Renewed attack on the Oromo Liberation Front from the Abyssinian camp

As the world ushered in the year 2012, certain Abyssinian and their subsidiaries declared doomsday for the Oromo national struggle for freedom. Though Abyssinian are not alone to think the world is doomed to end, their prophecy that celebrated end of Oromo national struggle for freedom is unique in that it is driven by FEAR OF FREEDOM, unlike the global doomsday prophecy which are  mainly religious.

The 2012 global doomsday prophecy

The year 2012 began with doomsday prophesies. There are warnings of Apocalypse by 2012.  Major cities in the world will be crushed, by natural disasters. In an enormous global Apocalypse, the world civilization will end. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world include the arrival of the next solar maximum, Earth's collision with a black hole, passing asteroid, the shifting Earth’s magnetic poles … and many others.

One source of this confusion is the ancient Mayan calendar which has been studied in depth but not easily understood. According to the long count of Mayan calendar, the Gregorian date December 21(or possibly 23rd) 2012 corresponds to the ending of the 5125 cyclical period since the zero date (3114 BCE). In other words, the 5125 count since the old zero date will be reset again to a new zero date on Dec, 21, 2012.

The New age theorists suggest that the 2012 date marks major global transition towards a more harmonized world. New Age interpretation of this transition is that this date marks the start of time in which Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.

Regardless of differences among various groups on what the year 2012 entails, one thing they all have in common is the recognizance that this upcoming date is making a strong impression on a growing number of people, and that much of this impression is based on a belief that the world as we know it is about to undergo some sort of profound change.

Abyssinians doomsday prophesy

On January 01/2012, Ethiopians around the world wake-up to news of doomsday prophesy made by one Abyssinian deptera scholar and his disciples: the end of struggle for freedom in the Oromo camp. Along with this deptera prophet was a former TPLF general who made false statement- amendment of the OLF political program. He declared to the world that the Oromo nation has agreed to abandon their pursuit for freedom. Debtera scholars in the Abyssinian camp compared the traitor general to the Biblical dove which brought an olive branch to the Noah Arc, marking the end of the storm. There has been euphoria in the oppressors’ camp, euphoria generated by blissful ideological victory over the OLF. Dozens of radio and television interviews have been made with ‘heroes’ and ‘heroes’ to capture their ‘important’ role in the long standing struggle to save Ethiopia from the forces of evil. Ode has been written and recited. Blogs in the nafxanya camp were filled by ululation and glorification of those who abandoned the freedom fighters camp and joined the oppressors’ camp. The former OPDO general, who liberated himself from TPLF and joined OLF, but sadly defected to former Abyssinian masters was decorated as the latest Abyssinian servant. All along, genuine Oromo sons and daughters who stood for the self determination of Oromo people were cursed as fundamentalists and terrorists, paradoxically by the same unity crowed which TPLF label as terrorists.

Reactions of Oromo nationals

Worldwide, Oromo nationals have been rattled by the recent sabotage, though it is obvious that the euphoria is invented to reward supporters of Ginbot7 and to win more support. For some in the Oromo camp, the emergence of Jijjirama group with a clear goal of taking side with Ginbot7 is a sign of relief. Those who struggle for the independence of Oromia will no more suffer from continuous setbacks by such elements in the liberation camp. Generally, however, the Oromo camp took the recent move as a new form of violence against Oromo nation by Noe - Nafxanya camp. The incident transformed the Oromo camp to higher level of national awareness and consciousness. Many Oromos see the current Ginbot7 move as a contradiction between reality of the oppressed and illusions of the oppressor. The recent development is the result of dynamic contradiction between the struggle of the oppressed people to break the yolk of oppression and the illusion of the oppressor to dominate by aborting free nations’ struggle to freedom.

