In an op-ed entitled “Misframing the Ethiopian crisis: A call for honest diplomacy”, published on The Jerusalem Post on the 28th of May 29, 2025, the author argues that there is a genocidal war against the Amhara in Ethiopia.
It is very regrettable that such blatant misinformation is published on a paper as prestigious as The Jerusalem Post. The author criticizes the US ambassador to Ethiopia for characterizing the ongoing security challenges in Ethiopia as a “conflict”.
According to the author, what is unfolding is a genocidal war, perpetrated by the government against one of the biggest ethic groups in Ethiopia. This is an irresponsible and baseless allegation.
First and foremost, we should be wary of the abuse of claims of genocide and the politicization of allegations of such a heinous crime. Genocide is the highest form of criminality, inhumanity, and evil. The proliferation of claims of genocide around the world is something that should give us pause.
Responsible media outlets should also be careful not to propagate spurious claims of genocide. The more such claims are made without a factual basis, we risk belittling what has happened to real victims of such a grave crime.
In the Oromia region, it is the Oromo Liberation Front, claiming to represent the ethnic Oromo, that is the main protagonist of the conflict. In the Amhara region, the Fano, claiming to represent the ethnic Amhara, are at the forefront of a low-intensity insurgency against the federal government.
The Oromo, the Amhara, and the Tegaru, the three biggest ethnic groups in Ethiopia, collectively make up more than 2/3rd of the entire Ethiopian population. There are ethnic militias claiming to represent each of these ethnic groups that have raised up arms against the federal government in the past few years.
In the grievances and narratives of the ethnic militants and fellow travelers, each of these ethnic groups is an oppressed minority that has suffered from genocide, and the only way to avert this existential threat is for the leaders of these militant groups to hold absolute power at the center.
Ethnic entrepreneurs versed in the worst form of identity politics posit an existential threat that demands and justifies the hegemony of politicians from that ethnic group. To bring about this hegemony, they mobilize support along ethnic lines and raise up arms to challenge the federal government.
The broad pattern is quite similar. It is a pattern that is caused by the interplay of a number of complex factors. But one factor that looms large is the extent to which ethnicity has been cynically politicized and instrumentalized during past administrations.
Ethnic propaganda in social media
This, coupled with the advent of social media in which ethnic propaganda and hatred are rife, has made the job of the ethnic entrepreneurs and zealots a lot easier. Economic challenges and unemployment also provide a readily available pool of young men who could be recruited into ethnic militias.
With a façade of a political cause, most of these militant groups engage in extortion, kidnapping, and all forms of criminality. Most of these militias are, in fact, organized criminal groups with a veneer of respectability. The principal victims of these predatory and criminal ethnic militants are primarily members of the ethnic group they claim to represent.
The government of Ethiopia has a multiparty and multiethnic composition. It endeavors to maintain the balance between ethnic diversity and national unity. It rejects hegemonic aspirations and demands from all ethnic groups. Some of the biggest ethnic groups in Ethiopia cite history, others demography, or geography to claim a privileged and hegemonic status in the nation’s political and economic life.
The Government of Ethiopia does not accept such claims. It will also keep resisting the effort to impose on the nation such unjust and extremist demands. However, the government is also committed to national dialogue and reconciliation so that Ethiopians can collectively seek a solution for the problems that they collectively identify.
The national dialogue process that is currently underway is the platform for such constructive engagement, intended to renew our social contract. Instead of ethnic militancy and extremism, those who have the best interests of Ethiopians should engage in the national dialogue process.
In fact, the Government of Ethiopia has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to settling political differences through peaceful means and dialogue. In such a score, the Government has on a number of occasions extended a peace call to armed militant groups of all brands and colours, including the ones who wish to call themselves the Fano militias.
The writer is the ambassador of Ethiopia to the State of Israel.