2022-01-01
Fano:
A living saviour of the Amhara people
And the Ethiopian spirit
ፋኖን እወዳለሁ፥ ፋኖንስ አልጠላ፣
ተኳሽ እወዳለሁ፥ ተኳሽም አልጠላ፣
ሲደክመኝ አርፋለሁ፥ በጎፈሬው ጥላ።
ፋኖ አገሩ ገባ፥ ሳይሰናበተኝ፣
እሸኘው ነበረ፥ ምንም ቢታክተኝ።[1]
This
song and the article is dedicated to Eshete Moges and his son Yitagesu Moges.
Contact
information:
Girma
Berhanu (Professor)
Department
of Education and Special Education
University
of Gothenburg
Box
300, SE 405 30
Göteborg,
Sweden
E-mail:
Girma. Berhanu@ped.gu.se
Introduction
Fano is a historical term used in Ethiopian
struggles against injustice and foreign invaders. It is mainly shown as a youth
movement that has played a significant role in preserving the concept of
Ethiopian nationhood. As a youth group, it has emerged from within the Amhara
ethnic group and has features of reminiscent of classical political,
religious, or even social movements that drive youthful frustrations into acts
of agitation until they achieve a measure of reform. Traditionally, the Fano
struggle had focused on fending off attacks against Ethiopia. In recent years,
Fano has become a household name and a crucial movement tasked with saving the
very existence of the Amhara population as well as the integrity of Ethiopia. In
this, it differs from other similar youth movements in the country, whose aim
is to dismember the Ethiopian state into ethnic components. Fano is made of a defiant and patriotic youth which is able to
shoulder an Ethiopia that is arising from the ashes bequeathed to them. This
revolutionary generation and movement has to be nurtured. Fano is not just an
embodiment of the physical defiance but also an intellectual movement that
abhors ethnic fascism, narrow nationalism, apartheid policies, internal
colonialism and all forms of pseudo-legal acts of political corruption.
Instead, it upholds a civic sense of public duty, patriotism and vision for the
good of the entire country.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an objective
insight in to the Fano and explore its potential as a powerful social movement that has the potential
to transform the course of Ethiopian history that has been “soiled” by ethnic chauvinists
and radical ethnically-based movements. Indeed, youths have been deeply
important to every progressive social movement, including the United States
Civil Rights movement, successive waves of feminism, environmentalism and
environmental justice, the labor, antiwar, and immigrant rights movements, and
more. In each of these cases, young people took part in many ways, including
through the appropriation of the “new media” tools of their time, which they
used to create, circulate, and amplify movement voices and stories. Unfortunately,
youths are nowadays framed by mass media as an apathetic, disengaged, and
removed generation. At worst, the youths (in the U.S., particularly the youth
of colour) are subject to growing repression: increased surveillance,
heightened policing, stop-and-frisk policies on the streets, overbroad gang
injunctions, and spiraling rates of juvenile incarceration.[2]
I discern some similarities with the experiences of the Fano in Ethiopia that
is repression and increased surveillance. In this article, I argue that we have
much to learn from our Fano who are already engaged in mobilizing their peers,
families, and communities towards defending the marginalized ethnic groups in
Ethiopia and fostering positive social transformation. I discuss key
challenges, and provide recommendations for educators and adult allies of this
defiant youth movement.
The philosophical
foundation/methodology that undergirds this study is critical theory with
elements of post-structuralism and post-colonialism. The strategies used to
collate and collect data is meta-analysis (data synthesis), some form of
discourse analysis, personal accounts, and a limited amount of sociological
introspection. The study shows that it is high time to stop the madness and readdress
the chronic and pervasive disparities within and between groups. It is an
imperative that we focus on our similarities and common destiny. “The fight is
never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.” It is about the Ethiopian
people. It is just unacceptable to seek self-aggrandizement, as seen among radical
Tigrayan and Oromo ethno-nationalists, for ourselves—or for our specific ethnic
group, and increase power and influence to draw attention to own importance—and
forget about progress and prosperity for the multitudes of ethnic groups in
Ethiopia. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations
and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own. I argue Fano has captured
this essence.
