Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 23:25:30 +0200
'Salat Man' is symbol of resistance for Muslims in Ethiopia
Similar to China's 'Tank Man,' Ethiopia's 'Salat Man' could prove to be a
memorable symbolic icon.
Last Modified: 14 Aug 2013 12:33
<http://www.aljazeera.com/profile/mohammed-ademo-.html> Mohammed Ademo
Watch the Video-
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/08/2013814101647856399.html
Mohammed Ademo is the founder and editor of OPride.com, an independent news
website about Ethiopia.
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The appeal of non-violence as a means of social transformation is almost
universal. Few deny its awesome power when unleashed with discipline.
However, in the face of an impeding danger, especially one known to be as
brutal as they come, it takes a lot of courage to remain nonviolent. Even
though it calls for more valor than one need in a pitched battle, history
has recorded only a handful of such defiant acts of ultimate heroism in
man's long quest for freedom and justice.
But no incident exemplifies the true genius of such silent rebellion more
than
<http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/06/world/crackdown-beijing-one-man-can-make-
difference-this-one-jousted-briefly-with.html> China's Tank Man. The year
was 1989, at the height of a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters
in Beijing that saw hundreds, if not thousands, dead and many more arrested.
A sole rebel, whose identity remains unknown quarter of a century later,
took matters onto his own hands by blocking the advance of rumbling Chinese
tanks near Tiananmen Square -
<http://petapixel.com/2013/06/05/the-story-behind-the-iconic-tank-man-tianan
men-square-photo/> at least 18 of them -- dispatched to squash the popular
protests threatening one-party rule, once and for all.
The Unknown Soldier walked to the middle of the street, held what looked
like a shopping bag, and swerved left and right to halt the advance of the
juggernaut. The symbolism of his defiance was instantly broadcast around the
world and photos of his heroic resistance were globally published. Even in
the pre-Internet era, that single image of a skinny young man blocking the
path of the most fearsome of war machines immortalised the eventual triumph
of the fight against authoritarianism worldwide.
Ethiopia's 'China Tank Man'
On August 8, 2013 - far from China's Tiananmen Square, in Ethiopia's capital
Addis Ababa, a lone worshiper prayed the Eid Salat and was encircled by an
army of riot police. The image shows a man on his knees praying
unintimidated as a phalange of soldiers, bearing shields and batons, looked
on. The desolate background, apparently deserted by other worshipers fearful
for their lives or carted away, against an array of uniform police magnifies
the image of this unknown rebel. Asked to name the faithful in the picture,
<https://www.facebook.com/DimtsachinYisema> Dimtsachin Yisema, the Facebook
group often seen as the de facto leading body of the horizontal Ethiopian
Muslims movement, said in an email, "it was sent to us by an activist."
Ethiopia's unemployment pushes young people to extremes
Like the Chinese activists of the 80s, even if for different grievances,
Muslims in Ethiopia have been
<http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/ethiopian-repression-muslim-protests-must-st
op-2013-08-08> protesting against government interference in religious
matters for nearly two years.
Some 29 leaders of the nonviolent campaign that calls on the Ethiopian
government to respect it's own constitution remain incarcerated on tramped
up
<http://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/whats-new-at-uscirf/4063-press-release-usci
rf-calls-on-ethiopia-to-release-religious-freedom-advocates-on-trial-july-22
-2013.html> terrorism charges, the same charges used to muzzle journalists
like
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/opinion/letter-from-ethiopias-gulag.html>
Eskinder Nega and dissenting politicians
<http://opride.com/oromsis/news/horn-of-africa/3630-in-autocratic-ethiopia-w
e-are-all-bekele-garba> Bekele Garba .
A week before Eid-al-Fitr in Kofele, central Oromia, far removed from the
prying eyes of foreign cameras, over a dozen Muslim protesters, including a
mother and child, were
<http://opride.com/oromsis/news/horn-of-africa/3696-ethiopia-widespread-arre
sts-reported-after-eid-protests> massacred in broad daylight. The story
received
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/08/us-ethiopia-islam-protests-idUSBR
E9770NQ20130808> passing references in the mainstream media. A foreign
correspondent who visited the town few days after the incident was returned
to the capital under threat of imprisonment.
