ይህም አለ። በሰው የሚደርስ ይቀሰቅሳል፤ በራስ የሚደርስ ያነቃል። በእኔ ሲደርስ ነቃሁ። የሁለቱም ፕሮፌሰሮች መነሻ “የምንጽፈውን አትተቹብን፤ ከተቻችሁት ባታነቡት ነው፤ ካነበባችሁትም ባይገባችሁ ነውና እንዳትገሠጹ ዝም በሉ” የሚል ስሜት ነው። የፍቅሬ ቶሎሳን ተረት “ተረት ነው” ብየ በመጻፌ፥ የወረደብኝን የስድብ ጋጋታ በኢንተርኔት የሚወጡትን ጽሑፎች የሚከታተል ሁሉ አይቷል። ከዚህ በፊት ዳንኤል ክብረት አንባቢ መሆኑንና የጠቀሰውም ካነበበው መጽሐፍ መሆኑ ግልጽ ሆኖ ሳለ “አላነበብከውም” በማለት ውሸታም ተደርጓል። አልገባህምም ተብሏል። ግን አልገባህም ማለት የሚቻለው የረቀቀ የፊሎሶፊ መጽሐፍ ሲተች እንጂ ተራ ጽሑፍ ሲገመገም አይደለም።
ዳንኤልን ያሳዘነው አሉን የምንላቸውን የታሪክ ምሁራንን ሞያው ያልሆነ ሰው ሥራቸውን ሲነቅፍ አይቶ ነው። የታሪክ ባለሞያዎች ፕሮፌሰር ታደሰ ታምራትን፥ ፕሮፌሰር መርድ ወልደ አረጋይን፥ ፕሮፌሰር ሥርግው ሐብለ ሥላሴን የሚያዩዋቸው ሠለስቱ የታሪክ አጋእዝት አድርገው ነው። ባለፉት አርባ ዓመታት የግዕዝ ሰነዶችን ለማጥናት ልዩ ዕድል አግኝቼ ነበር። ሁሉም የሚደግፉት ታደሰ የተለመውን የታሪክ መሥመር ነው። ገድላትና ተአምራት በሚሰጡት መንፈሳዊ ትምህርት ላይ የታሪክ ምንጮች መሆናቸውን ካስተማሩን ውስጥ ዋናው ታደሰ ታምራት ነው። ዛሬ Church and State In Ethiopia የሚለውን የታደሰ ታምራትን መጽሐፍ የማይጠቅስ የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ደራሲ ካለ ብቸኛ ሰው መሆን አለበት።
ለሕዝብ የቀረበን ድርሰት ሊተች የሚገባው ሲሆን ባለሞያው ነው። ካልሆነም አሳታሚ ካገኘ ማንም ሊተቸው ይችላል። በዚህ ጊዜ ደራሲው፥ “በድርሰቴ ምን ጠቀምኩ፥ ምንስ ጐዳሁ” ብሎ ሒሱን ይመረምራል እንጂ፥ “እንዳንተ ያለው የእኔን ድርሰት ለመተቸት ብቃት የለውም” አይባልም፤ በምሁራን ዓለም አልተለመደም። ከዓሥር መጻሕፍት በላይ ተችቻለሁ። ከአንድ ደራሲ በቀር ቅሬታውን አላሰማኝም። የታደሰ መጽሐፍም እንደገና ሲታተም መቅድም እንድጽፍለት ጠይቆኝ፥ ከረጅም ጊዜ ልምዴ የተነሣ ያየሁበትን ጉድለት ሳክልበት ታደሰ በደስታ ተቀብሎታል። ዓዋቂዎች ትችትን የሚቀበሉት እንደዚህ በጸጋ ነው። “ሐሳብን ከደራሲው ለይታችሁ ተቹ፤ ሐሳብ ለሐሳብ ሲፋጭ የተሻለ ሐሳብ ይወጣል፤ የሰውየውን ማንነት ወደመተቸት መሄድ አላዋቂነት ነው” የሚለውን መርሕ የሚያሣምሩ አንዳንድ መምህራን፥ በራሳቸው ሲደርስ በቅጽበት ያዳልጣቸዋል።
“እባብ ያየ ልጥ ቢያይ በራየ” እንዲሉ፥ አንዳንድ መሠርይ ፈረንጆች የሠሩት ጥፋት በብዙዎች ዘንድ “ፈረንጅ ስለ ኢትዮጵያ የሚጽፈው ሁሉ ኢትዮጵያን ለመጉዳት ነው” የሚል በሽታ አሳድሯል። እንዲህ ያሉ ተንኮለኛ ፈረንጆች አሁን የሉም አይባልም። ግን ካለፉት ውስጥ ለምሳሌ፥ ሂዮብ ሉዶልፍ፥ አውጉስት ዲልማን፥ ኤኖ ሊትማን፥ ቴዎዶር ኖልደከ፥ ኢግናዚኦ ጉኢዲ፥ ሴባስቲያን ኦይሪንገን፥ ዋሊስ በጅ፥ ሪቻርድ ፓንክረስት፥ ስቬን ሩበንሶን፥ ካሁኖቹ ውስጥ ደግሞ አሌሳንድሮ ባኡሲ፥ ዚግበርት ኡሊግ፥ ራይኔር ፎግት፥ ማንፍሬድ ክሮፕ፥ ሮናልዶ ራይኔሪ፥ ጀራርድ ኮሊን፥ ወዘተ. ያደረጉትን አስተዋፅኦ ለክፋት ነው ማለት ኢትዮጵያዊ ጀግና አያደርግም። ክብረ ነገሥትን ወደሃያ የሚሆኑ የብራና መጻሕፍት ቃል በቃል አመሳክሮ ያሳተመልንን ካርል ቤዞልድ ምን እንበለው? ዶክተር ሥርግው ገላዬ ወደአማርኛ የተረጐመው የካርል ቤዞልድን ጥናት ነው።