Fano
and the plight of authentic Ethiopians
Fano
is a traditional volunteer fighter, or a rebel against the system and
landlords, mostly in Gonder and Gojjam. Some of them act alone or may band
together into groups[3].
They normally walk around on foot, that is why they are called Fanos, according
to my respondent. ‘Some of them are bandits or outlaws, really. They don't have
to be young’. However, the essence of Fano has changed after 2016
onwards. They became defiant Amhara youngsters who were fed up with the
hegemony exercised by a small Tigrayan clique over the Amhara and the rest of
Ethiopia. According to one account ‘while the Qeerroo was peacefully protesting
and dying, the Fanos followed the traditional heritage protest, if shot at,
they would kill and die or kill and escape to ambush the killer later.
Those who took up arms would elect a leader or የጎበዝ አለቃ among the most elderly and experienced person, like Gobiye, and became a
nightmare to Woyane (TPLF). አርበኛ (patriots) is more matured Fanos.’
The
brave story of Eshete Moges and his son Yitagesu Moges embodies the Fano
spirit. No Surrender: a Father and his son— an Extraordinary act of heroism and
valor continues to live forever—the story reads:
Eshete Moges
was born in the Qewot district near Shewa Robit. The 56-year-old man was the
father of seven children and a resident of Shewaroit. He was also a businessman
in town. When the troops of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)
approached Ataye, which is near Shewarobit, in late November 2021, he tried to
mobilize fighters in Shewa Robit and asked them to fight. His words were that
“If we don’t defend Shewa Robit, who will? I will not leave Shewa Robit and
go”. First, he started fighting the TPLF forces from Shewa Robit. Since he was
defiant to everyone else, his mother had to intervene, as in tradition, to get
him to leave the city. He moved with his son to a place called Salaysh, which
is only 15 kilometers from Shewa Robit, but the TPLF forces also reached
Salaysh in a very short time. He was again advised to abandon Salaysh and
withdraw. This time he refused and decided to fight the TPLF forces with his
son. When the TPLF troops reached the house where they lived, Eshete Moges took
down five TPLF forces. His son killed two others when they tried to break into
the building of the house they lived in. The son had only one handgun, but his
father was armed with an AK-47. The son had to go out to get a rifle from one
of the TPLF forces that he shot. And they had to change their positions. They
retreated to the back of the house, where there was a sorghum farm.
Unfortunately, Eshete’s son, Yitagesu, was killed in the process. In the
meantime, Eshete had to call his brother-in-law and tell him his situation.
“Listen to me. Yitagesu has been killed. Can you hear me? Pay attention. He has
been killed by the sorghum farm near Assefa Taye’s house. I am near his body. I
have been surrounded and I will die there too. Our body will lie there … I’ll
pay you in heaven.” The brother-in-law tried to convince the father to leave
his son’s body and flee, but the father refused and decided to fight until his
last breath. The number of TPLF forces he killed following the phone call is
unknown. But he killed two right after TPLF fighters killed his son. Since
then, the retrieved transcript of the telephone conversation between Eshete and
his brother-in-law has been published, offering Ethiopians of all walks of life
a tangible example of duty and sacrifice in what is, to all accounts, an
extremely moving and brave act. [4]
Despite being an unpaid, under-resourced, self-armed volunteer defence group,
Fano has proven to be a
complete game-changer in the current war directed at destroying Ethiopia and
eradicating the Amhara population. Fano has
continued its offensive on the enemy with perseverance and bravery until the
safety of the people of Amhara and Afar is assured and until the rebel group
(TPLF) ceases to cause suffering on Ethiopians ever again. Fano has carried out
successive lightning offensives on enemy forces that had been deployed in the
Amhara region. And, Fano is determined to carry out successive offensives and
score victories until the safety of the people of Ethiopia is secured
regardless of where the enemy resides and how intensely it fortifies itself. The Fanos are feared
groups of fighters, not because they fight for glory but to save their people
from annihilation. They are the embodiment of Amhara spirit and defendant of
Ethiopia throughout history. Even the government sees them
with suspicion fearing the potential force of the movement in unifying Ethiopia
and protecting the Amharas who are in a precarious situation due to the endless
succession of genocidal acts committed against them. They endured sabotage and
unfair treatment by some corners of the army and local governments. In spite of
attacks from every side, Fano has grown in strength and confidence and become a formidable force to be reckoned with. In a video I watched few days
ago, I have seen a Fanno commander teaching his fellow subordinates to treat
captured Tigrayan combatants humanly in God-fearing, compassionate and
disciplined manner despite the fact that the Tigrayan forces have been
terrorizing people, by killing civilian summarily, creating unprecedented and
unmanageable destruction to private and public property, tarnishing religious
site for the last 5 months. In this respect, Fano symbolizes "Mission
first, people always.” It is a motto that rings true and cuts to the heart of
what the Fano is about. Fano exists to deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars
as we witnessed newly, yet every aspect of operations remains a human endeavor.
