት ባለቤቱ አዜብ መስፍን ይህንኑ በሏ የጀመረዉን የእንዱስትሪ እስትራቴጂ ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ ቆርጣ የተነሳች መሆኑን የግንቦት ሰባት ድምጽ ዘጋቢዎች ከአዲስ አበባ በላኩልን ዜና ገለጹ። በዚሁ ዘጋቢያችን አዜብ መስፍን በቅርቡ ለዋልታ ኢንፎርሜሺን ማዕከል የሰጠችዉን ቃለመጠይቅ ዋቢ በማድረግ በለከልን ዜና መሰረት መለስ ዜናዊ ትግራይ ዉስጥ ምን አይነት ፋበሪካዎች አንደሚገነቡ፤ ዬት እንደሚገነቡና ለግንባታ የሚወጣዉ ካፒታል ከዬት እንደሚገኝ የሚጠቁም ሰፋ ያለ ጽሁፍ ጽፎ እንደነበር ያስረዳል።

በቅርቡ ከዚህ አለም በሞት ሲለይ “የኢትዮጵያ አባት” ተብሎ የተሞገሰዉና ኢትዮጵያን ሃያ አንድ አመት ሙሉ የመራዉ መለስ ዜናዊ ትግራይን ከዘጠኙ የፌዴራል ክልሎች ነጥሎ የአገሪቱ የእንዱስትሪ ማዕከል ለማድረግ ሰፋ ያለ እስትራቴጂ ነድፎ የማስቀመጡ ዜና ሲሰማ የመለስ ዜናዊን ራዕይ ከግቡ እናደርሳለን ብለዉ የተነሱትን እነ ኃይለማሪያም ደሳለኝን ጨምሮ ብዙ የአገዛዙ አባላት እንደተሸማቀቁ  ከአዲስ አበባ የሚደርሱን ዜናዎች ይጠቁማሉ።

አዜብ መስፍን በቅርቡ እሷ እራሷ ከምትመራዉ የኤፎርት ኩባንያዎች አንዱ ለሆነዉ ለዋልታ ኢንፎርሜሺን ማዕከል በሰጠችዉ ቃለ ምልልስ መለስ ዜናዊ ከመሰዋቱ በፊት የአምስት አመት የትግራይ እንዱስትሪ በኤፎርት እንዴት መፈጸም እንዳለበት የፃፈዉ እስትራቴጂ እንደነበር ሳታፍር አፏን ሞልታ ተናግራለች። ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ “የሙስናዋ እመቤት” በመባል የምትታወቀዉ አዜብ መስፍን በሏ ለትግራይ የነደፈዉን የእንዱስትሪ እስትራቴጂ በዝርዝር ከመናገሯ ባሻገር እሷና ሌሎችም ብዙ ባለስልጣኖች ይህንን ስትራቴጂ ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ ቀን ከሌት ተግተዉ አንደሚሰሩም ተናግራለች።

ከመለስ ዜናዊ ሞት በኋላ የኤፎርት ኩባኒያዎች እንቅስቃሴ ደከም ብሎ ታይቶ ነበር ያለችዉ አዜብ መስፍን አሁን ግን የኩባንያዉ እድገት ተጠናክሮ መቀጠሉን ተናግራ መስፍን ኢንጅኔሪንግ በያዝነዉ አመት በሦስት እጥፍ ማደጉንና በሚመጣዉ አመት በአምስት እጥፍ እንዲያድግ ለማድረግ ዝግጅቱ መገባደዱን ገልጻለች። ከዚህ በተጨማሪ የዚሁ የኤፎርት ኩባኒያ ንብረት የሆኑት አልሜዳ ጨርቃጨርቅ፤  መሶብ ሲሚንቶና ሱር ኮንስትራክሺን ድርጅቶች በዚህ በያዝነዉ አመት ብቻ አንድ ነጥብ ሰባት ቢሊዮን ብር ትርፍ ማጋበሳቸዉን ተናግራለች። ኤፎርት  ኩባኒያ ህወሀት የኢትዮጵያን ኤኮኖሚ ከሚቆጣጠርባቸዉና ከተለያዪ የአገሪቱ አካባቢዎች ገንዘብና ጥሬ እቃ ወደ ትግራይ የሚያግዝበት ዋነኛዉ  መሳሪያ ለመሆኑ በብዙ የአገር ዉስጥና የዉጭ አገር ኤኮኖሚስቶች ተጠንቶ በተደጋጋሚ መዘገቡ ይታወቃል።

