A war of identity
Ethiopian activists advocate for Amhara awareness amidst the ethnic cleansing of the second-largest tribe in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has over 90 different ethnic groups across the nation and so tribal tensions are common when the nation is governed by ‘Ethnic politics.’
Ethnic politics have been the cause of identity killings, particularly due to the TPLF (Tigray’s People Liberation Front), a major power which ruled Ethiopia from 28 May 1991 to 2018, promoting the hatred of the Amhara people.
Currently, Amharas in Ethiopia are being killed by OLF (Oromo Liberation Front), the OLA (Oromo Liberation Army), and TPLF rebels.
Robel Alemu, director of communications of Amhara Association of America regularly speaks about the ethnic cleansing of the Amhara people of Ethiopia.
“People are dying because of their identity, that in itself warrants condemnation. I think when we get to a point when the killing stops, then we will be in a better situation to go back and analyse the historical and political context.”
Alemu expressed the importance of standing up for the victims who are suffering due to: “historical narratives being weaponised to insight hatred, a trend we’ve seen in Ethiopian politics in the last 50-60 years.”
He voiced that these historical narratives are inaccurate and degressive, not supported by trusted academics.
However, some academics like Kjetil Tronvoll, refuse to call these ethnic killings ‘genocide.’
He said: “ It’s not many genocides happening in Ethiopia, it is only in the context of the war in Tigray where we can use that terminology.”
Mr Alemu expanded that several Ethiopian news organisations and certain academics have at times downplayed the Amhara genocide, with the dissemination of hate speech being on the rise.
“There’s been a lot of parallel efforts to downplay what has been happening to the Amhara people but according to our findings, for example, our most recent report found that upwards of 200 Amhara people killed in parts of the east Wollega zones, an Oromia region.”
Marta Genanaw is an Australian Amhara, a rising voice for the I am Fano movement.
The Amhara activist explained that the different ethnic groups resent Amharas as they have felt they have had too much power in the past.
Genanaw explained that Amhara culture is widely synonymous with Ethiopian culture; one of the reasons for resentment.
She said: “Our culture is what we are used to seeing when it comes to Ethiopia but it’s just the people that are demonised. They are scared of Amhara people as they are sleeping giants.”
The I am Fano advocate related that the hope for Ethiopia is to get rid of the Ethiopian ethnic federation, meaning one ethnic group comes into power at a time.
“If we are always divided by ethnic lines we will never be successful as a country.”