Economic and development analysis: Perspectives on economics, society, development, freedom & social justice. Leading issues in Oromo, Oromia, Africa & world affairs. Oromo News. African News. world News. Views. Formerly Oromia Quarterly
#OromoProtests 30 August 2016: Arsi,Dodola, Gannata Haaraa, Oromia, 30 August 2016
Hagayya 30/8 bara 2016 Godina Arsii lixaa Aanaa dodolaa Qeerroon Ganda Gannata Haaraa bifa kanaan gaddaa ilmaan Oromoo dhumaniif kanneen mana hidhaa jiraniif gaddaa fi finxilaan dabarsan.
Motummaan nama nyaata wayyaneefi jala deemtu wayyanee Opdofi yoomillee hin jilbifannuu mirga kenyaaf ni falmanna haqa qabna ni moona injifannoon kan ummaata Oromoti jedhan.
#KonsoProtests 31 August 2016: The Konso people have maintained their protests against fascist TPLF Ethiopia’s regime.
Uuummanni saba koonsoo kan naannoo uummattoota kibbaatti argamu wayyaanee waliin walitti bu’aa jiru. Barana kan wayyaanee hin jibbine hin jiru.
RUELTY of TPLF
#OromoProtests 31 August 2016: You might recall the report about killing of 15 farmers in West Hararge, masala District Choma village over the last four days. You also remember reading how the military prevented people from burying the dead and helping the wounded. Today they are dressing body of dead civilians in military uniform and video taping it. They want to make fake documentary claiming they killed armed combatants.
Guyyaa hardhaa ilmaan Oromoo 15 Harargee Lixaa Aanaa Masalaa Araddaa Coommaa keessatti ajjeefaman san reeffa isaanii huccuu waraanaa offisuun fiilmii sobaatiif viidiyoo waraabaa jiran. Source: Jawar Mohammed
Frankfurter Allgemeine, Germany’s No 1 well respected newspaper, published a big feature story about Ethiopia and Oromo Protest. It is an in-depth reporting & published on page 3 of the newspaper.
Afar people protests, #AfarProtests 29 August 2016 and solidarty with #OromoProtests
De senaste månaderna har otaliga kvinnor, män och barn dött i Etiopien. Ännu fler har fängslats. Detta för att de valde att inte blunda för de orättvisor som pågår. Detta för att de valde att säga ifrån när människor behandlas illa. De senaste dagarna har Facebook fyllts av bilder som denna, människor som visar sin heder för alla de som inte längre är bland oss. Vi fotograferas med händerna korsade, en symbol för att om några av oss fängslas för att ha krävt att mänskliga rättigheter respekteras, är vi alla fängslade med dem! Vi måste säga ifrån när människor mister livet för att helt enkelt ha brytt sig om varandra! Låt oss fylla internet med bilder som denna. Tagga dem med #OromoProtestsoch #AmharaRistance. Det visar att du står med Oromofolket, Amharafolket och alla etiopiens folk som i årtionden förtryckts av den etiopiska regimen. Visa att du bryr dig. Om vi alla gör något litet blir det tillsammans något stort. Tack! By Melody Sundberg
#Amhara Protests in Gojjam, 28 August 2016, Road closure in action in Kosobar, Gojam and also they are in solidarity with #OromoProtests. More anti TPLF protests are going on in various cities and towns in Gojjam and Gonder.
Ethiotelecom has lost at least 30 million birr in potential revenue as a result of yesterday’s hacking that enabled customers to make free call domestically and international. The company is now trying to recover its loss by billing customers although it mostly provides prepaid service. Looking at the bills it is been sending, the loss could be way higher than the above estimate.
Oromia: Athletic nation Report: Short poem (Rio) about Oromo Olympian Fayyisaa Lalisaa, the world icon of #OromoProtests (the call for social justice). Oromian EconomistAugust 23, 2016
Oromia: Athletic Nation Reports: Crowdfunding campaign for #OromoProtests world icon, Rio 2016 Olympian, Fayyisaa Lalisaa has been exceeding the target. Dirmannan Goota Oromoo Fayyisaa Lalisaaf ta’aa jiru hamma abdatamee oli ta’aa jira. Oromian EconomistAugust 22, 2016
Oromia: Athletic Nation Report: #Rio2016 Olympic Marathon: Oromo athlete Fayyisaa Lalisaa has demonstrated his Solidarity to #OromoProtests as he wins silver medal. Oromian Economist August 21, 2016
(Yahoo Sports) — With the eyes of the world upon him, Ethiopian marathonerFeyisa Lilesaused the stage of Sunday’s Olympic marathon to daringly protest his own government back home.
