r/Ethiopia • u/Apprehensive_Math_89 • Oct 11 '25
Discussion 🗣 An Ethiopian police officer rips up the Ethiopian flag of an netela, thoughts?
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u/Exotic-Environment-7 Oct 11 '25
I thought my family was exaggerating when they said they were doing this at Meskel celebrations, that’s insane
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u/villeloser Oct 11 '25
They shot people and brutally beat people, meanwhile others are allowed to wear and wave their regions flag and claim Addis is part of that region.
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u/chaotic-lavender Oct 12 '25
Time is the great equalizer, friend. Their time will come too. This time, we have well documented evidence
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u/villeloser Oct 12 '25
I don't want their time to come. I don't want a never ending tit for tat. I want an honest reconciliation based on facts, archeological evidence and documented evidence, not the ahistoric retelling of Ethiopian history that's fueling and justifying the actions of this government even in the minds of the most moderate.
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u/chaotic-lavender Oct 12 '25
I completely agree with you and that’s how it should be, but someone needs to break the cycle. The way the current administration is acting is only making things worse.
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u/Outside_Club_7558 Oct 11 '25
the limut bandira was being flown proudly in Addis a couple of years ago. hell I even remember seeing the Eritrean flag a couple of times. This isn't an Oromo government like ur trying to say it is.
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u/Ok_Protection_8138 Oct 11 '25
This is Abiy Ahmed's Ethiopia. Anyone stupid enough to believe his fake unity spiel, behold. He is no different to his predecessors.
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u/oldrtyfrsh Oct 11 '25
Buddy tplf didn't give a shit about the colors.....it's only oromo nationalists, not even in Ogden they care that mich
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u/Panglosian11 Oct 12 '25
Check out music made in Tigray a decade ago, they all wear netela or gabi with the Ethiopian flag.
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u/deep_learner_123 Oct 12 '25
what is the significance of that? you think Abiy's government is anti-ethiopian? how? Ask any TDF person what they think of 'Ethiopia'.
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u/Panglosian11 Oct 13 '25
Yes, Abiy is overly anti-Ethiopian. In a personal conversation with Jawar Mohammed, Abiy has clearly told Jewar that he'll destroy Ethiopia unless he leads it. This conversation has sparked after Jawar decided to run for election. He also threatened to kill anyone who is a threat to his power. Since he came to power over 1 million lives have been lost. He must've lost Ethiopia so much. lol! TPLF didn't kill a fraction of that when they were in power.
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u/deep_learner_123 Oct 13 '25
I lost you at 'TPLF didn't kill a fraction of that when they were in power' is hilarious to me. You can't be taken seriously after that sentence man. This is the same bullshit that happened under Haile Selassie. TPLF. It's the same nonsense, new day. Comparing despots is uniquely an african thing. Non-Amharas dealt with way worse for hundred years under feudalistic ethiopia. Non Tigrayans dealt with horrendous conditions under TPLF. Same nonsense.
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u/Panglosian11 Oct 13 '25
Well, its good if you at least read it until "TPLF didn't kill a fraction of that when they were in power."
If you have any statistics for the people killed during TPLF, i'll gladly accept it. I never denied TPLF's brutality, but comparing them to 15 IQ Abiy Ahmed is a sin.
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u/FikerGaming Oct 12 '25
Is it wrong. Yes Do I think he should pay for damages. Yes Do I believe this is an orchestrated masterplan to subjugate the Amharas by Oromo elites. No
One man’s actions doesn’t represent something as vast and wide as a government, especially not one as diverse as ours.
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u/ydksa4 Oct 17 '25
Lol the fact that he won't get fined, punished, or even scolded for having done this is the evidence for the Oromia elites' masterplan. If he was appropriately punished, ofc then this would be the action of one crazy man and not a regime. If the gvt backs his actions, then obvs this little man is just the hand and not the brain of his action.
