US officialdom, and both state and corporate media in the US have described the Ethiopian conflict that began in November 2020 as the Ethiopian government’s persecution of the Tigrayan people, particularly in what they call “Western Tigray,” though it was historically populated and cultivated by Amhara people. This land, encompassing Welkait, Tegede, Tselemt, and Humera, was methodically annexed to the Tigray Region by the US’s longtime ally, the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front,(TPLF), during their three decades in power.
On April 7, I attended a press conference at Ethiopia’s University of Gondar where researchers presented their findings about mass graves and underground prisons created to dominate and destroy the identity of Amhara people who had lived their prior to the TPLF occupation Ten days later,I spoke to Sheba Tekeste, who joined photographer Jemal Countess to travel through some of the canyons and cliffs where the mass graves and prisons were uncovered. We spoke in the lobby of the Goha Hotel in Addis Ababa while a thunderstorm was underway outside.
