Mr. Obang Metho is the primary author of these articles, but many are also written with the collaboration of other members of the SMNE team.
December 30,
2008
The EPRDF Shudders
at Truth
How
many Ethiopians are dead, beaten or in prison for upholding
God-given principles in defiance to a system that punishes
its people for standing up against lies and injustice?
...We in the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia
(SMNE) condemn the recent imprisonment of Ms. Bertukan
Mideksa, the chairwoman of the Coalition for Unity and
Democracy Party (CUDP), the beating of Professor Mesfin
and the intimidation of the UDJP opposition party or
any other political party seeking its legitimate constitutional
right to freely operate within Ethiopia.
read...
December
24,
2008
Can
You See? Are the Skies Brightening Over Ethiopia?
I
want to extend my greetings to all of my fellow Ethiopian
brothers and sisters throughout the world... Some have
asked me why I am advocating for all people—including
Woyanne supporters. The reason is because I do not want
what happened in Gambella to happen to any other Ethiopian
ethnic group. Tragically, I know that this government
has purposely deepened the hostility between people
and if it is not handled properly, it could get out
of control and cause unjustifiable killing and misery.
I do not want another December 13th anywhere in Ethiopia.
I am also certain no one wants Ethiopia to be another
Rwanda, yet the seeds of hate, based on ethnicity, can
take many forms. read... read
in Amharic...
December 13,
2008
Remembering December
13th: Let us take this day of sorrow and make it a day
of reconciliation and healing among all peace-loving Ethiopians.
December
13, 2008 marks the five-year anniversary of the brutal
massacre of 424 disarmed Anuak in Gambella, Ethiopia
by Ethiopian National Defense Forces armed with guns
and militia groups armed with machetes. Not just the
families of the victims, but all Anuak, will forever
remember that dark day that brought so many pains, tears
and suffering.
read...
November
30,
2008
The
Struggle of the Ethiopian People for a Voice in Our Own
Future Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia: Report
from London
As
I looked at the Ethiopians attending the meeting, even
though I did not know their names, their tribes, their
religion, their regional background, their political
association, their native language or any other particulars
about them, I did know that they were there because
they cared about what happens in Ethiopia. I also told
them that I would be speaking with honesty and without
any hatred ..., because hatred is what has led to our
misery. read...
November 18,
2008
Report on Solidarity
Movement Meeting in Minnesota: Building Bridges of Solidarity
to a New Ethiopia
Can
Ethiopians come together in solidarity to build a bridge
to a new Ethiopia or are we doomed to suffering, division
and eternal failure? It all depends on how we build
it was the consensus of the meeting held on November
16, 2008 at the University of Minnesota called by the
Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia and sponsored
by some local Ethiopian organizations.
read...
November
6,
2008
Barack
Obama has Opened Up a New Door of Opportunity and Now
We Must Move Ahead!
.....If
you as an Ethiopian identify with Obama’s win
as signifying the importance of reaching out to many
diverse groups and breaking down racial and ethnic barriers,
then you too must be willing to do the same for Ethiopia.
Each and every Ethiopian needs to do the same. read...
October 26,
2008
Obang Talks About
“The Obama Factor” What Will an Obama Win
Mean to Ethiopians?
Obama
and his message is resonating with Ethiopians and I
want to explore the pros and cons of this phenomenon
for us as Ethiopians. This is not a political rally
for him meant to persuade more people to vote for him.
This meeting is for both Obama and McCain supporters.
read...
October
21,
2008
What
Ethiopian Individuals Are Doing About the Hunger Crisis
We
want to update you on the very positive response we
are continuing to receive from Ethiopians who want to
help their fellow Ethiopians who are in greatest need.
We are also seeking personal stories as well as pictures
and videos that can tell the story of the devastating
starvation and need for help as well as other inspiring
stories telling or showing, how average Ethiopians are
helping in the lives of individual people through their
gifts of compassion. read...
October 10,
2008
What is the Solidarity
Movement for a New Ethiopia?
The Solidarity
Movement for a New Ethiopia is a grass-roots, non-political
pan-Ethiopian movement whose mission is to mobilize
a viable alliance of Ethiopians, irrespective of ethnic
or regional background, religious affiliation or political
tilt, with the task of identifying and resolving issues
and conflicts through peaceful dialogue.
read...
October
1,
2008
Ethiopians
Respond to the Call to help with the Starvation at home
but Many More are Needed!
read...
September 26,
2008
Open Letter to Ethiopian
Concerning Starvation
I am addressing
this letter to every Ethiopian, especially those in
the Diaspora. A huge and urgent food crisis is endangering
the lives of countless Ethiopians back home and we must
wake up to the reality of it or millions of lives will
be lost!
read...
September
13,
2008
Ethiopians
Hunger for Compassion in the Ethiopian New Year
Only
one year ago we Ethiopians celebrated the New Ethiopian
Millennium with many hope-filled celebrations that the
“turn of the millennium” would bring a “turn
around” for Ethiopians. Unfortunately, as most
every Ethiopian knows, we have instead experienced worsening
conditions in Ethiopia in almost every arena, with little
promise that our situation will not continue to decline.
read...
September 10,
2008
Voting
for Africa: Exercising our Influence in the Upcoming Elections
in Canada and in the United States
This is a golden
moment of opportunity for Ethiopians and Africans! Both
Canada and the United States will have national elections
within the next two months. If Ethiopians mobilize and
work together, we can press candidates running for elections
both in Canada and in the United States to better represent
our interests both here and in Ethiopia and Africa.
read...
August 30,
2008
Obang's Prayer at
the Solidarity symposium
We call on you
today because you are our only hope for the future....