ምዕራባውያን (ፈረንጆች) በቀይ ባሕር ወዲህና ወዲያ ማዶ የሚኖሩ ሕዝቦችን ታሪክ ሲያጠኑ፥ በሁለቱ ቦታዎች ተመሳሳይ ቅርሶች አገኙ። ይኸ በዓይን የታየ፥ በእጅ የተዳሠሠ ጽድቅ (fact) ነው። ለምን እንዲህ ሆነ ሲባል የሚሰጠውን አስተያየትና ዶክተር ፍቅሬ ቶሎሳ ለአማሮችና ኦሮሞዎች መመሳሰል የሰጠውን ምክንያት (እወንዝ ውስጥ ያላባት የተጸነሱ መንታዎች) እኩል ሚሶሎጂዎች ናቸው ማለት ለዕውቀት ጕድለት ምስክርነት ነው።
በመጨረሻም፥ ዛሬ የዳንኤል ክብረትን ያህል የግዕዝን መጻሕፍት የመረመረ ኢትዮጵያዊ የለም። በኢትዮጵያ ገዳማትና በአውሮፓ አብያተ መጻሕፍት እያፈላለገ ይመዘግባቸዋል፥ ያነባቸዋል፥ ስለነሱም ይጽፋል። ታዲያ እንዲህ ያለውን ወጣት ቢያጠፋ እንኳን ይታለፋል እንጂ፥ ምን ዓይነት ኢትዮጵያዊ ሕሊና ነው በማበረታታት ፈንታ ለኢትዮጵያ ሊቃውንት ስም ለምን ተቈረቈርክ ተብሎ የሚሰደበው?
You defend Daniel Kibret.
Why today?
Tamrat,
you are one of the morons. You think this is a political discussion in which any crazy can dive in. The question you posed is of such a sort-shut up
I am not sure if there would be any other evidence for something nasty than witnessing our intellectuals such as professor Getachew are terribly disqualifying themselves with kind of notoriously boring argument and counter argument which sounds endless.
Professor Getachew tells us about who has what status of education as if going through various levels of education is great by itself and for itself.
To my understanding, the value of going through various stages of educational qualifications is basically a matter of deepening and broadening our capacity of knowledge of understating and interpreting our environment and make it valuable to the world and the soeity we live in .Simply put, the real sense of education is when it remains focused on problem -solving , not notoriously talking about problems.
Yes, that is the very essence of education , to be used as instrument to providing the right and timely solution for the very challenge we face and which may go to the extent of catastrophe . That is what the people of Ethiopia are desperately looking for at this very critical moment .
