In love with Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s ancient, intricate and unique history has drawn the arid interest of scholars from the earliest of times. The documented historical record of our country is extensive and Ethiopia is, along with ancient Egypt and Hellenic Greece, one of the few nations which has its history as a discipline of academia.
Contributing prolifically to this body of work since the late 60’s is Professor Haggai Erlich, a noted Israeli historian whose personal affection for Ethiopia has spurred him to author dozens of books and journals on Ethiopian Studies. Prof. Erlich is Professor Emiritus, Tel-Aviv University and a key collaborator in the Institute of Ethiopian Studies Encyclopedia Etiopica project.
Professor Erlich was in Addis Ababa recently invited by the Institute of Ethiopian Studies to present a lecture on the great Ethiopian military strategist - Ras Alula Aba Nega and kindly consented to be our interview guest of this week. Capital’s Teguest Yilma and Tesfu Tilahoun posed an interesting array of questions to the eminent Ethiopicist. Excerpts:

Capital: To what factors can we attribute your career long and passionate attraction to Ethiopia?
Prof. Haggi Erlich: It was a blend of being inspired by somebody and also of practicality. Inspiration-wise, I was studying classical and Middle Eastern history and one of my professors was Zvi Yavetz, who was among those Israelis who came to Ethiopia in the 60s. In fact, he established the Faculty of Humanities at the Haile Sellasie I University College.
I remember, while I was attending his seminar on Julius Caesar, how he recounted to us that he learned about the great Roman Emperor from Latin books but that he actually saw a real Caesar in action - Emperor Haile Sellasie I. He used much of the seminar to compare Julius Caesar to Haile Sellasie and I found it fascinating. However, I forgot about this for about four years until I finished my masters. I was then told by Tel Aviv University that if I made a switch in my studies to an African subject, I could earn a scholarship to do my doctorate in London. I agreed, of course, for economic reasons while also immediately recalling that fascinating lecture by my old professor Zvi Yavetz. Apart from that, there is the biblical link between Israel and Ethiopia. On the level of high school, B.A. and M.A., I was focused on the histories of Egypt, Yemen and the entire Arab world. That was my initial training. I was really not well prepared on Ethiopia when I joined the London school of Oriental Studies, to pursue my doctorate.
Capital: … and your particular interest in Ras Alula?
Prof. Erlich: I had thought I'd do something on the Emperor Yohannes period because I was already interested in that Emperor, having read some general history about the rivalry and connections of Yohannes versus Egypt and the Sudanese. The Red Sea was again a vibrant strategic arena for not only Africa but also to the whole Middle East.
However, I learned that Dejazmatch Zewdie Gebresellasie was in Oxford doing research on Yohannes, and Edward Lundendorff, the great Ethiopicist, advised me to write about Ras Alula of whom I knew absolutely nothing then. I referred to books asking 'who is this Ras Alula?" In no time at all I was hooked on the great man. My dear wife tells me to this day that my choice was not a co-incidence as I, like Alula, am a very independent minded person.

Capital: How is Ethiopia regarded in Israeli academia and in the collective Israeli psyche?
Prof. Erlich: Ethiopia's position in the minds of modern Israelis, I would say, really began during the 1935 invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini's fascist Italy. In 1936, public opinion in the land of Israel was equating Mussolini with Hitler so there was a general sense of strong identification with the valiant people of Ethiopia. Even today any senior citizen of Jerusalem will remember vividly how they were affected by Haile Sellasie's stop over in Jerusalem while en route to Geneva and exile in England. This was in May of 1936. The Emperor spent six weeks of his exile there, arranging matters for his family and courtiers. The royal figure of a proud African king confronting the world over Fascist aggression on his country, was forever engraved on the minds and hearts of the Jewish people - a people who identified with persecution, deprivation and exile. Haile Sellasie touched a deep core in the Jewish-Zionist community. Subsequently, General Wingate, was at the time training the first Hagannah command of what would be the nucleus of the Israel Defense Forces: (IDF).
He then accompanied Haile Sellasie from Sudan into Ethiopia and helped to start the anti- fascist Ethiopian patriotic movement in 1941. Wingate took with him his Israeli friend named Avran Akabian, who fought alongside in anti-fascist operations around Ethiopia. Avran later wrote "With Wingate in Ethiopia."
