Is an Amhara life of equal value?

Is an Amhara life of equal value? Recently, I’ve witnessed a surge of voices from friends, family, and fellow Africans expressing their concern about the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people. The harrowing images of children bleeding and mothers mourning their wounded offspring are indeed heartbreaking and deserve the world’s undivided attention. I wholeheartedly support these efforts to raise awareness and advocate for an end to the violence.

However, a nagging question persists in my mind as I observe many East Africans, particularly Ethiopians, passionately advocating for the Palestinian cause while remaining eerily silent about the atrocities unfolding in their own backyard — the systematic extermination of countless Amharas (more 100,000 have likely died over the past 5 months) at the hands of the Ethiopian federal government in a genocidal war against the Amhara people (#WarOnAmhara). As we speak, millions of Amharas face food insecurity, lack access to education, and are deprived of internet connectivity, rendering them voiceless to the world. 100,000+ are homeless due to the forced displacement from around the capital city. Amhara voices are deliberately muted, their cries for justice drowned out by the deafening silence of the international community.

A few days ago, I came across a video by a favorite TikToker expressing her outrage over the 11,000 deaths in Gaza and the world’s inadequate response. This young woman, an Iraqi, felt such a profound sense of injustice that she took to the internet to amplify the voices of the victims. In contrast, many Ethiopians go about their daily lives discussing mundane topics like food, relationships, and entertainment, oblivious to the inferno raging in their own backyard, consuming Amhara lives. To add insult to injury, we pride ourselves on being selfless human rights activists for Palestine, Black Lives Matter, or any other cause that gains traction, while conveniently turning a blind eye to the suffering of our own people.

This begs the question: how much is an Amhara life worth? Is it worth as much as a Tigrayan life, a Palestinian life, an Israeli life? If it is, then our actions must reflect that belief. Amharas are enduring unimaginable suffering, living through a hell on earth. The world has failed us; when Amhara Muslims were massacred in Wollega, not a single Muslim country raised their voice in condemnation. When Orthodox churches were desecrated and Orthodox Christians were killed, Christian communities worldwide remained silent. Amharas are alone, abandoned to suffer in darkness.

If we remain silent and fail to make our people’s pain reverberate throughout the world, the atrocities against our people will continue to unfold cloaked in darkness. We must step into the spotlight, occupying spaces where our cause can be seen on a global scale, ensuring that our people’s pain is not only heard but also deeply felt. We must harness our multifaceted identities, weaving our Amharaness into these spaces, so that the lives of our people are recognized as precious and valued, just like the lives of every human being on this planet.

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