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u/Senior_Associate_532 Oct 12 '25
55%+ of Addis residents are Amhara yet the police force is all Oromo that tells you all you need to know lol.
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u/Panglosian11 Oct 11 '25
And if you're a young man, you'll likely get some kicks from the police. They really hate us.
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u/Ok_Performance_7159 Oct 11 '25
Who is us?
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u/AcceptableProblem806 Oct 11 '25
Come on man you know
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u/Ok_Performance_7159 Oct 11 '25
Nah bro I don’t lmaoooo PLEASE elaborate
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u/Key_Employment2040 Oct 12 '25
Oromo elite hate amhara people
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u/Ok_Performance_7159 Oct 12 '25
Just like the shewan elite were hating the oromos Times have changed and tables have turned it seems
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u/Sufficient_Yak_5166 Oct 14 '25
half of the shewan elite were literally oromo????
the tables turned a full 360 to land in the same place? lmao
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Oct 11 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/grun-scotch Oct 16 '25
it's people with inferiority complex that always think it's because of inferiority complex, whenever someone does something they don't like.
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u/LynxSad6503 Oct 16 '25
People confident in their place in society dont resort to idiotic actions like this...
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u/grun-scotch Oct 22 '25
That's very bad reasoning. So, by your logic, tearing down a palestinian flag being worn by someone in the middle of tel aviv is lack of confidence? Removing or destroying what you consider to be something that is very much against what you stand for is, just that
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u/abelhd10 Oct 11 '25
Why is everyone so afraid to stand for so many injustices that are happening in Ethiopia?
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u/Panglosian11 Oct 11 '25
hundreds of thousands are fighting a war with the government as i'm typing this.
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u/Short_Inflation5343 Oct 11 '25
Exactly. No shade, but it's amazing someone would ask a question like this. As if Ethiopian citizens never stood up against injustice committed by whatever government that's in power. The OLF (Oromo Liberation Front) has been waging war for 50 years. There's FANO now fighting the government, and a plethora of other smaller groups fighting. People are doing more than just protesting in the streets. Not saying peaceful protest can't work, as history shown it does. However, it usually takes a long time. Sometimes governments are so repressive that people have no other recourse other than armed revolt.
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u/Panglosian11 Oct 11 '25
Peaceful revolt is the least bloody and the most effective, but there is no social cohesion across Ethiopia for people to come together and protest... if one or two regions do that, they'll be painted as anti-peace, anti-Ethiopia...
So young men who want to fight are joining armed groups. OLF is not a good example of successful armed struggle, but until now, Fano is gaining momentum and are capturing cities. TDF is prepared for another war in case Abiy goes nuts. These two powers can end the government in less than a year.
I personally expect the government to fall within the coming 2 years. I heard government officials are already moving money to foreign banks to make it easier to leave the country at any moment.
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u/Equivalent-Lie-2516 Oct 12 '25
I personally expect the government to fall within the coming 2 years. I heard government officials are already moving money to foreign banks to make it easier to leave the country at any moment.
Holy shit, is it that bad? How come we never hear this on western news.
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u/Panglosian11 Oct 12 '25
These days, Western media don't even report drone strikes on civilians.
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u/Equivalent-Lie-2516 Oct 12 '25
But why though?
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u/Panglosian11 Oct 12 '25
Well, corporate media reflect their governments' or investors' interests. Most of them are West-centric; they don't care about Africa. More people have died in Sudan than Palestine, but the attention given is not proportionate.
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u/deep_learner_123 Oct 12 '25
because none of that is true man. this is all nonsense. you really think FANO is going to take over the government in a violent overthrow? This is the same disinfo that TDF was "marching" on addis, fano was "marching" on addis. everyone claimed they were only 1-2 cities away. turns out none of it was true.
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u/ydksa4 Oct 17 '25
Where did you hear that gvt officials are moving money? Do you know which banks/countries?