As he neared the finish line and a silver medal, Lilesa raised his arms to form an ‘X’. The gesture is a peaceful protest made by the Oromo people, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and one that is facing a brutal response to widespread protests that began late last year.
Human Rights Watch estimated in June that 400 people have been killed and thousands more injured as the government attempted to stop the estimated 500 protests that the Oromo people staged to draw attention to systemic persecution by the govermnent.
Lilesa is from Oromia, which is home to a large majority of the country’s 35 million Oromo. He didn’t back down from the protest after the race either, flashing the sign for cameras as a press conference and pledging to do it again during Sunday night’s closing ceremony.
Rule 50 of the Olympic charter bans political displays or protests and the American duo of Tommie Smith and John Carlos was famously stripped of its medals after the pair flashed the black power salute on the medal stand at the 1968 Summer Games.
Lilesa, however, has bigger things to worry about than just losing a medal as such dissent puts his life in real danger if he returns to Ethiopia.
Columbia University students in USA are in solidarity with #OromoProtests
The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert for Ethiopia on Friday 19 August 2016 over anti-government protests.
“Protests are likely to continue, and could spread to other parts of the country, including the capital, Addis Ababa,” the State Department said in a statement. The embassy said disruptions and internet services have hampered its ability to communicate with American citizens.
Hagayya 19,2016 Gguyyoota lamaa asitti godinaalee Oromiyaa hundarraa Qeerroon hidhamaa jiru. Sababa addaa hin qabu gochi addaas hin jiru garuu Bilisummaan waan dhiyateef wayyaaneen kufaatii ishees waan mirkaneessiteef jecha uummata oromoo hidhaatti guuruu murteesse. Kaan tarkaanfii ajjechaan diinni uummata oromoo irratti aggaamee jiru biraa deebihaa kan hin jirrree fi bakka uummanni fi iji namaas hin arginetti ilmaan Oromoo ajjeessuunis Oromiyaa keessa magaalota tokko tokkotti kan mul’ataa jiru tahuunis Qeerroon gabaasaa jira. kun uummata Oromoof haaraa tahuu baatus FXG oromiyaa keessatti isa xumuraa itti fufuu irraan amma hidhaan daran jabaatee jira.
Godina Qellem ona garagaraa irraa Qeerroon gabaasaa jiruun fakkeenyaaf Anfilloo irraa namotni 15 ol tahan kaleessuma ukkaamfamuu akkasuma
Jimmaa Horroo irraa
– Dargaggoo Hasan Jamaal
– Dargaggoo Bulchaa Qalbeessaa
– Dargaggoo Tizaazuu Akkattii fi
– Dargaggoo Qalbeessaa Tolasaa kan jedhaman ukkaamfamuun gabaafamee jira.
Dabalataan onuma kana manneen jireenya namoota 4 WBO jiraachisu jechuun humna waraana Wayyaaneen sakatta’amuu irraa eegamaa jiraachuun kan gabaafame
– Mana jireenyaa Lataa Wiirtuu
– Mana jireenyaa Caalii Ganjoosaa
– Mana jireenyaa Yaadasaa Danuu fi
– Mana jireeenyaa Solomoon Gurichoo
Kan jedhaman humna agaaziitiin eegamaa jira. Akkasuma ona Gaa’oo Qeebbee, Gidaamii fi Begii keessaa ijoolleen dargaggeyyiin hidhaatti guuramaa jiru. Kun godina oromiyaa maratti akka tahes Qeerroon gabaasaa jira.
Godina Shaggar kaabaa, shagger Bahaa fi shaggar Lixaa Qeerroon hidhamuun daran jabaatee jira. uummannis hidhaanii fi ajjechan Bilisummaa nun dhorku nu doorsisuun FXG hin hambisu jechuun dhaadannoo isaa itti fufee jira. Hidhamtootni hedduun bakka itti hidhaman irraa bakka biroottis jijjiiramuudhaan hedduun namootaan bakka buuteen isaanii dhabamaa jira. Kanuma keessatti FXG ammas yeroo dhumaa kanaaf kan wayyaanee aangoo isheetti xumura taasisu itti fufuun uummannis gibira diduun, walgahiin wayyaaneen oromiyaa magaalotaa fi godinaalee adda addaatti gaggeessuuf uummata mariisisuuf deemtus bakka hundatti gara FXGtti jijjiramuu fi feshelatuun Wayyaanee isa dhumaa abdii kutachiisuudhaan bifa naasuutiin uummata hidhaatti guuruu murteeffachuun beekameera.
