Thirty Five Years Of State Led Genocide In The Presence Of Au And International Community In Ethiopia E-Book

Moa Tewahedo

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 307

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

The church is the one that played the leading role in preventing our country from being invaded by white colonists. Being a source of ethics and morals, the contribution that the church made in the building a cultured society that loves the country and is governed by low is witnessed by foreigners as well. It has ists own language and Alphabet, and has contributed books useful for civilization, art language, landscape, forest and natural resource conservation, and architectural research. However, all these contribution has forgotten, that the church has made, and it‘s currently under attack, wich is planned and abstract, supported by the government and wich even the political parties are involved in … … This wrong thinking of theirs is actively contributing to the push of orthodoxy. Among the reasons that make the government participate directly or indirectly in the attack on the church and its believers is the one mentioned in the main, but there are also other reasons.

Leseprobe

Table of Content

1. Introduction

2. Why the attack on the church?

3. The damage done to the orthodox believers and its result

4. The future risk expected, if the problem is not solved

5. Attacks on the Orthodox Tewahido Church and the faithful

Summary

1. Introduction

1.1.Background of the statement

To explore the background of the article, we will look at a brief overview of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. The church in this world is always fighting. It‟s known that the sufferings that are happening to the church are what our ancestors went through.

The attacked that are happening today are aimed at destroying the Ethiopian orthodox tewahido church from our country. It‟s known that the power to save the church by responding adequately to the church, as our ancestors did in the past, is decreasing in these days. This is making the problem a critical concern.

Because the Orthodox Tewahido Church is founded on the cross, there has never been a time when it rested from suffering. Judith Goodit1, Ahmed Gragn2, Catholics, Fascist Italy have caused great damage to the church.

During the Derg era, worshiping God on the principle that God does not exist had reached the point of denying God. After the change of government in 1990, the church suffered varies types and amounts of suffering.

Most of the attacks are carried out by radical Islam, and in some areas they are carried out with the support of Protestants who are in the government structure. The country‟s constitution which is basis on oppressor and oppressed is the other part that picture the church as an oppressor to attack it.

This constitution wants to destroy the church, if possible, otherwise to prejudice it. The authority of the government have come to the point of warning us to label them as radicals, to break the neck print, to modify the bible verses and teach in the way that the listeners want.

In addition, it was also tried to force for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, which has existed for a long time, to be legally recognized like other institutions those who don‟t. Since the attack on the holy church is supported by the government it refusal to speak out (abstains to speak about), gave the attacker an opportunity to do more damage.

From the date Prime Minister Abiy Ahimed announced that the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church is a country, attaches have continued in the worst way ever. The government has failed to bear witness to the country‟s independence and has failed to fulfill his responsibilities to defend, protect and enforce order when the country is destroyed, and the damage and attacks have continued. The Prime Minister has not moved from saying that attackers are continuing to stopping them.

From the Holy Synod, the structural management of the church, which is in service at every level, even questions of the moderator are not accepted by the government. Such an act gives a feeling of being despised and violated by the believers. If there is no governmental body that can ensure peace and security, it led to the decision that we should hold a peaceful demonstration and organize ourselves to protect the church in order to explain the issue in terms and inform the world.

For 2000 years, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church has been striving to empower people for salvation. Besides eternal life, it has been carrying out activities that are suitable for a healthy life on earth.

In this way, apart from its followers, the church was able to achieve values that are main and important to the entire Ethiopian people, which can make them recognized in the world.

The church is the one that played the leading role in preventing our country from being invaded by white colonists. Being a source of ethics and morals, the contribution that the church made in building a cultured society that loves the country and is governed by law is witnessed by white people as well.

It has its own language and Alphabet, and has contributed books useful for civilization, art language, landscape, forest and natural resource conservation, and architectural research. However, all these contribution has forgotten that the church has made, and it‟s currently under attack, which is planned and abstract, supported by the government and which even the political parties are involved in. Attacks on the building of the church and its believers have different manifestations. Just to show:-

Forceful assaults: killing Orthodox people brutally/ dreadfully, mutilating bodies, burning churches, burning believer‟s houses, their crops, cattle, looting property, grabbing church property, to make the orthodox people weak economically, to exclude them from important business and income-generating activities, to make the church weak as an institution, to lose its possessions, to be busy with corruption and varies corrupt practices, to systematically exclude the Orthodox people from various educational and employment opportunities.

