The Self-denial of being Ogaden. By: Sharezad F. Gaas

I like the quotes that states (the Middle East is the home of civilization, more specifically Egypt) and I strongly support that. When you look at the civilians and how they value their customs, norms and their culture, you definitely feel the gaps between our people and them. If you look at the productivity of the entire world you will be able to see the role of the patriotic Arabs and how strictly they put their country before anything. And we've been able to witness the winds of freedom currently blowing across the Arab world.

It's obvious that when you encounter problems, our mental tries to carry out activities to tackle the problems. It's very true that if we say, self-denial have relation with existed problem via pro-claiming or searching an alternative to claim an identity that you don’t belong to.
Such claims are mainly caused by: fear, lack of confidence, weakness and unable to endure the difficulties.

It is for that reason, when you ask a pro-Meles Somali Ogaden man about his identity, he will call himself "ethiopian". Why is this man in self-denial? If you read about the civil rights struggle in America, you can find significant similarities. Many black americans hated their african characteristics. They detested their hair,  detested the shape of their nose and wanted one of those long, dog-like noses, they hated the color of their skin and would rather bleach their skin. The black color became a chain, and a prison and felt that all of these restrictions were based solely upon their skin color.

And the psychological reaction to that would have to be that as long as the black people felt imprisoned or chained or trapped by their skin, and only because that was holding them back, he automatically hated himself and the mental control was wide-spread.

In the same way, is the Somali Ogaden man denying his history, his people and his blood. And when someone is denying where he comes from in order to not feel "left out", you know that he is facing the worst form oppression.
Today we have  "leaders" who sell out our people for just a few crumbs of token recognition and token gains and they are pleased with token victories and token progress because they themselves are nothing but token leaders.

Because of the profitable game of misleading and exploiting the people, if you say to Somali Ogaden man that he is Ogaden,it makes him feel inferior; it makes him feel inadequate. And when he fells like a victim, to this feeling of inadequacy or inferiority or helplessness, he turns to somebody else to show him the way. The black man, back in the in the days, who hated himself, portrayed the white man as his master, the same thing is the Somali Ogaden man doing putting Zenawi in that position.


He don't have confidence in another Ogaden man to show him the way.
This dangerous mental control, is a result of why he is being thought that Ogaden people cant't rule their own country. And it is the same reason why the so called " intellectuals'"  say Ogaden people can't unite. Since it will be a "clash" between X tribe and Y tribe. Truth be told, they say Ogadeni people can't unite because they don't want Somali Ogadeni people to unite. Ethiopia is ruled by propaganda, painting democracy that doesn't exist.  Political awareness, which until very recently was latent, is now becoming manifest and assuming outward expression, and it will assert itself even more forcefully in the years to come.
We have to destroy the system, that sucks blood and that makes the Ogaden man think he is inferior. The mind is everything. What you think you become. When we become freedom,  we will have the ability to break coercive persuasion, and mental control.

Written by

Sharezad F Gaas
Abdullahi Ahmed

Past Muslim-Christian relations

Past Muslim-Christian relations

Historically, Ethiopia was a Christian empire involved in fierce expansionist conflicts with the Adal Emirate that was predominantly run by Somali religious elites with the help of Arabs and Ottoman Turkish Empire. With the appearance of Imam Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Ghazi, other wise known as Ahmed Guray or the left-handed in the early 16th century in Harar, the religious divide between Christian highlanders and the Muslim Somalis sharpened. The Portuguese and Ottoman empires’ support to Abyssinia and Ahmed Guray respectively reinforced the religious sentiment and hatred on both sides (Rediker, 2003). Almost four centuries latter Sayid Mohammed Abdullahi Hassan emerged with his Dervish movement, fighting in turn against Britain, Italy and Ethiopia for 21 years until he died in 1921. Sayid Mohammed had relentlessly called upon the Somali people to follow his jihad against Christian invaders (Latin, 2004). This revived existing religious tension and Somali anger at the continuous incursion and territorial claims of Ethiopian and Christian highland authority over the Ogaden.

