Why is the World Ignoring the Genocide in Ogaden? by Abdie E. Makadin

I should most definitely start this out by mentioning the creator of the heavens, the earth and everything in between; In the name of Allah, most Beneficent and the most Merciful.

My name is Abdie Elyas Makadin; I am a 15 year old high school senior and just like every other child in America I knew not much about politics or what happens beyond my school and home. But, all that has changed after I visited Kenya during the holidays.

I was expecting to have fun and relax. But, relatives I met there and what they have been through all their lives in Ogaden and in Dadab Refugee Camp through their stories were something that forced me to write this piece and inform the world about their plight.

Relatives in Dadab Refugee Camp

Dadab Refugee Camp is the largest refugee camp in the world. It is located in Kenya and it is home to hundreds of thousands of Ogadenis, many of who are my own relatives. According to Human Rights Watch - Ogadenis fled the Ogaden after the Ethiopian government either killed, raped, jailed or tortured them and burned their houses, all while starving them of food and medication - same ordeal shared with me by my relatives during my stay in Kenya.

The plight of Ogadenis

Because of a major drought, millions of Ogadenis are starving. There is also a counter insurgency that has been going on for many years now where the people have risen up against the marginalization and the brutal military occupation tactics of the Ethiopian regime.

Ethiopia has kicked the Red Cross and the Doctors Without Borders and other aid agencies out of the Ogaden and is blocking food aid to the millions starving Ogadenis.

For me to mention Ethiopia's tools of destruction and ways of torture through the scars of these refugees may even seem obscene to word. The genocide in Ogaden is like a never-ending fiasco. Needless to say, the media says nothing about it. Ogadenis are suffering as you read this and the outside world never renders or says a word.

It is a reality that the world chose to ignore, because, the same country that has been committing these grave atrocities against innocent civilians in Ogaden, that is Ethiopia, is the largest recipient of Western aid in Africa, receiving about seven billion a year.

This is a Western funded genocide in the Ogaden that is being completely ignored by the Western media and the Western governments, even though they know all about it. And that saddens me, because I'm a Westerner myself.

Illegal oil exploration in Ogaden at the expense of human rights

And then, there is Africa Oil Corp., a Canadian oil company that has chosen to explore oil in Ogaden at the expense of human rights and pay Ethiopia blood money. With these kind of actions, I wonder if all the things I was taught about democracy, Western civilization and human rights were all nothing, but false.

What can be done to stop the genocide in Ogaden?

It is sad that I was taught that my country, America is the defender of humanity and liberator of the oppressed peoples all over the world, yet it funds the genocidal regime in Ethiopia that commits all these atrocities against innocent civilians in Ogaden.

I ask of my dear president, Mr. Obama to intervene and help put an end to Ethiopia's genocide in Ogaden. I ask of him to take action and stop funding this tyrannical regime that has been committing atrocities for so long and bring justice and freedom to this region that has hardly ever seen peace.

If my country, America is with the oppressed and not the oppressor and the promises of my president were real, then surely now is the time to prove it!

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The author, Abdie E. Makadin can be reached at: makadin15@hotmail.com

The Long Sleep of Somalis & Their Cushitic Brethren by Moh'ed Hared

Lately, I have been asking  Somalis and Cushites alike many questions, many of whom they didn't like. Because, they were quite outlandish to them. And their answers were equally shocking to me. They even had no idea of what I was talking about. I just could not wake them all up once and convince each one of them that Ogaden is inhabited by and belongs to Somalis, that it is not in Ethiopia, neither can Somalis ever be Ethiopians nor even the name Ethiopia itself ever existed.

So, I made sure I at least wrote something down in the hope that it will open their eyes to what Ogaden is, who inhabits it, where it actually is located, the situation in occupied Ogaden, what we have been demanding for so long now, who the colonisers are, where they came from, what their tools of colonisation are and the long sleep of our people - just so they can at least study this nation of occupiers, Abyssinia (now fakely rebranded as Ethiopia) - if indeed they needed to take what is rightfully theirs back and live and die free.

