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Horn of Africa Leftists

Horn of Africa Leftists

Horn of Africa Leftists

Discussing the Horn of Africa regions current events,political philosophy and social/cultural commentary from a Leftist perspective

10 - Understanding The Sudanese Revolution
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  • 10 - Understanding The Sudanese Revolution

    Uprising: forces, structures, and possibilities 


    Mahder is currently a PHD student in Political Science

    Research on the 2019/2020 uprising plus local resistance committee and tea seller unions by engaging Sudanese scholar and activists

    Historical points and questions.

    On February 12, 1952, Egypt and Britain


    How do you view the issue of Nubians and their struggle in both states? Where do the Nubians fit into the narrative of Pan-Africanism and the National Question? Are they an oppressed nation within nation-states?


    What was the position of the Sudanese Communist Party in regards to South Sudanese grievances during the early years? 



    It seems Sudan still has active labor unions that impacted and shaped the protest in Sudan. Why do you think the western press ignores that or mis-characterizes the class dynamic of the Sudanese protest and anti-neoliberal narrative? Or have you noticed that?


    What is the communist view on Pan-Africanism and Pan-Arabism? What is your view on Sudan being viewed as an Arab state and anti-African racism?



     Jaafar Nimeiry 1969-1985--was supported a socialist branch Sudanese Socialist Union

    falling out with the Communist party---first person who installed the Sharia law



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    Mon, 24 Jan 2022
  • 9 - Why Somalia is Ignored and Misunderstood by the Left Now?

    Somali freelance journalist Mohamed joins this episode for a critical focus on Somalia


    http://halganmedia.net/

    https://twitter.com/Free_Somaliweyn


    Can you explain your take on the anti-colonial history of Somalis against various colonial power and how that shaped Somali nationalism from then to now?


    How do you feel about the influence of Saudi Arabia and sponsorship of the Whabbist/Salafist line in Somalia as a counter against Somalia nationalists aligned with egalitarian or socialist Islam tendencies?


    What is your view on the history of Ogaden and the Somali region in Ethiopia?


    How do you view Turkish/NATO presence in Somalia?


    How do you view the question of Somaliland and the current efforts to instigate tension by London/Washington via Taiwan vs China?


    Can you explain the events that led to rise of the ICU to crush warlords in Somalia prior 2007?


    Why do you feel Eritrean and Somalis are closer when recognizing the danger of Abyssinia Fundamentalism?


    How do you feel about federalism vs centralized state in Somalia and the role of Melez Zenawi to create that 4-1 clan system of model?

    Your view of the TPLF role in the 90s era in prolonging anarchy and war lors


    Do you feel Somalia is ignored by the left in media spaces in comparison to Ethiopia? Both Somalia and Eritrea were sanctioned the last 18 years but we didnt see that focus but now Ethiopia is the focus.



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    Mon, 27 Dec 2021
  • 8 - How The Left Got Ethiopia Wrong Again Part 2

    "If we have shortcomings, we are not afraid to have them pointed out and criticized because we serve the people. Anyone, no matter who may point out our shortcomings. If he is right, we will correct them. If what he proposes will benefit the people, we will act upon it."-Mao



    FEEDBACK


     These western leftists absolutely need to just keep it at imperialism and stay away from the internal politics of Ethiopia. Just being in pfdj promotes you to address the primary contradiction which is imperialism. But the lack of 

    acknowledgement of secondary contradictions by pfdj leads to a lack of understanding of an analysis on how the ruling class exploits these secondary contradictions to further their agenda. These secondary contradictions are weaponized to exasperate the primary contradiction. How tplf is using the plight of the oppressed nationalities to mask their elitist ideology. Ppl like Simon dismiss the oppressed as just tribalists. And it stops there for them, offering no validity to the oppressed masses who instead fall for tplf rhetoric that appears to be more in line with the oppressed. This alienates them like you said, and that’s a legitimate critique of the no more movement. This adds a lot of issues. 

    This also gives legitimacy to Abiy, who on top of being even having more neoliberal policies than tplf, has denied historical grievances of folks in Ethiopia and even in America, and like you said you can oppose and fight against imperialism without totally endorsing the other side. It shouldn’t stop at just primary contradiction.


    While EPRP*(Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party) was actively resisting derg, they still aligned with dergs decisions to oust western puppet entities from Ethiopia. 

    An example of being principled and aligning on the right side w/o endorsing the other side



    CRITICISM

    You repeatedly state that Abiy started this war with TPLF, 

    contrary to TPLF's own words in which they state they launched a "pre-emptive strike" against multiple northern command bases on Nov 4th.


    Just simply "having positions" doesn't really mean anything if it doesn't translate to material action. In my opinion, many on the left, save a few organizations, are failing to capture the moment of what is essentially a pan-African movement against neo-colonial designs.


    https://blackallianceforpeace.com/principles-of-unity


     What end is having a critique of the GOE while under attack by US backed forces supposed to contribute to the global movement? 