The 1960s Nasrullah uprising was another manifestation of religious mobilization. It was established in 1963 in the Ogaden to struggle for the independence of the region. Garad Makhtal Garad Dahir was elected as its first chairman and highly respected local clerics such as Sheikh Ibrahim Hashi and Sheikh Ali Suufi were among its leaders (Ansari, 2008, Markakis, 1987). The Arabic term Nasru-laah itself has far-reaching meaning in Islamic terminology as it is another way of saying ‘sacrifice for the sake of Allah’. This connotation and the rhetoric used by the Nasrullah leaders are proof of the limited place of nationalism in the movement. In the course of these events, from Ahmed Guray to Nasrullah, perceived threats have been built up on both sides. The Somalis began to consider other Ethiopians as their primary enemy and vice versa. Since the wars that spurred this enmity were strongly driven by religious undertones, religion was prominent in how the two sides framed each other. Socioeconomic and political factors both aggravated or eased tensions between the two.

The 1969 coup d’état in Somalia and the 1974 revolution in Ethiopia both came with different discourses. The leaders of both revolutions, Siad Barre in Somalia and Mengistu Hailemariam in Ethiopia, committed themselves to secularism, namely scientific socialism. In Ethiopia it was at this point that Muslims felt that the regime was no longer a Christian one. The establishment of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Ethiopia in 1976 was another step forward in Christian-Muslim relations (Ahmed, 2006). Nevertheless, this was not enough to extinguish the religious factor in the ongoing tensions between Somalis and the Ethiopian regime.

Journey to Independence. (Whenever Ogaden comes to remembrance my eyes drop tears).

“You have to do it yourself; no one else will do it for you. You must work out your own salvation.”

Receive warm greetings dear esteemed Readers before I begin the above reiterated title, hopefully this article will be so beneficial, helpful to you, increase your knowledge and at last provide you appropriate information about the region (Ogaden).

(A journey starts from a step) a sayings, the Ogaden struggle of independence had being spontaneously going on so many decades and the people of Ogaden never showed exhausted since those decades.

According to different sources defined independence as the state or quality of being independent; freedom from dependence; exemption from reliance on, or control by, others; self-subsistence or maintenance; direction of one's own affairs without interference.

In our knowledge Ethiopia was amongst the states that never been colonized in Africa due to their role of hypocrisy and creating pseudo- relations (for their interest) with the colonizers of those days And were the part of the Berlin conference where Africa was divided by the big powers.
Ogaden was colonized by England for a certain period, then took over by Italians for almost year later again come under the patrol of England, which later ceded to Ethiopia, Ogaden is one of the five great Somalia (The hargeisa, Djibouti …..e.t.c) but currently recognized as part of Ethiopia where its people deny the claims states that and call themselves ethnic Somalis , who’re originally Somalis and require freedom, so that they live like the rest of the people of the world.

The sunsets or rises everyday people of Ogaden observe the multi-killing carried out entire regions of the Ogaden by the Ethiopia soldiers whose aim to revenge whenever they are beaten (defeated battlefield) by the ONLF they go for revenge hunting innocent civilians, the stories in Ogaden is like lost calves found by hyena and as usual kills one at the time without sympathy .
Therefore the people of Ogaden as I stated above have being searching centuries for an autonomy state but possibly now this days as we heard or seen the media and the maturity of their struggle , we can sense or smack up the colors of Rainbow (independence).

The signs of independence Today, if we take a brief look at the early history records we will be able to evaluate the tangible changes had gained since those decades, what I mean is that today the ogadens had stood up as a nation and learnt from their mistakes.

And the other issues are the capability (quality) & the quantity of the Ogaden national Liberation Front (O.N.L.F) which said or witnessed speedily increasing day per day and untie the chains of colonial.

Some of few signs of independence which hopefully will prevail very soon are :

• The solidarity of Ogadens worldwide – wherever you look at, every angle of this earth your sight will capture the image of unity of the ogadens globally.
• The new upcoming leaders or educators who are extremely stood with their people thin & thick, saying no to colonialism through sharing awareness with their people.
• The availability strong military that can easily control & capable of guiding their territory.
• Before, earlier people were deaf about the situation but at the moment everyday so many websites owned by its people & from international media write about Ogaden & explode the untold stories.

Our ears felt jealous the sound that our ears received from Sudan, where the world granted the Southerners as an autonomy state and left us in perpetual violence although we encourage every human to live in peace, stability and prosperous life but if the world divided a nation of one people, shared same norms, customs and culture , why are they keeping us with wild life (Ethiopia) ,who feed on raw meat.

The International Community

Ogadens have done all possible efforts to liberate their land and up to today yet didn’t stop the gun shots to free their homeland from the filth amharous who invaded in the Ogaden soil.

Up to that point we can say the international community, United nations And all humanitarian organizations had implemented weak approaches to deal with the problematic issues that simultaneously happening in the region, perhaps the crimes records are available but yet it seems the world is turning blind eye into it.