Ogaden

Ogaden is a Somali-inhabited territory that is illegally occupied by Abyssinia (fake Ethiopia). Ogaden, therefore, is located in Eastern Africa and never has it been in fake Ethiopia. When the rest of the African nations were breaking free from colonisation, Britain illegally handed over Ogaden to Abyssinia. One may argue otherwise forever, but that is the fact known to every human being, not animals.

The Situation in occupied Ogaden

The situation in occupied Ogaden today is by far the worst in Africa. There is a systematic genocide going on in Ogaden perpetuated by Abyssinia (fake Ethiopia) and sadly, it is our taxes collected by Western countries that is funding it. In fact, in one of the many articles written by one of the best Cushitic writers today, Nuradin Jilani, a Somali himself from occupied Ogaden, best describes occupied Ogaden and the situation its people have found themselves in as follows:

"Other than the ready-made propaganda aired on the ESTV and UniversalTV, the real situation in occupied Ogaden is that of a place under lock and siege, a place where independent journalists, human rights activists and international NGOs are either expelled or denied entry. A place where the local people live in abject poverty, destitution, and fear. The cream of the Somali society in Ogaden and its intellectuals are either in jail, out of the country, in exile, or killed. This has hardly been a region at peace for more than a century. In essence, occupied Ogaden is a place 'the man died', to borrow the phrase from Wole Soyinka."

What we have been fighting for

One may think that we are fighting for a fake peace - with strings attached - or for a road or a five star hotel to be built. But, truth of the matter is, we've been fighting for more than a century against Abyssinia not for those materialistic things, but rather for our basic rights; justice and freedom, nothing less, nothing more. And if Abyssinia shall not understand that sooner, we will keep fighting it for centuries more until we win our independence, God-willing.

Why fake Ethiopia and not Abyssinia?

First of all, Somalis and indeed other Cushites whose lands are illegally occupied and their people colonised for hundreds of years and counting by successive Abyssinian rulers should know that the name Ethiopia is fake and has never existed for Abyssinians.

Ethiopia is not many nations. It is a fake rebranded name that previously was Abyssinia to legitimise Abyssinia's conquest, expansionism and colonisation of the ever-sleeping Cushitic nations - Ogaden, Oromia, Sidama and Afar. Ethiopia, therefore, encompasses only Amhara and Tigray regions. And that is fact.

Dabaqodhi, Hostage or Criminal: Fake Ethiopia's confusion and the tools it uses to colonise

The word dabaqodhi is a Somali word used to call animals. One may ask, though, the following three questions, after which I will provide each question an answer:

1. Why are humans labelled as such (dabaqodhi) and who is profiting from all this un-Islamic name-calling among Muslims? The answer is again, fake Ethiopia. Somalis actually coined the word, and Ethiopia sold it back to them, just like it sells Khat exclusively to them, to create more confusion among Somalis and colonise them mentally even more by dividing and ruling them forever.
2. What should those who live under the illegal occupation be called? The answer is that, they are hostages, victims of a century old brutal colonisation. You would be shocked to learn that one can call his own mother a dabaqodhi, just because, like everyone else, she is a hostage to Abyssinia and says what she is told to say or choose between rape and a filthy jail called Jail Ogaden. Ya Illahi! This tool by fake Ethiopia, alongside Khat, has to really be stopped!
3. What about the likes of Ina Iley (a mere colonial representative) who are used by Abyssinia to kill and subjugate their own people? Well, they are criminals. The answer is that simple. Anyone who kills another unless for a soul or for corruption done in the land or aids or funds those who commit those acts is a criminal, nothing less, nothing more. That is what they truly are. Thus, there is no need for the word dabaqodhi in our struggle. If anyone needs it, it is fake Ethiopia that needs it badly, for it is one of its best selling tools it uses to control our minds and cause confusion.

The long sleep of the Cushitic people

Ask an Abyssinian what their nationality is, and they will obviously tell you, they are Ethiopians, then ask them what would their Ethiopia look like if it was a democracy and they would tell you that there would be freedom and everyone's rights would be respected. Hmmm.. Now, ask them what their reaction would be had the people in Ogaden or even Oromia been given the chance to hold a referendum on gaining their independence like in South Sudan and the even more obvious answer you will get is - like one Netizen of Abyssinian origin told me just couple of days ago on Google+ after I had asked him the same question: "That day shall never happen, Muhammad. Not until the last one of 'us' is still alive".