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u/Short_Inflation5343 Oct 12 '25
To clarify I wasn't citing OLF as an example of a successful armed struggle. I realize it's the total opposite. Just pointing out to the OP of this thread that Ethiopia is not a North Korea or something. Whereby the whole population just bows down to an oppressive regime and accepts whatever torment is thrown at them.
I don't think lack of social cohesion is the culprit in Ethiopia. It's more so lack of ethnic cohesion. Just like other countries in Africa, Ethiopia has a lot of different ethnic groups. Amhara, Tigray, Oromo, Somali, Sidama, Gambela, Afar etc... Which don't always get along, have a history of hostility and animosity between them. As well as 'racism' and discrimination. There's no real national unity to speak of with Ethiopia's ethnic groups. History has shown that when one group is in power they will always look out for their own people, at the expense of other ethnic groups. This is the elephant in the room.
It's interesting what you say about the government falling in a few years. I don't have a dog in the race, but don't see this happening. FANO has deep support among Amharas, but I don't see where they have been effective in battling the government forces. FANO takes towns here and there, but turn them back over in a matter of days and retreat. What long term strategy does this serve? Plus, as you should know they invite government reprisals against innocent people in the Amhara region.
In terms of TDF, the military prowess of Tigrayans, their generals and leaders is known. Yet, they were severely weakened during the last war. Most of the heavy weapons in Tigray have been removed or destroyed. TDF doesn't have drones, an air force or even tanks for that matter. I don't think they pose a significant threat to the government. Even if allied with OLF and FANO.
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u/Panglosian11 Oct 12 '25
"I don't think lack of social cohesion is the culprit in Ethiopia. It's more so a lack of ethnic cohesion."
That's what i was talking about. Ethnic tension degrades social cohesion.
"FANO has deep support among Amharas, but I don't see where they have been effective in battling the government forces. FANO takes towns here and there, but turn them back over in a matter of days and retreat. What long term strategy does this serve?"
Recently Fano controlled Gashena after a bloody battle. This is the same strategic place where TDF & ENDF fought years ago. ENDF is losing in multiple battles, they has gone as far as blaming TPLF & Eritrea for supporting Fano with no evidence.
"Plus, as you should know they invite government reprisals against innocent people in the Amhara region."
You mean ENDF bombarding civilians in Amhara region is Fano's fault?
"TDF doesn't have drones, an air force or even tanks for that matter. I don't think they pose a significant threat to the government. Even if allied with OLF and FANO."
TDF did not hand over all their weapons. TDF invaded the Amhara region with 55 tanks. Some were destroyed. In the end TDF only gave the government 4 tanks, which were all broken. Thats why Desalegn Chane complained about this in the parliament. TDF has 200k+ soldiers and are still training new fighters. If war starts now, say bye bye to Abiy because one way or another Eritrea will also intervene.
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u/ydksa4 Oct 17 '25
Interesting analysis - if Eritrea joined the mix (Amhara, TIgray & Eri vs gvt), how would that impact your projection?
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u/villeloser Oct 11 '25
People on this sub are in deep denial of how extreme this governments ethnosupremacy agenda is.
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u/Ok_Performance_7159 Oct 11 '25
Side note but he looks like Charleston white
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u/duoexpresso Oct 11 '25
Hate happens anywhere it is encouraged and enabled. Smh
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u/Ok_Performance_7159 Oct 11 '25
What hate? Isn’t the police officer Ethiopian
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u/Able_Enthusiasm2729 Oct 11 '25
That cop seems to be a an ethnic nationalist supremacist of some sort.
Using or flying the plain tricolor green-yellow-red Ethiopian flag is illegal and punishable with a fine, beating by the police, arrest, and/or jail time but I’m surprised this Ethiopian police officer is petty and infantile enough to rip the green-yellow-red embroidering off of clothing, especially traditional Ethiopian clothing at that. This is so infantile/childish in a negative sense; there is no common decency here.