Realities of the oppressed

It is only a century and three decades since fascist Nafxanya gunmen invaded our free nation. Towards the end of 18 century, Abyssinian invading army, supported by European colonial advisers, marched South onto the Oromo land. Using new technology (gun) they acquired from Europe and making alliance with some Oromo horsemen like Gobana, Abyssinians massacred Oromo people who at the time were using spear, bow, arrow and sword in battles.  In what is called “ Hagar Maaqinaat” missions, Menelik massacred men and women of these free nation in millions. Children, women, elders were brutally massacred, mutilated and burned down in their own Qe’ee. Most were noncombatant civilians and were killed at their homes. In their heroic resistance they put for their liberty, the Oromo lost half of their population. Between the beginning of the invasion and the time they finally conquered Arsi, the size of Oromo population was estimated to have been reduced by half, from eight million to four million. Survivors of expedition of the northerners were sold to Arab slave merchants. The infamous description of  Menelik by Europeans as the greatest slave trade entrepreneur signifies this human tragedy(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14357121).Those who survived the slave merchants were reduced to subhuman status and were made serfs on their own lands.

  

After the battle of Anolee and Calaqoo, in which more than 70,000 (the NewYork Times, Feb 26,1886) Oromo men were slew, the invading army shamed surviving Oromo men ( young and adult)  in front of their women. The right hands of men were cut, while their woman watched. The breasts of their mothers, sisters and their wives were slashed while the men watched. Fear and shame was instilled in those Oromos who were defeated. The goal was to weaken the spirits of Oromos and take their minds.

To finalize their conquest, Habesha strategists invented racist epithets that  were intended to completely dehumanize Oromos and keep alive  the inferiority and subservience mentality so that it goes on from generation to generation. Here I mention two of these racist epithets. In the order of creation of universe, the Habesha debtera put Oromo next to beasts of burden such as donkey. They joke, God created heaven on the first day, Amahara as first human being, donkey on seventh day and last Galla. Speaking about the right of Oromo people to life, Menilik was quoted saying “ dont kill wild animals, even when it is a Galla.” Everything Oromo was then categorized as uncivilized; from our cultural foods to speaking our language. These hate crimes were not isolated crimes that were committed just by few people in the Habasha society. It was/is wide spread and it was/is an integral part of Habesha culture. In addition to widespread epithets in Amahara language and culture, laws enacted by Habasha colonial governments to deprive Oromos of their birth rights had been strictly applied under each successive regime until the downfall of Mengistu. Some continued until today. For example, the Hailesilasie government implemented a clandestine policy of restricting Oromos from having equal opportunity to education and employment, among other things.

Since the time of occupation, free nations became slaves on their own lands. Our people were subjected to barbaric servitude in which they laboured, sweat and had to feed the same people who massacred them and settled on their ancestral lands. Free people were treated as animals, with Amahara clerics treating and describing our people next to donkey.  The South nations and nationalities were denied education opportunities and job opportunities. Massive Amaranization policy were put in place to make sure we free people forget what is ours and adopt what is Abyssinian. These free nations were even denied the most basic natural rights on their own land, including their natural right to communicate in their own languages.

Neo - Nafanyas and General Kamal Galchu lectures us not to mention such past human tragedies, for the good of Ethiopia. The Kamal group warn Oromo nation not to be prisoner of past history.  What an enlightened general! But we must never forget the mutilation of Chalenko and Anole, in which breasts of our grandmothers were ripped off with blunt weapons, the hands of our grand fathers were chopped off, and their bloods were shed. We keep it alive lest history repeat itself, in the same way the Jewish kept the holocaust alive. It is not without reason. It is to insure that another Hitler, another hater never come back to power.

Birth of the OLF and its achievements

Out of such historical injustices and oppression perpetrated against the Oromo people by successive Ethiopian regimes emerged the OLF. In the past few decades the Oromo nation has gained irreversible achievements. OLF has unveiled the world of oppression in Abyssinia and the organization has committed itself to date to transform this oppression. The myth the oppressor created as a tool of oppression has been dismantled.  As vanguard of the oppressed Oromo people, OLF has been waging a liberation struggle to resolve the contradiction in which several Oromo generation were/are caught. As a result a new Oromo generation is born, a generation that confront cultural, political, economic and ideological domination. The new man and women, the QUBEE GENERATION is born. This new person is a man/woman in the liberation process of Oromia.The goal of the new person is to be fully human. This gaol can be achieved not by merely reversing the terms of contraction (oppressor-oppressed) but by transforming the country in a fundamental way. This new man/woman is the product of the OLF. Thus the journey to freedom is unstoppable. Any Abyssinian man/woman who doubts the achievements of OLF in the past three decades must reflect on this fact.

