Borkena
Toronto – Ethiopia is commemorating Patriots Day. The day marks the official end of the five years of Fascist Italy Occupation of the country for five years between 1936 and 1941. Italy invaded Ethiopia 40 years after the humiliating defeat at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. It is not uncommon to hear a narrative that Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia again in 1936 was to avenge the defeat at Adwa.
Through the five years of occupation, Ethiopian patriots locally known as Arbegnoch and Fano mounted a fierce resistance across the country – from bases in the rural areas – making it for fascist Italy impossible to maintain the occupation of Ethiopia after Emperor Haile Selassie left the country to mobilize support.
Patriots Day is the celebration of the heroic resistance of Arbegnoch. Due to the gravity and bravery of Ethiopian resistance, Benitho Mussolini’s Fascist government had to use mustard gas against Ethiopia, which was internationally outlawed. An estimated one million people were killed during the occupation.
After five years of exile in the United Kingdom, Emperor Haile Selassie entered the capital Addis Ababa on May 5th, 1941, Ethiopia’s flag was raised again in the capital Addis Ababa after the invading Italian Fascist Forces flag was lowered.
The Patriots Day memorial is celebrated in the capital Addis Ababa – near the memorial statue of Ethiopian Patriots at Arak Kilo.
Opposition parties and members of the Diplomatic Corps in Addis Ababa have shared messages of best wishes in their social media pages.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has also conveyed a message. “We have inherited freedom with the blood of our forefathers and mothers. We are proud of it…however our freedom is not complete because of backwardness and poverty,” he stated in a message he shared on his social media pages.
He attempted to paint a different form of patriotism that is needed for the time : “knowledge, skills, and discipline.” Abiy sees his “Prosperity Party” as having a mission to make “Ethiopia Prosperous.”
Abiy Ahmed’s government has lost legitimacy from the majority of Ethiopians and wars are underway at least in two parts of the country – Amhara and Oromia regions.
Particularly in the Amhara region, there has been a full fledged war against Fano forces for two years now.
His policies are said to be highly influenced by western powers and institutions including the IMF and World Bank. His government introduced privatization, packaging it as “homegrown policy,” and privatizing key national assets including the Telecom industry. He has also introduced, apparently under influence from the monetary institutions, policy opening up banks for foreign investors. This week, his government introduced a policy allowing foreigners to own property in Ethiopia. The parliament, over 95 percent of which is dominated by his party, is expected to approve it.
__
Subscribe : https://borkena.com/subscribe-borkena/
Join our Telegram Channel : t.me/borkena
Like borkena on Facebook
Add your business to Ethiopian Business Listing / Ethiopian Business Directory Business Listing Toronto
Join the conversation. Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter) @zborkena to get the latest Ethiopian News updates regularly. Subscribe to YouTube channel To share information or for submission, send e-mail to info@borkena.com
I wish we all refrain from politicizing this historic feat by our gallant fathers in which they stood tall and spat in the face of murderous fascists. Every regime that followed the late Emperor has used the anniversary to present itself just as one of those heroes especially when things start not going their ways. But we as members of the common generation should instead tell what those heroes accomplished paying with priceless lives. I can tell you a few of their feats.
1) They were the first victims of being gassed to death after the First World War with Mussolini’s mustard and other banned chemical weapons. Over a million citizens were butchered this was 5 years before the gas chambers of Dachau, Treblinka, Chełmno, Auschwitz II-Birkenau and other concentration camps.
2) They had kept more than 250,000 soldiers of fascist soldiers tied inside Ethiopia until the end of 1941 denying the Desert Fox Rommel a much needed reinforcement in the North African Theater. I’m not making this up because it was told by an American reporter on NBC Radio broadcast on May 18, 1941 with a blaring announcement ‘38,000 Italians surrendered on that day bringing the total captured Axis forces to more than 200,000 in Ethiopia ‘.
3) They were the first ones to beat the crap out of the Axis Powers even before the start of the Second World War in May 1941. They were the first ones who fascist forces capitulated to under Instruments of Surrender at Addis/Finfine, Dire Dawa, Jimma, Gambela, Alage and Gondar. Now some of you Ethiopia haters may start mumbling with British this and South Africa that. But by the time these came the old country was an open battle site already. Addis was Città Aperta; Dire Dawa was Città Aperta; Jimma Washita Aperta; Gambela was Città Aperta; Alage was Città Aperta and Gondar was already rendered Città Aperta by the constant siege by our gallant fathers. .
We have to tell our children and grandchildren about this entire feat by our fathers that has been etched in historic stone because no one is talking about it in history classes. I call upon our well read historians among us here and everywhere to write about this. For now, I am gonna talk about it until bigoted haters of the old country fall unconscious.