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![[ Stockholm, Sweden ]](ad-c-sto.gif) Selam all Selam Everybody! First of all I apologize to those who responded in connection to our announced program and did not get any reply due to my absence from my e-mail. Below is a somewhat personalized summary of events during the Centennial celebrations of March 2/96 in Stockholm of the historic Adwa Victory. The event attracted a large gathering of Ethiopians and few foreigners and it was a galvanizing occasion which re-invigorated our zeal and commitment to the spirit of Ethiopianness. We held an open air rally for four hours during rush hour and an indoor meeting where speeches were delivered, songs and kererto/shillela were enchanted, poems were read and prayers and benedictions were offered. Two Kenyan guest speakers made the event more reflective as they authentically linked Adwa to Mau Mau uprising and Kenyan independence. Adwa, a shining contribution of Ethiopia to human freedom, was a result of multiethnic unity which both enabled that victory and was steeled by it. The commanders of the forces, the fighting human force around them quickly amassed from the newly reunited Ethiopia- the South, Center, East, West replenishing the material (gold, ivory..) and manpower needs which had been exhausted in the North by famine and earlier wars at Gura, Gundet and Dogali- it was a feat of magnificent heroism! Historians have concluded that the Adwa victory was a result of the Ethiopia Spirit and Meneliks diplomatic/political prowess (Rubenson). We agreed and applauded! On this occasion we tried to see our history and people from a holistic perspective, properly linking the general and particular, we were open to see what unites us for we had dwelt so much on what separates us. We tried to dispel the delusions, mentality of fissiparity ingrained through internal archaic practices of former days and kept lingering from the years of the cold war which still haunts us long after its protagonists have become friends. Our history, people and their diversity have been mercilessly churned in the vortex of international propaganda so much so that proper assessment regarding the strategic interest of our multiethnic NATION-STATE became an impossibility even for the most concerned minds. Having struggled together over centuries for our freedom and during recent decades for the betterment of our society, we reject fissiparity and nihilism and uphold respect for all and unity in equality. 1. On ethnicity. Ethiopia encompasses a highly mixed stock originating mainly from Kushitic/Hamitic-Semitic (mainly cultural)- Nilotic linguistic nexus, an Ethiopian type-(Ullendorff, Trimingham,Levine- Greater Ethiopia). The further divisions are within our family with their peculiarities-a mosaic, but interpenetrating! We are of an Ethiopian stock, African! Laureate Tsegaye GM visited us recently and challenged us to know ourselves lest our fate be like that of the aborigines. He randomly took some names as example- Hamhara, Hamasen, Hambata (Kambata) ... and said all point to the Kamitic origin and our forefathers put these and similar signs for us to know ourselves. We said yes. On the other hand, we underlined the need for respect for our variety in culture and language, unity in equality, lest there be any unwanted psychological hang-up. We strongly oppose trends to convert genuine ethnic questions as some part of universalization of racism. 2. We viewed on a head projector maps of ancient, medieval and modern Ethiopia and were reminded of the fact that Ethiopia has been multiethnic from the ancient times. In particular when we saw some unique maps depicting Ethiopia from the beginning of this millennium, we found the North and the south had been together for centuries before the 19th century. We observed that historical records, internal, Arab, Portuguese, from ca 14th to 15th centuries and the maps of the period presented Ethiopia as a state encompassing many kingdoms, principalities, and communities and of various religions, stretching from the Red Sea coast via Tigre, Semen, Begemeder, Gojam, Damot, Shoa, Ennaria, Kaffa, Guraghe, Hadya, Kambata, Bali, Dawaro, Bargamo (Abaya) etc. and further(Manoel Almeida's map).We were reminded of the Oromo movement, wars , settlements, integration (moggassa) in the south, center and north where they established e.g. the Gibe states and famous Yejju and Wollo principalities long before the 19th century and acted as a "staut bulwark" in defense of the state which they had weakened during the Zemene Messafint (Trimingham). Therefore we emphatically rejected the notion of "internal colonialism" and 100 years history. This concept of internal imperialism first coined by a British diplomat in Addis Ababa early 1940s, elaborated by some irresponsible writers (Baxter, Markakis, Keller, Oberst, Bereket...) and adopted by those who reject unity, is an unfair imposition and burden on our history. It wrongly diagnosis our ills and prescribes a damaging medicine, bereft of reasonable cure. Unfortunately, state building everywhere has entailed ugly wars. Civil wars have been fought like in the US in early 1880s for unity, Italy and Germany were united through wars in 1870 and 1871 resp. and so was Sweden during the 17th century. Why should Ethiopia's history of 19th century be treated as colonialism whereas it is not in any other cases? States are built through colonial acts- The Americas, many Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries. Others like European, Japan and Thailand through tradition of expansion- integration-settlements. Ethiopia's process is similar to the latter. You see, colonialists wanted to tell the ugly act is not only theirs, hence they find Ethiopia. They are trying to do the same with racism and ethnicity; we refuse such alien couplings. Our problem was one of democracy which still illudes our intellectuals since the beginning of this century. From year to year we burn our time and energy on past mistakes and past events, we fail to concentrate on what is at hand and on the future of our posterity. Past regimes miserably failed to effect timely and necessary changes in our society's life, they failed to prepare us for smooth transitions of power. We too fail to concentrate on what we have at hand and on what is bound to come, while taking reasonable account of the past. We talk about democracy, do we have the necessary system of ideas in this regard which can create an ideological minimum enabling consensus and mutual trust, do we have the organizational preparedness? We asked ourselves. 4. We wished ourselves and all of our folks to be gripped by the spirit of forgiveness and healing- in Prof. Mesfin WM's words 'Yekir Leegziabher' to each other, learn from our mistakes and brace up for stronger unity and democracy against the current ethnocentric madness. I quote the Portuguese, Almeida (1632), about the wisdom of ABAW in Ethiopia's breadth and width: "Almost all these people are intelligent and very good natured. They are not cruel or blood thirsty, but mild, gentle, kind, and so inclined to forgiveness that they readily pardon any injuries. There are not many brawls among them and when there are they rarely strike with sward and zarguncho but end them with blows and bamboo strokes. Poison is not used except on the arrows of the Agaus. They are very amenable to reason and justice. In any brawl or quarrel that is not satisfactorily concluded, they choose arbitrators or accept them from the lord of the soil, state their case on both sides and judgment is given. Then the guilty man's punishment most often consists only in asking pardon or in making payment and the brawl is then forgotten as though it had never happened". Unfortunately, Almeida alludes among us there are some with revanchist spirit. Our program ended thanking the committee and requesting them to work further to continue the spirit of Adwa through arranging more concrete activities that unite Ethiopians. Keselamta gar, Tarekegn
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