#OromoProtests, Black Lion Medical school students in Finfinnee, the capital, Oromia, protesting fascist Ethiopia’s regime mass killings on 18 August 2016.
Hagayya 14,2016 Sochiin Warraaqsaa Biyyoolessaa Oromiyaa FXG daran jabaachuun Walqabatee Addaatti Magaalootni Gurguddoo Oromiyaa fi Magaalotni Oromiyaa naannawaa Finfinneetti argaman homaa waraana wayyaaneen shororkeeffaama jiru.
Sochiin warraaqsaa biyyoolessaa Oromiyaa utuu wal irraa hin citiin ji’oota 8 guutuu gaggeeffamaa jiruun motummaan abbaa irree raafama ulfaata keessa seenuun kasaaraa Siyaasaa , Dinagdee fi hawaasummaa ulfaataa keessa seenee kan jiru abbaan Irree Wayyaanee EPRDF/TPLF ummata Oromoo Uummata Sivilii mirgaa fi haqa dhugaa isaaf falmatu irratti hoomaa waraanaa bobbaasuun uummata shororkeessuu ittuma fufe jira . Magaalootni Oromiyaa Naannawaa Finfinnee Sulultaa, Burraayyuu, Sabbataa, Holotaa, Aqaaqii Qaallittii, Duukkam, Galaan bishooftuu, Moojoo, Adaamaa, Laga Xaafoo laga daadhii fi Sandaafaa Hoomoo waraanaan shororkeeffamaa kan jiran Yoota’uu, Oromiyaan Bulchiinsa Waraana Wayyaanee Komand post ifatti labsiin jala erga galfamtee ji’oota 8 oli lakkoofsisaa kan jiru. Uummatni Oromoo fi goototni dargaggootni Qeerroon Oromoo soda waraanaa gabrummaaf harka akka hin kennineefi hanga gaaffiin mirga abbaa Biyyummaa uummata Oromoo deebii argatutti warraaqsaa irraa duubatti akka hin deebine diinaaf mirkaneessan.
Warraaqsii Biyyoolessaa Oromiyaa FXG Gaaffiin mirga abbaa biyyummaa haalaa caalatti mootummaa wayyaanee kasaaraa guddaa keessa galchuu danda’uu fi aangoo irraa qaarisuu danda’uun jabaatee rogaa hundaan kan itti fufu malee shororkeessa waraana wayyaanee fi hidhaa jumlaa, ajjeechaa duguginsa sanyii wayyaaneen rawwachaa jirtuun kan hin dhaabbatne ta’uu Qeerroon bilisummaa Oromoo hubachiisa.
A massive deployment of police in Ethiopia’s restive Oromo and Amhara regions prevented fresh anti-government protests over the weekend, an opposition leader said Monday. #OromoProtests 15 August 2016.
Aljazeera Inside Story – What is triggering Ethiopia’s unrest?
August 14, 2016 in
Calls for an international investigation in Ethiopia have surfaced after more than 100 people were killed in demonstrations.It is a conflict that has led to 400 deaths since November, 100 of them in the last week alone, according to human rights groups.The Ethiopian government is cracking down on ethnic Oromos and Amharas, who are calling for political reforms.Human rights groups have called the reponse ruthless. And the United Nations wants to send international observers to investigate.Ethiopia has denied that request, saying it alone is responsible for the security of its citizens. But what can be done to ensure the Ethiopian government respects human rights?Presenter: Folly Bah ThibaultGuests:Getachew Reda – Ethiopian communications affairs minister.Felix Horne – Ethiopia reseracher for Human Rights Watch.Ezekiel Gebissa – Profesor of History and African studies at Kettering University.- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe– Follow us on Twitter:https://twitter.com/AJEnglish– Find us on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera– Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com
#OromOroprotests 14 August 2016: Walfalmii mooraa OPDO keessatti deemaa jiru kam miliiqee saba gahe:
#OromoProtests: A candlelight vigil in in front of The White House in honor of innocent peaceful protesters -brutally gunned down in cold blood by Ethiopian government. 12 August 2016
“DHIIGI MUCAA KOOTII DHANGALA’EE HIN HAFU. OROMIYAAN NI BILISOOMTI!” :AKEEKA UMMATNI OROMOO BAKKAAN GAHUUF MURTEEFFATE.
Fascist Ethiopia’s regime’s detaining and torturing Oromo children.
#OromoProtests 13 August 2016: Children make up a third of the protesters jailed in connection with Grand #OromoProtests. This photo was taken at Iyasu IV prison in Gara Mulata, East Hararge. (The former emperor was jailed there after loosing power to Hailesilassie)
Ijoollee Oromoo kan Waajjira poolisii magaala Burrayyuutti hidhamanii darara hamaan irra ga’aa jiru irraa dhaamsa nu gahe. I#OromoProtests 12 August 2016.
