The Chutzpah of the TPLF Foreign Minister and his criticism of Israeli ‘police brutality’

May 11, 2015

by Alem Mamo

The headline on Jewish Business News reads “Ethiopian Foreign Ministry expresses concern over ‘police brutality’ in Israel and ‘years of discrimination of Ethiopian Israelis’.”  When I saw the headline initially I thought it was some kind of joke written as a satirical column. However, as I read through the article, I realized that in fact it is actually a serious piece by Ynet Columnist Itamar Eichner.

The Israeli government often gets a whole host of criticism and condemnation, and rightly so, for its policy vis-à-vis the rights, safety and security of the Palestinian people, or for the lack of social and economic mobility of Ethiopian-Israeli Jews who came to Israel through the Aliyah. These criticisms, most of the time, originate from those who abide by and respect the basic tenants of freedom, justice and appreciation for the sanctity and dignity of human life. What I found startling and what forced me to gasp at this story is that the criticism and the demand for an explanation came from the ruthless and authoritarian regime managed and operated by TPLF. It is beyond audacity for a regime to speak of ‘brutality’ and ‘discrimination’ by Israeli police while subjecting the people of Ethiopia to terror and brutality for more than two decades. This kind of audacity doesn’t even register on the Chutzpah chart. Inbits blatancy and irony, it defies even the fundamentals of public relations stunt.

First and foremost, the TPLF regime has stripped Ethiopian citizenship rights of those who acquire another citizenship. Effectively denying people of Ethiopian origin (including Israelis of Ethiopian origin) from participating in the political discourse of their country of birth. The obvious reason for this, as is well known, is that vast majority of members of Ethiopian diaspora does not support or ally itself with the TPLF regime. Thus, blocking the political participation of the members of Ethiopian diaspora by denying them citizenship is a political strategy to minimize the potential electoral power of opposition groups.

In the 2003 Proclamation on Ethiopian Nationality, No. 378 of 2003 that offers detail to the Ethiopian Constitution Article 6 on Citizenship, the regime explicitly stipulated, “Ethiopian citizenship is only allowed to be retained or
acquired if the individual does not possess or acquire the citizenship of another country.”2 Given this fact the TPLF regime does not have the legal mandate or right under international law to speak on behalf of those it calls ‘foreign’.

In fact, the TPLF seems comfortable meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign state in this case the state of Israel. This is perhaps an indication of the utter ignorance of the elites of TPLF and their unfamiliarity with the law they have promulgated, let alone the international law surrounding citizenship and the responsibility of the state. There was a ‘story’ I was told long ago, and it goes like this: When TPLF entered Addis Ababa the leadership and the foot soldiers realized that Mengistu Hailemariam had fled to Zimbabwe prior to their entry. Their immediate response was “why don’t we continue our military operation on to Zimbabwe until we capture or kill him.” They had to be reminded that, first, Harare is 4311 Kms from Addis Ababa, and second, they have to enter the sovereign territories of three African countries before they get to Harare.

Secondly, the TPLF regime doesn’t have an inch of moral ground to stand on and criticize the human rights record of the Israel government or Israel police force. Human Rights Watch in its 2015 World Report summed up its assessment of TPLF regime – “The Ethiopian government during 2014 intensified its campaign of arrests, prosecutions, and unlawful force to silence criticism, Human Rights Watch said in its Report. The government responded to peaceful protests with harassment, threats, and arbitrary detention, and used draconian laws to further repress journalists, opposition activists, and critics.”

Amnesty International further elaborates in more explicit language outlining the brutality and lawlessness of TPLF security apparatus: “In April and May, protests took place across Oromia region against a proposed “Integrated
Master Plan’ to expand the capital, Addis Ababa, into Oromia regional territory. Security services, comprising federal police and military Special Forces, responded with excessive force, firing live ammunition at protesters in Ambo and Guder towns and Wallega and Madawalabu universities, resulting in the deaths of at least 30 people, including children. Hundreds of people were beaten by security service agents during and after the protests, including protesters, bystanders, and parents of protesters for failing to ‘control’ their children, resulting in scores of injuries.”

There are a slew of reports from global and national human rights organizations detailing the suffering and injustices the people of Ethiopia facing under the rule of TPLF. Almost all Ethiopians inside and outside the country do not see the TPLF as the guardian and protector of their rights and freedoms. In fact the opposite is true; the primary threat to the Ethiopian people is the Gestapo like security apparatus of the regime. It perpetrates almost all of the human rights violations in the country.

The behavior of the government is demonstrated clearly in the recent demonstrations initially called by the regime in response to the ISIS beheadings of Ethiopian migrants in Libya. The demonstration turned into a rallying cry
against the government itself. It must have been apparent to those present why these young men left Ethiopia in the first place, as so many have in the past two decades.

Human rights violators cannot be human rights defenders. The TPLF regime wants to have it both ways. It is also apparent that the Ethiopian people and those who stand on the side of the oppressed and marginalized are not buying it.