በላፍቶ የተፈናቀሉት አባወራዎች 30 000 ደረሱ

ኢሳት ዜና:-በላፍቶ ክፍለከተማ ወረዳ 01 ቤታቸው የፈረሰባቸውና ለጎዳና የተዳረጉ አባወራዎች ቁጥር 30 000 መድረሱን የአካባቢው ሰዎች ለኢሳት ገለጡ።

ወደጠቅላይ ሚኒስትርና የአዲስ አበባ መስተዳድር ከንቲባ ጽፈት ቤት ተሰብስበው በመሄድ ጥያቄዎቻቸውን ለማቅረብ መሞከራቸውን የገለጹት የአካባቢው ነዋሪዎች ያገኙት መልስ በፖሊስ መደብደብና መታሰር መሆኑን ለኢሳት ሬዲዮ ተናግረዋል።

የአዲስ አበባ መሬት አስተዳደር ህገወጥ ናቸው ሲል ባለፈው ሳምንት ማፍረስ ከጀመራቸው ቤቶች ውስጥ 30 000 አባወራዎችን ያፈናቀለ ሲሆን ነዋሪዎቹ አቤቱታቸውን ለከንቲባው ቢያቀርቡም የተሰጣቸው ምላሽ እንደሌለ ገልጠዋል።

በአሁኑ ሰአት ህጻናትና አዛውንት ታማሚዎችና ሴቶች በሜዳላይ ፈሰው ጸሀይናስ ብርድ እየተፈራረቀባቸው መሆኑን የገለጹት ነዋሪዎች የሚመለከተው አካልና የአለም ማህበረሰብ ጩሀታቸውን እንዲሰማ ጥሪ አስተላልፈዋል።

በአካባቢው ላይ ተወልደው ማደጋቸውንና ክ 10 አመት በላይ ህገወጥ ተብሎ በፈረሰባቸው ቤት ውስጥ መኖራቸውን የገለጹት የአካባቢው ሰዎች ህጋዊ የሚያረጋቸውን መስፈርት አሞልተው የመብራት ክፍያ ለመንግስት ከፍለውና በመንግስት የጸደቀ የልማት ተግባር በማከናወን ላይ እያሉ ቤቶቹ እንደፈረሱባቸው ገልጸዋል።

Ethiopia Contesting for Human Rights Council Seat

UNITED NATIONS November 12, 2012 (AP)

Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s taciturn, ironfisted ruler, passed away after 21 years of increasingly autocratic rule, leaving the country and its global allies at an interesting and rare crossroads: Will the country continue along its current path of political authoritarianism and its extensive machinery of suppression, or will we see the rights of Ethiopian people restored in an more transparent, accountable political system? Amnesty International

The United States is competing with four Western countries for three seats on the Human Rights Council in the only contested election at the U.N.’s top human rights body.

The 193-member General Assembly is scheduled to vote Monday for 18 members of the 47-member council.

African, Asian, Eastern European and Latin American countries have put forward uncontested slates whose candidates are virtually certain of victory.

Several human rights groups have criticized a number of these candidates as unqualified including Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Venezuela.

The five Western nations competing for seats — the U.S., Germany, Greece, Ireland and Sweden — were all deemed qualified by the rights groups.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based advocacy group UN Watch, called the absence of competition in four out of the five regional slates “scandalous.”

He said at the group’s annual luncheon at U.N. headquarters ahead of the vote, on Friday, that the United States was the last of the five candidates to enter the race and found that many countries had already made commitments to the other candidates.

“Most people that I’ve spoken to say America is polling somewhere either fourth or fifth,” he said. “If they do lose … we think it will be a setback for the council. We don’t agree with everything America has done but UN Watch thinks America has been a leader of the few good things that have occurred.”

Philippe Bolopion, United Nations director for Human Rights Watch, said that to its credit, the Western group is the only regional group allowing true competition in Monday’s election.

“As a result, and despite its highly effective engagement in the Human Rights Council, the U.S. faces a tough yet healthy competition,” he said.

Bolopion said it was sad that the Africa, Asian, Eastern European and Latin American groups at the U.N. “have pre-cooked this election by offering as many candidates as they have been allotted seats.” He said this is “making a mockery” of the standard set by the General Assembly that all candidates for the council “uphold the highest standards” of human rights.

