borkena | Hermela Aregawi, born in Ethiopia and raised in the United States, is making headlines in the Ethiopian media after she exposed pro-Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) supporters in the diaspora in connection with the delivery of humanitarian assistance in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
Her favorite quote displayed on her Twitter profile reads “if all the truth were known abt everything in the world, it would be a better place,” and that is what she seems to be doing.
A journalist by profession, works for CBS, from ethnic Tigray background, tweeted earlier this week that the Pro-TPLF Tigreans in the diaspora “don’t want aid to get to people because it will make @AbiyAhmedAli Government look good.”
The Ethiopian government has been under immense pressure from the US government and European Union, among other actors, on alleged grounds of obstructing humanitarian aid delivery to the Tigray region.
Hermela Aregawi’s view of the conflict in northern Ethiopia, including aid delivery and alleged blockade of it, seems to have changed.
In fact, she said it in her three parts tweet:
“My perspective on Tigray evolved bc of inconsistencies I’ve seen & heard in 10+ mnths. I stayed quiet for mnths hoping to see a shift towards peace & truth bc lives of millions – including my families’ – depend on it. There was no such shift. #Ethiopia 1/3 … If you’re going to label this a genocide from Day 2 then you can’t also try to control efforts to send life-saving basics to the poor ppl in it. Likely millions$ raised in diaspora but little to no accountability about where it’s going. To fund a civil war? #Tigray #Ethiopia 2/3 …We’ve seen counts of # of civilians killed in Tigray, but how many young soldiers have been killed fighting this questionable war? Diasporans should have the conscience to ask these ?s before continuing to blindly support an ethnic-based war in the year of 2021. #Ethiopia 3/3”
Reacting to a picture of a child affected by famine, she tweeted “Heartbreaking images. I care enough to ask this ?: If it’s true @UN claims that Ethiopian govt has aid blockade in effect, how is it @UNEthiopia recently reported 466 aid trucks went into Tigray since July 12? A claim neither side of the conflict denied.”
It was only last week that the UN branch office in Ethiopia disclosed that only 38 of 466 trucks that went to the Tigray region returned. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Peace has confirmed the claim by the UN office. Unverified video footage circulating on social media showed the trucks being used by the TPLF to transport its forces to the battle front in the Amhara region ,one of the regions where the TPLF took its war after the Ethiopian Defense Force withdrew from Tigray region at the end of June following unilateral declaration by the Ethiopian government.
Ethiopians who have been trying to expose TPLF crimes on Twitter have been hailing Hermela for standing for the truth. In reaction to her inquisitive remark about Associated Press statement published on September 20, Teshome Borago wrote :
“You are good woman of honor
Please know that the writer of this article Cara Anna recently justified z mass killing of Amharas in #ChenaMassacre by saying the Amhara civilian victims were fighting back vs TPLF
These Westerners just want us Ethiopians to fight forever”
Many other Ethiopians have been expressing appreciation for Hermela for what she has revealed and for being inquisitive about narratives that were rather regarded as distorted despite they seem to have been used by policy makers including in the U.S government.
Last week, president Joe Biden signed an executive order approving action regimes against Ethiopia.
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