This is martyred Oromo teenager girl Mamiituu Hirphaa who was killed by cruel fascist Ethiopia’s regime Agazi forces in Ambo town, West Shawa, Oromia on 6 August 2016, Grand #OromoProtests
Kun wareegamtuu keenya Maammituu Hirphaa, kan godina Shawaa Lixaa, magaalaa Amboo keessatti hiriira guddaa Oromoo irratti Hagayya 6 bara 2016 wararana Wayyaaneen wareegamte.
Mammituu intala sabboontuu otuu mirga saba Oromoof falmituu wareegamte. Gootota Oromoo kumaatamaa wajjin nagaan nuuf boqodhu!
Qabsoon hanga bilisummaatti itti fufa!!
Rabbi lubbuu ishii haa qananiisu.
#OromoProtests, a determination of an Oromo man, 80 years old confronting fascist Ethiopia’s regime, Agazi forces, Arsi, Oromia, 12 August 2016
Grand#OromoProtests: POWERFUL!! A woman takes the stage during saturday protest in Dallo Manna ( Bale) moves the crowd to a higher spirit of resistance.
Hidhamuun nu gaya
Ajjeefamuun nu gaya
Oromiyaa waraanni hin bulhu
oromiyaan bulchiinsa ofiitin bulti
Grand #OromoProtests 7 August 2016 in Amboo Continues:Guyyaa 07,08,2016 Oduu oromiyaa magaalaa Amboo irraa
Magaalii Amboo kaleessaa irraa kaassee hangaa ammaatti raafama guddaa keessaa jirtii ,finciili uummaata har’as itti fufee oole jedhu jirraatoon ,poolisiin oromiyaa fi poolisiin fedderaala magaalaa keessaa hin muldhatani, magaalaa kan dhunfatee jiruu raayyaa ittisaa biyyaa(agaaze) yoo ta’uu isaannis irraa caalii saba Tigiree afaan Tigirfaa dubbatani,nama argani hundaa daa’ima,jarsaa fi jartii osoo hin jedhiini mana cabsanii reeba fi hidhaa jiruu .
hangaa ammaatti sagaleen dhukaasa magaalaa keessaa dhaga’amaa jiraa ,kan hidhaa jiruuf kan du’ee addaan baafachuun hin danda’aminee jedhuu.
Finicilaa kaleessaa keessaatti magaaluma ambootti mucaa waggaa kudha sadii (13) hin caalee alaabaa abo qofaa waan qabatee deema tureef Agaazen konkolaatan ari’anii irraa baasuun gara jabbinaan ajjeesaniiru jedhuu warrii ijaan argan.
Grand #OromoProtests, Grand #OromoProtests full scale Military massacre has been conducted by Ethiopia’s fascsit regimei n Naqamte, East Walaga. 6 August 2016 pcture.
Similar genocidal mass killings all over Oromia (in town and rurals of Hararghe, Shaggar, Finfinnee, Arsi, Baalee, Boranaa, Gujii, Walloo, Wambaraa, Jimmaa and Eluu Abbaa Booraa).
Grand #OromoProtests on August 6, 2016, Norwegian Embassy in Finfinnee, travel restrictions
BBC: Oromo community calls for more protests in Ethiopia
Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Nairobi
Posted at11:43
Activists from Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo, have called for more anti-government protests this weekend, days after thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in the northern city of Gondar.
Activists say that hundreds have been killed in a security crackdown
They say they will hold countrywide protests against what they describe as continued killings and other abuses by the authorities.
In the latest incident earlier this week, at least six people were allegedly shot dead by police in the eastern town of Awaday.
Prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn warned on Tuesday that Ethiopia was sliding towards ethnic conflict similar to that in neighbouring countries.
Ethiopia’s second largest ethnic group, the Amhara, held a large demonstration last Sunday in Gondar.
The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front has been in power since 1991 and won all seats in parliament in last year’s elections.
Ethiopia’s Oromo people are systematically targeted and oppressed by its ruling regime. The athlete’s crossed arms protest shouldn’t be ignored
‘At risk to his life, and at the sacrifice of his career, Feyisa Lilesa expressed at the Olympics the collective grievances and institutional discrimination his people suffer in the Oromia region.’ Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock
When the Ethiopian Olympic marathon medallist Feyisa Lilesa crossed his arms at the finish line, the world asked what the symbol stood for. Little is known about the historical marginalisation and collective persecution of Lilesa’s people, the Oromo of north-east Africa.