A Fano is behind every weapons system
in order to accomplish the mission. It is a 'public soldier', an Ethiopian son
or daughter, who takes an oath to support and defend the lives of Amhara and
the Ethiopian nation at large , who stands ready and courageously on point for
the nation and who understands the sacrifice involved in being part of a
purpose greater than self. The following links[5] show the 'super humanity' of
Fano.
These renewed movements
by Fano to destroy the enemy reflect our current digital age, in which young
people can increasingly connect with one another in their own countries and
across borders. In doing so, they are exposing the gap between the promise of
opportunity and the grim reality of unequal chances that Ethiopians and in
particular the Amharas had to endure. The brave and moving way in which, out of their anguish and pain, Fano
are telling the world that the discrimination, marginalization and ethnic
cleansing of the Amhara will be the thing of the past and that they are
determined to change the political
landscape, perhaps permanently and fundamentally. It’s not just in Ethiopia
that a youth-led revolution is coming alive. In
Africa and around the world, young people are becoming a
power in their own right. Millions of young people are now engaged in what has
become the civil-rights struggle of our time – the fight for every child’s
right to go to school, and to do so in safety and live a decent life. The
Amharas have been deprived of those basic rights since TPLF came to power in
1991 and now it has reached the climax. In the recent invasion of Amhara region
by the TPLF, thousands of schools, health centers and other basic amenities and
infrastructures have been looted or destroyed. The intellectual and cultural
genocide is well documented.
Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous
state, has a young population with more than 70 percent of its inhabitants
below the age of 35. Ethiopian regimes have a history of youth neglect and
repression, and more recently, co-optation through patronage politics.
Unemployment and political marginalization have continued to be a major
challenge for young people (Mycock and Tonge, 2012).[6]
Fano has witnessed this in real life. It is an important moment for us authentic Ethiopians– both inspiring
and chastening for those of us who were children of a 1960s or 70s cultural
revolution [student movement] that failed to fulfill its promise, and now find
ourselves overtaken by new movements with far more global potential for good.
The torch is not being passed to this new generation; this new generation has
had to seize it. They deserve our support[7]. There
are other youth movements in Ethiopia with some features of Fano: The Querro in Oromia, the Ejeto in Sidama, the Zarma
in Gurage and the Yelega in Wolayta.[8]
The fluid
politics of Ethiopia and the role to be played by Fano
In the fluid politics of Ethiopia in the
post-2018 period, the youth would remain important actors for several reasons
including their sheer size, increased activism and involvement in violence. In
addition, political parties and the government seek to entice the youth to
their side. As a result, it is expected that both youth development programmes
and institutions for youth representation will continue to be utilized by
incumbent governments. In this way, major youth policies in Ethiopia may not
actually empower the youth, but rather bind them in patronage relationships and
thereby reinforce their marginalization. The Fano have been watching this
carefully. They have been victimized and subjected to continuous surveillance.
One example is documented on March
28, 2020 (Ezega.com):
“An armed group in Amhara state of northern Ethiopia
known as "Fano" has accused the regional and federal governments of
joining hands to get rid of its structure by force. The Chairman of Fano
Solomon Atanaw said the “Fano” will not lay arms down before the demands of the
Amhara people are met. In an interview with local media, Solomon said the
demands include the return of Welqait, Raya, Dera, and Metekel zones to be part
of the Amhara region.The Chairperson also said members of the national defense
forces and security forces of regional government have launched attacks against
the Fano group and killed its members”.
