Could ongoing protests lead to social breakdown?
BY CALLUM WOOD
BY CALLUM WOOD
Civil unrest is growing in Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation. Upset by inequality and systemic corruption, members of Ethiopia’s two largest districts have taken to the streets. Since November last year, the protesters have faced off against strong government crackdowns.
Eighty percent of the country lives in poverty. Famine threatens
15 million residents. Many are ready to take out their frustrations on the
government. But instability fosters its own problems, and opportunists in the
region are watching closely.
Complete Control
After Ethiopia’s current ruling party—the
Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)—came to power in 1991, it segregated the country
along ethnic lines, forming nine districts. But rather than maintain equal or
proportional say among the various districts, most of the power has been
gathered by just one—the Tigray district.
The Tigrans make up just 6 percent of the
population. Yet over the last two decades, they have worked to seize absolute
power—the Tigran-dominated EPRDF now
controls 100 percent of the seats in parliament. As such, the EPRDF enjoys little to no
political challenge or discussion, near-total control of the press, and strong
sway over the judicial system.
Of course, gaining 100 percent of the vote has led many of the
country’s larger ethnic groups to claim that the government is illegitimate and
corrupt. They are not alone in this view. On Transparency International’s
Corruption Perceptions Index, where 100 means clean and 0 means totally
corrupt, Ethiopia recently scored a meager 33.
Terrorists or Protesters?
When riots first started in November 2015, the government was
well prepared. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, sent in troops and the
anti-terrorism task force. Laws established in 2009 imbued the government with
sweeping powers to combat anyone it deems to be a terrorist. Some analysts
claim that the government has used these laws to justify the kidnapping,
imprisonment and even torture of political opponents.
When the laws were being passed, Human Rights
Watch said the legislation would “permit long-term imprisonment and even
the death penalty for ‘crimes’ that bear no resemblance,
under any credible definition, to terrorism.”
Since the November flare-up of protests, more than 500
protesters have been killed and thousands have allegedly been injured.
As Stratfor noted in an August 31 report, Ethiopian Prime
Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has authorized the country’s armed forces to take
“any and all” measures necessary to restore order. His comments echo one of his
December 2015 speeches, when he said the government “will take merciless
legitimate action against any force bent on destabilizing the area.”
No sooner had the riots began last year, than
Amnesty International, a human rights movement against social injustices, was
warning that government administrative expansion into the Oromia district was
leading to cultural persecution. “The suggestion that these Oromo—protesting
against a real threat to their livelihoods—are aligned to terrorists will have
a chilling effect on
freedom of expression for rights activists,” said Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty’s
regional director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.
No News Is Not Good News
There is a reason why these protests and human rights abuses
rarely make the news. Ethiopian media is largely government censored. While not
as stringent as many neighboring African countries, Ethiopia does wield tight
control over the Internet and media.
The misuse of anti-terror laws has resulted in restrictions
placed on a number of independent media outlets and nongovernmental
organizations. The result is a media that turns a blind eye to heavy-handed
government crackdowns.
The government has at times completely banned
all forms of social media—effectively silencing any would-be critics. In 2015,
U.S.-based NGO Freedom House
reported that Ethiopia was blocking
larger news websites such as BBC. Arguments can be made for temporarily blocking social
media, which can pinpoint innocent people during an attack. But there is no
risk to the public by allowing a reputable news source like the BBC to air. The only ones
threatened by such a website would be the government.
With such tight and overarching control of the media, the full
extent of the multi-district rebellion is hard to accurately gauge. Needless to
say, with extensive troop deployments and a history of strong crackdowns, the
likelihood is that the information reaching the Western media is just the tip
of a far larger iceberg.
Ethiopia has refused entry to special United Nations
investigators since 2007, making the UN unable to report on Ethiopia’s domestic
issues. The blocked investigations included inquiries into reports of torture
and denial of freedom of expression and peaceful assemblies.
The West Looks On
News that does escape the country has been downplayed by much of
the world. As Human Rights Watch explains, “Donor countries to Ethiopia have
been largely silent about the brutal crackdown, presumably in part due to the
Ethiopian government’s strategic relationships on security, peacekeeping,
migration and development. For years, the U.S., the UK and other influential
governments have basically rejected public condemnation of the Ethiopian
government’s repressive practices.”
Ethiopia is a key security ally for America in
the fight against the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. The country is
also important economically. Guardian Unlimited called Ethiopia
“an economic battleground with China.”
In July last year, U.S. President Barack Obama
visited Addis Ababa. During his speeches and press conferences, he repeatedly
referred to the landslide victory of Desalegn’s EPRDF as “democratic.”
Bekele Nega, the general secretary of the Oromo Federalist
Congress (representing the country’s largest ethnic group) said, “I don’t know
if democracy means robbing people’s vote and robbing their election result.
They have killed people, and they have taken the ballot box with them in
organized fraud.”
Faced with brutal retaliation and a lack of international
support, protesters in the Oromia district and elsewhere are beginning to
transition from relatively peaceful protests to acts of aggression. Last week,
protesters burned a number of flower farms—flowers being one of the chief
exports of the country.
Opportunity?
Destabilization brings with it a whole host of problems, one of
which is the opportunity for foreigners to exploit the situation. And one
nation has gained a reputation as the opportunist of the Middle East: Iran.
