Who does the ONLF represent ?

[Jacaylbaro]

This Topic has been around these days and a lot of websites have been circulating it among us.

 

I don't think we can ignore at it talking a valid subject

[The Zack]

The ONLF is a grassroots social and political movement founded in 1984 by the Somali people of ****** who could no longer bear the atrocities committed against them by successive Ethiopian regimes. Today, the ONLF as both an advocate for and defender of the people is dedicated to resotring the rights of Somalis in ****** to self-determination, peace, development and democracy

[The Zack]

Why would you use Awadalnews.com as a resource to tell us who the ONLF really represents.

[Fabregas]

He just gave a history a less about that particular region. The rest of his argument was in essense praising "non ocaden" clans and vilifying the O.N..F and " Ocaden line". Probably just shows the sat state Somalis live in. Ie they fear each other more than they fear or despise the Zenawi regime. I would have like to heard how the O.N.LF is simply suppose to " lay" down it's sword when they are in a theatre of war? Of course what he is saying about O.N.L.F might be well true, but this very rationale of thinking( ie qabilism) is probably what put Somalis in this peril!

[Xoogsade]

It was disturbing to read how somalis were boycotting one single clan who is obviously in need of a help. Also, did anyone notice how the writer referred to himself as a somali-ethiopian? That was weird to say the least.

[The Zack]

That article is just full of non sense and doesn't deserve to be posted.

[Xoogsade]

^ It highlighted how ungodly and cruel somalis can be to one another.

[The Zack]

^ that is true.

[Jacaylbaro]

Originally posted by The Zack:

Why would you use Awadalnews.com as a resource to tell us who the ONLF really represents.

and what is wrong with the Awdaynews ?

 

I've seen this in many websites and just posted the last one i seen ,,, if you want i could give you a list of those websites who published the article but you wouldn't like it

[NASSIR]

The author has understandably failed to exercise restraint for his emotions, but overall the writer has a point.

 

It takes the support of every Somali clan in the region to decide for the future and destiny of the Somali Region in Ethiopia. If you put yourself in the opponents’ shoes, you will see that the armed struggle for freedom and independence in the name of one dominant group has no substantive goal. Yet for the opponent, it is like different means of achieving the same end, so their position is realistically clear as the struggle has achieved little.

 

I would think that all the Somali people in the region to convene all of their elders, politicians, and scholars, in a major reconciliation conference supported by the U.N. and the Diaspora, resolve their own internal problems, and then decide what is best for their future. I understand how hard it is to achieve that goal of solidarity and unity under the dictates of an imposing administration, but to cement the relationship of the Somalis in the region is the best alternative to the resort of violence by one group.

[The Zack]

I would think that all the Somali people in the region to convene all of their elders, politicians, and scholars, in a major reconciliation conference supported by the U.N. and the Diaspora, resolve their own internal problems, and then decide what is best for their future.

The ONLF already did make those attempts sxb and it was never successful. You may need to further research the region's history.

[Abu-Salman]

Another attempt by islamophobe secularists and/or Ethiopian propagandists to further divide us into clan lines, that is, as if all Somalis haven't suffered enough during the last decades under Abyssinian colonization and the whole region wasn't marginalized ("Somalis are nomads, therefore unable to govern themselves" said Meles during a poor attempt to justify the lack of Somalis representents in the Ethiopian so-called parliament).

 

Sadly, some websites have fallen into the trap (though it would have been expected from Awdalnews as its editor Bashir Goth is a vocal Secularist that decredibilized himself through his numerous anti-Islamic writings).

 

Doesn't it contains enough outright lies and inaccuracies that anyone acquainted with the region could immediately spot?

 

 

PS: I have no link whatsoever with the ONLF, but obviously I can only sympathizes with fellow Muslim Somalis whose plight and unprecedented suffering is ignored by the "International Community" and naturally, we must leave no stone unturned to prevent the historical colonist to exploit our own oil for furthering its genocidal agenda (hence why Somalis' unity is paramount)...

[Jacaylbaro]

Forget about Bashir Goth and the website ,,, what about the name ONLF itself bearing in mind what you've just said about the tribalism and qabiil issue in the somali context ??

[Abu-Salman]

While deeming everything else irrelevant, you chose to focuze instead on the O in ONLF.

 

Well, an alternative may have appeased some fears of "clan hegemony" but after pondering a while, I have to admit that Og-aden was still the internationally well-known name of the region (especially after the liberation struggle in the 70s which opposed Somalis against Abyssinian colonization).

 

Hence, in this age where medias are so crucial, the ONLF initials come in a handy while, simultaneously, avoiding the trap of depicting the liberation struggle as a territory dispute between Somali and Ethiopia (unlike the former Western Somali liberation front), as it has been stressed over and over again.

 

Having said that, this trivial designation issue epitomizes the larger inter-clans suspicions on which the historical enemy thrive; if people prefer their own brand, then by all means, do so and resist under your prefered banner!

 

Nevertheless, to simplify it through one example, France comes from the Franks (a mere single German tribe) and you hardly witness Frenchs disputing over it, albeit they originate from almost every imaginable bacground (German tribes, Greeks, Romans, Arabs ect who mixed over millenaries with different religions and sects)...

 

 

PS: Prof Ahmed I Samatar, who contributed so much to Somali studies through his decades long meticulous work and whose input is valued by the highest officials, have exposed briefly yet brilliantly, both international and local dynamics relevant to Somalis over the centuries: Ahmed I Samatar iyo Shirkii Den Haag by Hiiraan Online

[Jacaylbaro]

you chose to focuze instead on the O in ONLF

and what is wrong with that ??

 

 

I have to admit that Og-aden was still the internationally well-known name of the region (especially after the liberation struggle in the 70s which opposed Somalis against Abyssinian colonization)

So you consider only what is internationally known ignoring the fact that it will affect the struggle inside the territory ??

 

and that is the point i want to raise here ....

 

 

if people prefer their own brand, then by all means, do so and resist under your prefered banner

So finally sheekadii qabiil baad ka dhigtay miyaa ?? ,,,,,,

 

that is what i don't want to happen sxb

 

 

PS: Prof Ahmed I Samatar

Ahhhhhhhhhh ,, that one ! ! ! !