Almost all Ethiopian runners come from the Oromia region; but the Ethiopian athletics federation is highly scornful of their Oromo identity. Perhaps the federation’s imperious attitude towards the athletes emanates from its paranoia and mistrust of the people, and fear that one day Oromo athletes might open Ethiopia’s Pandora’s box and spill the beans at an international sports event. Exactly what Lilesa did in Rio – and now he has not returned to Ethiopia.
At risk to his life, and at the sacrifice of his career, Lilesa was determined to express at the Olympics the collective grievances and institutional discrimination his people suffer in the Oromia region. The courageous crossing of his arms is a gesture of solidarity with the Oromo protest symbol that has been used over the last nine months in defiance of the ruling regime. In a short interview, Lelisa told what many believe is the story of the Oromo: the killings, the maimings, arbitrary detentions, profiling, enforced disappearances and economic injustices perpetrated by the Ethiopian government against the Oromo nation.
The current social and political crisis in Ethiopia was triggered by theAddis Ababa “master plan”, which was perceived by protesters as an attempt to remove the Oromo from the capital city. Even though it later dropped plans for this land grab, the regime claimed that its intention was to develop the city’s business district by further moving into the Oromo territories and neighbouring districts. No prior consultation, discussion or deliberation was had with the Oromo people, the ancestral owners of the land. Some saw this as being part of a grand scheme to ensure the long-term hegemony of the regime’s favoured ethnic group over the rest of the country. The Tigray, the regime’s dominant group, make up only 6% of the country’s population.
As Lilesa’s protest drew national attention, the situation in Ethiopia appeared to be deteriorating and having a serious impact on internal stability. It also cast a shadow of political uncertainty over the country.
Contemporary experiences teach us that economic and political inequality increases the risk of internal strife. When one ethnic group captures political power and excludes its perceived rivals, ethno-nationalist conflict is likely to increase, potentially descending into civil war. A heterogeneous society such as Ethiopia, where disparities in wealth overlap with ethnic grievances, is a good case study.
The scale of the Oromo protest over the last nine months has exposed Ethiopia’s ethnic-coded wealth distribution. According to Oxford University’s 2014Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), Ethiopia is the second poorest country in the world with about 58% living in acute destitution. Not all Ethiopians have benefited equally from the country’s economic growth.
The Oromia region, the nation’s agricultural breadbasket, is also the nation’s second poorest region in the federation. According to the 2014 MPI, about 90% of Oromo live in severe poverty and destitution, more than 80% of Oromo households do not have access to electricity or sanitation and more than 75% of Oromo do not have access to potable drinking water. Similarly, the UNDP’s 2014Human Development Index (HDI) placed Oromia well below the national average. Development in Ethiopia is not inclusive, not shared; many rural Ethiopians – the majority Oromo – remain in severe poverty. Oromo people are the most affected by the current drought and by the government’s response to it.
Economic inequality is echoed in the political realm. Amnesty International’s 2014 report, Because I am Oromo, chronicles targeting based on ethnic identity. Long before that, in June 2007, the UN committee on the elimination of racial discrimination had highlighted how Ethiopian military and police forces systematically targeted certain ethnic groups, in particular the Anuak and the Oromo peoples, and reported the summary executions, rape of women and girls, arbitrary detention, torture, humiliations and destruction of property and crops of members of those communities.
It is this marginalisation in the Oromia and Amhara regions that has forced the younger generation to protest in the streets, but the government response has been bloody. International human rights organisations report more than 500 lives were lost, but activists believe this figure could be more than 700. An estimated 20,000 or more people have been imprisoned, tens of thousands wounded and disappeared; many more rendered landless, homeless and jobless.
Now, with rallies taking place and with funerals in several corners of Oromia and Amhara lands, the conflict is likely to escalate and the country’s public security and stability to deteriorate. As reports continue to emerge, after several days of internet and social media blackout in the country, there is a growing fear that the regime has, knowingly or not, helped foment inter-ethnic conflict, pitting the Tigray against the Oromo and Amhara peoples. In fact, given the differences among ethnic groups, this could quickly descend into a large-scale conflict.
If there is any lesson the world can learn from Rwanda’s genocide, it is the pressing need to act as swiftly as possible to avoid this kind of worst-case scenario. Lilesa’s gesture is a request to the citizens of the world to stand with the Oromo in their quest for political and economic survival against the unjust face of Ethiopia. It is also a call for the western powers to re-evaluate their foreign policy towards Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa in the interests of real security, dignity, stability, peace and development for all the people – not a select few.
