Since the May 15, 2005 election in Ethiopia the contribution of the Ethiopian Diaspora to the present political climate of Ethiopia, thanks to the information exchange technology, has been enormous. The Ethiopian Diaspora used the technology to organize itself, to dictate its agenda, and to act and respond where and when it wanted to. That is why we saw demonstrations in the streets of many major and capital cities all over the world.

The slogans carried in these demonstrations sent the same messages. All chat room talks were the same. It was all: “Respect the Election Votes of Ethiopians.”

Ethiopians carried slogans in Israel, in different cities in Australia and USA, and all over Europe that clearly showed from the government’s handy work of NEBE and vote fraud to massacring of innocent youth. Coffins were carried, pictures were framed, and tears were shade to show the world the operations of the government in power. Radio, TV, phones, and the internet were used extensively to relay information from the streets of cities and towns at home to the Diaspora. Chat Rooms in PalTalk and others made it possible to bring many Ethiopians all over the world and discuss what is going on in their country.

Out of this came demonstrations, the biggest of which were the ones in Atlanta, USA. In the history of the city of Atlanta these kinds of demonstrations were not seen in the last thirty five years. Very few marches in the last thirty five years equal or exceed the size and emotion that was displayed on July 7 and July 8.

The result of these persistent displays of support for the votes of Ethiopians at home and the exposure of the undemocratic nature of the ruling clique was clear. Governments and UN agencies started to look closely into the behavior of the clique and the Prime Minster in particular. Condemnations and strong disapproving messages were sent to the Prime Minster from governments and branches of governments that are giving AID to the EPRDF government.

What followed is a desperate attempt by the Prime Minster and his ruling clique to blame the opposition for all things that went wrong and buy time to “CALM” the Diaspora. This was seen in the promises the Prime Minster made repeatedly for investigating the slaughtering his army did after the Election Day while not lifting a finger to act on it.

Not content with the results and responses of these lies and because of the persistence of the Diaspora the Prime Minster and his ruling clique sent out “Missionaries To FIGHT – MTF” the Diaspora in every stage of the information exchange technology. The media at home, which the government exclusively owned; the TV, Radio, Newspapers, phone and the internet are not enough for the Prime Minster and his ruling clique.

The Prime Minster and his ruling clique have sent messages to the strategically planted members and accomplices of theirs, MTFs, to disrupt demonstrations and demonstrate in support of this clique. Embassies, again the entity that represents the interest of Ethiopians, are conducting dinner invitations, get together, and luxurious events to selected individuals in the countries they reside to counter the messages of the Diaspora. Web sites are created, bought, and/or infiltrated to overcome the persistence of the Diaspora.

Here is an example of what is going on in one chat room. There is a great PalTalk Room; – “Ethiopia, Let Us Talk About Our Country”. The admins in this room are dedicated patriotic Ethiopians who are very few and spend countless sleepless nights at the room. They are not associated with any political party or group in Ethiopia, as far as I know, and are concerned with what is going on in their country. They have a very tolerant political stand as to the issues any roomee raises. They do not tolerate any insults directed to Ethiopians, their culture, economic status, or languages. While they want to focus the room’s discussion to the agenda of the day and connect its relevance to what is going on in Ethiopia today, MTFs come in and try to disrupt the room or change the topic and loose its focus. In chat rooms MTFs come unabashed; clearly stating that they support the Prime Minister and his cronies and claim that if the Prime Minister goes Ethiopia goes. Have you not heard this claim before? Welcome to history repeating itself. The admins are cool headed, strong Ethiopians. As to the issues raised, the admins invite the roomees to discuss it and ask to relate it to the agenda at hand. I saw this again and again. You can check this your self by going to; PalTalk -> Rooms -> by Languages / nationalities / Other; and then Ethiopia; Let Us Talk About Our Country. This is just an example. There are other rooms besides PalTalk, like MSN and others.

Currently what the Diaspora is doing is trying to form an organization that will compass the Diaspora all over the world into one single entity. I heard in the PalTalk Room that I mentioned above that the admins are trying to do that. This has many purposes advantages. The advantages of forming one organization is not limited to playing a role in the current political situation in Ethiopia but also to helping Ethiopians at home when they try to find solutions to future problems. The role the Diaspora can play in transferring technology to Ethiopia will be enhanced. Individuals will do a lot in this area but successful and effective results can be achieved a lot faster and with relative ease if the Diaspora is organized. The current political parties, organizations and groups that were and/or are competing in the election should take advantage of this opportunity. Of course the Prime Minster and his cronies will send their delegates with fattened pockets but his organization is outside Ethiopia and outside the authoritarian hands of the Prime Minister. Although each section of this big organization will be abided by the organizational rights and responsibilities of the country it resides in, the truth being on its side, the freedom that it enjoys in that particular country it resides, the relatively better means each member has will make this organization very genuine pro-Ethiopians organization.