The Human Rights Council was created in March 2006 to replace the U.N.’s widely discredited and highly politicized Human Rights Commission. But the council has also been widely criticized for failing to change many of the commission’s practices, including putting much more emphasis on Israel than on any other country and electing candidates accused of serious human rights violations.

Former President George W. Bush’s administration boycotted the council when it was established over its repeated criticism of Israel and its refusal to cite flagrant rights abuses in Sudan and elsewhere. But in 2009, then newly elected President Barack Obama sought to join the council saying the U.S. wanted to help make it more effective.

In that contest, the U.S. was elected on an uncontested slate winning 167 votes, far more than the 97 vote majority needed.

Amnesty International’s U.N. representative, Jose Luis Dias, said member states “should return a blank ballot if they feel a candidate does not meet the high human rights standards expected of council members.”

Amnesty has written letters to all candidates urging them to demonstrate their commitment to human rights, he said.

For example, Dias said, the organization has called on Ethiopia to instruct the security services to remove barriers to the work of human rights defenders and journalists and has highlighted Ivory Coast’s 2010 Supreme Court ruling upholding a husband’s right to “discipline his wife and children, provided that this left no visible marks.”

The African candidates are Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya and Sierra Leone. The Asian Group candidates are Japan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. The Eastern European Group candidates are Estonia and Montenegro, and the Latin American and Caribbean Group candidates are Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela.

What Should Ethiopia Expect in a Second Obama Term?

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

It is proper to congratulate President Obama on his re-election to a second term. He put up a masterful campaign to earn

 the votes of the majority of American voters. Mitt Romney also deserves commendation for a hard fought campaign. In his concession speech Romney was supremely gracious: “At a time like this we can’t risk partisan bickering and political posturing. Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people’s work, and we citizens also have to rise to occasion.”

There has been a bit of finger-wagging, teeth-gnashing, eye-rolling and bellyaching among some Ethiopian Americans in the run up to the U.S. presidential election held last week. Some were angry at President Obama and actively campaigned in support of his opponent. They felt betrayed by the President’s inability or unwillingness to give effect to his lofty rhetoric on human rights in Africa and Ethiopia. Others were disappointed by what they believed to be active support for and aid to brutal African dictators. Many tried to be empathetic of the President’s difficult circumstances. He had to formulate American foreign policy to maximize achievement of American global national interests. Terrorism in the Horn of Africa was a critical issue for the U.S. and Obama had to necessarily subordinate human rights to global counter-terrorism issues.

I was quite disappointed by the President’s failure to implement even a rudimentary human rights agenda in Ethiopia and the rest of Africa. But I also understood that he had some fierce battles to fight domestically trying to shore up the American economy, pushing some basic social policies, fighting two wars and putting out brushfires in a conflict-ridden world. I gave the President credit for a major diplomatic achievement in the South Sudan referendum which led to the creation of Africa’s newest state.  President Obama authorized the deployment of a small contingent of U.S. troops to capture or kill the bloodthirsty thug Joseph Kony and his criminal partners. He launched the kleptocracy project which I thought was a great idea. As I argued in my column “Africorruption, Inc.“, the “business of African governments in the main is corruption. The majority of African ‘leaders’ seize political power to operate sophisticated criminal enterprises to loot their national treasuries and resources.” I felt the kleptocracy project could effectively prevent illicit money transfer from Ethiopia to the U.S. According to Global Financial Integrity, Ethiopia lost US$11.7 billion to illicit financial outflows between 2000 and 2009. I gave the president high marks for working through the U.N. to pass U.N. Resolution 1973 which endorsed the effort to protect Libyan civilians and his use of NATO partners to shoulder much of the military responsibility to rid Gadhafi from Libya after 41 years of brutal dictatorship. More broadly, I give him credit for closing secret  C.I.A. prisons, ending extraordinary renditions and enhanced interrogations (torture), trying to close down the detention camp in Guantánamo Bay and move trials from military tribunals into civilian courts and abide by international laws of human rights. No doubt, he has much more to do in the area of global human rights.