In the
same statement, the regional government demanded the group to disarm and
surrender to the government peacefully. The regional government also proposed
to members of the rebel force to end the fighting and submit to the regional
administration in exchange for offers, including jobs as members in the
national defense forces on condition of meeting requirements, plots of land for
small scale investments and farming as well as loans. “Fano will disarm if the
demands of the people are met. We do not have any intention to be included in
the government’s security structure. We want to lead our lives as farmers,
traders or public servants,” Solomon added. This is actually an old story. The
Fano has been transformed in recent months following its successful actions in
defending the Amhara region (and Ethiopia), and pushing back the invaders.
While Amhara nationalism has
had an impact on the political consciousness of the youth and articulated
common interests, it is still characterized by a lack of ideological
clarity and a dependable institutional bulwark, a cohesive
social base or even, as one opposition politician has pointed out, a center of
gravity (Moges 2020).[9] This I believe can be
filled by the Fano movement. The fano youth activists believe that explicitly
challenging all the evil forces whose eyes are stuck on the Amhara remains a
crucial task for social and political transformation. Around the globe,
wherever we look closely at social and political movements, we find that some
of the most “invisible” young people are also the most active, engaged, and
creative in movement strategy and tactics, as well as media production and use.
Youth are often dismissed for a lack of civic engagement, or attacked for being
disruptive. Yet disruption of oppressive laws, norms, and practices is a
crucial aspect of all liberatory movements. We should recognize and respect The
Fano youth movement has potentially powerful social movement actors, and
allocate resources to support, amplify, and extend their impact.[10]
In the past two
years only, several thousands of Amhara residents have been murdered and brutalized,
and hundreds of thousands displaced and made homeless. The TPLF had been
planting the seeds of hate and that it is directly and indirectly behind the
pogroms and genocidal crimes against, in particular, the Amhara ethnic group
and the Orthodox faithful[11]. The TPLF had been blamed
for pitting the Oromo against Amhara; they had been instigating armed groups in
the Benishangul region against the Amhara with the help of their lackeys.[12] The U.N. office on
genocide prevention has condemned targeted attacks against civilians based on
their ethnicity or religion, including hate speech and incitement to violence,
in Ethiopia. It has warned that ethnic violence “has reached an alarming level
over the past two years,” and the new rhetoric sets a “dangerous trajectory
that heightens the risk of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes
against humanity”. The alarm was stated a year ago. During this past year and
in particular the last five months have been a hell of a life for the Amharas
and Afar civilians. The destruction of properties and life are unimaginable. The
Amhara region is the frontline for the bloody conflict wracking Ethiopia.
Genocide has become a reality with 3.7 million people now in urgent need of humanitarian
assistance. More than 80 percent (7.8 million) of those in need of assistance
in northern Ethiopia, moreover, are behind the lines of combat. That opens up
various opportunities for humanitarian agents.[13]
The International Council for Diplomacy and Dialogue
listed that women are raped at gunpoint, robbed and assaulted; there is a lack
of medical care, housing, water, and sanitation services; other trends, perhaps
too numerous to list, contribute to what has become an ongoing genocide.
In a compellingly insightful
article entitled “If I look at the mass I will never act”:
Psychic numbing and genocide,[14]
Slovic (2007) wrote that most people are caring and will exert great effort to
rescue individual victims whose needy plight comes to their attention. These
same good people, however, often become numbly indifferent to the plight of
individuals who are “one of many” in a much greater problem. Of course, every
episode of mass murder is unique and raises unique obstacles to intervention.
But the repetitiveness of such atrocities, ignored by powerful people and
nations, and by the general public as we witnessed in the case of the Amhara
plight, calls for explanations that may reflect some fundamental deficiency in
our humanity — a deficiency that, once identified, might possibly be overcome.
The Fano is vividly aware of this injustice from within and beyond.[15]
Concerns over disinformation, fake news and grievance politics
In
Ethiopia, concerns over disinformation, fake news and grievance politics by
ethnic-nationalist groups such as the TPLF and OLF/OLA have intensified in
recent years. The disinformation includes mischaracterizing the Fano movement.