Social violence:- neutralize the orthodox believers from Edir

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and Ekub

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social life, prohibiting teaching and telling about orthodox tradition that alternation from generation to generation for the growth of the country as well as for the betterment of believer‟s spiritual life called Legacy (ትውፊት)

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, sterilizing and reducing number of orthodox people from the areas where there are more orthodox people through family planning mechanisms.

Political violence/assault: to exclude the Orthodox from high authority, national or hierarchical responsibilities, creating a false narrative against the Orthodox in power, creating a defamation campaign and psychological pressure to make them resign from power; not including the issue of the church in the law, attacking the church in cooperation with foreign bodies, refusing the accreditation of the spiritual court of the church, depriving denial of recognition of its right, interfering of the church administration and its justice system, disempowering it threatening aggrieved Christians from going to the law;

the unity of purpose of the justice system with the perpetrators; in the area of special forces and criminal investigations, not hearing the voice of the orthodox; let criminals go without judgment; releasing the criminals and arresting the victim , invading the property of the churches/violently seizing the baptistery and the true cross finding festival sites.

Preventing the church from where getting a place to build its church are some of them; those who carry out the aforementioned attacks are :- government bodies at all levels from kebele to federal, who use for their hidden religious purposes, radical Muslims, and various groups and organizations that circulate through them, the demonstrations organized in the name of protestants and the false prophets, pastors who serve in them, and international “criminal” organizations that carry out acts of robbery and proselytization of churches and Christians outside of the purpose of which they were registered, international organizations established to monitor attacks and inform the international community are pointed out that they deliberately did not embrace the attacks of the Orthodox so that the international community would not hear about them in the way that the listeners of their report wanted.

1.2. The importance of the information

It‟s known that religion-based attacks have been committed against the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church and its believers throughout the age. Because of the attack, the worshipers fled, dead, and lost their wealth. In addition to this, the heritages and Holy properties that the Holy Church has protected for centuries have been damaged. Information shows that the attackers are different but have a common goal.

The importance of the book is to remember the Christians who suffered for their religion and inform the future generation that their suffering is the fruit of their religion.

To provide accurate information to readers and researchers is the second importance. To show that the problem is getting worse every time due to the lack of adequate coverage of regular attacks by the government and private mass media and the lack of early warning works done by the relevant parties to eliminate the problems. It has become necessary to prepare the book to show that the attacks against the Orthodox are not spontaneous, but planned and achieved structural support.

1.3. Data collection methods and sources

The report was prepared using various sources of data and the main sources are verbal, photo and video data that are collected from witnesses who saw the attacks, and information collected by the peoples sent to the areas where the attacks occurred.

After the attacks, an article distributed by varies media and publications; we also collected the data through local structure diocese reports submitted to the general parish spiritual assembly. In addition to this, we used the data released on various social media platforms as a reference.

1 The religious fathers say that this nick name was given to her because she committed the worst and unbelievable brutal damages to the orthodox churches and the faithful.

2 Gragn – is the nickname of Ahimed that’s given him from Ethiopia

3 Edir is a way of bonding the community to help each other during someone gets mourn (death)

4 Ekub – is a way of bonding the community to help each other in collecting money as Rotating Saving Cash (RSC) model

5 Legacy (ትውፊት) in this context – is system, norms, God words, better way of building life, ways and traditions of transferring tangible and none tangible resources …etc.

2. Why the attack on the church?

2.1. Why the government participates in the attack on the church?

For the past 50 years, the ruling parties have been anti-Orthodox. They also have put their position in political manifesto. It‟s known that power is obtained by replacing everything that is ancient and existing with new and inherited ideas. Since they are led by a narrow mindedness, they think that Orthodox Tewahido Church is the main obstacle.

This wrong thinking of theirs is actively contributing to the push of orthodoxy. Among the reasons that make the government participate directly or indirectly in the attack on the church and its believers is the one mentioned in the main, but there are also other reasons.

Because the government administrative and security structures are occupied by people who do not believe in faith, its presented as a response to the misconception that the church has been oppressing us in collaboration with the royal system.

2.2.Why does the radical Islam participate in church attacks?