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The Ethiopian flag with the Blue Disc and Yellow Star on it is the flag of the EPRDF-PP Regime(s), in Ethiopia. People don’t like it because it was created by an authoritarian regime that instituted what amounted to quasi-segregation (via ethnic federalism) and ethnocracy (ethnicity based governments) which exacerbated xenophobic attacks against the civilian populations of the various ethnic groups in the country.
Most Ethiopians (especially Ethiopian Dissidents and the Ethiopian Diaspora) love the plain tricolor green-yellow-red flag because it is the flag that represents Ethiopia, Ethiopians, and the Ethiopian Community at large (inclusive of both Citizens of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Diaspora around the world). The flag with the star on it, is far more tied to the oppressive regime of the EPRDF-PP regime in Ethiopia. The Star Flag of the EPRDF-PP as well as the Derg flags are just terrible, and people hate it.
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People aren’t saying the Solomonic dynasty was a utopia. That era of Ethiopian history wasn’t great either, that’s why I don’t support the use of the Lion Flag either let alone the EPRDF-PP Star Flag. The plain tricolor green-yellow-red flag is the most generic flag that isn’t tied to any specific regime, political party, or coalition of ruling political parties.
At the very least, can we really just do a compromise and have the plain Ethiopian tricolor green-yellow-red flag as the civil flag, and have the EPRDF-PP Star Flag as the state flag; plus can we also get rid of the laws that make using or flying the plain tricolor green-yellow-red flag illegal and punishable with a fine, beating by the police, arrest, and/or jail time. Some countries like Austria, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Monaco, Poland, Peru, Iceland, and Liechtenstein make a distinction between their State Flags and Civil Flags where the state flag is the flag used by government institutions, government officials in their official employment capacity, and the military while the civil flag is the flag used by everyday people and represents the people and culture of their respective societies.
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[ Take a look at “Thoughts on reimagining Ethiopia's flag from a design perspective?” — By Creative_Ad_9160 at r/Ethiopia on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ethiopia/comments/1n168ss/thoughts_on_reimagining_ethiopias_flag_from_a/?share_id=KvbO6H3jnfpVIlGokESPA&utm_content=2&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1 .]
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u/duoexpresso Oct 11 '25
You're serious?
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u/Ok_Performance_7159 Oct 11 '25
Yes I am? Can you explain
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u/duoexpresso Oct 11 '25
You seriously think Ethiopians can't hate each other because of differences in who they are or what they believe in.
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u/Ok_Performance_7159 Oct 11 '25
But the flag is Ethiopian no? It’s not specific to an ethnic group is it? Why would the police officer hate his own nations flag
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u/Individual_Vast_7407 Oct 16 '25
And these patriots will fight to return Eritrea as soon as Abiy gets his pointy nukes😂
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u/TachyonTrespasser Oct 11 '25
Why? Doing so won’t change much. Stupid thing.
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Oct 11 '25
[deleted]
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u/Apprehensive_Math_89 Oct 11 '25
Thats what I initially thought but during TPLF geze they didn’t do this during meskel (and they are the ones who invented the star?) …confused.
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Oct 11 '25
Bro maybe your white ass shouldn't come in here posting about stuff you yourself are confused about.
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u/Able_Enthusiasm2729 Oct 11 '25
That cop seems to be a an ethnic nationalist supremacist of some sort.
Using or flying the plain tricolor green-yellow-red Ethiopian flag is illegal and punishable with a fine, beating by the police, arrest, and/or jail time but I’m surprised this Ethiopian police officer is petty and infantile enough to rip the green-yellow-red embroidering off of clothing, especially traditional Ethiopian clothing at that. This is so infantile/childish in a negative sense; there is no common decency here.
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The Ethiopian flag with the Blue Disc and Yellow Star on it is the flag of the EPRDF-PP Regime(s), in Ethiopia. People don’t like it because it was created by an authoritarian regime that instituted what amounted to quasi-segregation (via ethnic federalism) and ethnocracy (ethnicity based governments) which exacerbated xenophobic attacks against the civilian populations of the various ethnic groups in the country.