Policymakers, researchers and observers worry that these groups (TPLF and OLF)
team up with notorious Western journalists to spread false narratives and
disseminate rumors in order to shape international opinion and, by extension,
government policies. The available evidence suggests that the strategic effects
of disinformation are real in the Ethiopian case. Fake news, hate speech and
misinformation is creeping through all social media platforms and regular media
outlets. With more and more people relying on social media as a source of news,
there are legitimate concerns that such content could influence audiences
unable to distinguish truth from fact or news from propaganda. This
“infodemic,” as Dustin Carnahan calls it, puts misleading information front and
center —adding fuel to politically contentious fires and escalating social
issues to the level of crises. Instead of being places where people stay
connected and share the details of their lives, modern media/social media
platforms are increasingly being used as sources of information. A
recent report — Disinformation in Tigray: Manufacturing Consent For a
Secessionist War (Published on May 9, 2021) by New Africa Institute —
vividly showed the tragedy that is unfolding. The report has shown how the TPLF
started the Tigray conflict by attacking the Northern Command on November 4,
2020 with the goal of triggering an ethnic war that could potentially pave its
way back to power in Addis Ababa. According to Bronwyn Bruton (2020), despite
the massive human rights violations that were associated with TPLF rule—despite
the authoritarianism and theft, the imprisonments and the torture that have
been laid at its door—TPLF international allies have neither repudiated those
well-founded concerns, nor have they examined their own inappropriate
investment in the TPLF welfare. International analysts, in their assessments of
the current crisis, have pointedly and repeatedly failed to even raise any
concern about any aspect of the TPLF dishonorable maladministration and
intransigence (See also Nemozen, 2021/06/24
Pay any price, bear any burden and Al Mariam, July 2, 2021).[16]
In this grotesque chain of events and travesty of justice, the role played by Fano
has so far been exemplary, and the potential to represent the disfranchised
Amhara in the international arena has become more obvious.
Conclusion
We
should recognize and respect the young people who are part of the Fano movement
as potentially powerful political, military and social movement actors, and
allocate resources to support, amplify, and extend their impact. Educators and
adult allies who want to strengthen the fano can help in many ways. Respect
and Recognition: we should start
from a place of respect for the movement’s autonomy, opinions, desires, and
actual capacity to take part in and lead this powerful political and social
movement that can truly transform the situation in Ethiopia, saving Ethiopia
and guaranteeing the survival of the Amhara population[17].
In addition, do not dismiss youth who do engage in prefigurative politics as “unfocused,”
“ineffective,” or “idealistic.” Young people considered rash by their elders
have often sparked social transformation that was later seen as “inevitable”.[18]
It is high time to engage in open dialogue about strategy and tactics and take
the Fano youth opinions seriously. Representation: Challenge ethnicist or narrow nationalist representations of people wherever
you find them. Lift up and share examples of young people in the Amhara region
and beyond who do get involved in social, political and military movements, or
even better, help create opportunities for Fano youth activists to share their
own experiences with peers and adults alike. Real talk: It
is imperative to create open conversations with youth and in particular active
members of the Fano movement about systems of power, oppression, resistance,
and liberation. Ethno nationalism, Capitalism, Racism, and Patriarchy, as well
as Individualism, Competition, and Consumerism, are interlinked systems that
deeply impact all young people's lives and in particular the Amhara youth who
are subjected to brutal attacks and discrimination.[19]
Discuss them together in intergenerational spaces [with brave elders with their
fascinating narratives], without trying to impose one “correct” way of
understanding them. Together, the Fano youth and adult allies can surface
alternative narratives like unity, equity, diversity, respect, inclusion,
bravery, and connected fate. Encourage, rather than suppress, gender and
‘ethnic talk’, and explicitly address structural and institutional
discrimination and marginalization the source of which is the apartheid
Ethiopian constitution, while supporting the development of an intersectional
and interregional analysis. Real talk helps the Fano youth build real
movements.
