Tigrians in Boston reject Alemseged’s Call

“The Alemseged group is responsible for crimes committed against the Tigray people in particular and the Ethiopian people in general,” said a message sent to Ethiomedia.com by Ethiopians of Tigrai origin living in the Boston area.

“Alemseged was still in power when the Algiers agreement that handed over Ethiopian territories to Eritrea was signed. We know that Alemseged has never stood up for the Tigray’s interest,” said the Tigrians, asking

Where was Mr. Alemseged when tens of thousands of Ethiopians were deported from Eritrea without their hard-earned properties? Where was Mr. Alemseged when TPLF gave Shabia full access to our country’s resources?” asked the Boston residents.

One of the TPLF dissidents who was a long time confidant of Ethiopia’s tyrant Meles Zenawi, Alemseged’s visit to America as a so-called “opposition” activist has raised many doubts:

1. If a people’s hero, the people are not in America, they are in Tigrai. Alemseged must have gone to Tigrai, apologize for his past activities as a top TPLF official, call for a public meeting, address his opposition to Meles, and face the consequences.

2. The Tigrains in North America were building a strong front against the Legesse Zenawi regime. To divide Tigrians, Meles had sent several rounds of delegates like Tewolde Agame, Solomon Enquai, Assefa Mamo, and other cadres. They were sent back with a sack of humiliation carrying on their back. For their failure, Meles rewarded them with demotions that turned, for instance, Tewolde Agame from an ambassadorial position in Sweden to a rank-and-file office holder in Tigrai region. So is Alemseged trying to succeed over where others failed?

3. Siye Abraha and Bitew Belai, two former TPLF officials with a better record than long-time Meles Zenawi’s advisor Alemseged, are languishing in prison. Who gave Alemseged the permit and money to finance continental trips all over America? Is dividing Tigrians a pre-requisite course before Alemseged is allowed to form an opposition in Tigrai? Only an “opposition” that would be borne out of 27 years of servitude to Meles Zenawi, and 11 years of brutal rule against the people of Tigrai?

TPLF has counted 27 years as the single powerful weapon responsible in the destruction of our country, and the impoverishment of the life of our people. No conscientious Ethiopian citizen, particularly from Tigrai, where TPLF even banned Wogahta (both in 1994 and 2001), the only newspaper of the people, would commit a second crime against our people by playing naive into the trap of Meles Zenawi. For this and other concrete evidences, the call made by Alemseged Gebre-Amlak has been rejected by the majority of Tigrians living in the Boston area.

Expected over a couple hundreds of people to attend, Alemseged only drew 28 individuals to his September 7th meeting.

In their concluding remarks, the Tigrians said: “On this occasion, we call upon Tigrian brothers and sisters in North America and Europe to stand by the spirit of the Tigrian Solidarity for Peace and Justice – a new democratic political culture that would help the empowerment of our people to create a democratic governance in Ethiopia.”

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