Meles Zenawi Memorial Service: pros and cons (David Shinn & Tedla Asfaw)

Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York

“The event at the Abyssinian Baptist Church was not a political rally”

David Shinn
Together with three other former U.S. ambassadors to Ethiopia, I attended the memorial service for Meles Zenawi on 27 October 2012 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in the Harlem section of New York. Among the persons who made remarks were Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and Susan Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

I was saddened by some of the vituperative and just plain disrespectful remarks (usually by anonymous individuals) that subsequently appeared on Ethiopian websites in response to the remarks of Ambassador Rice. While I was not invited to make remarks, I have no doubt that whatever I might have said would also have been harshly criticized by these same individuals. Like Ambassador Rice, I have disagreed both as a representative of the U.S. government and as a private individual with some of the policies of Prime Minister Meles. But in spite of these disagreements, I always respected Meles as a person and the office that he held.

David Shinn, former US ambassador toEthiopia

The event at the Abyssinian Baptist Church was a memorial to a deceased person; it was not a political rally. It was the wrong time and place to express such hostility. But lest the readers of the hostile blog postings think this was a major protest rally, let me make one point crystal clear. I walked from my hotel in Harlem to the Church on Saturday morning and passed across the street from all SIX protestors at fifteen minutes before nine, when the service began.

 At the conclusion of the service I returned to my hotel at about noon. The number of protestors had grown to between ten and twelve. Perhaps there were several more present when the service was underway and they decided to leave before noon. But this was a very small group of protestors.
As for the remarks made by Ambassador Rice, I urge that you read them yourself and make up your own mind.
Source: Amb. David Shinn’s official blog

“Abyssinian Baptist Church was condemned by Abyssinians in Harlem”

Tedla Asfaw
“Pray for the Victims not for a killer “, this was the rallying cry for Saturday morning Oct. 27 rally in front of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York. The campaign against the Abyssinian Baptist Church has been going on in all fronts since last week. After the news of Woyane and Abyssinian Baptist Church collaboration to organize a memorial service for late Meles Zenawi was out patriot Ethiopians/Abyssinians in New York area mobilized Ethiopians in many fronts.

The telephone and the email campaign saturated the office of Dr. Calvin Butts the pastor of the church for a week and today was the final encounter face to face. The cloudy mild dark morning of Harlem was brightened by Harlem Hospital lights. Other than that most shops were not opened around 7am this morning. The police were in full force to control the protesters while Woyane cadres were jumping up and down to tell us that we have no permission to protest.

The police told the wild cadres to go to their place and leave alone those of us who come early to join the protest. Our designated area was just across the main entrance and later the police just moved us five feet from where we planned to confront all who came to join their memorial service for the late Meles Zenawi. Way before the starting of the service 8:30am the Woyane supporters were confronted by slogans shouted from close distance.
“Pray for Victims not for a killer”, we do not mean for Woyane supporters. This slogan is to challenge foreigners who came from UN invited by the regime cadres. ” Pray for Meles Zenawi is praying for Benito Mussolini”, this one really send a message directly to Dr. Calvin Butts and the Abyssinian Baptist Church establishment. Abyssinian Baptist Church was a historical church for black race..

The Abyssinian Baptist Church that took its name from proud “Abyssinians” has now come low by praying for Meles Zenawi a man who was in power for 21 years insulting Ethiopians who fought Mussolini. In 1808 merchant Ethiopians and African Americans established their own church naming it “Abyssinian” in honor fellow Ethiopians who said no to segregation in church. Unfortunately, Meles is the darling of Obama, Susan Rice, Dr. Calvin Butts and all who fell in love with him for twenty one years for their own selfish interest..
Susan Rice on her eulogy in Addis Ababa this past September had made herself the most hated woman in the Ethiopian Diaspora and in Ethiopia.

 The Ethiopian people gave her a “Yellow Card” in silence. We condemned her on Internet and CSPAN and educate the American people this person is not fit to be US Ambassador to the UN. No wonder the American people came to know her very well for lying fin public for the cause of the death of four Americans including the Ambassador in Benghazi on 9/11 of this year.

Her love and admiration for Meles Zenawi has once again brought her in Harlem this morning. She entered to the church hiding behind security but was out in front of the protesters to be exact 11:27am on her way home. The crowd shouted, “Shame on you Ambassador Susan Rice’, she stopped on her track. The shout continued for few minutes unstoppable. The crowd gave her the “Red Card” because of her unremorseful behavior.

Susan Rice was fired the day after the Ethiopian Muslims celebrating Eid-al-Adha gave a Yellow Card for Woyane in Addis Ababa on October 26, yesterday. Two weeks before the American election where Romney is leading in popular vote in polls and her boss is in trouble the Red Card is very significant. Susan Rice political life is dead whether Obama won or loss. She has no credibility at all. Denying the genocide in Rwanda, eulogizing the worst human rights abuser in the Horn of Africa, denying terrorism in Benghazi has put nail on her political career.

Tedla Asfaw, Ethiopian activist

Bye Bye Susan Rice we will never see you again. This was the highlight of our rally. She was the big catch in our mission today. We gave her a good lesson never to be forgotten. Another mission we accomplished is exposing Abyssinian Baptist Church. Its followers were handed more than two hundred copies of flyers exposing the brutality of Meles Zenawi and their own church condoning such actions last Sunday. It is up to them to ask Dr. Calvin what has happened to their historical church ?

“Shame on You Abyssinian Baptist Church praying for a killer”. Many Harlemites who woke up early got the list of those who were killed by direct order of Meles Zenawi. Abyssinian Baptist Church did not stand with the victims. Shame on them !!! We ended our rally 12:30pm after the last Woyane supporter left the Abyssinian Baptist Church. It is indeed Hurricane Sandy has arrived early in Harlem. Those of us who prayed for the victims were not hurt because we have millions of Ethiopians as protectors and those who pray for a killer will pay the price in one form or another