“All too often, when we
see injustices, both great and small, we think, That's terrible, but we do
nothing. We say nothing. We let other people fight their own battles. We remain
silent because silence is easier. Qui tacet consentire videtur is Latin for 'Silence
gives consent.' When we say nothing, when we do nothing, we are consenting to
these trespasses against us.” ― Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist
[2][2] Youth and Social Movements: Key Lessons for
Allies December 17, 2012. Sasha Costanza-Chock.The Kinder & Braver World
Project: Research Series (danah boyd, John Palfrey, and Dena Sacco, editors)
[3] According to one of my respondents, a former
diplomat and military officer “Fanos are not organized bodies. They are groups not
centralized but fighting for one cause at different times at different places
for different causes related to the threats Ethiopians face at all corners of
the nation” (Dec 24 2021).
[4]
https://newsbeezer.com/ethiopia/eshete-moges-yitagesu-eshte-brave-father-and-son-paid-in-life-together/
[6] Neglect, Control and Co-optation: Major
features of Ethiopian Youth Policy Since 1991.Asnake Kefale, Mohammed Dejen, Lovise Aalen (2021). Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI
Working Paper WP 2021:3) 26 p
[7] Youth and Social Movements: Key Lessons for
Allies December 17, 2012. Sasha Costanza-Chock.The Kinder & Braver World
Project: Research Series (danah boyd, John Palfrey, and Dena Sacco, editors)
[8] In both Oromia and Amhara, semi-organised
networks of youth emerged, centred around each ethnic groups’ longstanding
demands and against the repression by the ruling party. These are known as the Querro in Oromia and the Fano
in Amhara. Similar youth activism gradually evolved also beyond Oromia and
Amhara. Since 2015, we have seen the development of the same kind of youth
movements in many ethnic groups, raising political demands such as enhanced
autonomy for their ethnic communities. These among others include networks in
the largest ethnic groups in Southern Ethiopia – the Ejeto in Sidama, the Zarma
in Gurage and the Yelega in Wolayta (Asnake Kefale, Mohammed
Dejen, Lovise Aalen (2021).
[9] http://www.ethiopatriots.com/pdf. UNTOLD MASSACRES AGAINST ETHNIC
AMHARAS IN ETHIOPIA Quarterly Report on the Human Rights Violations Against the
Amhara People of Ethiopia: January – March 2021
[10] Occupy
Research. (2012). Summary of Findings from the Occupy Research General Survey.
In K. Khatib, M. Killjoy, & M. McGuire (Eds.), We Are Many: Reflections
on Movement Strategy from Occupation to Liberation. Oakland, CA: AK Press.
http://www.akpress.org/wearemany.html
[11] The authorities are accomplices in a number of major attacks
on the civilian population in Oromia and Benshangul regions. These aiding and
abetting within the system (military and security) has been well documented.
Ethnically targeted measures, hate speech and allegations of atrocities
occurring in the country are deeply worrying. The demonization of ethnic
groups, in particular the Amhara ethnic group,
is a vicious and lethal cycle from which Ethiopia must be spared.
[12] https://ethiopoint.com/the-cult-of-victimization-in-ethiopian-ethnic-politics-the-subjection-of-amharas-to-triple-victimhood/
[13] www.icdd.info ICDD is recognized by Europa’s
Transparency Register as well as the ESA’s Civil Society System (UN Department
of Economic and Social Affairs).
[14] Paul Slovic Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 2, No. 2,
April 2007, pp. 79–95
[15] The Amhara civil, political, economic,
cultural, and social rights are violated through various means. Though all the
rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the legally
binding International Covenants of Human Rights are considered essential, there
are certain types of violations we tend to consider more serious. Civil rights,
which include the right to life, safety, and equality before the law are
considered by many to be “first-generation” rights. Political rights, which
include the right to a fair trial and the right to vote, also fall under this
category. The Amharas living in the regional states of Benishangul Gumuz and
Oromia are denied all of these.
[18] Applied Research Center.(2012). Millennials, Activism,
and Race. Dominique Apollon. http://www.arc.org/millenials
[19]
file:///C:/Users/Gissa2/AppData/Local/Temp/KBWYouthandSocialMovements2012_0.pd