OLF struggles to lead the Oromo people to self-determination. As clearly stated in its political program, the OLF works along with all political groups to reform Ethiopia. In the absence of genuine reform, the organization is committed to lead the Oromo people to their inalienable right of self-determination. To this end, the OLF joined popular forces that ousted the Dergue government in 1991 and played leading role in laying out foundation of federalism, which TPLF soon undermined. OLF’s withdrawal from the 1991 after TPLF undermined the democratic process is a litmus test that the organization makes no compromise on political deals that compromise the interest of Oromo people.

Oppressors Fear of Freedom

OLF’s struggle is an authentic struggle and it aims to transform not only  the situation of the oppressed people, but also the unfortunate situation of those oppressing the Oromos and other nations and nationalities. The unity gangs are fearful of this transforming struggle. They fear to see free Oromo nation, because they see it as a threat to their very existence. It is a false fear, a fear induced by their oppressive consciousness. They fail to see it as a process that will transform them from one of dehumanizing situation to a situation where they become equal with other people. In other words THEY FEAR FREEDOM. The struggle of OLF to free the Oromo nation threatens not only the oppressor but even the oppressed Oromo nationals who still fear greater repression. That is why we see millions still working for the system that oppress them.

Out of such false fear, Neo-Nafxanyas are busy to reverse the gains the Oromo nation achieved through the bloods and bones of Oromo children. There should be no misunderstanding when Gibot7 anoint a victim of 20 years of insubordination, former TPLF general, as their disciple to preach doomsday to the Oromo freedom camp. The self-professed saviors of Abyssinia have only one mission, as one of them confessed the book he wrote while sharing Qaallitti prison with Oromo prisoners. Their only mission is to stop OROMO people from speaking about their freedom. These self-appointed saviours of Ethiopia, however, lack compassion and sympathy for tens of thousands of Oromo nationals who suffer in detention for no other reason than being Oromo. The Neo- naftanyas have made resolution to stop Oromos from talking about their freedom. Instead they want us dance to their false unity rhythm. They want to insure we speak Amaharic as our mother tongue. They dreams to revive an empire where we Oromos pay tribute to the murdering father Naafxanya. They plan we celebrate our humiliation at Calanqoo and Anolee.

“The Burning Bush” Prophet

In 2006, while in Qaallitti prison, along with thousands of Oromo prisoners who speak about the freedom of Oromia, one Abyssinian Debtera saw a “burning bush”, a grand vision. God spoke to him, in the same way He spoke to the Bibilical Moses. The vision was to save Ethiopia from the ‘savages’ who speak nothing but FREEDOM. The vision led him to join politics. His primary objective was to fight enemies of Ethiopia, number one on the list being the OLF whom he dismissed as terrorists, with whom ‘Ethiopians’ of good faith should never negotiate. After TPLF accused him of the same evil he accused the OLF, another divine light touched him. Suddenly, he was transformed into a pious priestly figure who preached transformation of the OLF. All in disguise. After five laborious years, he found a desperate former TPLF general with whom he could save the ‘savages’ from their eternal sin of harming mother Abyssinia.

The flip - flop General: from freedom camp to oppressors’ camp

As he crossed border to Asmara, General Kamal declared his freedom from oppressors who made him subservient for more than fifteen years. After five years of freedom, nostalgic of serving the ‘master’ race, he once again relapsed back to his old status and joined the oppressors’ camp. Being subordinate is an addiction. Not everyone has the gut to resist.  Any way his activities from the time he arrived in Asmara seem to be a catalogue of scams and mischiefs. To begin with, general Kamal was a defector from Ethiopian Army. No one is certain as to how and why he crossed border to Eritrea. The general agreement is that Kamal Galchu was sent to Eritrea with a hidden agenda to create rift in the OLF. High ranking military personnel(generals, colonels ..), along with  hundreds of foot soldiers ,  crossing boarder  to Eritrea(an arch enemy of Ethiopia) without any incident is something that many people found suspicious. How he managed to "cheat" TPLF's intelligence and crossed border to Eritrea remain a “mystery”. It is "unbelievable" and it is as if you are reading a script of a movie from Hollywood or Bollywood. A high ranking general, along with more than 400 foot soldiers, and other high ranking military personnel, “cheated” TPLFs military intelligence and with no incident crossed border to Ethiopia's arch foe. No gun shot, no follow up by Ethiopian army into the border of Eritrea, no nothing. Isn't that amazing?