As was with the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 , sometimes it takes a
symbolic gesture to inspire courage. The photo of the "
<http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201308092338-0022971> Salat Man" in Addis
Ababa will likely go down the annals of history as one of the most iconic
symbols in the history of not just the Muslim protests but also of the
struggle of the country's diverse population for an end to the mounting
repression by a one-party rule, now in power for more than two decades.
Although similar in appearance, the two iconic images faced starkly
different fates. One was captured by CNN and the Associated Press cameras -
and instantly broadcast around the world. The other was captured by a
citizen journalist, perhaps with a mobile phone camera, and casually
uploaded on Facebook.
Ethiopia, a donor darling of the West, is considered to be one of the
<http://www.cpj.org/reports/2011/05/the-10-tools-of-online-oppressors.php>
most oppressive countries for journalists. It also boasts the largest number
of exiled journalists in the world.
Under these dire circumstances, even with a
<http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2012/ethiopia> below
regional average Internet penetration rate, social media has enabled
Ethiopian activists, at least in urban areas, to organise and get their
message across more effectively than the state, albeit to an indifferent
world .
Paradigm shift?
Protests are rare in Ethiopia. The last sustained protests in the country's
long but troubled history
<http://www.opride.com/oromsis/news/ethiopia/3161-ethiopia--it-is-time-to-re
chant-land-to-the-tiller> took down Emperor Haile Selassie, the last
monarch. The fatal blow to the tottering imperial regime was delivered by
Muslim protesters, joined by their liberal Christian allies, who staged one
of the largest demonstrations preceding the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974.
The ongoing Muslim movement is the most sustained, unified and well
organised the country has seen, perhaps in its entire history.
Muslims, estimated to be more than a third of Ethiopia's 93 million people,
<http://www.bilaltube.com/articles/read-the-%E2%80%9Cahbashism%E2%80%9D-camp
aign-in-ethiopia-and-the-resistance-of-the-muslim-people_56.html> began
protesting against government meddling in religious affairs in late 2011.
Demonstrations were set off when students at the nation's only Islamic
institute walked out of classes after their teachers were dismissed, and
replaced by regime loyalists through a government edict in an effort to
impose Lebanese Islamic sect called
<http://ddc.aub.edu.lb/projects/pspa/al-ahbash.html> Al-Ahbash .
Absent the alternative, activists now use social media as a primary
broadcasting medium
But the incident had an unforeseen consequence for the regime; it served as
a catalyst for a wider Muslim movement that
<http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/02/201322864454855976.html>
called for a redress of years of marginalisation and silent suffering. The
protesters demanded a free and fair election of Islamic leaders to the
highest Muslim council, known as Majlis.
First, the government agreed to negotiate with the protesters. The
protesters elected a committee of 17 Muslim activists to communicate their
grievances to the authorities. When the negotiations failed, the regime
arrested all of them in a desperate attempt to nip the movement that it
deemed extremist at the bud. This too backfired as the protester's calls
grew bolder and their nonviolent tactics more sophisticated. Ironically, the
jailed leaders of the two-year-old protest movement were among the most
educated and moderate Muslim thinkers the public has known.
As was the case in China throughout the 1980s, Ethiopia's state-run media
have launched continuous attacks on the movement and its leaders, including
a now famous mockumentary called
<http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2013/0214/Ethiopia-airs-jihadi-film-a
mid-sensitive-Muslim-protest-trial> Jihadawi Harakat. The fictitious film
juxtaposes unrelated events in an attempt to link the protesters to
terrorist groups in Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia.
Absent the alternative, activists now use social media as a primary
broadcasting medium. The greatest strengths of utilizing digital platforms
are also its greatest weaknesses. Given the information overload on social
media networks, some of the most important messages can easily be buried -
including the photo of the Salat Man .
If the image of Tank Man was one of
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/6152050/Ten-phot
ographs-that-changed-the-world.html> the top 10 photos that changed the
world, then when the symbolism and the defiant spirit of the Salat Man
finally reaches the public - those on the exteriors of Facebook walls - his
image too will forever inspire a generation of Ethiopian human rights
activists, Muslims or not.
Mohammed Ademo is a New York-based freelance journalist. A recent graduate
of Columbia Journalism School, he's also the founder and editor of
<http://www.opride.com/oromsis/> OPride.com, an independent news website
about Ethiopia.
http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2013/8/14/2013814102933790734_20.jpg
The Salat Man is a lone worshiper who was encircled by riot police
[Dimtsachin Yisema Facebook page]
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