The goal of some radical Muslims is to make Ethiopia an Islamic country by killing and exterminating Christians. After achieving this, it‟s to establish an Islamic State by forming an organization/party with the same views and doctrines as IS, Boko-Haram operating in West Africa and al-Shebaab in East Africa.

These terrorist organizations do not allow a Christian to exist in their territory. Even existing Muslims are not allowed to live unless they are willing to accept their teaching. This way of thinking led them to establish their own government in the Middle East, and at present, this way of thinking has spread to some regions of North Africa and Somalia.

This was not created by chance, but it is a work designed to establish a vast Islamic empire by including the areas where Islam had previously expanded and could not expand due to the strong Christian government of Ethiopia. What we see in the image below is the state that they intend to establish.

Fig.1: a map showing the territorial expansion of ISIS’s continued global domination, as described in the book “Empire of fear: Inside the Islamic State”.

As we can see on the map above, it stretches from Spain to China, from West Africa to the horn of Africa above the equator. From Spain- North Africa, Maghreb (all of West Africa including Nigeria), Ard al-kinan (Libya and Egypt), Ard al-Habesha (from Cameroon to Central Africa, Lake Victoria countries, Ethiopia and Somalia), Hijaz (Saudi Arabia, Gulf of Eden countries), Yemen, Khurasan (Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Southwest China), Iran and Turkey; It includes the territory that includes the Arabian Peninsula and part of Asia.

This issue of expanding the state and its extremism has a special focus on Ethiopia. The causes of religious conflicts and the burning of churches in our country are issues related to this goal. “The religion of peace” website, which reports attacks by extremists worldwide, indicates that on average, more than 200 attacks per month and more than 2400 per year.

Many peoples will lose their lives in the attacks. They suffer physical and psychological harm. In addition Christians were evicted from their villages, women were subjected to sexual slavery; old people are left without a caregiver; children are left without a guardian.

In particular, the terrorist group that calls itself the Islamic State has slaughtered thousands of innocent people. It has destroyed many ancient monuments in Iraq, Libya and Syria, especially ancient churches and monasteries. In particular, the Daesh group, which is a part of Islamic state in Iraq and Syria, has made Libya a battleground to establish an Islamic state in Libya and spread the teachings of Salafiyyah.

Organizations of Boko-Haram and al-Shabaab that have a common goal with IS and are also carrying out similar attacks in Nigeria, Somalia and Kenya. It‟s known that there are some fanatical Muslims of our country who are abducted by such a mission.

For example: Muhammed Emwazi, who calls himself Jihadi John, shows himself beheading more than eight people in various videos, and his close friend, Ali Adores, is an Ethiopian-born British citizen.

Ali Adores is a terrorist who had close ties to Muhammed Emwazi and is also has roles and parts in this group. Ali Adores was arrested in Ethiopia on suspicion of terrorism in 2022. It‟s also said that a 17-years-old Ethiopian-born boy named Muhammed died while fighting for ISIS in Iraq.

In addition, many media reported that an extremist named semira Abbas joined this group along with two of her friends. The Council of Islamic Affairs also revealed that these radical Ethiopian Muslims are destroying the existing culture of living in harmony with other people. Based on its own religion doctrine, Islam aims destroy challenging beliefs and religion by any means possible, to dominate the country and to rule the country according to sharia.

From this point of view, they aim to attack and weaken the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, which has the largest number of believers in Ethiopia, and if it‟s possible to convert its believers with money, if it‟s not possible, by force.

If this purpose is not publicly preached as an institution, when groups organized in the name of the faith and the followers of the faith attack the church and carry out attacks at various times. Even when they were given institutional support in mosques, but not once in Majlis; it does not see itself being condemned by other relevant members of his faith.

The Qur‟an commands killing more than 160 times; Islam grows from being a minority in a country to controlling everything, in economically, in politics, in social life. There are different levels of action up to the declaration of Jihad; and it is known that these have been implemented and achieved results in different parts of the world.

2.3. Attacks from Protestants

The mission of Protestants is to impose western culture and thought on the people of a country and facilitates the society as a market for Western goods. Even the leaders of their faith have been heard to express at various times that it is the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church that is an obstacle for them to achieve their goals in our country.

Therefore, under the guise/cover of religion, they launched an intensive campaign against Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. One of the most important strategies they use is to pretend that the church exists by creating false narratives; defamation to pretend that it doesn‟t believe what it has.