Fayyisaa Lalisaa (Feyisa Lilesa), an athlete from Oromia/ Ethiopia, caught the world’s attention Sunday 21 August 2016 when, at the finish line of the Olympic marathon, he raised his arms in solidarity with the Oromo people in his country. This is NY Times Video:-
Realted:-
Oromia: Athletic Nation Report: #Rio2016 Olympic Marathon: Oromo athlete Fayyisaa Lalisaa has demonstrated his Solidarity to #OromoProtests as he wins silver medal. Oromian Economist August 21, 2016
Oromia: Athletic nation Report: Short poem (Rio) about Oromo Olympian Fayyisaa Lalisaa, the world icon of #OromoProtests (the call for social justice). Oromian Economist August 23, 2016
Why Lilesa’s simple act of making an “X” with his arms after winning an Olympic medal was a watershed moment for so many Ethiopian people.
After nabbing a silver medal in Olympic marathon, Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa hoisted his arms inches above his head in the form of an “X.”
With a seemingly innocuous gesture, the 150-pound black man was actually displaying a symbol of solidarity with the Oromo people of Ethiopia, who have protested the government’s reallocation of their land. At least 400 local protesters were killed by Ethiopian security forces over the last year, according to Human Rights Watch. The “X” symbol that Lilesa showed came into widespread use in Ethiopia four and half years ago by protesters as a mark of unarmed, civil resistance.
Following his demonstration, which he repeated on the medal stand, Lilesa toldreporters in Rio De Janeiro, “If I go back to Ethiopia, the government will kill me.” That’s the cost of protesting a government in Ethiopia that controls its media and stifles those who speak out against its will.
After Lilesa’s protest, James Peterson, the Director of Africana Studies at Lehigh University spoke to many Ethiopians in America who felt galvanized by the gesture despite the ongoing human rights violations in their homeland.
“There are a lot of complicated things folks don’t understand about continental African politics,” Peterson said. “Addis (Ababa) as a city is sort of engaged in this moment of neoliberal straw. The city is trying to expand at the expense of these rural and suburban settlements that have been in place for like thousands of years. For an Ethiopian athlete, on the largest stage of any Ethiopian of the world right now at the Olympics, to be in solidarity with them, I don’t think it’s too much to say this is the equivalent of some of the most courageous, solidarity protests that we’ve seen in athletics.”
Olympians have long used the games as a stage to draw attention to national causes.Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave a black power salute on the podium at the 1968 Summer Olympics during an American wave of Civil Rights. After Simone Manuel’s historic gold medal, she also spoke out about police brutality and black lives in America.
Such acts have caused the International Olympic Committee executive board to ban political or religious demonstrations in multiple ways in their Olympic Charter Rule 50and can result in the “disqualification or withdrawal of the accreditation of the person concerned.”
Yet for Lilesa’s protest, his defiance of the Ethiopian government didn’t open up a new wave of Oromo activism. But it did demonstrate their current struggle for the world’s purview.
“Ethiopia has been praised as a poster child for peace and stability in the last 25 years. Western governments that continued financing this government, including the U.S. Government, have turned their eyes away,” Tsedale Lemma, the editor-in-chief of the Addis Standard, a monthly magazine focusing on Ethiopian current affairs from the country’s capital Addis Ababa, told SB Nation.
“To be able to tell this to the world, where everyone can see, on this stage was monumental,” she said. “It was telling the world to its face that this country, this poster child of peace, isn’t that way. It’s killing its own people. When everyone kept silent in the wake of this excessive killing, this young man (protested) at the great cost that he might not be able to come back to his country afterwards.”
Lemma’s magazine shares the same views as Lilesa. In January, it published a widely shared cover. Employees were intimidated and threatened, and the publication’s subscription numbers in Ethiopia have drastically declined for questioning the government.
The January 2016 cover of the Addis Standard, provided by Tsedale Lemma
Since the Ethiopian government announced plans in 2014 to expand the territory of the capital Addis Ababa, the country has been racked with protests resulting in hundreds of deaths at the hands of the government. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn wanted to further Addis Ababa’s territory into Oromia, where Lilesa lives.
Doing so would displace many of the Oromo people in Ethiopia who work on farmlands. It’s similar to American eminent domain, the right of the government or its agents to expropriate private property for public use. Oromo people are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, accounting for nearly 40 percent of its population, according to a 2007 census.
Historically, the Oromo people have been marginalized by the government. Protests started in November; and though the government has dropped proposals to widen the capital in January, protests have continued, though, with citizens corralling for wider freedoms.