In Israel, 1944 was the year during which the true magnitude of the Holocaust was becoming apparent. The populace was in angusish and deep collective depression. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, there came news of shining victories and glorious stories of redemption published in "With Wingate in Ethiopia". The story of Haile Sellasie and Ethiopia - of the Ethiopian renaissance, the rebuilding of Ethiopian independence as a salvation story, the book became a best seller among the traumatized Jewish community. It sold 4,000 copies - in a populace of about 400,000, so you can imagine how popular it was. Israelis loved it because they could identify with the plight of Ethiopians. Ethiopia's agony, subjugation and subsequent emancipation struck a chord in Jewish hearts and minds which remains to this day. To Jews, Ethiopia is the first nation to score a victory against the fascists and Nazis.
Wingate did his best to relate Haile Sellasie to Zion and also that the Ethiopians and the Jews were in the same struggle against a common enemy. There is also the highly involved aspect of the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel. It's actually a complicated feature of Ethio-Israeli relations today as it has also romantic aspects as well as strategic. The Bete Israel have registered notable achievements as well as enduring significant problems and shortcomings.
Today, after a long history, relations all around; Ethiopia, Israel, Bete Israel other Jewish etc, is in a promising era of bilateral and people to people relations.
As for Ethiopia, it has been striving for 2000 years to earn its rightful position in the Middle East. It has cultivated relations with the Egyptian Coptic church. It built what it could in Jerusalem. But these were just icons.
Ethiopia stems from the Middle East; its destiny is also tied with that of the Middle East. Now in the making for the first time in history is an Ethiopian community that is being built in Israel. There are today 112,000 Ethio-Israelis and they are well on their way to becoming modern Israelis. I believe that the more they become assimilated the more they will return to their Ethiopian roots. This bright common future of Ethiopia and Israel is the bridge that will ensure that the special relationship shall endure.
The Ethiopian Jewish community (the Bete Israel) are now mostly of the third generation. Of course like all immigrants everywhere, the first generation has had the most difficult time; the second generation was assimilated with less stress and so it goes. Today's generation, despite serious obstacles, is the most successful yet. They are lawyers, military officers, doctors, and in other professions. A lot is still to be desired for the overall community, but opportunity is there and success stories are inspiring more and more Ethio-Israelis. I have no doubt that within our lifetime, there will emerge a much more empowered, thoroughly assimilated and dynamic Israeli-Ethiopian community. This community though will be reconnecting with Ethiopia, the more it prospers in Israel. I am referring also in terms of investing in Ethiopia and in cultural ties. This community by the way, is unique in that it is a group with the most solid of connections with Ethiopia, yet lives in the heart of the Middle East, enabling it to be at the forefront of activities to develop the original homeland - Ethiopia.

Capital: That is all well and good. However, how would you respond to comments that the mass migration of the Bete Israel constitutes a grave loss to Ethiopian diversity?
Prof. Erlich: Those commentators do have a valid point. The Christianity of Ethiopia is in many ways Jewish and Hebraic as reflected in the Solomonian ethos, the Tabot, the biblical inter-linkage and similarity of food, drink and other practices. Ethiopian Christianity is a mosaic of Judaic belief, worship and practice. It is also related to the idea of Zion, to the notion of 'Dekika Yisrael' (the Two Yisrael children) and so on. The presence of the Bete Israel in Israel is a part of that great history.
That some Ethiopians regret the departure of the Bete Israel is understandable but in my view, they haven't and will not depart. In my heart of hearts I believe that the ancient bonds: the Queen of Sheba and the three routes (Jerusalem, Aksum, Addis Ababa) is being revived and will be resumed in strength.
The religious, cultural and linguistic commonality of Israel and Ethiopia will be better strengthened, in my view, by Ethiopia's flesh and blood representatives in Israel and the Middle East. I myself have done some work among the young Bete Israel and to this effect I meet youth in discussion forums as well as writing books on the subject.
Of course, the Bete Israel youth of today are attracted by many things - including the pursuit of professional careers and I have found it important that I do my part in reminding them of Ethiopian history. I stress that if they make an effort to learn about their Ethiopian roots, they will find a lot to be proud about. Most of them know virtually nothing about Ethiopia. They have come from regions that are remote even by Ethiopian standards. Israeli citizens, out of not being well informed thought the Bete Israel came from the Middle Ages. So knowing more about their original land enables them to integrate in Israel with better ease and confidence.
I coined the slogan - 'the more Israeli you become the more Ethiopian you get and vice versa' - at a speech I delivered to 3000 Bete Israel in the Betania suburb of Tel-Aviv, organized by the Ethiopian Embassy on the occasion of the new millennium. I remember how the assembly was struck by this idea of becoming more Ethiopian, the more they integrated into Israeli society.