In this way, they are engaged in robbing the believers wealth as much as they can by misleading the uneducated people and using the power of the government to attack and weaken the church as an institution.

2.4. Christians participating in the attack

Due to lack of awareness and or due to personal interests, those who hold spiritual, intellectual and structural authority in the church, while they have seen the attacks on the church, they pass the issue as they never seen it. Their silence made the government and other concerned parties as to say, “If the owner does not shout, the neighbor will not come out to help”

3. The damage done to the orthodox believers and its result

The damage of an individual or an institution or a society can be measured in terms of morality, appearance, knowledge resources, historical honor, trust and confidence, political participation and voice, social and legal security.

For a religious institution, the number of followers and the quality of teachings that are preserving and manifesting in life are seen as additional. In the past years, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido church was attacked by the cover of culture, ideologies of political groups, other beliefs and and government structures. For example:-

3.1. Migration of believers

A population and household census was conducted and it was revealed that the orthodox people were subjected to various pressures in all parts of the country, especially in Oromia, Somalia and the Southern regions.

Orthodox Christians are under pressure by mixing faith, language and culture with political ideology, by giving Orthodoxy to a certain language speaker, by political pressure, by keeping them away from opportunities and social service benefits and leadership, by accusing them of being the cause of poverty and backwardness, and by causing the generation to have a negative attitude towards the religion, by removing Orthodoxy from the government structure and denying justice in districts and zones where the Orthodox are a minority, because of their ignorance, they left their existing religion and went to other religions.

3.2. Pushing out of the economy

To prevent the inclusion of Orthodox Tewahido Church monasteries, places of worship, and places of celebration of religious festivals in newly created master plans of cities.

The church‟s properties are being confiscated because of they do not have map or plan, their wealth is stolen because of the language they speak, they have been deprived of their religious beliefs and are being threatened and evicted.

When we look at the displacement in the South and Southwest Ethiopia, Somalia in the East, we can understand that it is aimed at the Orthodox Christians.

The act is to refuse recognition that the Holy Church is the source of education, knowledge, art, culture, administration and justice. The fact that the education given in modern schools does not include the understanding of Ethiopian values has becomes a reason for the Orthodox thinking to be pushed.

3.3. Contempt

It is common for false narratives and political ideologies, foreign social discourses and philosophies, humanistic and political teaching, civilization and a modern analysis to raise the church in negative way.

They tried to make the new generation shy away from their orthodox identity by presenting it as a reason for poverty and backwardness. It has become commonplace in the media, in political debates, and in public forums.

By creating the system of feudalism and nobility that existed throughout the world in the development of society and analyzing the story of class operation by Marxist-Leninist, making a strong attack by resonating that the orthodox church was a tool of false operation; by increasing this attack to the political analysis of the nation, the intense attack of forcibly entering the church and directly targeting Christians for killing, persecution and pushing has been strengthened.

In addition, urging the youth to surrender to the traditional beliefs that the places of worship are said to have existed before Christianity, and not wanting to stop when danger occurs, has been committed. By denying justice, the church continues to be embarrassed mentally and physically.

3.4. Reduction of national visibility and universal participation

Orthodox Christians as citizens, the flocks as a community, the church as an institution condemned to be deprived the structure and political participation of a political nation.

Laws and regulations that contradict the canon, spiritual justice, tradition and history are imposed without asking and acknowledging the needs of the Christian community when national agreements are made in the provision of laws, policy formulation, distribution of resources, and international laws.

The national political and legal system where the church can raise its voice to direct this process has disappeared. Its monasteries have been demolished in the name of development and monks have been forced to migrate.

3.5. Persecution of Orthodox believers

The Christians are deprived of their wealth and migrate from the countryside to the city to become poor and landless. A typical example of this is in Limu Genet, Limu Kosa, Limu Zaka, Gale, Gera, around Gore and Mettu, Nono Sele district, Goro Muti, Jigjiga, etc.

Migration from home to abroad, especially to communities that do not resemble us in terms of faith, does not have any governmental protection regarding religious rights, so the refugee is forced to change their faith under various cultural and religious pressure.

3.6. Loss of justice in death and murder

Christians are killed, persecuted, property seized, raped, converted to faith under open and covert pressure. It is impossible to get justice for all this because the justice system is organized along ethnic and religious lines. Claiming rights is dangerous.