Local residents and Oromos between the United States and Ethiopia have claimed that thousands have also been jailed. Many incidents happened where the Oromo have gone to the streets and they almost always end in violence. They are killed. They are exiled or tried for treason. At best, the protestors just disappear from sight.
Within Ethiopia, Oromos mostly expressed their support for Lilesa on social media, Lemma said. Current government mandates do not tolerate people flooding the streets for celebration, particularly not for a man that flashed a symbol that is the nightmare for a regime in front of billions of people.
State-run media only showed a censored version of the marathon Lilesa won, and completely blocked his protest at the games. Some have refused to mention his name at all. But in the United States, where Ethiopians are the fifth–largest source of black immigrants, their ebullience was overflowing.
“Among his compatriots, including those in the diaspora, Lilesa’s protest was welcomed with tears of joy,” said Mohammed Ademo, the founder and editor of OPride.com that aggregates Oromo news. “A hero was born out of relative obscurity. A GoFundMe account was set up within hours. I have no doubt that it will be remembered as a watershed moment in the history of Oromo people.
“Kids will be named after him. Revolutionary songs and poems will be written in his honor. For a people who have been silenced for so long this is likely to embolden and generate more momentum for the budding movement in Ethiopia.”
The overwhelming thought is that the plight of the Oromo people, and Lilesa’s protest shedding light on it, are not what Ethiopia wants the world to know. It is an extremely censored country, where most newspapers and other outlets are either controlled or affiliated with the government.
One woman, who asked for anonymity to speak to SB Nation because she feared the consequences of speaking out against the Ethiopian regime for her and her family, said that when she last visited Ethiopia around the start of the protests, the government had blocked internet service and scrambled social media apps to stop people from collaborating by using them, a form of silencing dissent.
She said Lilesa’s feat exemplifies how fearful a lot of the Ethiopian diaspora is to speak out on this subject.
“(Lilesa) acknowledged the significance of this dialogue and that he may never walk the land he’s from or see his family again,” she said. “It was meaningful and it’s going to spur the type of international engagement that is necessary to challenge the Ethiopian government to recognize their faults and consider what a just government looks like.”
American media still largely ignores the African continent and most news organizations have dramatically cut their African bureaus or rely on one person to cover the entire continent. There’s more coverage generally on terrorism with direct implications for American national security, Ademo said.
There also hasn’t been much coverage of the Oromo protests. One reason is because Oromia has largely been off-limits to journalists since the protests began, and those who go to Ethiopia often face insurmountable hurdles for access, Ademo said.
Even Lilesa’s dominance as a marathoner is unique for Ethiopia. Ethnic Oromo athletes of all genders have often been erased from Ethiopian lore, yet they are the first black Africans to win Olympic gold, Ademo said. Abebe Bikila did so in the 1960s while running barefoot and Derartu Tulu followed in the 1992 and 2000 Olympics. Yet behind the scenes these same athletes faced implicit and explicit biases.
Few Oromo athletes spoke Amharic, a language of power in Ethiopia, and they were never sent with Oromo translators. They often had to operate by the doctrine of the country’s current rulers and the official Olympics body to compete, Ademo said.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Within Ethiopia, those who protest see these same issues at the micro level. Lemma described a phrase many have used to explain the discrimination and marginalization the Oromo face. Oromo have said “the prisons in Ethiopia speak Afaan Oromo,” the native language of the Oromo, which shows the disproportionate rate at which Oromo are jailed in Ethiopia.
Video this month, obtained by the Associated Press, showed Ethiopian security forces beating, kicking and dragging protestors during a demonstration in the capital as they cowered and fell to the ground.
This same fight to upend oppression in Ethiopia is one being done by current American black protestors at the height of a renewed wave of activism. Lilesa’s protest spoke to some on a bigger level. Because just like black lives, African lives also have value.
“Not even in just this particular incident, but the dominance of black athletes on the global stage is in a sense of protest, especially when you have representatives of countries under such oppression as Ethiopia and the black America,” said Kwame Rose, an activist from Baltimore most known for his stand-off with Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera after Freddie Grey’s death.
“What he did would get a lot of people killed in Ethiopia and could’ve gotten his medal stripped,” Rose continued. “This was the time to send a message, not only about competing as an athlete, but surviving as a human and trying to better humanity.”
The reality is that what Lilesa did might not change anything for the Oromo people, but his demonstration had much more validity than to be limited to just that notion.
Ademo said it provided a crucial show of inspiration for people being disproportionately jailed, that are unheard and have yearned for a change in their government.
“In the context of this long and tortuous history, Lilesa’s protest was revolutionary. Beyond the politics within the Ethiopian Olympics federation, his gesture brought much-needed attention to escalating human rights abuses in Ethiopia,” Ademo said.