Now surprised you may be, you would ask yourself, where is the democracy and the respect for people's rights this nation of colonisers often preach to 'others'? But, I'm not surprised. In fact, I was never surprised. Because, what that Abyssinian told me was not a secret. It is rather a shared belief from every corner of the occupation, Abyssinia (fake Ethiopia), which only consists of Amhara and Tigray regions.

But although I am not surprised by the double standards of Abyssinia, I'm worried by the level of ignorance of many of our people, both Somalis and other Cushitic peoples. They barely even know that they are colonised. And that saddens me to the core, especially when our people are in a long sleep and those who hold their land and people captive spit that out to your face for we never counted to them as no more than a mere property they own and whose fathers do about anything they wish.

"I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves." ~ Harriet Tubman.

I really have nothing against any human being in this world, but I believe it is fair to question ourselves why would anyone leave their home and occupy ours and even worse rape, torture and kill us and our family members for centuries and when you finally ask them to leave in peace, they respond to us that they are building roads and schools for us. Is that not an insult in every single way? Am I not a fellow human being? Did anybody ask me whether I wanted a road or school built in my country by a foreigner who rapes my mom and sister, tortures my brother and friend, jails me and my intellectuals and kills my father and neighbour? Where is freedom? Where is justice?

Finally, in order to stop this madness by Abyssinia once and for all, I believe that all freedom loving Cushites and other nations alike should come together, unite and go bareknuckles with this tyrannical nation of occupiers that is disguised behind fake Ethiopia. Let us go!

The author, Moh'ed Hared is a Somali blogger, thinker, activist, anti-Khat campaigner and critic. He currently lives in the US and writes for http://occupiedogaden.blogspot.com. He can be reached at: mo7amed7ared@gmail.com or @mo7amed7ared on Twitter.

Silence is a War Crime by Sadak M. Ahmed

I am a Somali who hails from and represents Ogaden, a country that was illegally handed over to Ethiopia in September 24th, 1948 by Great Britain. Sadly, Britain, a European colonial power that left my people and country without granting our independence and put us in this mess has ever since been funding the hidden genocide of our people that still persists to this very day.

The hidden genocide in Ogaden and the silence of the world

It is not only Great Britain that funds the hidden genocide in Ogaden. The US and the EU do fund Ethiopia as well to keep doing its dirty work.

What we, the people of Ogaden, go through and witness every now and then is no different than what slavery was, colonialism caused, and Hitler did. It simply is a violation of human rights, a hidden genocide and an intentional silence of an international community that caused us this misery in the first place and still funds my suffering, let alone help stop it!

It is a unfortunate that the United States, the United Kingdom, the EU and specifically the United Nations kept silent on the killing and suffering of the people of Ogaden by Ethiopia.
We are peaceful people seeking to kill our pain through peaceful means. We seek no war. Because, we believe an eye for an eye insures little at all. We see prosperity in a different aspect and that is to live side by side peacefully with our neighboring countries, unoccupied and without any form of suffering.

Where is the love?

As humans, love does exist between us unconditionally. But, things change when one brings ego to the table and love, peace and coexistence are no options for them, let alone understand our plight and stop the genocide.

It is unfortunate that one race, tribe, clan, group or country bypasses that love and replaces it with completely the opposite. Every single day we ask the world, where is humanity? Where is the love? And sadly, no one heads our cries!

Appeal to every human being on earth

We ask of all the peace loving people, the international community, and those of you who strive to prosper and hope to put an end to the world's suffering to help us end the hidden genocide in Ogaden and save the lives of millions by being voice for my voiceless people and asking your local senators, mayors or governors to pressure the Western governments to stop funding the Ethiopian regime that commits these atrocities - in 21st Century - against the people of Ogaden.

And lastly, but not least, to Somalis of Ogaden, may you all speak up from the silent cries you hold within, and let your voices be heard! The time is now to bring an end to the suffering of our people. Let us all write and let the world know what is happening in Ogaden.

The author, Sadak M. Ahmed can be reached at: smaomaad@gmail.com.

Ogaden: Test for Africa’s post colonial era.