Well, it is the right thing and quite normal to extend our comments and serious criticism toward any work of any person be it history , literature, and even scientific studies. It is from this perspective that I want to say that the work of Professor Fikre cannot be immune. If we say it is or it can , that itself disqualifies his work.
The right and legitimate way of conversation is not whether criticism or not. Rather, the very gist of the matter is WHY and HOW his work should be challenged or criticized. I do believe that given the way our long and long history is very controversial for legitimate reasons, I do not think it is possible to find any historian who can be free from some sort of questionable elements of his or her work.
I sincerely believe that as Professor Fikre’s latest work is characterized by accounts which sound unheard or untold as part of our history before , it is not surprising to witness intellectuals engaging in serious arguments, comments and conversations. That is quite desirable. What is terribly absurd is when those intellectuals of ours (Professor Fikre himself, Professor Getachew and Professor Mesifn) are dragging the subject matter down to personal attack or the mentality of ‘who is the greatest holder of all knowledge of Ethiopian history?”
Are they teaching us or making us confused ? Are they teaching us the very ethics of how to engage in healthy and constructive conversation or are they showing us how we should worry about our own personal “greatness” at any cost ? Are they behaving as intellectuals who live and lead by good example or are they showing and telling us their level of education is measured simply by how much readings they read and how many writings they wrote ? I am saying this because they way they converse with each other is painfully terrible.
I hate to say but I have to say that this generation has its own more than enough confusion, delusion, painful emptiness, serious identity crisis, moral and religious degradation , political absurdity, socio-economic destitution. This means there is a desperate need to help this this generation out to engage itself in a serious and patriotic struggle and make itself a generation of freedom, justice, dignity, equal opportunity, and socio-economic development and fair distribution of the wealth of the country. What our intellectuals, in most cases are doing is muddling in a notoriously boring type of conversation. Horribly disgraceful!
May God help us to use a very amazing thnink power house (brain) He gave us for good!!!
Because Fikre’s book has an account that is unheard before, you think it is immune of criticism ? It has an account not only unheard but also illogical. He mentioned Amhara and Oromo are related because they are descendants of Kush. This is a silly account. Kush is a father of many people, including all Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of South East Asia(India, etc), Part of Australia and parts of South America. All the ancient people in Ethiopia know where their origin is, except the recently immigrated.
Dear Prof. Haile what you mentioned is right and educational. All works have to be checked and examined before being accepted. I have great respect for Prof. Mesfin. On his book Adafene, he has forwarded his commments against respected Ethiopian historian.That is nice and will/may help readers to see new or other directions by correcting mistakes if any. However, I was surprised to see him so pissed off and being angry at Daniel Kibret. Daniel might have made misunderstood things but should have been insulted. Insult is for unprofessional. What happened to you by Dr. Fikre is unfortunately the same. What people dont understand is we are humans but not GoD and are always exposed to commit mistakes!So when some one comes with different views, one has to sit and discuss.
Dear Prof. Getachew Haile what you mentioned is right and educational. All works have to be checked and examined before being accepted. I have great respect for Prof. Mesfin. On his book Adafene, he has forwarded his commments against respected Ethiopian historian.That is nice and will/may help readers to see new or other directions by correcting mistakes if any. However, I was surprised to see him so pissed off and being angry at Daniel Kibret. Daniel might have made misunderstood things but should have been insulted. Insult is for unprofessional. What happened to you by Dr. Fikre is unfortunately the same. What people dont understand is we are humans but not GoD and are always exposed to commit mistakes!So when some one comes with different views, one has to sit and discuss.
Dear Prof. Getachew Haile what you mentioned is right and educational. All works have to be checked and examined before being accepted. I have great respect for Prof. Mesfin. On his book Adafene, he has forwarded his commments against respected Ethiopian historian.That is nice and will/may help readers to see new or other directions by correcting mistakes if any. However, I was surprised to see him so pissed off and being angry at Daniel Kibret. Daniel might have made misunderstood things but should NOT have been insulted. Insult is for unprofessional. What happened to you by Dr. Fikre is unfortunately the same. What people dont understand is we are humans but not GoD and are always exposed to commit mistakes!So when some one comes with different views, one has to sit and discuss.
