Thread by @Qnie_Addis

Thread
#GaslightingEthiopia

1/ “gaslighting” refers to a specific type of manipulation where the manipulator is trying to get someone else (or a group of people) to question their own reality, memory or perceptions. ...

Gaslighting is not a new invention; it has been used successfully to justify slavery, colonialism and racism to the victims themselves and now in 2021 it is being used with little subtlety to break the spirit of #Ethiopia.

2/ As part of the strategy, black journalists and politicians are being co-opted as faces of this campaign to further undermine the legitimacy of the grievance of millions of #Ethiopians who know beyond a shadow of doubt that a coordinated campaign is being employed against them.

#Ethiopians feel voiceless and betrayed since the institutions that are the perpetrators of this campaign were the very same institutions that were supposed to stand for truth and freedom. How naive we were!

#Ethiopians look at the MSM-HR-AO complex with disbelief while these ‘venerable institutions’ tell them that their experience of betrayal, persecution & oppression is not only valueless in the eyes of the 'IC' but also un-real.

3/ In 2015, @AmbRice46 was asked about the #TPLF government's claim to be‘democratically elected’ by 100% of the electorate! Ethiopians looked on with horror as a representative of the ‘free world’ laughed & laughed over their oppression and their pain.

4/ The same sentiment was repeated by @PowerUSAID at the beginning of August. She told #Ethiopians that the TPLF oppression that we struggled against for three decades was in 'reality' the most benevolent government Ethiopians have ever seen.....

.......a regional ‘anchor of stability and security’. Apparently, #Ethiopians were blinded by their 'ungratefulness' to see it, a classic case of ‘pearls before swine’.

https://twitter.com/PowerUSAID/status/1422917482009047040?s=20

5/ #GaslightingEthiopia did not start with @AmbRice46; neither did it end with @PowerUSAID.
Over the past eleven months, there have been numerous instances of gaslighting.

- In November, victims of the #MaiKadraMassacre were accused of being perpetrators by the very people who went door to door and massacred them.

- In early July, UNHCR chief @FilippoGrandi admonished the Government of Ethiopia to ensure the safety of Eritrean refugees in Tigray, knowing fully well that the #TPLF was the one in control of the refugee camps in Tigray.

https://twitter.com/Qnie_Addis/status/1416008104576229379?s=20

- Yesterday, the chief of the @WFP went on a spree of pure gaslighting by insisting the GOE is the one hindering the delivery of aid, even though by their own admission, the major problem is the number of trucks that are not returning from #Tigray.

6/ And now, a certain Mr. Steven Walker, @StateDept Chief of Mission in Eritrea, is insisting that #Ethiopian accounts on SM are actually run by Eritreans. For Mr. Walker, it is not enough to deny the truth of our voice, it is imperative to deny our very existence.

This is the pinnacle of gaslighting! A white man in Asmara is telling #Ethiopians on SM that we don’t exist. He has gone beyond telling us our truth does not exist. He has gone beyond telling us our reality does not exist. He is telling us we do not exist!

The US lectures the world about the sanctity of freedom of expression while their official in Asmara is denying the existence of #Ethiopian voices. What’s next? Should we implore Mr. Walker to acknowledge the existence of Ethiopians in Ethiopia? You never know🤷‍♂️

7/ We live in the postmodern world of constructed reality; and unfortunately for us, the West is the sole realtor and constructors of this ‘reality’. Unlike colonial times there is no scramble for Africa, they own the 'reality' of Africa in the eye of the world.

8/ #Ethiopians, #Eritreans and #Somalis in the US should channel this frustration into political action. They need to engage their representatives, their senators and their governors and show them the reality on the ground. Unvarnished and unmanipulated by the media.

It is time to talk to our neighbors and our colleagues. It is time to engage the local news outlets.

It is time to tell and live our truth!

#Project11779 #VirginiaGovernorRace

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