Regardless of his motive, his defection was a move from North Pole to South Pole, a move from the oppressor camp to the liberation camp. He however certainly brought the mark of his origin into the Oromo liberation camp: nostalgia and deformation.  Kamal was nostalgic of his status, general status and wanted to impose his status, forgetting that he is now equal with all freedom fighters. Conversion to a freedom fighter requires a profound rebirth. The moment he crossed border to Eritrea, Kamal must have taken a new form of existence, an existence in which he acquire comradeship with Oromo liberation fighters. He failed, because he was nostalgic of his OPDO past.  Alienated from the luxury of life he lived while serving the TPLF government; the general might have also suffered an irresistible attraction to his past lifestyle, all of which are in contradiction with the life of a freedom fighter.

After few months, the general led a faction in the OLF and helped the organization split. Soon there followed an endless crack in his splinter group. A group led by Licho Bukura surrendered to TPLF. The remaining Kamal faction lost credibility among Oromos in diaspora. Financial flow became very thin. Support base dwindled and Galachu felt he was abandoned. It is time to try something new. Since support from the Oromo camp has dwindled to zero, Galchu and his defeatist group made a historic decision: Serving the agenda of Father Naafxanya. It pays. They know it. Serving the Father Naafxaanya requires destroying what Oromo people have gained in the past two decades. The OLF has been de-constructing the father Naftanya ideology for the past two three decades and more. The Abyssinian camp have been counting it’s lose every single day. The Oromo consciousness has been growing by day. The Naftenya camp has been desperate to create its Trojan horse to put a stop to the ever increasing Oromo consciousness. Such a useful Trojan horse can be non-other than the desperate Galchu. Using desperate souls like Galchu,   Menelik’s children like Brehanu Nega declare to the world that they have put the last nail in the coffins of “secessionist”.

Forging the Identity of OLF

Abandoning the Kaayyoo of OLF, the splinter group began masquerading with the identity of OLF. On various father Nafxaanya media, the Galchu group claims the name OLF. In their desperate attempt to copy the real OLF, the group created a a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate Oromo Liberation Front website. The legitimate Oromo liberation Front websites are http://oromoliberationfront.org/ and http://oromoliberationfront.info/.The fake website the Galchu group created to confuse supporters and members of OLF is http://oroomoliberationfront.org/. There is only a difference of one letter between the two website. In the electronic media communication, masquerading as a trustworthy entity constitutes a crime of phishing. The new website suggests that there is a nation called “OROOMO” in Ethiopia, which the degenerate Galchu and his sellouts struggle to liberate. If the name refers to Oromo people, this degenerate group must be taken to court for deliberately distorting the name of Oromo nation. This is a deliberate alteration of Oromo people name to OROOMO which constitute a serious crime.

It should be abundantly  clear by now that Gibot7 debteras have been preparing this group for the past five years to serve Emiye Ethiopia in their  capacity for the following missions: 1). Denounce self-determination to save  mother Ethiopia, and 2). Fight the Oromo nation from within.

That is why this degenerate group claim the name OLF. Otherwise they would have joined Ginbot7, without bothering about OLF and the Oromo people. That is why these desperate souls want to tell us that they have changed the OLF program for the good of mother Ethiopia. This false claim to alter the OLF program is dishonest, unconventional and didn't follow the OLF’s procedure. It is illegal. The Galchu group does not have any legitimacy from the Oromo nation. Kamal Galchu himself is a general who helped TPLF kill thousands of Oromo youth when he was serving the TPLF government. He is a man who made oath of loyalty to successive Abyssinian governments. His current surrender to Ginbot7 is the third oath and the worst of all. Let’s not forget that he was also an army general who undertook military decisions that resulted in the death, torture and displacement of thousands of Oromo nationals.