Such a back and forth is happening due to social media that doesn’t discriminate first between an intellectual authority Vs ordinary person; and second between a formal rigorous discussion Vs opinion. These two are blurred due to social media which is usually used by Ethiopian for unhealthy politics. Having saying that, let’s talk to the issue at the core.
The reason for this is Tolos Fikre’s Book on Amhara and Oromo. He is wrong in claiming that Amhara and Oromo are related because they are descendants of Kush.
That is wrong. They are the same because they are Ethiopians -period. What about the relation of Amhara and Tigre or Amhara and Keffa, They are more related to each other than with Oromo, if we are talking about recent blood relation versus claiming way back to Kush. Kush is the father of many including all Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of India, parts of Australia, parts of South America. Why Fikre go all the way to relate Oromo with Amhara to Kush?
That doesn’t change the reality that the Oromo/Gala has come to nowadays Ethiopia in Early 1500 century. This fact doesn’t make the Oromos non-Ethiopians, and there is no need to dig way back to Kush. It is obvious that the Oromos came to nowadays Ethiopia from south-eastern part of Africa together with Hawiye of Somalia, during the Giragn mohamed agression.
ስለ ዳንኤል ከተቆረቆሩ ያኔ ነበር መፃፍ። ፍቅሬ ቶሎሳ በምሁር ደረጃ የደረሰበትን ፅፏል ። አራት ነጥብ። ጊዜአችሁን የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ ነፃ ለማውጣት ተጠቀሙበት
Mr T.Goshu
It is not necessary make a story up in order to form ODF & G7 kind of coalition which is exactly what Dr Fikre Tolossa was trying to do. I mean, I like Abbabba Tesfaye though, for all the stories he told us when we were children. However as grown up man i understand neither a lion nor a fox can speak the way people do.
We can appreciate the good will and the initiative of Dr Fikre to make peace between Oromo and Amara. However, politically motivated narratives can not be recognized as History.
Prof Getachew,
I am an early disciple of professor Tadesse Tamerat, and I am glad you cited his resourcefulness in his research for his dissertation work, “Church and State in Ethiopia”. His work on the “Abbots of Debre Hayq” were researched in much the same tradition. I was just a school boy when I first read his books, but his methods were firmly established in my mind as I examined other works on medieval Ethiopia Hagiography.
Having said that, I respect your commitment in disseminating fact based knowledge while skewering literary quacks who obscure and mystify truth. You and few other inspiring intellectuals done your parts in exposing Fikre Tolossa’s book for what it is, a myth.
Ignore commentators like T.Goshu, above, and count him and others like him, among these muddying trolls who need to be dredged out before intellectuals could have clean space to debate.
Professor mesfin’s comment on the issue doesn’t hold water. After all, he shouldn’t have commented after admitting he didn’t even finish the book. I personally felt bad on mesfin’s comment as it is only for his sympathy to Dr Fikre than on the substance of the debate between Getatchew and Fikre. On the other hand , prof. Haile unnecessarily mentioned an old subject, Daniel K vs mesfin here.
Exactly !
አሁን ሰዉ ቢያጡ እንደ ዲንኤል ክብረት ግእዝ መጽሀፍትን ያነበበ የለም ይላሉ”ጉድ ነወ ዘንድሮ በግዜ ሳይጨልምብዎ መጦሪያ መኖሪያ ይፈልጉ የእርጅ ግዜ ሆና አዋቁን ከአላዋቂ አስመሳይ መለየት ቢያቅጦትምና ያለ እኔ አዋቂ የለም ልምድ ቢሆን የሚሉት ከአለ ሰርቶ ማሳየት ችሎታው ከአልዎት ለእርሶ አዎቂ ፈረንጅና ዳንኤል ናቸውና እነርሱን ያማክሩ::ዳንኤል ከእኔ የበለጠ አያውቁትምና ባይቀባጥሩ በአንድ የተምህርት እይነት እንድ ላይ የተመረቅን ነበር::አብዝተው ራስዎን አዋቂ አድርገው የሚቆጥሩና የሚቀኑ መሆኑን ከሚቀርብዎት በመስማቴም ጵሁፎንሞ ስለማነብ የሚባለው ትክክል መሆኑን እረዳለሁ::መከበር በወንፈር ይላል የሀገሬ ሰው::እንዲሁ እርር ድብን ይላሉ እንጂ ፕሮፌሰር ፍቅሬ እውቅ የወቅቱ ተፈላጊና ሞሁር በመሆኑ አለምን እየዞረ ስራውን እያሳወቀ ነው አርፈው የቀመጡ
Listen Dimwit,
Do you want to insult your classmate? Then say it directly to him. But insulting someone in a roundabout way is base and cowardice.
