Our Northern neighbors should be reminded of our unrivalled patriotism

As a young man, like many of his peers, this scribe wanted to serve the motherland clad in military
uniform. It was not that he did not care about life or limbs often lost in combat business, but he
deemed paying the ultimate sacrifice a worthy cause for maintaining the integrity of the motherland
and the dignity of its people. That mindset was an inherited legacy. Had destiny not mercifully
intervened, this doctor would have been hovering over his country’s air space ready to pounce on its
enemies.

Grey-haired he may be, and like millions, he profoundly loathes the incumbent regime for many
reasons. However, the nationalist fervor in his blood is boiling over when rumors swirl around that
Sudan and Egypt plan to harm his motherland on account of the construction of a dam on our
Abbay/Nile.

Surely, no Ethiopian in his right frame of mind would want to deny our southern neighbors access to
the Nile water which is their lifeline. The crux of the matter is that the primitive instinct of Egypt’s
ruling class has always been hostile to the welfare of Ethiopians from time immemorial.

Bravo Gezu!

This history of his land informs this writer to fully concur with Gezu Karma. Gezu’s uproar on today’s
edition of Ethiomedia over the posting of a Sudanese propaganda piece is legitimate. Ethiopia’s
detractors must learn from our history. We may be down-trodden, we may look divided along
spurious ethnic and religious lines thanks to the regime in power, but Ethiopians remain resolute
and unabashed nationalists when a common enemy lurks round the corner.

History has taught us much. We acknowledge that it was the sacrifice paid by our forebears that has
bequeathed our country to the present generation of Ethiopians. At least a million Ethiopians
heroically died while defending the motherland against the cowardly Fascist Italians. We are
cognizant of the hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians decimated by imperialist Ottoman Turks, Brits,
Italians, Egyptians, Sudanese, etc not to mention the plunder and destruction they wrought upon
our sacred institutions, churches, monasteries, palaces and national treasuries over the preceding
centuries. Our ancestors preserved the sanctity of our country for over three thousand years.

History has taught Ethiopians that they had always defeated imperialist forces when they fought the
enemy united. The following example is a case in point. Many remember how Ethiopians dealt a
mortal blow on Egyptian contingent under the command of arguably the country’s most brilliant
military commander Ras Alula, who was a Christian. His second in command, an equally illustrious
general slain in battle defending his motherland against Egyptians, was a Muslim. His name has not
come to scribe’s memory unfortunately. This is our proud history.

The veiled threat from Egypt, the grand bully and its subsidiary, Northern Sudan would not be taken
lightly by Ethiopians at home and abroad.

Egypt- a compromised nation ashamed of its African past

Any discerning Ethiopian who has lived in Egypt for a couple years realizes how that country has lost
its soul. No wonder, millennia of Greek and Roman rule, Arab invasion and successive occupation of
European colonialists has left a big dent in the psyche and the body politic of that country. For one,
they pathetically look down upon people darker than themselves. They do not see their southern
neighbors, the Sudanese, as their equals.

Only history students, according to an Egyptian scholar this scribe had befriended, are taught that
Ethiopians pharaohs ruled Egypt. The 25th dynasty was Ethiopian through and through. Some 18 of
Egyptian pharaohs were Ethiopians. Sabacon, the pious Ethiopian pharaoh of Egypt is in fact the first
leader in history credited for the abolition of the death penalty in the 8 century BC. Many rightly
wonder at how we have degenerated three thousand years later. Woyanes kangaroo court judges
who dish out sentences from death penalty to years of incarceration for s speaking or writing in the
demands of one’s conscience, perhaps have never known this.

Sorry for the digression. Let us focus on bullying Egypt which denies the black African origin of its
civilization. Not surprisingly, few Egyptians care to know or acknowledge the Ethiopian origin of
their Nile much less realizing that 86% of the Nile water is Ethiopian. Egypt’s official English News
paper Al Ahram, rarely fails to slight Ethiopia.

Egypt, the supposed cradle of civilization, uses European calendar, their months are given names of
European pagan gods. Egypt’s Christian heritage is systematically suppressed. Most Coptic Christians
are excluded from government service. They are not even allowed to renovate their churches. The 4
million Nubians or native Egyptians too, are in the lowest rung of Egyptian society. Their language is
officially non-existent and their magnificent music never heard on national Egyptian TV. They are
despised even if the land on which the Aswan Dam is constructed belonged to the Nubian people.
The great Sudanese singer, Mohammed Wordi hails from these historic people of Upper Nile.

Egyptians immensely glorify Cleopatra, the man-like Greek queen, as well as the Macedonian
Alexander the great, ostensibly to attract the dollars of narcissistic Westerners. As if by design they
accord no such reverence for Nefertiti, the exceedingly intelligent and beautiful pharaoh and many
other native Egyptian rulers.

The lessons from China

The seeming weakness of Ethiopia today and the manufactured divisions among its population,
should not delude Egypt or Sudan that the patriotic spirit of Ethiopians cannot be rekindled at will.
Egypt and Sudan’s role in the partition of Ethiopia is evident. We also amply remember Boutros
Ghali for the same. But let them not misjudge the ferocity of aggrieved Ethiopians. Let them also
know that the Almighty will not forsake them in their bid to punish the enemy with a sense of
vengeance.

The recent history of China is instructive. When communist Chinese and nationalist Chinese (the
Kuomintang) were at loggerheads, imperialist Japan attempted to capitalize on this internal strife. It
invaded China at its peril. Indeed, the ideologically divided Chinese put aside their differences to root
out the enemy decisively. Similarly, defending Ethiopia against aggressors is our shared heritage.

Long live the motherland!!

Debru Negash is pilot-physician and a student of history.