💭 An Ethnic Tigrayan Ethiopian marathon runner Teshome Mekonen Marks Third-Place Finish by staging a daring protest against atrocities in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region when he crossed the line at the New York City half-marathon on Sunday,
“Hawk Newsome, the co-founder of the Greater New York chapter of Black Lives Matter, was a speaker and denounced the international communities silence. He said if the victims of the mass killings and rapes were white, there would have been an intervention by now.“
About 1,000 people who hail from Ethiopia’s Tigray region braved the New York chilly temperature to converge on the United Nations Thursday to denounce the invasion of their region by federal troops, which occurred about 100 days ago.
They gathered across from U.N. headquarters at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in Manhattan.
The protest, billed as “100 Days of Genocide,” brought Tigrayans from allover the U.S., with some flying in from California. While most demonstrators delivered denunciations against Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and his ally Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, others drove a convoy of cars draped in Tigrayan colors, in New York’s streets. The drivers blared horns while repeatedly “Stand With Tigray,” and calling Abiy and Afwerki “murderers.”
Abiy has laid siege on Tigray, cutting off communications, including a total internet shutdown as well as transportation stoppage. Agricultural production has been disrupted in the region due to the war, which reportedly including bombing of civilians by the Ethiopian air force. Without food shipments, there are reports of ongoing mass starvation deaths, including of children. As many as 4.5 million people could face starvation if the blockade doesn’t end, demonstrators said. Tigrayans make up about six million of Ethiopia’s 112 million population.
The demonstrators’ demands include: the immediate creation of a humanitarian corridor to shipment of food, water, other relief supplies, and physicians into the cordoned off war zone; withdrawal of Eritrean troops that have intervened to support Abiy; and, an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of alleged crimes against humanity by the federal Ethiopian soldiers, and the Eritreans.
There have been widespread reports of atrocities, including weaponizing rape, the use of starvation to punish people in the Tigray region, and the indiscriminate killing of unarmed civilians by federal soldiers, and the Eritrean military. There are also reports of targeted infrastructure damage, including attacks on ancient churches and mosques.
Ethiopia and Eritrea once fought a very bloody, bitter war, over disputed boundaries. The two nations were then in a state of cold war for decades, with borders closed. When Abiy was appointed interim prime minister in April 2018, he surprised many people by opening up the political space in Ethiopia and reaching out to Eritrea’s ruler Isaias Afwerki to normalize relations. As a result of his trailblazing ways Abiy was awarded the nobel peace prize in 2019. Many of his critics now believe the prime minister repaired relations with Eritrea knowing all along that he’d need them to side with him in an attack against Tigray that he’d long planned. Some are now demanding that the nobel prize award be rescinded.
Many demonstrators held placards emblazoned with photos of Afwerki, with the words “Wanted—War Criminal.” Other posters read, “Stop War On Tigray,” “#Tigray Genocide,” “Stop Killing Innocent People,” “Stop Tigray Genocide,” “Time To Arrest Abiy Ahmed.”
The Eritreans have also built alliances with local activists. Hawk Newsome, the co-founder of the Greater New York chapter of Black Lives Matter, was a speaker and denounced the international communities silence. He said if the victims of the mass killings and rapes were white, there would have been an intervention by now.
A spokesperson for Americans who are former Peace Corps volunteers in Ethiopia also denounced the blockade and called for humanitarian aid to be allowed.
A Tigrayan-born New Yorker, a design associate at an architectural firm, shared the reasons why he joined his compatriots at the protest. “We want Eritrea to get out of Tigray. We want our women not to be raped. We want our churches not to be bombed. We want them to be places of worship, and we want our mosques not to be bombed,” he said.
Charlotte Phillips, an American activist with the organization Brooklyn For Peace, who held a sign that read “Abiy Ahmed: End the Tigray War, Famine, Killings, Looting,” denounced the invasion of Tigray.
“What’s happening in Tigray is totally unacceptable. We want the Security Council to get the U.N. to stop it,” Phillips said. “The international press has not been allowed to go in to report. There has been no access to humanitarian aid and this also is unacceptable.”
“We’ve heard of murders, of rapes going on, of violence against civilians by the Ethiopian soldiers and Eritrean soldiers,” she added.
Saudi Flag Statue to be Removed from near 9/11 Site after Backlash from Public
Sculpture honoring Saudi Arabia to be removed from Ground Zero
Somebody thought it would be a good idea to install a 9-foot-tall statue — paying tribute to Saudi Arabia and displaying its flag — near the 9/11 Memorial earlier this month, and New Yorkers are not happy.
As a result, Port Authority officials have decided to remove the art exhibit and place it somewhere else after receiving countless complaints from social media users and local victims groups — who are outraged since 15 of the 19 attackers on September 11 were Saudi citizens.
“We have been in contact with the 9/11 Memorial and various stakeholders, and in full collaboration with the artist will relocate the exhibit from its current location,” the agency said in a statement Monday. “We believe this solution respects the unique sensitivities of the site and preserves the artistic integrity of the exhibit.”
Many of the victims’ families and survivors have sued Saudi Arabia under the claim that its employees had willfully helped the 9/11 hijackers. The Middle East nation, however, has denied its involvement.
French artist Laurence Jenkell created the Saudi statue — which is made to look like a giant piece of candy — as part of a 2011 exhibit honoring countries in the G20 Summit. She has taken the “Candy Nations” installation to over 25 sites across the world.
“I first created flag candy sculptures to celebrate mankind on an international level and pay tribute to People of the entire world,” Jenkell told The Observer after rolling out the exhibit last week. “Given the unique and justified sensitivities surrounding the World Trade Center, it came to my mind to propose to remove the sculpture showcasing the flag of Saudi Arabia, or relocate it to a less sensitive location. But there is no way I can do such a thing as the flag of Saudi Arabia is entirely part of the G20 just like any other candy flag of this Candy Nations show.”
The Port Authority — which curated and installed the exhibit — made the decision for her and now plans to send the statues to JFK Airport, according to a PAPD spokesperson.
“The exhibit is being moved to JFK sometime this week,” the spokesperson said.
Relatives of 9/11 victims and survivors praised the move but still have their concerns.
“The Port Authority is apparently now taking the right action this week by removing the sculpture from the plaza at Ground Zero,” a statement reads from a coalition of family members. “Its apparent plan to relocate the exhibit to JFK International Airport is questionable as well, for obvious reasons. But surely the sculpture should be nowhere near the site of this mass murder.”
The group referred to the sculpture’s presence at the World Trade Center complex as an “outrageous affront to the 9/11 community and all other Americans who seek justice for the attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001.”
Many people had been blasting it on social media throughout the week.
“Statue needs to be destroyed!!!!” wrote one Twitter user in a message to the PAPD.
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