People like you do expire before they get old. Did you think calling someone “old” is an insult? I have news for you, you are “an old fart” for a 12 year old. Do you feel insulted? For a run-of-the-mill loud-mouth with little imagination like yourself, old age is an insult. But we celebrate the wisdom and blessings of old age. And we pray we get to be as old and as wise as our senior members of our community.
Your support of Tolossa’s myth put you among the class of dumbells who went to college but wasted their time absorbed in the mystery of the fornication of nymphs and gods. Your vacous opinion about professor Getachew is judged in the same vague and vacuous frame of mind.
Fakers like Tolossa are lining up their pockets Using ignorance as a trade.
Dear Tatta and Kn,
I appreciate expressing what you feel and defending Professor Getachew’s points of view . This is because I strongly believe that that is the way we learn what and how each of us think about a given subject and issue.
However,expecting one not to have his or her say or argument because he or she is not well-educated or do not belong to a circle of intellectuals is either stupidity or terribly arrogance itself.
You know guys, how our culture of conversation is one of the most great challenges we have to face even in this 21st century ? Do not worry. It takes time and energy and will turn out to be great with our own courageous and honest way of engagement.
I do not know what story I “made up” as commentator Tatta tried to tell the readers of his comment. Neither do I know the evidence for categorizing me with Ginbot 7 and ODF. Guys, let us think as grown ups if not big! What Ginbot 7 and ODF has to do with the subject we are discussing ( professor Fikre’s ) work and the controversy it brought forward? This sounds that some of us have some sort of disturbance and irritation whenever we hear and read about a point of view which may be in line with the very mission and objective of Arbegnoch -Gibot 7. Doesn’t this sound somewhat ridiculous and wicked?
By the way , though I am not supposed to swear to my fellow Ethiopians like Tatta , I want to make clear that I am not a member of any political entity including Arbegnoch Ginbot 7 . But I want to strongly make clear that I am one of genuinely concerned ordinary Ethiopians who passionately and strongly support any political entity or party or movement which is doing its best for the sake of the prevalence of freedom and justice in our courty . This includes of course Arbegnoch-Ginbot 7 which I sincerely believe that it is a movement whose leaders and members put themselves at the very forefront of the struggle and paying huge sacrifice together rith other movements and groupings which share the very value genuine democracy.Dear Tatta, I do not thnink you and me have a moral ground to either undermine or mess with what those truly patriotic Ethiopians are doing. Yes, dear Tatta, I have to say that I strongly believe that the alliance of Arbegnoch Ginbot 7 and ODF is an encouraging step forward as far as the very demand of the people of Ethiopia is concerned. .
It was not my intention to talk about this because it was not the right topic to be part of our main discussion. But,I did it because I wanted to give you a very straight -forward response to your nonsensical categorization.
Take it easy buddy! We are compatriots with different points of view which can go to the extent of fierce argument. But absolutely we are not enemies!! Don’t you agree?
Dear Kn, I beg to differ from your very state of mind of considering those who speak out about the way those intellectuals we are talking about as something unclean to be cleaned or trolls to be neglected . I hate to say but I have to say that this kind of characterization is very idiotic or nonsensical . I hate to say but I have to say that this kind of mentality or attitude has nothing to do with a real meaning of intellect and intellectuality we are talking about. I say it is idiotic because I strongly believe that despite the difference in the level of capacity, every person has his or her own knowledge about what is going on in his environment be it politics, economics, culture, social affairs. The very fact that those with highly qualified individuals have their own high level of understanding than others does not mean that ordinary people like myself should not dare to challenge or criticize them . Absolutely no! This is because knowledge and truth are not something monopolized by few . Moreover, what matters most is not going through various levels of academic statuses , but it is what and how those intellectuals transform the very knowledge they obtained into the material force of political and socio-economic well-being of a society.