We Ethiopians are in a desperate place, resulting from
our failure to listen to you. Instead, we have turned
away in rebellion, pride and self-reliance, thinking
we do not need you. But now, we are in the midst of
such a grave crisis that it threatens our very survival
as a people. We come to you for your help and guidance
in leading us out from the pit of despair, misery and
suffering.
read...
August
27,
2008
Ethiopians,
Speak Out for Your Fellow Ethiopians! No One is Free until
We All are Free!
Ethnically-based
killing has now erupted in the city of Hagere-Mariam,
first starting in the small town of Soyama, sixty kilometers
to the west of Hagere-Mariam in the Sidamo region of
Ethiopia. Reports I am receiving from people on the
ground indicate that the Burji, a tiny ethnic group
in the region numbering less than 50,000, are being
targeted by some Guji, a much larger ethnic group, numbering
over two million, who also live in the area. The local
administration in Hagere-Mariam is run by the ethnic
Guji. read...
August 20,
2008
"My Journey
of Faith," St. Mark's Anglican Church, Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan
I could never have
imagined it before a life-changing event in December
of 2003 threw my quiet life in Saskatoon into a journey
with deep valleys, deserts and mountains that I could
never have anticipated. As I stand before you today,
I am witness to the truth that God dramatically changes
lives when we least expect it!
read...
August
15,
2008
Ethiopia
Has Leaders Who Can Build Bridges to a New Ethiopia!
People
tell me that the movement for freedom and justice in
Ethiopia has died because we do not have the leaders
who can give us a vision for a new Ethiopia and who
can demonstrate it by their actions. I may have agreed
with this statement before, but no longer do so because
I have discovered that we have some of the best leaders
among us that we could ever ask for—qualified,
capable and full of personal integrity and character. read...
August 13,
2008
Invitation to Organizations
Concerned About Ethiopia to Participate in a Symposium
On: “Where Do We Go From Here?”
Saturday, August
30, 2008 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM Unification Church, 1610
Columbia Rd, NW, Washington D.C.
read...
July
30,
2008
How
Must We Prepare for a Harvest of Freedom?
Ethiopia
has become a place of massive and repetitive crop failures,
both literally and figuratively. We are reaping what
we have sown for years—and our harvest is inadequate
to meet the needs of our people in terms of food, but
our biggest crisis is the harvest of destruction, oppression
and tyranny that happens when crops of hope are planted
in rocky and infertile soil. The question is: how can
we prepare the soil for a “harvest of freedom
when most Ethiopians are sitting back expecting someone
else to do the work or are actively sabotaging the work
of others in order to advance their own interests?” read...
July 25,
2008
Message to Ethiopian
Muslim Leaders at the Badr 8th Annual Conference in Toronto,
Canada
Challenges
and Opportunities for Ethiopian Muslims as Advocates
for Human Rights in Ethiopia: Ethiopia Needs You! read...
July
22,
2008
Living
in Unreality: The Disconnected World of Ethiopians
I
was recently in Washington D.C. to speak at the Ethiopian
Border Commission Meeting as well as to attend the Ethiopian
Sport Federation sponsored soccer games, political meetings
and other Ethiopian events, all packed into one week.
My days were filled with intense political meetings
and serious discussions regarding the abysmal condition
of Ethiopia and what to do about it, but when I attended
the soccer games at the stadium and the Union Station’s
Nightclub event for young Ethiopians it was as if I
had entered a totally different world from the first.
read...
July 2,
2008
Address to Ethiopians
in Washington DC
Why Should
All Ethiopians See the Border Issue as a Collective
Threat to Our Existence as a Nation and People? read...
June
21,
2008
Crisis
in Ethiopia: Meles Will Ultimately Fall—Are We Ready?
The
failures of the Meles regime are rapidly accumulating
and not only Ethiopians know about it now... The pressing
question now is whether Ethiopians are ready with solutions
to the many crises facing Ethiopians should this regime
suddenly fall. Unfortunately, I think we are not! We
have spent far too much time concentrating on our complaints,
but too little time on solutions.
read... read
in Amharic...
May 25,
2008
The Worldwide March
Committee for Freedom and Justice Follow Up Report
The
Worldwide
March Committee for Freedom and Justice, held from
May 15-18 was a great effort by hundreds of organizers
and participants in Ethiopian cities and communities
throughout the world. We want to thank all of those
organizers who worked so hard and devoted countless
hours to bring it all together in a relatively short
period of time!
read...
May
12,
2008
Worldwide
March Events, May 15-18: Telling the Truth about Ethiopia
These
events will publicly demonstrate that the Ethiopian
peoples’ thirst for freedom, human rights, justice
and democracy will not die despite the hijacking of
the last election and the increasing repression within
the country. This has been a huge organizational task
and will not be perfect, but it is the beginning. Let
the sleeping giant—the freedom loving people of
Ethiopia—awaken and rise up for truth and right!
read...
April 22,
2008
Call
for an Ethiopian rally for Freedom and Justice
The
response to the call for an Ethiopian rally for Freedom
and Justice on May 15-18, 2008 has been overwhelming!
I have heard from Ethiopians in thirteen countries and
in over thirty cities within these countries, all voicing
their desire to participate.
read...
April 15,
2008
The
Movement for New Ethiopia Begins with a Worldwide Peaceful
March for Freedom and Justice on May 15, 2008!
May
15, 2008, just one month from today, will mark the third
anniversary of the Ethiopian National Election of 2005
when 26 million Ethiopians came out to vote for change
in Ethiopia—and won... On May 15, 2008 and the
following weekend, from wherever you are, let us come
together in a worldwide demonstration to show Meles
and his supporters that he has
NOT
silenced Ethiopians despite clamping down more tightly
on every one of our freedoms.
read...