The fathers of each diocese and the church structure do not have a strong and coordinated movement to protect the rights of Christians. Cultural fathers in the area and followers of other faiths condemn the matter only for political gain after it is revealed in the media. Muslims and elders who directly oppose the violence of Christians will be in danger if they are found.

The killing of Mr. Mohammed Sayaka is a testimony to the tragedy that happened to kill and persecute Christians in Chelenko city in Meta district.

4. The future risk expected, if the problem is not solved

Although the constitution of our country stipulates that it does not interfere in religious matters, the authorities in the region, zone and district have left them to do whatever they want to please the Westerners. Doing so has led to terrible violence against the church and Christians.

Unless the government that runs the country, the Holy Synod and other faith organizations work together to stop the problem, the greatest danger to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church and believers is that it will continue.

The following are the reasons why both the government and the religious institutions are reluctant to find a solution to the attacks that have happened so far. This is based on a rough prediction, but it is based on the phenomenon we are seeing every day. It is based on actual information received from other faiths and secular governments on the churches of Syria, Egypt, India and the East.

If legal, institutional, social and justice security cannot be quickly ensured by stopping the ongoing campaign and hidden agenda to destroy the Orthodox:-

Churches, monasteries and teaching places

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will be closed because Christians will be completely eliminated from varies parts of the country.

The current situation of destroying history and disturbing the Christians, and provoking the national participation of the church will be intensified. It is an indication that the church has no role in deciding peace, national borders and other great national issues.

The process of turning Orthodox Christians into aliens, refugees, beggars, wanderers and subordinates in their own country will continue to be strengthened by excluding active Christians from the Kebele to national political power. When they work hard to destroy wealth, power, knowledge, Ethiopian values from the earth, when they burn monasteries, when they talk about the country, the completely remove the existing education that has lasted for centuries from formal education.

Christian youths flee because of their religion get pressure and excluded from education and job opportunities, social and economic participation.

As in Jimma, Beshasha, Limu Kosa, Limu Zaka, Kelem Wolega, Asela East Harerge (in Goro muti), forced conversation beatings, attacks on places of faith, killings will continue.

Killing a Christian as a personal conflict is being hidden by politics and the media, and process of extermination from every area continues. Politicians gather support by considering the nation, not Christianity.

By using the foreign modern beliefs, Arab Islam, cultural beliefs, etc. As a tool the destruction of orthodoxy will continue to be strengthened by ethnic political organizations (the attack of the Wakefeta youth in Selale and the coordination of the OLF

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show this).

Due to the religious discrimination in the country, developers coming from Arab countries and the West will increase the possibility of discrimination against the Orthodox people in their country to compute equally and participate in all economic educational and political life.

In the past, scholars who were studied by ethnic politics and grown up in Western education, who were aware of hatred and falsehood and published books telling false narratives, defeated the church, have come together more than ever to defame the Orthodox church in the name of knowledge, history, study and research.

The nominally Orthodox Christian scholar who is currently standing in the dark continues to mock those who are attacking the mother church in the name of civilized politics while defying his conscience under the mask of secularism.

In addition to economic isolation and physical attacks, Arab political Islam is translating and writing fake books that harm Christianity, misrepresenting the history of the church and Ethiopia, and replacing the peoples‟ culture of cooperation with suspicion and hatred. Inciting wars aimed at changing local and place names, blurring Christian traces. By working with the officials of government and political institutions who are in power with ethnic and hidden religious agendas, the violence against Orthodox Christians will be brought to justice more than ever, and the massacre will be intensified by keeping the mass media from seeing it.

Organized and covered by people in power in the Oromia region in the name of Qerro, the attack that harms Christian property and places of worship, and is coordinated with radical Islam, will continue to intensify.

As usual, the government officials, the police and the defense, ignore the violence and abuse of Christians.

6 It’s a place where the churches servants from the lower level called diacon to the top level of the servants get lesson (ጉባኤ ቤት)

7 OLF – Oromo Liberal Federation

5. Attacks on the Orthodox Tewahido Church and the faithful

There are many attacks on Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, on its members and its serving priests. However, for the sake of illustration, we will try to show some data from the beginning of the change of government in 1990, and some of the data were collected for a long time, which makes it difficult to put details. Even though, the development of communication technology in recent years has made it possible to collect comparatively better information.