If you ask me whether the majority of them are doing what they are expected in this regard, my answer is not the case. Is this unfortunate? Definitely it is !! Can and should it be dealt with appropriately and with no clumsy excuse ? Absolutely!! Does the ongoing conversation between those intellectuals sound in line with dealing with the concern raised about Professor Fikre’s work in such a way that it teaches us the very essence of dialogue and argument ? To my understanding, most part of their exchange of comments is not issue- oriented or problem-solving , but kind of personal attack to the extent it sounds personal aggrandizement.
,
Guys, it is great and desirable to engage ourselves in serious and fierce conversation without simply losing our own knowledge and capacity and of course our own way of thinking . We, however, should not converse or argue merely from the mentality of defending our ideas or positions despite all the convincing ideas forwarded by the other side of the argument. And most importantly, we desperately need to control if not avoid focusing on attacking and messing with very personal matters .
let me reiterate once again that the very mentality of touch not this or that person because he or she is junior or senior intellectual of his own fielded of expertise is not acceptable to me. No way! Yes, I deeply believe and agree that those who courageously and fruitfully (not simply philosopher kings of their own)should deserve great respect and appreciation. If you ask me if the majority of those have a practical self-devotion, self -actualization, self- motivation ,self-mobilization and self-assertion toward making the on going struggle achievable without unnecessary lose of life and material destruction , my answer once again is no sir. This unfortunately is not the case. If you ask me whether I am optimistic that things will change for the better with or without those sit back and talk intellectuals, my answer is absolutely I am!!
Take it is guys!!
በአነበብኩት አስተያየትና የድጋፍ ድምጾች መሠረት አልባነት በጣሙን አዝኛለሁ ፕሮፌሰር ጌታቸው የቁልቁለቱ መንገድ የተመቸ ሆኖ ካገኙት ይሁንላቸው። ለኛ ግን ዳገት ላይ ሰው ስንፈልግ አንድ ሰው በማጣታችን በእጅጉ አዝናለሁ።
tekilu asefa you are right exept t.goshu,tamirat woldie and haile micheal we know them all the gangs/group/ of aleka getachew specially zerigaw.. professor mesifin is Ethiopian top patriot and hero as every body knows as he was Ethiopian human right leader he saved the lives of thousand of thousands of Ethiopians and he was the engineer of kinijit unity which won e.p.r.d.f/t.p.l.f/by democratic election for the first time in Ethiopian history he our patriot.so fill shame and shut you mouth.
T.Goshu, you just proved my point. You are a needy troll.
dr.getachew/her after I say you ato getachew because I received more than 500 e mails that states you out of —— formally I may release on all wave sites and social media at some time next week with full evidence and documents 1/about the embisilement of our ancient historical books 2/some reports that shows you are with our Ethiopian natural enemies extra and I read the professor mesifin letter he did not talk any thing about you why you insulting this honoured Ethiopian top hero you donot fill shame you lost your mind because you become out of service .
dr.getachew/her after I say you ato getachew because I received more than 500 e mails that states you out of —— formally I may release on all wave sites and social media at some time next week with full evidence and documents 1/you are top supporter of the embisilement of our ancient historical books 2/some reports that shows you are with our Ethiopian natural enemies extra and I read the professor mesifin letter he did not talk any thing about you why you insulting this honoured Ethiopian top hero you donot fill shame you lost your mind because you become out of service .3/have you ever take geez language course 4/have you take e.s.l.c /matriculation/what is your grade all I present next week for the public.
dr. getachew have you take geez on Ethiopian school leaving certificate/matriculation/what was your greade you pretending as if you are geez intilectual
The father of all insult calls other a name.
Who calls people G**, they cut my private part bla bal in in this age of getting at the hell door? It is only debtertaw Getachew Haile
T.Goshu
How do you do sir
I did not say you made up a story. It is Dr Fikre who tries to make a common ancestry mother for Oromo and Amara just to make them stop antagonizing each other. Oromo – Amara antagonism got the form it has today most probably after the killing of Lij Eyassu, the reign of Hailessilassie and his extreme centralization policies, the student movement and especially after TPLF sat on power. The problem is political and it need a political solution. Not some biblical or mythical narratives to make it go away without addressing the underlined issues of politics and economy properly. As i said before i appreciate the effort. However, if such stories could solve problems, Palestinians and the Jew would never have gone to an endless conflict.
