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Humanity before Ethnicity

SMNE Articles and Opinions - 2008

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...