Renewal of attacks on the OLF

External enemies left no stone unturned to replace OLF with their own manufactured entities though their struggle did not materialize. A year before the fall of Dergue, TPLF manufactured OPDO in Darraa to weaken the OLF. After the OLF left the transition government, TPLF manufactured Salaamawwi Onag in 1992. Thus, the formation of new OPDO in the Ginbot7 oppressor camp should not come to us as a surprise. There is nothing new.  Ginbot7 did nothing more than recycling former OPDO generals, manufacturing them into new style and branding them as new OLF.  It can be viewed as a renewal of attack on the freedom camp. But why?

Legacy of the Oppressor

The  legacy of the oppressor explain  why the struggle of Gibot7 so far is aimed at preventing Oromo man and woman from being fully human and why it also constitute an act of violence.

Paulo Freire, in his book titled The Pedagogy of the Oppressed asserts “any situation in which “A” exploits “B” or hinders his and her pursuit of self-affirmation as a responsible person is one of the oppression. Such a situation in itself constitutes violence, even when it sweetened by false generosity, because it interferes with the individual’s ontological and historical vocation to be fully human.”

Thus, recruiting weak elements in the OLF camp to serve the interest of father Nafxaanya amounts to violence. Crowning some degenerates former TPLF military generals as authentic leaders of OLF and the ideological victory celebration that followed the said change in OLF political program is an act of violence against all Oromo men and women. It is a desperate action to renew oppression, aggression and violence. When the Noe - Nafxanya camp began negotiation with the OLF they were fully aware of OLF’s political program. Their current move to crown defectors from OLF as legitimate OLF group not only indicate their lack of commitment to forge genuine alliance but also hints presence of malicious political sabotage on the Oromo national struggle.

Ginbot7, as heirs of oppressors’ consciousness, are perpetrators of violence on today’s Oromo generation. They are left with strong possessive consciousness - which seeks to possess the country called Ethiopia and everything in it. They seek to possess Oromo land, mountains, plateaux, rivers, valleys....., and engrave their marks on it. They crave to possess free men and women, even when that means limiting others people from exercising their freedom. Their current attempt to hijack the Oromo national struggle is the outcome of Abyssinia's possessive urge. Ginbot 7 elites have now possessed the OPDO general who never get tiered of selling himself out, but their urge to possess the souls and hearts of Oromo nation will remain a dream.

Individual elites in the oppressor camp(that is to say Abyssinian), who share the legacy of the oppressor, now days have discovered, mainly by the help of  educators in the Oromo camp, that they were/are oppressors. Understandably this realization causes them a considerable anguish, though this anguish did not lead them to seek genuine solidarity with the popular struggle. They rather adamantly rationalize their guilt through pathetic and paternalistic treatment, all the while working to make sure the oppressed people remain in the position of dependence. Their oppressive consciousness inhibits them from working for greater good of humanity.

In the light of the above, it is not a paradox to see Amahara elites(former dominant class) genuinely consider themselves to be oppressed under TPLF. Conditioned by the experience of oppressing others, any situation other than their former seems to them like oppression. Formerly, they lived on the sweats of Oromo peasants who provided them with all life luxuries. The Dergue limited their luxury. TPLF diminished their say in the affair of the country. These restrictions appear to the former oppressor as a profound violation of their individual rights, although they have no compassion and respect for millions of Oromo nationals who suffer in detention centers. That is why many  Debterra , having seen Oromos talking about their freedom, wer alarmed to save Ethiopia from these evil forces. One of the debtera scholar said he joined the world of politics to stop Oromo people from fighting injustice. It should be vividly remembered that under Enperor Menilik and H/selassie, only the oppressors were human, while others were considered as ‘things’.

Ginbot7 leaders, most of them being an oppressor class, are unlikely to work for the equality of people in Ethiopia. Most elites in the Amahara camp have internalized the mentality of the oppressor. Through internalization of the mentality of the oppressor, they have lost their freedom( conscience).  Paulo Feire argues, “It is only the oppressed who by freeing themselves can also free their oppressor. The latter, as an oppressive class, can free neither themselves, nor others.”  Amahara elites share the legacy that oppressed and dehumanized the free Oromo nation and other nations and nationality in Ethiopia. Because they are still celebrating a history that dehumanized free nations in that Empire, they cannot lead any form of democratic process that free the oppressed nations.