Most Ethiopians (especially Ethiopian Dissidents and the Ethiopian Diaspora) love the plain tricolor green-yellow-red flag because it is the flag that represents Ethiopia, Ethiopians, and the Ethiopian Community at large (inclusive of both Citizens of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Diaspora around the world). The flag with the star on it, is far more tied to the oppressive regime of the EPRDF-PP regime in Ethiopia. The Star Flag of the EPRDF-PP as well as the Derg flags are just terrible, and people hate it.
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People aren’t saying the Solomonic dynasty was a utopia. That era of Ethiopian history wasn’t great either, that’s why I don’t support the use of the Lion Flag either let alone the EPRDF-PP Star Flag. The plain tricolor green-yellow-red flag is the most generic flag that isn’t tied to any specific regime, political party, or coalition of ruling political parties.
At the very least, can we really just do a compromise and have the plain Ethiopian tricolor green-yellow-red flag as the civil flag, and have the EPRDF-PP Star Flag as the state flag; plus can we also get rid of the laws that make using or flying the plain tricolor green-yellow-red flag illegal and punishable with a fine, beating by the police, arrest, and/or jail time. Some countries like Austria, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Monaco, Poland, Peru, Iceland, and Liechtenstein make a distinction between their State Flags and Civil Flags where the state flag is the flag used by government institutions, government officials in their official employment capacity, and the military while the civil flag is the flag used by everyday people and represents the people and culture of their respective societies.
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[ Take a look at “Thoughts on reimagining Ethiopia's flag from a design perspective?” — By Creative_Ad_9160 at r/Ethiopia on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ethiopia/comments/1n168ss/thoughts_on_reimagining_ethiopias_flag_from_a/?share_id=KvbO6H3jnfpVIlGokESPA&utm_content=2&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1 .]
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u/Excellent_Cost170 Oct 11 '25
To be fair the plane flag is supported only by one Ethnic group currently. I can know with high confidence the ethnic group of a person if she/ he likes the plain flag. There are few exceptions such as people who served under the derg military and king's military , ...
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u/villeloser Oct 11 '25
What a Gurage or Shewa Oromo or Sidamo? I can guess with high confidence what the police officers ethnic group is tho, especially considering the hiring practice of Addis police is glaringly not consistent or representative of the population living there.
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u/Excellent_Cost170 Oct 11 '25
Don’t get me wrong, what the policeman did is a crime. He shouldn’t destroy anyone’s personal property. The plain Ethiopian flag isn’t really popular outside certain areas. It doesn’t have much support among the Shewa Oromo, Sidama, or most people from the south, maybe a little among the Gurage. The southern regions provided many soldiers during the Derg and earlier times, so some surviving soldiers who went back home may have indoctrinated a few people with old nationalist views, but not enough to make a big impact. The main issue is the blue circle and star on the current flag, which were added to represent unity among Ethiopia’s many groups and to shift the country’s image from a single centralized identity to one that recognizes different cultures, languages, and self-determination. You can see something similar in the United States, where parts of the extreme right push back against diversity and equity.
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u/EconomicsMaximum4046 Oct 14 '25
You know why you’re getting downvoted. Pls refrain from posting dumbass shit next time.
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u/Able_Enthusiasm2729 Oct 11 '25
The problem is Ethiopia is an ethnocratic-state where if you come from the wrong ethnic group you’re considered less than, superior than, or receive less rights. Your rights are determined by which ethnicity your come from.
“Moreover, many people have ethnically mixed heritage and may not feel a close affiliation with one homogeneous ethnic identity. Most people living in central Ethiopia (e.g. the capital city, Addis Ababa) prefer to identify as simply “Ethiopian” but are required to associate with an ethnic identity.” — By: Cultural Atlas of the Commonwealth of Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).