I believe he could have done a lot more in Africa and Ethiopia to promote human rights, but did not. I have written numerous columns over the past couple of years that have been very critical of U.S. policy. In the “The Moral Hazard of U.S. Policy in Africa“, I argued that neither the U.S. nor the West could afford to sacrifice democracy and human rights in Africa to curry favor with incorrigible African dictators whose sole interest is in clinging to power to enrich themselves and their cronies. In my column, “Thugtatorship: The Highest Stage of African Dictatorship”, I argued Africa’s thugtatorships have longstanding and profitable partnerships with the West. Through aid and trade, the West and particularly the U.S. has enabled these thugocracies to flourish in Africa. A few months ago, in my column “Ethiopia in Bond Aid,” I argued that international aid is negatively affecting Africa’s development. “Before much of Africa became ‘independent’ in the 1960s, Africans were held under the yoke of “colonial bondage”. ‘International aid’ addiction has transformed Africa’s colonial bondage into neo-colonial bondaid.” In another recent column “Ethiopia: Food for Famine and Thought!”, I criticized the G8 Food Security Summit held in Washington, D.C. this past June as a reinvention of the old colonialism: “The G-8’s ‘New Alliance’ smacks of the old Scramble for Africa. The G-8 wants to liberate Africa from hunger, famine and starvation by facilitating the handover of millions of hectares of Africa’s best land to global multinationals…”

በደል ይረሳል ወይስ ይለመዳል

ይኸነው አንተሁነኝ
በደል ይረሳል ወይስ ይለመዳል ወገን? ጉልበተኛው ወያኔ በጉልበቱ ተማምኖ በማን አለብኝነት እና በማን አህሎኝነት የምንኖርበትን ቦታና ፍላጎታችንን ሳይቀር ወስኖ በንቀት ረግጦ መግዛቱ ሳያንሰው፤ ህገመንግስታዊ መብታችን ይከበር፣ መንግስት ራሱ ላወጣው ህግ ይገዛ፣ መብታችንን ተጠቅመን የሰጠነው የምርጫ ድምጻችን ይከበር ብለው ጥያቄያቸውን ለማሰማት የወጡ ሰላማዊ ሰልፈኞችን እድሜ ዘመናቸውን ወስኖ፤ እንደፈለገ የሚያዛቸውን የአጋዚ ሰራዊት በመጠቀም በጠራራ ፀሐይ በሀገራችን የተለያዩ ከተሞች አውራ መንገዶች ላይ ያለርህራሄ ግንባር ደረታቸውን እየቀደደ እንደ ውሻ ሬሳ እንደ አልባሌ ያጣለበት ወርሃ ትቅምት እንሆ ሰባትኛ የሃዘን ዓመት ባተ።

ጨዋታ ያልጠገበው ህጻን ድንገት በጥይት አረር በግፍ ተመትቶ መውደቁንና ረዳት ማጣቱን ያየው ሌላው ከሱ ያልተሻለው ወንድሙ፣ በጁ ምንም ነገር አለመያዙን በንግግርና በምልክት እጆቹን አንስቶ እየገለጸ፤ ወንድሜን ለማንሳት ብቻ፣ ወንድሜን ለመርዳት ብቻ በማለት በልጅ ፍርሃቱና አንደበቱ እየማለና እየተገዘተ ወደ ወንድሙ ቢሮጥም የጠበቀው ግን እንዳሰበው አልነበረም። ሞቱ የተደገሰለት፣ አድሜው በወያኔ የተቆረጠለት ይህ ህጻን አሰከሬኑ የወንድሙን ሬሳ አቀፈ እንጅ እሱስ እንደፈለገው በህያው እጁ አላቀፈውም። ወንድሜ ይፈልገዋል ያለውን ርዳታ ሊለግስ እንደጓጓ፣ እንደተመኘና ይህንንም ለመፈጸም ወንድሙ ወደ ወደቀበት እንደሮጠ፤ በቃ አልተመለሰም እሱንም እንደወንድሙ የወንድሙ ገዳዮች አብረው ደፉት። ታዲያ ይሄ ይረሳል ወገን? ወይስ በእርግጥ ይለመዳል?