SATURDAY, 13 APRIL 2013 In his recent book, Ethiopia: The Last Two Frontiers, Prof. John Markakis presents an overarching historical profile and a major hurdle that need to be addressed in Ethiopia to reach the desired goal of this turbulent nation guarded ever since by a ruling class of Abyssinian origin. Analytical evidences show that the strongest obstacle for the stability of the horn of Africa has great connection with the unsolved Ogaden issue, the womb of resistance and the torrent challenge ever Ethiopia encountered since the region’s subjugation. Until this frontier is crossed, Ethiopian colonial power will not have secure borders that a mature nation requires. Ogaden has a long history of colonial combat. From Portuguese’s support of Abyssinia in 1529 to modern Italy and British aggression and unfolding Ethiopia’s colonial ambition, Somalis in the Ogaden has however bravely stood up firmly against all kinds of colonial power interests. But noticeably colonialism has left remarkable and gruesome incidents in the hearts of all spectrums of the Somalis in the Ogaden. The geo-political importance of the Ogaden and its strategic location influenced colonial powers to deploy their troubles in the region. As colonialism is a current problem in the Ogaden, most of African countries have suffered colonial aggression too. For the people of these countries and outsiders it might be seem that the age of colonialism is over and the whole world is postcolonial. However, scars of colonialism have not fully stopped bleeding in Africa yet. Unarguably the term post-colonial neither has got a room nor does it apply to Ogaden people context. This region is the womb center of Africa's longest and sordid colonial ideology. Unlike African countries, colonialism in the Ogaden is architected by a black man in the continent which adds the wound into salt and creates a dark cloud that overshadows Africa's brave history against the white European colonial invasion. Common Culture There may be different opinions on what society is about. However, everyone knows that the culture plays a central role to denote a society and its consistency. Culture is also man-made act. In the case of Somalis in the Ogaden and Ethiopia highlanders, we talk about two distant and alien cultures against each other that a powerful authoritarian state powers mending divergent people to together. You cannot force a culture to become one with another culture which is namely the occupation power where the natives consider them as a enemy, and struggle against, that is precisely why the Ethiopian Ethnic Federalism did not work in the Ogaden, because it kills the linguistic identity of Somali Ogaden identify with. Perspectives on ethnicity Ethnic Federalism in Ethiopia and its false facade contrasts the reality on the ground. Ethiopia consists of various groups that diverge not only cultures and way of life, but also the policies adopted by the federal government shows clearly deviation low of rule which serve a particular ethnic groups in both locally and national level. The Organizational structure of the EPRDF show also that the highest number of ethnic groups lives under oppressive and ruthless. The stigmatization culture of a particular group was more or less a part of the main political strategic ideology to ensure political survival over time. Abyssinian groups (Amhara and Tigre) especially Amharas have a lot to blame on the current political chaos the country has inherited. The TPLF in turn has exploited one sore point with Ethiopia, the country was led two long periods, Haileselasse and Derg regimes both clean Amhara administration, this created a cluster of the ad community from local residents to senior political and economic figures. TPLF which took up arms to free people from oppression created again same trend and make the same historical errors. Many believed that EPRDF declaration about the country as ethnic federalism is fatal error and all risk factors are fulfilled and only the future will show the consequences but we are already in the future and we are witnessing that the central power cracked from top to toe. To elucidate more on ethnicity, let me collect some technical and past research on ethnicity. Though complementary in anthropology ethnicity has been treated mainly from two different perspectives. According to instrumentalist theory, ethnicity revolves primarily on a particular type of political organization where competition for scarce resources get kind of competition between ethnic groups. While, Primordialism emphasizing the ethnic group's mythos and allege historical continuity as a crucial factor for personal identity and affiliation. None of these theories alone is entirely satisfactory, but it indicates that ethnicity as whole at the same time have a strong emotional appeal and a strong political mobilization potential. In conflict, the combination can naturally be explosive. The most striking common denominator of virtually all ethnic minority situations in the world today is thus the modern nation-state as all minorities must deal with. Faced with the state's requirements for formal equality, it sometimes discriminatory practices require ethnic minorities and proto-nations worldwide varying degrees of autonomy from the right to practice their religion to full political independence in the UN Declaration of Human Rights states that all people have a right to a Nationality seen from a liberators point of view, this can be reformulated to all people nowadays are forced to be citizens of their own formed country. A nation is an ethnic group whose leaders whether gained or striving to achieve a state where this group is politically hegemonic. Nations that is normally obtains its legitimacy from ethnicity, and plants this ethnic identity of the nation-state symbolism and organization. Weak nations, some African nations like Ethiopia, failed to convince its members that they have a national community very often they can possible be based on existing ethnic communities, but instead tries to create a new one. The national identity they are trying to create lacks credibility because it is rooted in an ethnic community that populations refuse to participate in as a nation. But on the other way, each group appears increasingly as distinct ethnic groups. To argue this is also such multiple ethnic states to develop national community, as strong nations, they have a certain degree managed to succeed in convincing the majority of its members that they are a people and that citizens truly constitute a nation. Normally this comes to the point that a linguistic, religious or other historic communities as the basis for the nation, in other words, that they succeed in arguing that the nation is an old community, these values do not exist between Ogaden and Ethiopia. Like the modern ethnic groups use nations metaphorical kinship ideologies to legitimize itself and to demonstrate that they exist. These are ideologies which, like kinship ideologies emphasize horizontal solidarity between its members, which is based on the common origin it limits the scope of solidarity to the team members. To be continued please follow the next part of this article on Ogaden.com Mohamed Dheeg Baacisx@gmail.com