In order to help see the extent and progress of the damage done to the church, the report has been divided into four decades; as it will serve as a resource for those who are working tackle the problem from the ground up.

5.1. Attacks from 1990 -1996

5.1.1. Jeju District

In 1991, Abomsa Holy God father, Abule St. George, Abshera Medhanealem, Andre St.George in Guna district, Teram St. Gebriel and Meso St. Gebriel churches iwere completely destroyed by fire and two other churches were destroyed. They were robbed including the tablet.

5.1.2. Arsi Negele district

On December 19/1991, sixty people were killed and 60 people were seriously injured in West Arsi Zone, Arsi Negele district. At the time the house of the local Christians were looted and destroyed. 6987 residents were displaced from their villages. Many churches were burned.

5.1.3. Arsi

In 1991, hundreds of Christians were shot, thrown into a cliff and burned to death in Arsi and thousands of their homes were burned and displaced. Their cattle and property were stolen from them.

Many of their properties were looted. On 04/11/1995, unknown number of Christians were beaten, stabbed, and their houses destroyed in Kore town Kofele District of Arsi, when they were returning from the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Although the government suggested that the problem should be solved by the elders, the matter was beyond the capacity of the Muslim elders; so a lot of damage was done.

5.1.4. Gonder

On 11/06/1996, an attempt was made to seize possession of the church of Abera George and Bata Lemariam in Gonder city. Muslims had provided false information that a Muslim was buried at the site about 100 years ago. Also on 27/06/1996, a poisoned knife was found in a truck with license plate number 03984 belonging to a driver named Nur Ali in Gonder. 63 knives were found in a mosque before they distributed. During a search conducted on 1st -3rd, it could possible to collect 111 more knives from the house of extremist Muslims.

On 04/07/1996, Muktar Sahl Jibril‟s map shows the attack on the church by a terrorist. With a small camera and hand bomb at 8:00pm, he went to attach the Menbere mengist medhanialem church and tried to attack.

According to the elderly Muslims who were threatened by the situation, they joined to forces with the Christians and pointed out the place where the extremists were training. When the area was searched, training camp was found connecting three houses for the purpose of extermination.

During the inspection, it was found that fax machine; internet, fax and email exchanges with the hijackers, list of names of the church teachers8 and students to be killed, list of hijackers, 70 million birr for Jihad activities were kept in the bank. At the same time, in Dabat and Denbia, it was possible to catch kidnappers training in organizations that were opened in the name of child welfare centers.

5.2. Attackes from 1990 – 1999

5.2.1. West Arsi

In 1999, basing the conflicts raised in Kofele and Kore, Guch Medihanealem Church was burnt down. On 11/09/2004, they killed 10 Christians and seriously injured three others in Kore city, Arsi- Kofele District; and displaced 2,237 believers from the area. They burnt down one church and 194 houses of Christians. 24 more houses were partly burnt. 304 Christian cattle were also stolen.

On November 6th the extremists tried to attack the Christians who had gathered to celebrate the festival of Holy Emanuel Church in Kore. When they failed, they went to the residencial area and spent the night beating and looting the houses of Christians.

On 15/11/2005, Ayisha St.Mary‟s church in kofele district of Arsi Diocese was burned down by a group of anti-Christians. Ten peoples were killed in the attack and many others were injured. At the time, many churches and the homes of 72 Christians, including the Ansha St. Mary‟s church, were burned. A lot of properties were destroyed. Residents were displaced from their village.

5.2.2. Girar Jarso District

On 29/06/2001, the guards of the Debre Fiseha Shinkurt Michael church in the North showa selale diocese, Girar Jarso district, were killed by looters and the church was looted.

5.2.3. Ephrata Gidim district

The death of the faithful and priests on 14/04/2001 the believers who were worshiping in the night at Debre Selam George‟s Church Ephrata Gidim District of the North Showa Diocese were shot by extremists. As a result, a father lost his life.

5.2.4. Kemise

On 19/01/2002, extremists entered St.Michael‟s church, and burned six piles of grass and 11 piles of cane; and destroyed the church. On 19/01/2006, the Christians of Kemise and Bati were beaten by extremists on the baptism festival.

5.2.5. East, Kelem and West Welega

On 02/11/2004, they broke the door on the west side of Wanke Jesus Church in West Welega Diocese and stole the ark and relics. “The Orthodox Church occupies a wide area and the other should not have trouble in a narrow area,” they said, tearing down the fence of the church and allowing them to build mosque.

