- Aug 27, 2014
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Hi all. We've had a few threads lately on the persecution of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians in the context of violence in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, but they were mainly focused on praying (and rightfully so), whereas I would like to share now a little bit of news I stumbled on earlier this morning from borkena.com, an Ethiopian news website.
If their report is trustworthy, one of the main men behind the inter-ethnic and inter-religious violence that is plaguing Oromia lately, one Jawar Mohammed, has been arrested along with some of his bodyguards on terrorism charges, and in the last week or so the cases against Mr. Mohammed and his circle have begun to be heard in court.
One thing I did not know before reading the above-linked news item is that apparently this was all sparked by the murder of a popular Oromo singer and nationalist (read: pro-Oromia independence activist), Hachlu Hundessa. I had heard about his murder before (it was big news in Ethiopia and the diaspora, from what I can tell), but I didn't connect it to the recent violence beyond obviously recognizing that the Oromo would clearly have a reason to be mad about it.
The reason why I didn't connect this murder to the current situation in which EOTC faithful are being murdered is because plenty of Oromo are themselves EOTC (Wikipedia suggests that up to 45% are Christian, but their source is from 1998, and I have heard consistently and much more recently that these days that the majority are Christian -- it's closer to a 60/40 split between Christians and Muslims; though of course that's anecdotal, from Ethiopians I know who were recent arrivals to the USA about half a decade ago). Also, given that the town that he hailed from, Ambo, is majority EOTC (65%), it is at least more likely than not that Hachlu was himself EOTC (though I could find nothing on his religion one way or another). Also, the current prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, who gets a lot of blame for exacerbating ethnic tensions, is not only an ethnic Oromo himself, but also a Protestant (his last name is Ahmed because his father is a Muslim; his mother was EOTC), and not EOTC.
So it would seem that these attacks which target EOTC Oromo specifically don't really have much basis in reality, as it's not as though EOTC Oromo are somehow tied to the government's position by virtue of both the PM and them being Christian -- or at least not any more than it could be claimed that Muslim Oromo are all akin to Jawar Mohammed by virtue of sharing the same religion. (Jawar Mohammed, it should be pointed out, runs a pro-independence Oromo news network, and is an avid and pretty uncompromising supporter of that cause, so I would be much more willing to believe that he and those like him regardless of religion have a personal fight with the government on that account than that Oromos in general are just out to kill EOTC, given that so many of them are themselves EOTC.)
Rather, as usual, conflicts that have their roots in local/regional politics are being used as a pretext for people to kill Orthodox, as the article correctly points out that the attacks are mostly focused on Oromo members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (and non-Oromo minorities, the largest non-Oromo minority in Oromia being the Amhara at around 15%, who are very famously EOTC; this is one of the reasons why Protestantism has been very successful among the Oromo, since the EOTC is seen by a certain type of person as being the domain of the Semitic people of the northern highlands such as the Amhara and the Tigrinya, while the Oromo are a Cushitic people -- ethnic and linguistic kin to other Cushites like the Somalis and the Afar -- who live in the southern and central regions of the country).
Lord have mercy. I do not have much hope in the Ethiopian justice system being fair (not to knock that country or anything; I just don't see how anyone could conceivably be impartial under these circumstances), but I will say that if Mr. Mohammed is behind the current violence (via his news network or other political activism, or whatever the case may be), then it is right that he is charged accordingly.
Again, Lord have mercy.
If their report is trustworthy, one of the main men behind the inter-ethnic and inter-religious violence that is plaguing Oromia lately, one Jawar Mohammed, has been arrested along with some of his bodyguards on terrorism charges, and in the last week or so the cases against Mr. Mohammed and his circle have begun to be heard in court.
One thing I did not know before reading the above-linked news item is that apparently this was all sparked by the murder of a popular Oromo singer and nationalist (read: pro-Oromia independence activist), Hachlu Hundessa. I had heard about his murder before (it was big news in Ethiopia and the diaspora, from what I can tell), but I didn't connect it to the recent violence beyond obviously recognizing that the Oromo would clearly have a reason to be mad about it.
The reason why I didn't connect this murder to the current situation in which EOTC faithful are being murdered is because plenty of Oromo are themselves EOTC (Wikipedia suggests that up to 45% are Christian, but their source is from 1998, and I have heard consistently and much more recently that these days that the majority are Christian -- it's closer to a 60/40 split between Christians and Muslims; though of course that's anecdotal, from Ethiopians I know who were recent arrivals to the USA about half a decade ago). Also, given that the town that he hailed from, Ambo, is majority EOTC (65%), it is at least more likely than not that Hachlu was himself EOTC (though I could find nothing on his religion one way or another). Also, the current prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, who gets a lot of blame for exacerbating ethnic tensions, is not only an ethnic Oromo himself, but also a Protestant (his last name is Ahmed because his father is a Muslim; his mother was EOTC), and not EOTC.
So it would seem that these attacks which target EOTC Oromo specifically don't really have much basis in reality, as it's not as though EOTC Oromo are somehow tied to the government's position by virtue of both the PM and them being Christian -- or at least not any more than it could be claimed that Muslim Oromo are all akin to Jawar Mohammed by virtue of sharing the same religion. (Jawar Mohammed, it should be pointed out, runs a pro-independence Oromo news network, and is an avid and pretty uncompromising supporter of that cause, so I would be much more willing to believe that he and those like him regardless of religion have a personal fight with the government on that account than that Oromos in general are just out to kill EOTC, given that so many of them are themselves EOTC.)
Rather, as usual, conflicts that have their roots in local/regional politics are being used as a pretext for people to kill Orthodox, as the article correctly points out that the attacks are mostly focused on Oromo members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (and non-Oromo minorities, the largest non-Oromo minority in Oromia being the Amhara at around 15%, who are very famously EOTC; this is one of the reasons why Protestantism has been very successful among the Oromo, since the EOTC is seen by a certain type of person as being the domain of the Semitic people of the northern highlands such as the Amhara and the Tigrinya, while the Oromo are a Cushitic people -- ethnic and linguistic kin to other Cushites like the Somalis and the Afar -- who live in the southern and central regions of the country).
Lord have mercy. I do not have much hope in the Ethiopian justice system being fair (not to knock that country or anything; I just don't see how anyone could conceivably be impartial under these circumstances), but I will say that if Mr. Mohammed is behind the current violence (via his news network or other political activism, or whatever the case may be), then it is right that he is charged accordingly.
Again, Lord have mercy.