የእጃቸውን የመከራ ጥላሸት በቀሚሳቸው እየተረጉ እባካችሁ በኔ ይሁንባችሁ ባለቤቴ እናንተ እንደምትሉት አይነት ሰው አይደለም። እባካችሁ እስኪ ትንሽ ተረጋጉና አድምጡኝ ብለው መማጸናቸው ከአንድ ኢትዮጵያዊ የተከበሩ አማውራ ስለ ልጆቻቸው አባት የሚቀርብ በጣም ዝቅተኛው ልመና ሊሆን አይገባውም ነበር እንዴ? ይህ ግን ለወያኔ የመዳፈር ያህል ያስቀጣል ከዚያም ሲያልፍ ሂዎትን ታክል ተተኪ የሌላት ነገር ያስከፍላል። እናም የወያኔ አጋዚ ወታደር  ልመና ስለለመኑት ብቻ፣ ጥያቄ ስለጠየቁ ብቻ  ተከብረው በኖሩበት ልጆች ወልደው ባሳደጉበት በራቸው ላይ  ያለርህራሄ ደፍቷቸው ግዳይ ጥሎ አስከሬናቸውን ተሻግሮ በኩራት የሄደው። ታዲያ ይሄ እንዴት ይረሳል? እንዴትስ ይለመዳል?

ቸር አውለኝ ብሎ በሰላማዊ መንገድ መንግስትን ሊያናግር ችግሩንም ሊያሰማ የወጣን ሰልፈኛ ሀገርን፣ ህዝብን፣ ሃይማኖትን ሊያዋርድ ባህር አቋርጦ ድንበር ተሻግሮ እንደ ገባ ወራሪ ጠላት በሩምታ ተኩስ ቆሉት፣ እያሳደዱ ደበደቡት። በመቶዎች የሚቆጠር ምስኪን ህዝባችንን ፈጁት፣ ወርሃ እሸት- ጥቅምት የህዝብ እሸት ታጨደባት፣ የልጅ አዋቂ የሴት ወንድ አስከሬን ተከመረባት፣ የከተሞች ዋና ዋና መንገዶቻችን በደም ታጠቡ፣ አስፋልቶች በረጋ የሰው ደም ተሞሉ። የአእዋፍ ጫጫታ፣ የግርማ አራዊት ድንፋታ ጸጥ እረጭ አሉ። በምትኩ የመለስ ዜናዊ የማያባራ ማስፈራሪያና ያጋዚ ሰራዊት የእንቅስቃሴ

እርምጃ ምድሪቱን አራዷት። ከዚያም በያቅጣጫው አፈሳ ሆነ፣ ትርምስ በረታ፣ የእናት የልጆች የጭንቀት የማንቋረር ደምጾች እንደገና አየሩን ሞላው። በሁለተኛው ዓለም ጦርነት ወቅት በግፈኛው ሂትለር

Ethiopia woman tells of sex slavery in Saudi Arabia

ADDIS ABABA: An Ethiopia woman revealed that she was the victim of sex slavery after she attempted to find work as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia.

For H, who asked that her identity remain anonymous, her ordeal began after she took a boat to Yemen, where after two months she was able to cross into Saudi Arabia and was hired by what she told Bikyamasr.com was a “nice couple” for a “decent salary.”

But that is when her horrific experience began. She continues to look down at her hands, ever moving, as she retells what she was forced to endure at the hands of her Saudi bosses.

“I don’t think the wife knew anything that was going on,” she is quick to point out. “But if she did hear my screams and did nothing, I hope she doesn’t sleep well.”

After three weeks of relative calm, H was finding life in southern Saudi Arabia comfortable and she was hoping that much of her first paycheck would be sent back to her family in Addis Ababa. Instead, no money came.

“When the fourth week came around, I was excited because I was being treated well and was doing my job I thought very good,” she continued.

But the day she asked when she would receive money, the husband, who she described as a construction manager, began grabbing her and forced her to the wall. She said she was screaming, but knew that nobody would come to her aid because the wife was out shopping and the two children were at school.

“He ripped my dress off and forced himself onto me. He raped me. This was just the beginning,” she said, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“He would find me almost daily and rape me. He would force me to work naked in his office if nobody was home. He would tie me up and repeatedly force himself onto me over and over for hours if the wife was out of the house. I can’t imagine that I experienced this,” she added.

After four months of constant rape and sexual violence, H was able to escape late in the night after she found her door was unusually unlocked. She met up with three other Ethiopians and they fled back across the border into Yemen, where they were flown out of the country this fall as part of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) flights.

Her story is not unusual, she says, revealing that at least three other Ethiopian women were raped while working in Saudi Arabia.

“I would never wish any woman to work in Saudi Arabia, the stories I hear are horrific and I know how we are treated. We are slaves to whatever they want,” she added.

Tens of thousands of Ethiopian migrants and refugees have entered Yemen since the end of July, according to a new report published by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC).