And I can say this with 100% certainty. There is a big difference between mythology and History. You can`t defend Dr. Fikre for his mistakes.
Hi.Tatta, I sincerely appreciate for expressing your response with a sense of civility.
It was not my intension to make our conversation longer . But I wanted to, because I found your line of argument interesting but very simplistic.
a) there was no antagonism between Amhara and Oromo if we are talking about their relationship as a people . The antagonistic phenomenon has never been basically because of the very nature , behavior, and mentality of the two majority ethnic groups of the country. Rather , the conflicts between the two have been mainly because of the rulers of the time and those elites of the two who have notoriously and negatively manipulated the differences which could not should not be the very causes of hatred which had sometimes led to mutually destructive conflicts. Simply put, the idea or argument “Amhara -Oromo antagonism” is not only wrong but dangerously misleading .
History is not about simply telling stories without qualification. History is about what happened, when, where, why, how, who and what were the consequences ? So taking and generalizing the incident of Lij Iyassu as the very starting spot of antagonism between Amhara and Oromo is highly simplistic if not kind of infantile.
b)Dear Tatta, I think what you want to say about EPRP is in relation to the question of the right of nationalists of Ethiopia. If that is the case, it was not the very intention of the generation to damage the relationships between or among various ethnic groups. Rather , it was part of the political philosophy and belief of the time (socialism -Marxism -Leninism) . For that matter, it was a hard fact that the problem of having a political system which could govern the coutry with full respect and right of all nationalities or ethnic groups was one of the major problems to be tackled appropriately and fairly. Were there wrong doings or mistakes to learn from? Definitely! But, making the generation responsible for the” Amhara-Oromo” antagonism is again very simplistic and distorted historical account.
c)Dear Tatta, you say “mythology is not history” . I do agree. But I strongly believe that to simply dismiss Profesor Fikre’s work as a mythology or something which has never existed in reality because we have never heard or read or come across this kind of historical account in our history is not the right way . How we are sure that the account of the book has never happened or to declare they it is just a mythology for us without taking time, engaging in a mutually respect, understandable and academically sounding way of argument? How can we dismiss it as simply the work of a creative mind if we agree that there are so many unstudied historical accounts of our history?
Are we arrogantly asserting that there could not or would not be amazing historical findings because we have reached a point where no more amazing things because we have a complete account of our history?
How we assertively dismiss these kinds of works without doing our own further studies on these kinds “mythologies” and disprove them?
Are we absolutely sure that this this kind of historical account will never be part of Ethiopian history even in the future? If we say yes, why and how?
How can we teach this generation about what has happened and never happened simply by waging kind of tag of war on line which in most cases overshadowed by personal aggrandizement?
I am not saying the work of Professor Fikre should not be challenged. It must be questioned and critically challenged. What I am saying is do it in the right and teachable way . Show us how you argue that this is a fiction or mythology or the work of creative mind simply because you have never read or heard about before. It would be powerfully convincing if you guys go beyond your notoriously personal conversations on line and show this generation what a real sense of academic dialogue or argument or conversation should look .
Take it easy buddy!
Is there any author who based Abyssinian/Ethiopian history based on facts and not mythology or hearsay? For instance, take Kebre Negast (the Glory of Kings) to which Professor Getachew referred in his article. Some of the unbelievable concepts of the Kebre Negast: Abyssinian kings were ‘gods’ (had human and god’s nature)-paraphrased; They established another “Jewish Kingdom”; God “abandoned” ancient Israel and moved to Axum (Zion: another name for ancient Jerusalem); Abyssinians were/are “descendants” of the nobles of Israel/ancient Jews. Abyssinians were God’s “chosen race” (better than Jews). There are many who strongly believe “considering once race as “chosen by God” resulted the cast system: Master and servant; “Pure race and nigger/Bariya); Kings, nobles, Coptic church and peasants and sub divisions among the Peasantry.. Isn’t Kebre Negast a mythology? Some professors who used to teach Ethiopian history believed and taught Abyssinians came from Southern Arabia and vice versa by recent professors. Whom to believe? Some say “Oromos came out of water” and others say they have been in North East Africa for about 6000 years. Why not historians get together and save the ppl from identity crisis instead of bickering like school kids among themselves? Sad and disgraceful!