I always criticize the so called human rights bodies which hired to assist the people on the ground and solve the human problems as they appear but do vice-versa to what they’re hired for, it’s really astonishing only few countries benefit what was meant for all.

Conclusion
We urge as Ogadens the international community, ICC court & all that concerned humanitarian aid to take immediate action denounce the daily crimes committed by the Ethiopian soldiers and those associated with them who’re trying to hide the genocide.

The Ogaden reject the Ethiopian way of live and said (we rather die our ways than live yours.)
*The true character of liberty is independence, maintained by force.*
By: Abdullahi Ahmed (Freedom Hassan)

Ogaden Emerges To be recognized as a Nation (Ogadenia wa qaraan ,qoomiyad weye farabada "Ogaden is a nation consist of multi-nationalism" ).By: Abdullahi Ahme

Most of us might not know or able to understand what the word (ogaadeen) stands for so in this research or notion of mind, I’ll try to breakdown vividly my understanding in addition with reliable sources /references.

1st definition, that how Wikipedia articulated
Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled Ogadeen; Somali) is the name of a territory that are predominately inhabitant to Ethnic Somalis, which geographically lies west of Somalia and southeastern of Ethiopia.
2nd definition let’s look briefly the origin of Ogaden as a term.
ogaadeen has meaning in Greek language, it means a high level land surface (plateau)
Ogaden is a plateau with an elevation above sea level around 1,5000 metres In northwest ,falling about 300 metres along the southern limits and River Shabelle valley. The areas with altitudes between 1,400 and 1,600 metres are characterized as semi-arid; receiving as much as 500–600 mm of rainfall annually.
Ogaden is No longer a tribe.
Its unease task to emphasize corrupted minds what Ogaden means , none can refuse every certain people that live together have divided in different sub-families in such cases , Ogaden have multi sub-clans.

Ogadens of Ogaden are approximately around 3-6 million & blessed a land enriched with all natural resources (Diamond , Raw product for industry, Animals of all kind etc).

If we impose to the reality (the Origin phrase) , Ogaden is well known tribe in the Somali society, where they have historical records in Kenya, Somalia and even the eastern Africa , some of the mentioned gentlemen in the world history are for instance, Sayid Mohamed Abdile Hassan (the great hero of Africa) , Maktal Dahir & So forth.
Every certain Creation whether an animal or Human have family, have a specific site to call home, specific people that they’re related with, why am I saying this? Ogaden isn’t a tribe but a grassroots of nation that consist of different many tribes, similarly to the other nations of the world.
Features contribute name giving.
In this sub-topic we will try to elaborate clearly, how names are given, who gives the name, what are the necessary aspects to consider before naming?
If we glanced back very quickly most of the countries of the world were either colonized or colonizers of the olden days and given names accordingly.
According to how names are given, I will take few countries & how their names match with its geographical occurrence.
Here below I will mention few steps that are considered for name giving.
- Geographical occurrence
- Famous river that passes the region
-The specific thing that the certain area is enrich with
and so On.
These are some little reasons considered when giving names.
Take for example :
Jordan, Washington (USA), Saudi Arabia, Nairobi (Kenya), Ogaden, all these names existed; they’re either a name of an individual, climatically expression or place.
Jordan (river) , Saudi (Family), Nairobi (Coldness) Ogaden (Family).
During the time of the colonial err, the British, the Italia & the rest of the colonizers, whenever they capture (discover) a territory they used to name either by its inhabitants or where it falls geographically.
Ogaden Is a Nation
What is being a nation?
A large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.
Ogadenia wa qaraan ,qoomiyad weye farabada (Ogaden is a nation consist of multi-nationalism)
As a stated explicitly Ogaden have possession a territory that fully of all sort of natural resources, which is occupied forcefully by the Ethiopia.
Ogaden Territory is 3 times bigger than some of western countries, Middle East, its density is approximately around an area 179,252 km2 ,(69,210 sq mi).
Note: the ogaden long ongoing political,social controversy must be dealt in a proper manner in such that the world witnesses peacefully environment without disputation amongst other people rights.
giving self-determination to ogadens will never result decline to financial calculationsbut instead it will rise opportunities of allocating resources & decreasing unemployments through out the region.
The time has arrived, it can be done, it can be done, if only we play our part, its said when you fulfill your dreams is when everyone shows his/her interest behind your success, keep the struggle alive your day will hopefully come.