"I'm An Ogadeni Child" by Hodan M. Ugas.

I’m the voice of the voiceless
I’m the dream of the sleepless
I’m the tear that never dries
I’m an Ogadeni child

I’m the sister of the one that got hanged
I’m the brother of the one that got raped
I’m the daughter of the one that got burned
I’m an Ogadeni child

I’m the one that buried my child
I’m the one that watched my father cry
I’m the slave in the 21st century
I’m an Ogadeni child

I’m the one with the tortured soul
I’m the one with the tired mind
I’m the one with the blistered feet
I’m an Ogadeni child

I’m the one that refused to stop
I’m the one that marches and fights
I’m the voice of the voiceless
I’m an Ogadeni child

One Month On, a big Thanks to everyone!

By Moh'ed Hared.

Brother Maxamed-Amiin Wacdar today wrote to me and told me that our blog 'Occupied Ogaden' was actually one month old today. I was excited. It was a short period of time, but we've written, posted and shared a lot.

What made me even more excited was how it helped us recruit so many writers for this noble cause. God-willing, though, we'll do a lot more next month.

Also, I would like to thank each and every one of you for liking, sharing and commenting on our posts.
Keep up the good work! Let us all write this year! #TeamOgaden!

Bullet or Pen, any road to freedom should be taken

By Saadaq Mohamed

The world of politics is not as sweet as we think. And the road to free Ogaden is not as easy as we think. It's our job to sacrifice all, even our own soul to reach a full freedom. Ethiopia is using tactics beyond bullets to keep a tight grip on a land that is not theirs, it sees no people. So as the people who have been robbed off their motherland, oppressed to not move forward, killed and torched we should have unity, trust and collaboration with in us to get to a common goal by any means. a good one.

Execution of the most efficient plan is what we need to do and work on. Don't be a traitor to ditch the mission. It is not about choosing one side or another. It is about choosing freedom force, the ONLF which is fighting for freedom, justice and to claim what is righteously ours, the ancestral land, the Occupied Ogaden.

Our people in Occupied Ogaden are being enslaved to do work on behalf of the Ethiopian Regime. They need information and awareness, and that is why you don't have to hate them but, instead show them the big picture. Remind them of the past and show them a vision of a better future, the difference between freedom and Occupation. If you have sided with your long time and forever-willing enemy you are bound to be a slave in this time and age. Don't choose to be a xabashi puppet. As long as Ethiopia's illegal occupation exists in the Occupied Ogaden I vow not to rest, for I am told by the creator of this world ALLAH to defend and stand for what is mine. Keep that in mind. Shukran for reading. The slogan is Free Ogaden. And the mission is Janat Firdowsa.

 Saadaq Mohamed can be reached at https://facebook.com/Smaomaad