    Should the left not unite with the #NoMore movement against imperialism or should it?


    Listening to this I hear a lot of strawmen. Nowhere in any of the breakthrough or black agenda report coverage of the war have I seen anyone praise Abiy as some kind of socialist anti-imperialist hero.Seems unfair to suggest that's their position when it isn't.


    Also like...what? "Take away the TPLF?" This isn't materialist at all, seeing as the TPLF is a heavily armed belligerent and player in the current conflict. 

    This is an appeal to idealism in the middle of a war in which there will eventually be a victor and a vanquished.


    Just wondering exactly what the endgame is here? 

    So people shouldn't be mobilizing against US supported regime change in Ethiopia because Abiy is a capitalist? 

    Should we take a "neither x or y" approach while a fascist proxy group continues its onslaught across the country?



    POSITION


    Examine why PFDJ or Eritrea are in alliance with Amhara region?is it right? The primacy of the class struggle over the national question is an issue


    All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement(MEISON) vs EPRP*(Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party)

    However, there were some sticky political problems for both the TPLF and EPRP regarding Eritrea. While they recognized the struggle for the Eritrean independence as genuine, they had differences as to whether the case was a ‘colonial issue’ or not. Without conducting the necessary study or having appropriate discussions, the TPLF held the view that the Eritrean case was a ‘colonial question.’ as the EPLF wanted it to be. 

    It was probably an opportunistic stand , designed to outflank the EPRP from the privileged position the EPLF offering it. 

    Without understanding the consequences that were to haunt it in the discourse of Ethiopian political history, this position continued to be the stand of the TPLF for years to come.


    Another area of difference was over Eritrea and the guerrilla struggle for independence there. EPRP showed much greater sympathy for the guerrillas, particularly for the more radical Eritrean Peoples’ Liberation Front (EPLF). Many early EPRP cadres were trained and armed by the EPLF, and the EPRP’s armed wing used EPLF-held areas as a base when it commenced armed struggle in the north. MEISON accepted the right of self-determination for the nationalities, including the right of secession (which the EPRP was itself ambivalent on),

     but it denied the revolutionary validity of the Eritrean struggle in general and the EPLF in particular. 


    The PMAC’s opponents, especially those in the various ethnic liberation movements, charge that the PMAC has become in fact the prisoner of the Amhara nationality, the ruling group under Haile Selassie. Amharas make up some 75 percent of COPWE’s central committee, reflecting the power structures of the military and civilian bureaucracy inherited from Haile Selassie. 

    Amharas also hold approximately 60 percent of the appointments to the regional COPWE committees


     Promoting an agenda for lasting changes going far beyond those proposed since the revolution began in January, the Derg proclaimed Ethiopia Tikdem (Ethiopia First) as its guiding philosophy.


    Giving an assessment of #NoMore is similar to #BLM and how BAR/Bruce Dixon gave the same critical pushback as well via class analysis and other tools of socialism



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    Mon, 29 Nov 2021
  • 7 - How The Left Got Ethiopia Wrong Again

    Important episode to consider what does principled anti-imperialist solidarity suppose to look like for the Horn of Africa with critical three points


    1. Let's examine the left content creators and journalist position as being too pro Abiy/PP due to the sourcing info from the Abyssinian (Amhara region)/PFDJ alliance that is led to the creation of the new diaspora based #NoMore movement and current development...Why did they do this? Maybe the motivating factor is for social media traction/audience metrics/donations etc

    You take away the TPLF you can see why the people and advisors or allies of Abiys are neoliberal and reason why is in alliance with them is they all share common ideology views on neoliberalism and overall Abyssainid views on what is Ethiopia and its future..

    Including Berhanu Nega as education minister, in a speech to lawmakers on Wednesday. The others are Belete Molla, who comes in as innovation and technology minister and Kejela Merdassa as the head of the culture docket.

    The Ethiopia’s far-right -ultra-unionist PM Dr Abiy Ahmed and his conspirator ally Professor Berhanu Nega’s parties- namely Exclusive Prosperity Party (EPP) and Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (ECSJ) are advocating Western liberal democracy and liberal economy as model capable of saving Ethiopia and its subjects.   

    Berhanu Nega wrote policy papers for the World Bank, which were later included in the Kinijit (CUDCoalition for Unity and Democracy) Manifesto

    The Kinijit (CUD) Manifesto. Attached snippet calling for the implementation of free market liberal democracy 


    “[Mr Abiy] is extremely interested to see a strong private sector that can generate jobs for the millions of youths that are currently unemployed,” said Mr Abebe, 38, who worked at the World Bank before Mr Abiy asked him to join the commission.