Tehran has capitalized on unrest in Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria
and Iraq. In areas of civil unrest, radicals—and their sponsors—thrive. In
Iraq, the rise of the Islamic State has afforded Iran the opportunity to be
more involved than ever before. The same can be said for Syria. In Yemen, Iran
is backing the Houthi rebels, aiding in the overthrow of the pro-Saudi
government.
With the 2011 overthrow of Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak, Iran was able to rapidly build ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.
In Libya, the removal of Muammar Qadhafi has led to the arrival of a number of
extremist groups. One such group, theFree Egyptian Army,
is being trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. Its purpose is to
overthrow Egypt’s current administration!
Trends Say Iran Will Get Involved
Across the Middle East and North Africa, Iran is getting
involved. Ethiopia’s immediate neighbors are testimony to this policy.
Egyptian newspaper El-Watan reported that Iran has deployed Quds
Force personnel to Sudan to take advantage of the deteriorating
Sudanese-Egyptian relationship. It also claims Iran is training Muslim
Brotherhood troops in Sudan.
While the relationship between Iran and Sudan
is frosty at the moment, the two certainly have a long history of partnership.
As Haaretz notes, “For many years, Sudan was home to
a Hamas command center, and it was also the military and political ally of Iran
and Hezbollah. The Iranians used Sudan as a base for arms smuggling into the
Gaza Strip and built a large factory near Khartoum for making long-range
rockets for Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”
To Ethiopia’s north, Iran has had dealings
with the reclusive Eritrea. While the Eritreans deny it, many opponents of the
Houthi rebellion in Yemen claim that Iran is using bases in Eritrea to train
and launch aid supplies to support the Houthi. Reports are now circulating that
the IRGC is also
training both Houthi and Iraqi militias in Eritrea.
Across the Red Sea, Iran is deeply entrenched
in Yemen. While not as intimately tied to Iran as the Shia militias, Hezbollah
or other terror groups, the Houthis have Iran to thank for the ongoing stand
against the Saudi-backed government. Iranian weapons, training and aid afford
the Houthis the chance to stand up to Saudi air strikes and otherwise superior
forces. This benefits Iran by establishing a southern front against the Saudis,
while simultaneously tightening the chokehold on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. For
more on this strategically important sea lane, read our article “Iran: Sultan of the Red Sea.”
Then there is Somalia. The Somalian government
cut ties with Iran earlier this year. The government accused Iran of
establishing sects that pose a threat to national security in the Horn of
Africa. Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke accused Iranian diplomats
of being “directly involved in meddling with internal Somali affairsand have carried out
measures that are a threat to our national security.”
As all of the above show, Iran wants to be involved in the
region. Even within Ethiopia, Iranian involvement with al-Shabaab shows it is
intent on destabilizing the nation.
Prophecy Says Iran Will Get Involved
Some might scoff at the idea of a foretold Ethiopian alliance
with Iran. But Iran’s goals for the region mirror what is written in the pages
of your Bible!
As Trumpet editor
in chief Gerald Flurry explains,
from Daniel 10:10 to the end of the prophetic book is the longest single
prophecy in the Bible. It mainly focuses on “the time of the end” (Daniel
11:40). The Moffatt Bible translates that expression, “when the end ARRIVES.” And that time is here now!
In “Libya and Ethiopia Reveal Iran’s Military Strategy,” Mr.
Flurry wrote:
All you need to do is get a good map of the Middle East, with
the emphasis on the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Then you can see why the
king of the south, or radical Islam, is so interested in an alliance with or
control over these two countries (as well as Egypt and Tunisia). They are on
the two seas that comprise the most important trade route in the world!
Whoever heavily influences or controls Ethiopia will undoubtedly also control the small areas of Eritrea and Djibouti on the Red Sea coastline. These areas only recently became independent of Ethiopia. Also, I believe the Bible view is that these small areas are included as part of Ethiopia.
Whoever heavily influences or controls Ethiopia will undoubtedly also control the small areas of Eritrea and Djibouti on the Red Sea coastline. These areas only recently became independent of Ethiopia. Also, I believe the Bible view is that these small areas are included as part of Ethiopia.
Who else but Iran is working so aggressively to promote radical
Shiite Islam in these nations?
Mr. Flurry continued, “That could give Iran virtual control of
the trade through those seas. Radical Islam could stop the flow of essential
oil to the U.S. and Europe!”
Now read Daniel 11:43 and see Ethiopia
specifically mentioned by name as a
part of this alliance! Mr. Flurry explains in his booklet The King of the South, “So you need to watch
Libya and Ethiopia. They are about to fall under the heavy influence or control
of Iran, the king of the south. That is why they are subdued in the king of the
north victory.”
These prophecies are sure. They are going to happen! There will
be a king of the south, and he will control Ethiopia. And as Daniel wrote,
there will be a sudden confrontation between this king and the king of the
north.
Though God says this battle will usher in terrible times in the
short term, there is also good news bound up in this warning. These prophesied
events lead up to the return of Jesus Christ!
Just as God prophesies the rise and fall of
nations, He also prophesies the return of His Son and the establishment of His
Kingdom forever! For more information, read our free booklets Libya and Ethiopia in Prophecy and The King of the South ▪
Source: thetrumpet.com
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