The aftermath of the new Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) publicly renounced the long time held secessionist agenda, immediately followed by the antipodal article written by Jawar Mohammed posted on Ethiomedia Website entitled "The 'new' OLF: Much ado about nothing." I also read different articles on the same website, including  a powerful polemic against his article. Jawar argues that the OLF has been hijacked by Ginbot 7, and he suggests that Ginbot 7 is an extreme Amhara party.  His article implies that Ginbot 7 cajoled the OLF to deviate its separatist policy.
A few years ago, I read an article by Getachew Reda on the Ethiopian Semay website stating that Jawar's remark was blatantly anti-Ethiopian, in particular against Amhara, claiming that he had deep hatred.  I also  listened to him a few times on Voice of America Amharic radio commenting about the situations inEthiopia and the Arab Spring.  After I read his condemning article, it did not surprise me; it would have surprised me if he did not decry the OLF's abandoning its secessionist policy.
I had heard much about Jawar being an active OLF member. Â I was astonished that Jawar tries to cognate Ginbot 7 with Amhara. Â Well, it is not a secret that Jawar and his leaders have problems with Amhara. For that matter, when EPLF and TPLF were in the bush, the objective was rancorously to eliminate Amhara, but they could not. Shabia persistently supplied weapons to TPLF and OLF to kill Amhara, and evanescing the name of Ethiopia. Somehow, OLF has killed the innocent Amhara in Bedeno and Arbagugu. This is not a new phenomenon, it is the record. Despite that fact, Jawar, (you like it or not), Amhara is one of the largest segments in the country, and I assure you that Oromo and Amhara are still peacefully living together and will live together forever.
Let me posit briefly some facts that Jawar will realize about "self-determination."  At this time, "self-determination" is an old Marxist-Leninist ideology used in the former Soviet Union which is now obsolete. It is true that during the Cold War, the Soviet Union was the Communist superpower which  highly exercised the Marxist-Leninists ideology that promoted a political theory favoring 'collectivism in a classless society.'  During that time, Ethiopian students were
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*This is not a researched article, it is a succinct rebuttal to Jawar's article.
influenced by this Soviet ideology, and began following the Marxist-Leninist theory which became a cult and fashion among students inside and outside. The student movement's slogan was "Land to Tiller" which, was correctly answered by the Derg. Â Meanwhile, Shabia was recruiting anti-Ethiopian organizations to attenuate the Ethiopian military apparatus and to use ethnic cleansing in the country to advance its own victory. Â So, the OLF was the product of this movement which later became an ally with Shabia. Â However, if Shabia even hatched any anti-Ethiopian elements to curtail its periods of struggle, it would be difficult to imagine that Shabia would easily declare its independence before the Soviet collapsed.
Lucky enough, the Soviet Union broke apart and the American government got involved as peace mediators to end the war between the Derg and the EPLF, TPLF, and OLF, which was not a genuine peace dialogue.  Instead, it was a completely orchestrated one sided peace conference which helped Shabia to secede from Ethiopia, and TPLF would be able to control the whole country. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for Shabia to separate from Ethiopia before the Soviet Union succumbed.  At the same time, the Ethiopian armies were  unfortunate, because its own government, Derg, brutally killed the well trained generals to extricate themselves from the crimes they committed against the Ethiopian people, and as a result, Woyane is now frolicking in the country.
In fact, General Kemal Gelchu has chosen the right path to work with Ethiopian opposition in order to defeat Woyane.  Honestly, Kemal Gelchu deserves credit from the Ethiopian people that he astutely examined and came to conclude that secession is  Woyane's agenda. He repeatedly said that Oromo is an Ethiopian, and there is no way to entertain the separatist policy in Ethiopia.  This is a wise and courageous move by General Kemal for dropping the secessionist agenda and joining the pro-democracy force to free the Ethiopian people from the despot Melese Zinawi.
It is true that by promoting anti-Ethiopian elements, it helps Woyane  remain in power. In addition, it is clear enough that OLF has played a big role by giving legitimacy to Woyane enabling them to grip power and strengthen their brutal Stalinist ruling system in the country. Woyane cannot deny the fact that innumerable prisoners are being held in solitary confinement in windowless rooms. Of course, I believe the Woyane's repression is a temporary thing; though, it is inevitable that sooner or later a peoples' uprising will spark to depose the tyrant regime in Ethiopia like it had in Tunisia and Egypt.
It is clear that OLF was brainwashed by Shabia to follow in their footsteps, being deceived that Oromo people are not part of Ethiopia in order to advance its own agenda. Â It was not hard to discern that Shabia had two goals to achieve. The first was independence, which they had achieved by collaborating with Woyane. The second was, after independence, to make Eritrea economically and militarily superior in the horn of Africa at the expense of Ethiopian precious resources; a goal which failed terribly.
It is hard to imagine that Jawar and his leaders never understood the subterfuge of Shabia. If I recall correctly, from the June 1992 regional elections, Woyane expelled all the OLF leaders from the country. So, when Woyane was expelling the OLF ministers and disarming the OLF fighters, Shabia stood behind Woyane. Â This is one fact that OLF could not deny that Shabia was part of the game when the OLF armies were killed and incarcerated by Woyane during 1992.
After TPLF and Shabia wrangled in 1998, Shabia immediately opened an office in Asmara for OLF to overthrow Woyane. Â Since then, Shabia has been serving different oppositions as a valuable staging base and conduit for arms and aid.
This is a drama Shabia is playing with the OLF. The OLF leaders should understand that Shabia never genuinely took sides with OLF; Shabia needs OLF when it wants to attack its enemies. Â Honestly speaking, OLF leaders are detached from reality. If OLF leaders think that Oromo is the majority in Ethiopia, why do they need to entertain a separation agenda instead of struggling to bring equality, and social justice in the country? Â The recent press release of the OLF, which is led by General Kemal Gelchu, is a good news and a relief for Oromos who have been under chronic problems for the last forty years. It is also a nightmare for Woyane that OLF dropped its separatist policy and is promoting Ethiopian unity.