    “And I think that is consistent with the whole economic reform agenda. For so long economic growth has been fuelled by state investment and now the state should cede space to the private sector and play its natural arbiter role as a regulator,” he said. 


    https://www.ft.com/content/38c9e736-7e49-11e9-81d2-f785092ab560


    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/apr/15/suspicion-and-fear-linger-as-ethiopia-campus-wars-go-quiet

    Wed 15 Apr 2020 07.21 EDT

    The government is now looking at alternative funding models, including student loans. “There should be some kind of co-financing from the private sector,” said Tassew Woldehanna, president of Addis Ababa University. “Students need to start paying.”


    In January, the Minister of Higher Educationsuggestedthat free tuition was partly to blame for conflicts because it made it harder for universities to maintain the quality of education and housing for the roughly 200,000 new students enrolling each year. In 2000, Ethiopia hadjust two universities; now there are 45. It is one of thefastest expansions in higher education in the world, but without a concomitant rise in standards.



    Abiy and Crrypto connection

    Cardano is not new to Ethiopia, in 2018 the government signed a deal with Cardano to incorporate blockchain technology to the agritech industry. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, since Ethiopia is a latecomer to:


     Jack Dorseyvocalized his support of Project Mano, a group of Ethiopia-based entrepreneurs who want to get the Ethiopian government to consider mining and storing Bitcoin



    I would like to thank@IMF& my dear sister@KGeorgievafor IMF’s extraordinary support of Ethiopia’s Home Grown Economic Reform Program amounting to USD 2.9 billion. Building on our past success, we have embarked on a new journey to set Ethiopia on a path to prosperity.

    https://twitter.com/AbiyAhmedAli/status/1205152845818945536



    "Borrowing from IMF and WB, is like borrowing from [one's] mother"- PM Abiy speaking in a peace conference in Addis Ababa.

    .... "Because after they give us a billion birr, they tell us to pay it in 20, 30 yrs with a 2, 3, 4 % interest rate. What has hurt Ethiopia is not borrowing from these institutions but from companies or other countries. ....

    https://twitter.com/Kal_KidanY/status/1208046969618337793

    He was invited to The Economist party 

    https://amp.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2020/09/19/ethiopias-democratic-transition-is-in-peril?__twitter_impression=true


    ‘My model is capitalism’: Ethiopia’s prime minister plans telecoms privatisation

    https://www.ft.com/content/433dfa88-36d0-11e9-bb0c-42459962a812



    2. There are voices on Twitter who pushes the TPLF line under the veneer of anti-imperialist positioning aswell



    To answer the second point Under TPLF was SOE but corrupted and was making concession to the IMF and global finance to certain extent

    Ethiopa 75%+ of its budget via aid financing, it basically is a USAID client state to an extent, and Abiy’s agenda highly depends on WB + IMF financing, 

    Ethiopiahas privatized SOEs in phases 1994-98 /1999 - 2004. Impact analyses show that privatiz|n only benefited 2 large conglomerates. 1st -TPLF/ EPRDF’s EFFORT, 2nd -MIDROC, with close tie with EPRDF. Both operate as duopoly hindering competitiveness 

    That “reliant on donors” part hurt. All those years of “fast growth” and “10 %+ growth” and Ethiopia is still one of the most aid dependent countries on the continent? 


    3. Examining the #NoMore Movement the way forward and recognizing what’s right


    Quote by Wallelign Mekonnen Nov. 17, 196was aMarxiststudent activist and militant active in theEthiopianStudent Movement 

    https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ethiopia/nationalities.pdf



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    Wed, 24 Nov 2021
  • 6 - How Cryptocurrency is a New Approach to Re-vitalize Neo-Colonialism in Africa

    On this episode, we discuss the latest updates on Ethiopia and Sebs research on via "Blockchain Technology & Coercive Surveillance of the Global South" https://solartsunami.medium.com/blockchain-technology-coercive-surveillance-of-the-global-south-bec05246e749


    Sebs on Twitter https://twitter.com/RedSeaCactus


    Cryptocurrency Is About Data-Mining Not Economic Liberation w Sebs Solomon via Black Power Media https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoZIDO5VBZk


    Jackson Palmer Tweets

    https://twitter.com/ummjackson/status/1415353984617914370


    From Eritrea to Bolivia: Who Supported the Washington Backed Coup?

    https://hoodcommunist.org/2020/12/24/from-eritrea-to-bolivia-who-supported-the-washington-backed-coup/


    The Human Rights Foundation Connection to Bitcoin and Meron Estafnos

    Oslo Freedom Forum (@OsloFF and Bitcoin

    https://twitter.com/gladstein/status/1405216053215461379

    https://hrf.org/speakers/meron-estefanos/

    https://twitter.com/AnitaPosch/status/1408047323503075334






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    Tue, 20 Jul 2021
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