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Band of Armenian Orphans

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Haileselassie's Band of Armenian Orphans A bond forged through a common Orthodox faith left a lasting imprint on Ethiopia’s music Irina Costache |  October 10, 2025 The 40 Armenian orphans with their leader, Kevork Nalbandian , in the middle holding a violin. (From the archives of St. George Armenian Apostolic Church in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia) In the spring of 1924, Ras Tafari Makonnen , Ethiopia’s crown prince, regent plenipotentiary and de facto ruler, embarked on a diplomatic world tour. His country had just become the first African nation admitted to the League of Nations , and the prince (later to become Emperor Haile Selassie ) wanted to thank the countries that had supported Ethiopia’s candidacy, display his country’s modernity and ensure its sovereignty would be respected. Before continuing toward Europe, Tafari made a stop in Jerusalem. Back home, the Ethiopian Church questioned the prince’s religious devotion, so the visit was meant to be a symbolic demonst...
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Egypt's Glass House

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Sisi is trying to distract Egyptians from his corrupt leadership. He seems to have a short memory, Tahrir Uprising only a decade-and-half ago. How does he distract this time? Start a proxy war connected to the Nile, the lifeblood of Egypt. Tell the public that Ethiopia is emptying the Nile (quite a feat), or as his predecessors long ago  feared, was planning to poison the waters! It's all nonsense, of course. Now, consider spending $56 billion on spanking new military city (The Octagon) at a time of high unemployment, human rights abuses, economic crisis, and Sisi government making profit from Palestinian suffering.  The "Coalition of Seven" that Isaias organized on behalf of Sisi is supposed to serve two purposes: first, by fear-mongering both Isaias and Sisi hope to subdue their respective publics from rising up against their dictatorial rule; secondly, Isaias would benefit in cash and in steady supply of armament (a supply he could never get enough of).  Nearly two dec...
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Wars of a Small Nation

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Eritrea has been involved in clashes with neighbors near and far since its independence in 1993. Let's see if we can count a few of them, excluding violent measures to subdue local dissent or to support insurgents to destabilize Ethiopia. 1. Clash with Yemen over Hannish Islands (1995) 2. Border Skirmishes with Sudan (1996-1998) 3. Intervention in the Congo War (1996-1997) 4. War with Ethiopia (1998-2000) 5. Border Conflict with Djibouti (2008) 6. Eritrea sent about 400 fighters to Yemen in support of the Saudi -led Arab coalition during the Yemeni civil war (2015). Eritrea got direct cash payouts and fuel supply, etc., in return (according to UN Monitoring Group report)  7. Intervention in Tigray  war (2020-2022) 8. Currently brewing clashes with Ethiopia , siding with Egypt (2026) In other words, Eritrean leadership has proven itself totally incapable of resolving internal dissent or external disputes through dialogue and cooperation, that is, without resorting to war of...
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Egypt's War

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The real reason Egypt is stoking conflict in Ethiopia has little to do with a dam or reduced water volume. The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was planned a/ in consultation with international experts,  b/ with the full assurance that downstream countries (Sudan and Egypt) will still be receiving their quota,  c/ envy because, whereas, Egypt had to depend on the Soviet Union (after US and Britain withdrew their offer) to finance the Aswan (inaugurated in 1971),  Ethiopians scraped together every centime to build their own (which began operation in 2025), and d/ Egypt is still stuck in the distant past, acting like Pharaoh or more recently, its colonizer Britain. In other words, it has convinced itself that it could unilaterally decide how Ethiopia should harness its God-given resources. The real reason for Egypt turning so violent is due to its domestic policy crisis, which smacks of the 2011 Tahrir Troubles. Consider these facts: 1. Egypt's pound has lost 70% of i...
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Tirunesh

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for Tirunesh Dibaba (after Coleridge) The shadow of the dome of pleasure Floated midway on the waves; Where was heard the mingled measure From the stadia and the caves. It was a miracle of rare device, A sunny pleasure-dome with hooray thrice! An Antelope with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw; It was an Ethiopian raid, And on her dulcimer she played, can't you see Singing of GaraSero Bekoji. WARNING: Samuel Taylor Coleridge [1772 -1834] was said to have received “Kubla Khan” poem in an opium-infested dream! We, therefore, caution you, dear viewer, to not be found reading our paraphrase of the original poem within the precincts of the (2012) London Olympics.:) Reprinted from 2012 London Olympics post
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