Sadistic move

Ginbot7’s move also unquestionably corresponds with a tendency of sadism. The euphoria in the oppressors’ camp emanated from their false perception that through possessing one degenerate OPDO general, they have acquired absolute control over the Oromo camp. Sadist drive is characterised by pleasure from complete domination over another person. The aim of sadism is to transform a person like the defected general into “a thing”.  When controlled completely and absolutely, the living loses one essential quality of life- freedom. Sadistic love, a perverted love of the death, not life, is a main characteristic of an oppressive consciousness.

What the oppressor camp should do to save Ethiopia

It is our firm believe that Ethiopia as we know her today must die. It is a natural death that will bury injustices that nation and national suffer in the name of keeping the status quo and territorial integrity which denied them their natural rights. A genuine reform could however save her from this natural death. In reforming Ethiopia, the only group that needs change is the Neo-nafxanyaa crowd. It is time they stop working to stop Oromo people from exercising their legitimate rights. It is time they let go their conservative, oppressive, possessive and racist values and embrace democratic values. Until now, the Neo- nafxaanya elites have assumed false authority to dictate on the future of nations and nationalities in Ethiopia. How sad that they even failed to see the changing demographics in Ethiopia? Today, Ginbot7 and and many Neo-Nafxanya comrades need an interpreter to communicate with an average Oromo youth. The Qubee generation has long rejected values that are core to the nafxanya fathers. If we have to share the same country, a common country that we can all proudly call our home, the oppressed nations and nationalities must set our conditions, not the other way around.These conditions must include but not limited to:

a). The unity crowd unconditionally accept the right to self-determination of nations and nationalities.

b). The unity camp  denounce Emperor Menelik,  his invading army and Orthodox church priests for the crime they committed against humanity during the occupation of Oromia.

c). The Abyssinian camp apologize for the past crimes that their ancestors committed to free nations and nationalities.

d) Noe- fascists stop honoring past butchers like Emperor Menelik as heroes. Honoring King Menelik and his invading army constitutes violence against free nations and keeps alive the dehumanization and humiliation of nations which were conquered by the invading army.

e) The unity crowd accept federalism that recognizes Oromia as an independent nation.

What 2012 entails for the Oromo youth

Freedom is not something the Oromo people acquire by accepting preconditions set for them by Ginbot7 or any other group in Ethiopia. Freedom is acquired by conquer, not by gift. It must be pursued constantly and responsibly. It is an indispensable condition for the quest for human completion. It is the pursuit of fuller humanity. In 2012 and years to come the new Oromo generation has the obligation to continue the pursuit of this fuller humanity. The Oromo youth must renew their struggle against aggression, oppression and violence by making new resolutions and commitments to their national struggle for freedom. In 2012 the Qubee generation must ensure that oppressors cannot abort our legitimate struggle to freedom. The new Oromo generation will insure in 2012 that oppressors wither out with time as they are in contradiction not only with the Oromo struggle but also with globally uphold values of freedom and liberty of all people. Thus they are merely dissenting voices to our truth and can never prevent the Oromo nation from making progress in our endeavor.

The newly born man and woman( from the Oromo National Struggle) will never be subsidiaries of Neo-Naftanya’s dream of recolonizing  Oromia. The renewed attack from the Neo Naftanya camp on the Oromo nationals struggle serves the Qubee generation as an opportunity to renew their vow to fight those who  honor  perpetrators of crime against humanity. This new year is a year in which we once again reaffirm to our oppressors that we shall not stand  with and  make alliance with those who honor Menelik II and his mercenaries who  led genocide against the Oromo nation. The ne  man and woman in the liberation process rejects Abyssinian elites who still honor  Menelik  as hero and role model. The New Oromo man and woman resolves that in 2012 taking  side with Neo- Naftenya camp is nothing less than committing the crimes Menelik committed a century ago. Any Oromo who takes side with these “Ekera”( dead spirits) of Menlik are therefore suspicious and must be avoided,  must be rejected at all levels of Oromo community. Those who support them, if any among the Oromo community, must reconsider their association with such opportunists and subsidiaries. These modern collaborators are dangerous than all collaborators of the past. They should be seen as Oromo nationals who incite violence, massacre, repression and genocide against Oromo people.

Any alliance with the oppressor camp must be preceded by oppressors’ formal recognition of the past and current crimes Abyssinia perpetrated against the Oromo nation.

The Gada Republic of Oromia shall be a reality.