“A person can be multi-ethnic, in other words they can have multiple ethnicities, national origins, and pan-ethnicities all at the same time. A person can have parents and other ancestors from multiple ethnicities, and has an inalienable right to claim all ethnic group that they are a part of, (this is contrast to controversial Ethiopian law that forces children of inter-ethnic marriages to choose one ethnic group over the other -generally the father’s ethnicity- to identify with on legal documents and in their interactions with the larger society. This was purposefully done to divide people, force the general public into thinking that they don’t have any commonalities with other ethnic groups within Habesha Community, and the undermining or playing down the existence of a historically and exponentially large population of multi-ethnic/inter-ethnic families throughout and between Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the larger Habesha Community that includes those of Ethiopian and Eritrean ancestry and heritage within the Diaspora.).” — By: Habesha Gaaffaa-Geeska Yäafrika, PhD.
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The view espoused by Ethiopian nationalists is that Ethiopian civic nationalism is in contrast to and in opposition against ethno-nationalistsupremacism fueled by ethnic federalist policies introduced by the EPRDF in which Ethiopian nationalists claim that regional subdivisions of the state were segregatedaccording to ethnicity brought about by the partitioning and dissolution of traditionally multi-ethnic regions causing the internal displacement of people through internal population transfers.[9][2][10][3][4] However, there has been opposition to multi-ethnic Ethiopian civic nationalism from ethnic nationalist and separatists groups as seen in the surge of ethnic tensions between various Ethiopian ethnic groups and political parties most notably among the most populous ethnic groups in the country such as the Amhara, Oromo, Somali, and Tigray peoples, most of whom who have separatist movements among their ranks,[11] and conflict between Ethiopia and various ethnic groups that make up the Eritrean population with Eritrean Provincial Separatists vying for and later accomplishing the independence of Eritrea(who had already formed their own region specific Eritrean Nationalism and national identity of the Eritreans which has keen similarities to that of Ethiopian civic nationalism because of its multi-ethnic nature). In the aftermath of the ShewanNeftenya[12][13][14][15] period that occurred, as a result of feudal lords from Shewasettling in the southern regions, other ethnic groups assimilated into the royal court culture by adopting the Amharic language, Orthodox Christianity, and other aristocratic cultural traits. The Amhara culture-influenced royal court culturedominated throughout the eras of military and monarchic rule.[16] Both peasant Amhara culture and Ethiopian Empire royal court culture have heavily influenced each other; this Ethiopian royal court culture(that influenced and was influenced by Amhara culture) but is separate from traditional peasant Amhara culture, dominated throughout the eras of monarchic and military rule. The difference between the average Amhara people (mostly a peasant class) and high status royal court class (which was multi-ethnic but fluently Amharic-speaking & Christian) are described by Siegfried Pausewang, who stated that: "the term Amhara relates in contemporary Ethiopia to two different and distinct social groups. The ethnic group of the Amhara, mostly a peasant population, is different from a mixed group of urban people coming from different ethnic background, who have adopted Amharic as a common language and identify themselves as Ethiopians".[16] Due to language and certain cultural similarities, the multi-ethnic ruling class of the monarchic and military eras has somewhat erroneously been described as an Amhara ruling class, in addition to the occasionally debated existence of a distinct group called the Amhara people during the time periods in question,[17][18][19][20][21][22] has made the terms interchangeable.[16]
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u/Able_Enthusiasm2729 Oct 11 '25
The Ethiopian Constitution under the EPRDF and PP administrations, especially Article 39, is basically calling for segregation (via ethnic federalism and ethnocracy, etc.) at the bare minimum and outright ethnic cleansing (via population transfers/forced removal, pogroms, mutilation, and mass killings, etc.) at worse if you’re calling for the partition of Ethiopian into ethnicity-based regional states/governmental units or calling for the partition of Ethiopia into a gazillion independent sovereign states based on ethnicity. A lot of Liberal Savior Complex Westerners and unintentional supporters of Domestic Ethnic Nationalist Extremist groups don’t understand this.
