I would rather celebrate the Millennium of my great Ethiopia by myself than celebrate such a great country with any group that has among its �honored� guests Red Terror participants, Mengistu�s brutal government ex-officials, and opportunist intellectuals. I celebrate Ethiopia�s enduring legacy by myself, and I have every right to do so since Ethiopia is, after all, the creation of the labor and courage of my ancestors. Unlike most of the celebrants (by examining their program), the reality of Ethiopia to me is not an academic issue or a vehicle to express my �opposition� agenda or some kind of scheme for the acquisition of power, but an existential fact of recognizing and honoring the courage and foresight of my ancestors for maintaining Ethiopia for these thousands of years of independence and freedom. [For the record, I would like to note here that our Ethiopian intellectuals in the Diaspora, with the exception of a few, spent their entire lives in pursuit of their own selfish careers out in the West, and they seem to have suddenly discovered their Ethiopian patriotism now in the shadow of the Opposition.]

What is now billed as the Ethiopian Millennium Celebration at Howard University and later at the DC Armory is not a celebration of Ethiopia at all, but an orgy of self congratulatory aggregation of individuals blinded by hate and moved by narrow ethnicism. I find it to be an insult to the true sons and daughters of Ethiopia that once again we are being manipulated by hate filled narrow ethnicists, who are going insane with unbridled ambition for the acquisition of political power. At the center of all this hollow posturing, I find the same old hand of manipulation and deceit of the Mahel Sefaris who are mostly from Addis Ababa and vicinity and their few gullible (almost stupid) provincial supporters hailing from the rest of Ethiopia (the Provinces). Some of the Provincials believe wrongly solidarity with such Mahel Sefaris will promote the interest of Ethiopia. What we have here is quite a large number of Ethiopians, who are mostly confused, and not knowing how they are being herded into a situation by ambitious individuals with no scruple in using and abusing people. Even putting it generously, such people are mostly a bunch of spineless refugees who left Ethiopia as refugees from Mengistu�s Government seeking protection rather than fighting for their people and their own rights when that government started collapsing.

It seems to me that the celebrants, at �Millennium Celebration� organized in Washington DC, do not seem to have any clear idea what they are celebrating. I read the program and studied the individuals who are supposed to moderate and present papers. It is quite tragic to see such motley characterless group at a podium of significance. I must admit that I was shocked to read the names of known Red Terror participants such as Negede Gobeze, notorious ex-officials of the brutal Mengistu along with the names of individuals whom I respect and admire greatly. I say shame on you all for defiling an otherwise great moment in our history and for dragging the great name of Ethiopia and its great heroes into the mud of your short-sighted little political game.  

This �Millennium Celebration� organized in Washington DC is a reactionary program, and it is certainly a counterpoint to the Ethiopian Government�s celebration program. On the other hand, I cannot imagine how Meles Zenawi and his Government would organize such a monumental celebration, when, as a matter of recorded fact that Meles Zenawi is responsible for land locking Ethiopia. He is personally responsible for leading Ethiopia into ethnicism of the worst kind; he is responsible for fracturing a social system whose end is going to be catastrophic. The degree of economic decline resulting in famine and hunger, and the relentless human rights abuse et cetera are all Meles Zenawi�s doing. I even question the patriotism of Meles Zenawi and such group, let alone I joining in the celebration organized by such individuals. The entire �Celebration� phenomenon, from what ever source, whether in Washington DC or in Meles Zenawi�s backyard is questionable, and I believe the motives for celebrating Ethiopia by such groups is a reflection of hate rather than love or pride in Ethiopia. And I do not want anything to do with it.

The whole program is manipulated and distorted by the same obnoxious group of people and their gullible followers, who have for decades usurped our Ethiopian legacy and drove our country into the hands of brutal leaders such as Mengistu and Meles. Starting from the very top of the program, where they have deliberately tried to promote the interest of a particular ethnic group, what I see in the Celebration program are Mahel Sefaris and their spawns, with distorted and corrosive revisionist �history� of Ethiopia, promoting the limited particular ethnic interest or cultural connection. This �Celebration� should have been aimed to bring the Ethiopian people together; however, what it ended up doing is further polarize our multilayered problems by reintroducing rotten and corrupt individuals and grafting them onto our new Millennium�a mixing of old wine with new wine, thereby despoiling all.

What a tragedy to witness the fact that even a legitimate hero like Birtukan Medeksa could be listed along with Red Terror Participants, and is not spared from being used by such unscrupulous individuals. Once again, shame on you all for destroying the great vision and hope for Ethiopia that would have helped us come together and rebuilt our nation. Looking at the list of the invited guests and taking into account the whole feel of the celebration of the Millennium in Washington DC, I chose to celebrate Ethiopia on my own, by myself, than be among such a group of Ethiopians among whom lurk the worst human beings in any people�s history.  Ω

Tecola W. Hagos

September 6, 2007

Washington DC