The Regime’s Plot to Start Another Inter-Community War Must Be Thwarted!
A Statement from Hope for Peace
April 1, 2024
Since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018, thousands of clashes have occurred throughout Ethiopia. In the northern part of our country and further south in the Oromia region, many deadly wars have been fought; some are still ongoing. In the wars that took place in northern Ethiopia, primarily in Tigray, but also in the Amhara and Afar regions, and which stopped a year ago following the Pretoria Peace Agreement, more than 1 million people are believed to have perished, and more than 4 million people have been displaced from their homes.
Although these wars were waged mainly between the government and rival political forces, unlike in our history, they quickly morphed into people-to-people conflicts. In the Tigray war, in particular, the Amhara and Tigray peoples, who for centuries have lived together in peace and harmony as neighbors and children of one country, took opposite sides and fought a bloody war. Hope for Peace was created due to the existential threat to the two communities this fact brought.
Hope for Peace was established with the firm belief that these two communities who share a long history, culture, beliefs, and identity should not fight and shed blood again regardless of any contradictions and differences that may come between them. Our group also aims to strengthen the peaceful co-existence and relationship between these two peoples.
Despite its shortcomings, we supported the Pretoria Peace Agreement thinking that it would not only stop the war, but also create a conducive environment to achieve our objectives. We also thought that similar peace agreements would be signed in the Amhara and Oromia regions to stop the ongoing wars there in these communities. However, at a time when we hoped that peace would be strengthened and expanded, we are observing a dangerous situation developing in which the peoples of Tigray and Amhara could potentially enter yet another war leading to further death and destruction.
Just as the destructive wars of the recent past started with the exchange of words, we fear that the recent inflammatory statements circulating around may be precursors to future hostilities. It is our group’s firm belief that, just as the wars of the past were tragic and historic mistakes, another round of war will also end up the same, this time much worse. Wars cannot achieve the interests and needs of our people other than to temporarily sustain the regime’s power. For this reason, we believe, the war option must remain a closed option.
Thus, recognizing that:
1. One of the main objectives of the current regime is to prolong its life by having the people of northern Ethiopia fight against one another and weaken themselves in the process,
2. The recent exchange of hostile words was deliberately created to achieve this regime’s dangerous objective,
3. Not learning from past mistakes and falling into the regime’s conspiracy traps and starting another round of war would be yet another historic mistake,
4. A new war between the two peoples will not only result in another deadly outcome, but also endanger the very existence of the entire country and its people, and
5. Any disputes between the two peoples can only be resolved through peaceful, legal, and democratic means – and not through wars – we call on the people to resolutely thwart the regime’s plot to start war all over again.
Political forces, journalists, social media activists, and other influential groups and individuals who claim to represent the two peoples, and who really care about their interests and security, should work hard to establish and strengthen peaceful relations between these two communities, instead of becoming victims or agents of the regime’s plot to instigate more wars. Inciting one people against another for any reason is anti-people by its very nature and cannot be pro-people. What the people want today is a lasting peace, democracy, and development, not conflicts and wars.
We call for the strengthening and implementation of the Pretoria Peace Agreement in a way that will bring about a permanent solution, rather than violating it and entering another round of deadly wars. Hope for Peace makes this call and plea for peace on this occasion and asks the Ethiopian people to just say “enough of war!” and thwart the regime’s conspiracy and debauch.
Hope for Peace, North America
Peace for Our Existence!