The author can be reached at Alem6711@gmail.com.

Source: http://ecadforum.com/2015/05/11/tedros-adhanoms-criticism-of-israeli-police-brutality/

Why Ethiopian Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv

A historically disadvantaged black minority is galvanized when one of its members appears to suffer brutality at the hands of police, and the episode is caught on video. Peaceful mass protests devolve into violence. Police crack down in an attempt to control crowds.

It’s not Baltimore or Ferguson. It’s Tel Aviv, which was rocked by unrest on May 3 after a video went viral showing a uniformed Ethiopian Israeli soldier, Demas Pakada, being beaten by Israeli police. Here are four things you need to know about the Israeli demonstrations:

1) A police beating sparked the protests.

The video that triggered the Tel Aviv protests shows Pakada holding his bicycle on an empty sidewalk. A police officer approaches him, grabs him, punches him and pushes him to the ground. Pakada then stands up and exchanges words with the officer.

Protesters in Tel Aviv on May 3 demonstrate against violence and racism directed at Israelis of Ethiopian descent. photos/jta-flash90-ben kelmer

Chanting May 3 in Tel Aviv, protesters invoked the name of Yosef Salamsa,  a 22-year-old Ethiopian Israeli man who committed suicide in July. Salamsa killed himself four months after police approached him in a public park and accused him of breaking into a house, then shocked him with a Taser before releasing him. Shlomi Salame, the deputy mayor of Salamsa’s coastal hometown of Binyamina, said the police “broke his spirit,” according to the Israeli news website Walla.

But unlike in the United States, where a series of high-profile law enforcement killings of unarmed black boys and men have made headlines, until now there have been no known parallel cases with Ethiopians in Israel.

On May 4, Pakada met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with a delegation of Ethiopian Israeli community leaders.

2) The protests are also responding to Ethiopians’ systemic challenges.

Pakada’s beating triggered the protests, including in Jerusalem several days earlier, but it also unleashed long-simmering grievances in the Ethiopian community. Protesters said they were troubled by lagging educational opportunities, discrimination when applying for government jobs and high rates of Ethiopian Israelis in military prisons.

Israel has celebrated the approximately 135,500 Ethiopian Jews in Israel; 85,900 arrived between the mid-1980s and 2013. And Israel’s government has provided a range of benefits to Ethiopian Israelis, from free college tuition to lower mortgage rates. But challenges remain.

Ethiopian Israelis are overrepresented in military prisons and underrepresented at the nation’s universities. Plus, the average Ethiopian family’s income is 50 percent lower than the Israeli average.

“We want to receive rights just as we fulfill our duties,” said Yosi Minyuv, 27, an Ethiopian Israeli who served four years in the Israeli army, including as a combat officer. “We’re second-class citizens. We want good work and they block us.”

3) The Tel Aviv demonstration began peacefully and ended in violence.

When protesters — Ethiopian and others — first gathered in Tel Aviv, they chanted and held signs as police stood at a distance. As the protest swelled beyond 1,000 people, the demonstrators formed a giant circle, blocking a major intersection and then marching down Tel Aviv’s central Ayalon highway.

Israeli police try to disperse the demonstrators.

Protesters chanted slogans like “Whether black or white, we’re all people” and “Every violent police officer needs to be put away.” They held signs with slogans such as “Being black is not a crime.” Some waved Israeli flags.

Clashes began as police cleared protesters from the highway, and violence intensified as more demonstrators filled the central Rabin Square. Fighting escalated as protesters threw glass bottles and stones at police, and police responded with stun grenades and a water cannon. Demonstrators began to chant “police state” and remained past midnight.

By the time the crowds dispersed, dozens of people had been injured, including 56 police officers. Blood stained the usually tranquil square.

4) Despite challenges, some Ethiopian Israelis remain optimistic.

Even as protesters vented frustrations, many of them said they felt a sense of belonging in Israel. A large Israeli flag waved over the demonstration’s early hours, and Ethiopian Israelis at the protest proudly referenced their military service. Protesters said that after serving in the Israel Defense Forces and living in the state as loyal citizens, they didn’t feel the state treated them as they deserved.

“I gave to the state because I’m part of the country,” said Avi Sabahat, 27, who immigrated from Ethiopia at age 4. “There’s some hidden discrimination. It’s in the conscious and the subconscious. There’s been a little improvement, but you don’t feel it. There’s integration in society, but not enough.”

Dana Sibaho, a 29-year-old Ethiopian Israeli, said that a decade ago, the older generation, who had come to Israel as adults, was too focused on absorption to demand better treatment from the state. But she said younger Ethiopians, either born in Israel or having arrived as small children, feel empowered to demand their rights.

“Things will change,” she said. “They won’t silence us. Not like our parents, who accepted things. We know what we’re up against. Now we won’t shut up.”

Source:http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/74667/why-ethiopian-israelis-took-to-the-streets-in-tel-aviv/