On the same day, many Christians were killed in the area. Priests were beaten.

5.2.6. Mettu Elubabur

In 2006, the Guchi Gole Gatra Tekle Haymanot church was completely destroyed by radical Islamists and rebuilt at a cost of 260,000 birr. In the same year, among the churches in Dedesa district the Chilo Medihanealem church and the Kemeche St. Michael church were burnt down and were rebuilt with the help of the congregation and the contributions of the faithful.

However, the city of Yembero, which has a large Islamic Medressa school and where extremism is spreading, has forced many to leave the place by threatening and robbing the surrounding believers to keep them calm

5.2.7. In Jimma and its surrounding

Jimma in the area of Beshasha on 14/10/2006, in Agaro, the Christians who had gathered to celebrate the Holy Spirit Church in Beshasha Abune Gebre Menfes kidus were killed and the church burned down. The origin of the case is a place called Chelo, Elubabur Zone, Dedesa district, and the day was 26/09/2006, On the True cross finding festival9 day.

The conflict was caused by the riots of some Muslims who claimed that the smoke of the True finding of cross festival had entered our mosque. When an old man named Ato Kinde was sent to settle the matter, they were pelted with stones and the conflict happened.

As a result of this conflict, people died on both sides, and the angry Muslims set fire to the Holy Gabriel church on 03/10/2006. 08/10/2006, they tried to burn the Beshasha Abune Gebremenfes kidush church. Since the door of the church is burnt, Agaro district church parish took the tablet to Agaro St. Mary‟s church and stayed for a week.

Later, on 15/02/2006, by building the door, the ark was returned to the throne on the eve of celebrating the anniversary of Abune Gebremenfes kidus.

Due to the conflict, the federal police were called in, but mayor of Agaro city ordered the soldiers to leave Agaro district on 14/10/2006, on the eve of October 15th.

On that day, when Agaro‟s congregation, Sunday school youths, and preistswentb to beshasha to celebrate the festival, the Muslims on the road signaled that they would kill Christians, eye witnesses said.

The believers went to the place thinking that the environment (country) was peaceful and spent the evening well. At 12:00 o‟clock in the night, while the Mahlet10 service was being performed, the Muslims surrounded the church with guns, big knives, fire, gasoline and other weapons of destruction and started killing the worshipers. 6 peoples were killed in the action.

Among the dead were priests, elders and mothers. More than 16 people were cut by big knives and injured. More than 30 people were beaten.

The church was burned with the bodies of the believers. An Isuzu car was burnt. Women were raped; thirsty women were given human blood to drink. More than 2000 people were displaced from their villages (Simatsidk magazine, October 2006).

In general, Orthodox Christians were killed in the attack that took place from 26/09/2006, to 14-15/10/2006. Thousands of Christians have been displaced. Churches were burned. The properties of many Christians were destroyed. It was stolen.

The bodies of Christians were dumped on the ground in an indecent manner. In a place called Qumbi, believers were asked to break their necklace11 and when when the believers refuse to do it, the attackers cut off their fingers with a knife.

From 26/09/2006 starting on consecutive days, in Goma, Mana, Toba and Elubabor diocese in Dedesa district, Extremists armed with weapons and knifes killed 12 Christians.

They burned three churches (Chego St. Gebriel church Bore St. Gebriel church and Beshasha Abune gebremenfes kidus churches). They also looted the relics. They burned more than 800 ancestral homes and evicted them from their villages. Some were forced to be Islam.

5.3. Attacks from 2007 -2016

5.3.1. Gondar

In the year 2007, the ancient Beyeda Debre Hayle Iyesus church in Beyeda district was robbed two gold-plated shields donated by the kings, two hand-held crosses those weights more than 23,000 grams.

Diocese of South Gondar in 2012, six churches were burnt and reasons for their burnt is not known. Three of them are located in the same area; three of them are located at distance – in the lowland, in the highland, and near the city. Neither the administration of the zone nor the state government gave a solution to the problems that arose at the same time.

5.3.2. Diredawa

Debre Bereket St. George‟s church was damaged in a bomb blast by unknown parties on the night of November 2nd for the 6th morning.

5.3.3. Mettu (Elubabur)