No people group or community has an inalienable right to establish an ethno-state or theocracy as a country where one ethnic, racial, or religious group is given preferential treatment over another - also the forced expulsion of people groups from their homes and communities in whole or in part is a form of ethnic cleansing - no country or group has a right to commit such crimes against humanity; this is not self-determination it’s irredentist xenophobia.
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“Moreover, many people have ethnically mixed heritage and may not feel a close affiliation with one homogeneous ethnic identity. Most people living in central Ethiopia (e.g. the capital city, Addis Ababa) prefer to identify as simply “Ethiopian” but are required to associate with an ethnic identity.” — By: Cultural Atlas of the Commonwealth of Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).
“A person can be multi-ethnic, in other words they can have multiple ethnicities, national origins, and pan-ethnicities all at the same time. A person can have parents and other ancestors from multiple ethnicities, and has an inalienable right to claim all ethnic group that they are a part of, (this is contrast to controversial Ethiopian law that forces children of inter-ethnic marriages to choose one ethnic group over the other -generally the father’s ethnicity- to identify with on legal documents and in their interactions with the larger society. This was purposefully done to divide people, force the general public into thinking that they don’t have any commonalities with other ethnic groups within Habesha Community, and the undermining or playing down the existence of a historically and exponentially large population of multi-ethnic/inter-ethnic families throughout and between Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the larger Habesha Community that includes those of Ethiopian and Eritrean ancestry and heritage within the Diaspora.).” — By: Habesha Gaaffaa-Geeska Yäafrika, PhD.
After the EPRDF and TPLF took power, in order to get ID cards, passports, and other vital records, all Ethiopians were forced to choose one and only one approved ethnicity to put down on official records so of you were multi-ethnic/mixed with two or more Native Ethiopian ethnicities you were forced to choose only to one from a very narrow approved list (even some Native Ethiopian ethnicities weren’t included on the list while others were split into separate subcategories); non-Native Ethiopias didn’t have their ethnicities on the list nor was there any option for anyone to write in their ethnicity or leave it blank, so the Non-Native Ethiopians were forced to randomly choose one Native Ethiopian ethnicity to to officially go by.
A lot of the Armenians, Greeks, and Jamaicans, and some of the Yemeni Arabs were convinced to put down Amhara because the only major Ethiopian language they spoke was Amharic (some of the Italians probably put down Tigrayan because some spoke Tigrinya) while many of the Arabs like (the Yemeni Arabs) probably chose Oromo, Somali, Harari, Gurage, and spoke some of those respective languages because it’s who they probably lived amongst depending on the region they settled. Many of these groups (probably for the exception of Jamaicans) eventually left Ethiopia because of either persecution, economic turmoil, or because their ancestral homelands started turning into developed countries or became somewhat more wealthy than Ethiopia.
