SEATTLE —
Numerous Ethiopians have continued to express their joy for Abebe for his extraordinary act that instantly shot him into a national spotlight. ESAT Radio and TV as well as websites and radios have been reporting everyday solidarity messages that are now being distributed as audio and video clips even in tightly-controlled Ethiopia.
Earlier on Thursday at a dinner party hosted by Seattle couple Getachew and Metti, Abebe expressed his gratitude for the outpour of love and admiration but urged that fellow Ethiopians should capitalize on the momentum, and consolidate the struggle for the reign of democracy and justice in Ethiopia.
The audience had attracted solidarity speeches by activists from Ethiopian Muslim and Oromo communities in Seattle, who stressed that they should never give any room for ethnic and sectarian divisions being perpetuated by the Meles regime. The spirit of the joyful night at the Getachew-Metti residence was summed up as: “We are all Ethiopians, and if there are differences, they are differences within one family.”
Abebe will address Ethiopians in Seattle at 1:00 PM on Sunday at Garfield Community Center in Seattle before wrapping up his visit to Northwest America and returning to Washington, DC on Monday.