The report said that some 51,000 Ethiopians have illegally crossed into Yemen after the short boat trip.

H is just one of the many Ethiopian women who attempted to have a better life outside their native country.

How To End Government Intolerance Of Islam In Ethiopia

Tcurrent Ethiopian constitution provides for freedom of religion and requires the separation of state and religion.

 However the Muslim community in Ethiopia has been, for more than a year now, holding protests at mosques around the country against what is perceived as government interference in religious affairs. The protesters are demanding that the current members of the Islamic Affairs Supreme Council (Majlis) be replaced by elected representatives and that elections for Majlis representatives be held in mosques rather than in the Kebeles. Some members of the Muslim community accuse the Ethiopian Government of controlling the Majlis and sponsoring the propagation of Al-Ahbash, a little known sect of Islam. The Ethiopian Government, on the other hand, accuses the protesters of being led by extremists who want to establish an Islamic state in place of the current secular multination federation.

The Ethiopian Government has responded against some protests in 2012 with deadly force, most recently in Assassa in April and Gerba in October, resulting in the death of at least seven protesters, a large number of injuries, and the imprisonment of a number of protesters on terrorism charges.

The protests were triggered by the suspension of the Awoliyah Muslim Mission School and the dismissal of 50 Arabic teachers via a letter issued by the Majlis. The Awoliyah Muslim Mission School, has been a member since 1993 of the Islamic charitable agency known as International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), and has been linked to the Saudi Arabia controlled World Muslim League. Ethiopian authorities consider Awoliyah to be a breeding ground for a new generation of radical Muslims, which they refer to as “Salafi-Jihadists” or “Wahabi-Salafists”. However, the Muslim protesters have consistently adhered to nonviolent demonstrations, leaving the Ethiopian Government with little to no evidence of behavior or action that could be described as terrorism. It is clear to date that the Ethiopian Government is manufacturing a security problem where none actually exists.

A careful consideration of the matter reveals that what’s happening in Ethiopia today is a reflection of what has been taking place in the West. Concerns about terrorism have degenerated into an irrational suspicion of Muslims, which will continue unabated until Ethiopia and its Western partners reflect more critically on their own perceptions.

It is reasonable to argue that Ethiopia’s leaders are experiencing a growing fear of Islamic terrorism given the fact that it is combating the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab in Somalia and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) in the Somali region of Ethiopia. This is buttressed by a universal consensus among analysts that Somalia and Sudan are exporters of both political Islam and Islamic terrorism. Given that Ethiopia is widely considered as a bulwark against Al Qaeda-linked terrorists in the Horn of Africa, Somalia and, across the Gulf of Aden, in Yeman, one could argue that Ethiopia is not suffering from siege mentality, but rather that it is suffering from rational fear.

There is some evidence that the Ethiopian Muslim community has been radicalized, although not in the sense that it has a political agenda, but in the sense that it has attained a higher degree of religious consciousness and has become more aware of its particularistic identity. In light of “Arab Spring” events that took place in North Africa and the Middle East, toppling repressive governments, it can be argued that the Ethiopian authorities are haunted by the fear of an ‘Ethiopian Spring’, which has not only contributed to the current crackdown on the media and the political opposition, but also against the Muslim community. Ethiopia has increasingly become intolerant of Islam.

There is little evidence to support the Ethiopian Government’s claim that its own Muslim community poses a legitimate threat to national and regional security. It only seems to be driven by a shrewd strategic calculus. Since Ethiopia is a critical partner in the West’s war on terror, the government thinks it helps to foment fear of the rise of radical Islam in Ethiopia that would lead to an improbable takeover of power by political Islam. The current Ethiopian Government seeks to keep Western support and aid flowing into the country through characterizing the Muslim community as linked to Islamic radicals and terrorist and thus a threat to national security.

The fear being cultivated by the Ethiopian Government without basis in evidence has lead to the dubious actions it has engaged in. It would be irrational for a country that has had a history of Islamic terrorism to dismiss the fear of Islamic terrorism. When it comes to Ethiopia, the fear is irrational in light of its recent past and current events. My point is that rational fear can be a guide to sensible public policy. However, it is simply absurd to believe that all Muslims in Ethiopia are fiends and terrorists in disguise. The Ethiopian Government is using irrational fear to justify intolerance of Islam, and all of this because of bad public policy.