Lilesa’s act was a moment to show the shackles of systemic oppression binding the Oromo people. He took their fight to the international stage.
Oromo athlete, Fayyisaa Lalisaa (Feyisa Lelisa), who finished 2nd and took Silver in Rio 2016 Olympic in men’s Marathon, crossed the finishing line with his hands crossed, an iconic sign of Oromo social resistance (#OromoProtests) to injustices and tyranny in Ethiopia. Rio Olympic Marathon was held on 21 August 2016 and its the final day of the Olympic Games. Fayyee has made an Olympic history on Olympic history. made solidarity to #OromoProtests in the podium and at medal and after press conference.
The Significance and importance of his heroic solidarity is very understandable for those have followed the #OromoProtests the last 2 years.
Ethiopia’s state-owned TV network has refused to broadcast footage of one of its most successful Olympic athletes crossing the finishing line or receiving his medal after he staged a political protest against oppression back home.
Feyisa Lilesa won silver in the men’s marathon on the last day of events in Rio, making him Ethiopia’s joint second most successful performer after the country won just one gold in a disappointing campaign.
As he crossed the line on Sunday he raised his arms to form an “X”, a symbol of defiance that has been used by the Oromo people in Ethiopia as part of political protests against the government.
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Why an Ethiopian silver medallist could go to jail when he gets home
Lilesa repeated the act in a press conference after the race, and said he would repeat it at the medal ceremony later. He told reporters he faced being killed for doing so if he returns home after the Games.
EBC, the Ethiopian state broadcaster, was showing Lila’s race live on TV on Sunday afternoon. As such, it was unable to avoid airing his protest as it happened the first time.
But the moment he crossed the line was cut from subsequent bulletins and, unlike with its other champions, EBC refused entirely to show footage of Lilesa being given his silver medal.
Ethiopian marathoner Fayisa shows gesture after winning Silver at #Rio2016
On its website, EBC carried a report on the result entitled “Ethiopia wins Silver medal in men’s marathon”.
While its online reports from other Rio events tended to show pictures of victorious athletes after they had finished competing, the Lilesa article was accompanied by an image of a group of the marathon runners halfway through the race.
Neither online nor on TV did the state-run broadcaster make direct reference to Lilesa’s protest.
The athlete is from Oromia, home to many of the 35 million Oroma people, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group. At the press conference, he said: “The Ethiopian government is killing my people, so I stand with all protests anywhere, as Oromo is my tribe. My relatives are in prison and if they talk about democratic rights they are killed.”
Lilesa told reporters he would be killed or put in prison if he returned home, and said he feared for his wife and two children who are still in Ethiopia. He said he plans to try and stay in Brazil or make his way to the US.
Feyisa Lelisa, Oromo Olympic Marathon silver medalist and #OromoProtests global icon and Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, Rio 2016 Olympic Marathon Gold medallist.
Kana malees, sabboonticha ilma Oromoo kana lammiileen Oromoo hiree itti qaban hundi isa cinaa hiriiruun gargaarsa barbaachisu hundaan akka bira dhaabbatan waamicha isaa dabarseera. Guutuu isaa kan fulduree kana tuqa dubbisaa: ilma-ummatni-oromoo-itti-boonuu-qabu
The Significance and importance of his heroic solidarity is very understandable for those have followed the #OromoProtests the last 2 years.
That is sign now widely recognized all over Ethiopia as a symbol of civil resistance. Ethiopia has been gripped by successive anti-government protests which the recent one began in Nov. 2015 in Gincii (Ginchi) town, Oromia state.
We are calling on all Ethiopians and human rights advocates to make contributions to funds needed to support Marathon athlete Feyisa Lelisa who exhibited extra-odrinary heroism by becoming an international symbol for #OromoProtests and Ethiopian Freedom Movement after winning a medal at the Rio de Janeiro
Olympic games today August 21, 2016.
Feyisa Lelisa faces persecution if he goes back to Ethiopia and he has decided to to seek assylum. Funds are needed to support him and his family in the meantime, Please donate whatever amount you can. We assure you all the money collected will go to support this Oromo/Ethiopian hero.
Co-sponsered by Abdi Fite, Lalisaa Hikaa and Solomon Ungashe
Haayya 30,2016 Mootummaan abbaa irree Wayyaanee ajjechaa suukkanneessaa amma uummata bal’aa irratti raawwataa jirutti qoosuudhaan uummata mirga isaaf falmataa jirutti maqaalee adda addaa itti maxxansuun tooftaa ittiin umurii isaa dheereffatu daandii cirataa jiraatuun beekame.