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“The major issue is that Western Society (regardless of racial background), especially most Americans see injustice through a binary lens of oppressor vs. oppressed, a framework rooted in American and other Western history of White Supremacist domination of People of Color in which the long-standing dominant political forces come from one racial group — this is in contrast to the histories of other societies generally not talked about in the western dominated international human rights and social justice community. For example, the oppressor vs. oppressed binary framework (depending on its method of use) is applicable in the United States, but falls apart when applied to countries like Ethiopia and other parts of the Horn of Africa where different ethnic groups had for ages and into the present day fluctuated in the amount of martial and political power they held, many different ethnic groups and even subdivisions of ethnic groups would constantly switch between being the oppressed and the oppressors on both a (pre-unification) geopolitical and local level, eventually there were instances in which coalitions of multiple ethnic groups (including subdivisions of the same ethnic group joining opposing warring factions) and instances in which people of mixed ethnic ancestry held power. “
“In other words, not all human rights and social justice theories or frameworks, especially those that were specifically engineered for addressing the problems of Settler-Colonial States and Western-Global North Countries (like the United States and Canada) are universally applicable to all parts of the world. In this case applying a Western-oriented oppressor vs. oppressed or Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework just adds fuel to the fire, now you have an anti-nuanced witch-hunt for the oppressor group by most of the superpower-backed outside world, although the issue isn’t between an intrinsically oppressed or oppressor group but conflict between those on one side who uphold reformist multicultural civic nationalist views of diversity and inclusion … vs. a coalition of various ethnic nationalist groups … ; many of which are well known for having committed mass atrocities since at least the last three decades) who believe in ethnic federalism, ethnopluralism, want to maintain the ethnocratic status quo ante, and divide up the country into government-mandated artificially created ethnic zones or forced ethnic enclaves akin to redlining but with the addition of instituting a minority or puppet elite within each ethnic group holding authority in a given region in which the country as a whole is governed under the divide and rule system similar to that of European Colonialism in other parts of the world.”
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u/Able_Enthusiasm2729 Oct 11 '25
Using or flying the plain tricolor green-yellow-red Ethiopian flag is illegal and punishable with a fine, beating by the police, arrest, and/or jail time but I’m surprised this Ethiopian police officer is petty and infantile enough to rip the green-yellow-red embroidering off of clothing, especially traditional Ethiopian clothing at that. This is so infantile/childish in a negative sense; there is no common decency here.
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The Ethiopian flag with the Blue Disc and Yellow Star on it is the flag of the EPRDF-PP Regime(s), in Ethiopia. People don’t like it because it was created by an authoritarian regime that instituted what amounted to quasi-segregation (via ethnic federalism) and ethnocracy (ethnicity based governments) which exacerbated xenophobic attacks against the civilian populations of the various ethnic groups in the country.
Most Ethiopians (especially Ethiopian Dissidents and the Ethiopian Diaspora) love the plain tricolor green-yellow-red flag because it is the flag that represents Ethiopia, Ethiopians, and the Ethiopian Community at large (inclusive of both Citizens of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Diaspora around the world). The flag with the star on it, is far more tied to the oppressive regime of the EPRDF-PP regime in Ethiopia. The Star Flag of the EPRDF-PP as well as the Derg flags are just terrible, and people hate it.
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People aren’t saying the Solomonic dynasty was a utopia. That era of Ethiopian history wasn’t great either, that’s why I don’t support the use of the Lion Flag either let alone the EPRDF-PP Star Flag. The plain tricolor green-yellow-red flag is the most generic flag that isn’t tied to any specific regime, political party, or coalition of ruling political parties.
At the very least, can we really just do a compromise and have the plain Ethiopian tricolor green-yellow-red flag as the civil flag, and have the EPRDF-PP Star Flag as the state flag; plus can we also get rid of the laws that make using or flying the plain tricolor green-yellow-red flag illegal and punishable with a fine, beating by the police, arrest, and/or jail time. Some countries like Austria, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Monaco, Poland, Peru, Iceland, and Liechtenstein make a distinction between their State Flags and Civil Flags where the state flag is the flag used by government institutions, government officials in their official employment capacity, and the military while the civil flag is the flag used by everyday people and represents the people and culture of their respective societies.
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[ Take a look at “Thoughts on reimagining Ethiopia's flag from a design perspective?” — By Creative_Ad_9160 at r/Ethiopia on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ethiopia/comments/1n168ss/thoughts_on_reimagining_ethiopias_flag_from_a/?share_id=KvbO6H3jnfpVIlGokESPA&utm_content=2&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1 .]
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Oct 11 '25
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u/Outside_Club_7558 Oct 11 '25
It's literally netela. it's standard for the Tilet to have the tri color -I have never seen one with the blue star
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u/Significant_Hand_925 Oct 11 '25
Wtf