Capital: It sounds like a unique concept of integration - unlike the experience of for instance, North African immigrants to Europe, who are hardly assimilated or to the other extreme, totally bereft of their former identities…
Prof. Erlich: Absolutely. I am a strong believer in the value of diversity. In Israel itself, the notion of the melting pot, that anyone can be an Israeli, is very strong and in fact, forms the backbone of the establishment of the State of Israel. In Ethiopia also, there is the deep commitment to what Ethiopians call 'Andinet' - a term meaning 'oneness' - which is I think a more profound concept than 'unity'. One strong Ethiopia, molded out of its rich diversity, is an idea that permeates Ethiopian history and I think that currently, Ethiopia is really opening up to its diversity - as is Israel.
I believe that there were two waves of immigration from Ethiopia during our time. The first was the exodus fleeing the excesses of the Derg regime and the second is the departure of the Bete Israel. The first wave took away the best of the best, the great minds: doctors, economists, teachers - you name it - they fled, mainly to North America.
I spent four sabbatical years in the United States and I met Ethiopian communities from Montréal, Canada in the north, down to San-Diego, California and noticed something which interested me greatly. This is the fact that they have been successful in becoming Americans. Ethiopian communities in North America, according to many observers and scholars are a unique success story among the many immigrant communities. They have become not only productive and prosperous but also very proud Americans. This intrigued me endlessly and I gave it some thought. I then realized what their success can be attributed to and found out that it is because they arrived in America as proud Ethiopians. Their pride in being Ethiopians strengthened their ability and also influenced those who interacted with them to treat them with respect. This is the story of America and also of Israel.
Capital: So having that original pride in Ethiopianness is critical to a smoother integration process…
Prof. Erlich: Exactly so. If you arrive to a new country after being uprooted, persecuted and humiliated, like the Bete Israel were, it will be difficult and at times almost impossible to integrate well. While in Ethiopia, the Bete Israel were marginalized and existed outside the religious, social and cultural life of the nation. For hundreds of years they were not made to feel as a part of Ethiopia. This situation eroded what pride they had in their history and of themselves as a distinct community. They arrived in Israel without being empowered by the fact that they come from one of the most important countries in the world and that they should take supreme pride in their heritage.
Capital: Given Ethiopia's centrality as both a prominent African country and also its Middle Eastern character and historical connections, could Ethiopia be viewed as a bridge between Africa and the Middle East?
Prof. Erlich: I think Ethiopia has a unique status in the global consciousness. It is special to Christians around the world. If you remember in 1984, the whole world mobilized itself under the theme "We are the World", to mitigate the terrible famine at the time. There was no such sentiment for other famines around the world - Biafra, Bangladesh and other places. Ethiopia is close to the collective soul of humanity and thus elicits great sympathy.
However, it is not only to the Christian world that Ethiopia is significant but also to Islam. The Ethiopians, the al-Habesha as the Arabs call them, are the hosts of a great undertaking in Islamic history - in fact, critical for the very survival of Islam early on as the new religion was persecuted in Arabia. Ethiopia's role in providing refuge to the followers of Muhammed is one of the great acts cited in the Holy Koran.
In the Jewish collective soul also, due to the Bete Israel and other realities, Ethiopia is a special country. Therefore, it is a bridge between Africa and the Middle East. By the way, it is no wonder that Ethiopia is the seat and capital of the OAU and later the African Union because Africa recognizes that Ethiopia is the center of the African soul. Therefore Ethiopia can use its unique status to serve as a connector. However, this uniqueness is not always positive as it also draws some unwanted attention in a volatile region in which there are many currents and counter- currents. I do feel though, that the positives outstrip the disadvantages.
Capital: Do you feel that there is not an adequate number and quality, like previously, of Ethiopian students of Ethiopian studies?
Prof. Erlich: I'm afraid so. When I entered the field in the late 60s and early 70's, Africa as a whole, and Ethiopia as a symbol of Africa, was the center of great expectations and hopes. This anticipation translated into increased interest in African studies around the world. Funds were pouring into universities and other research institutions. There was an unbelievable amount of energy in African studies by Africans, Europeans and other scholars. The era was also influenced by the rise of Black Awareness and the Black Power movement in the United States.
Sadly though, the post independence record of much of Africa did not allow for the high interest to be maintained. As Africa became synonymous with despotic rule, war, famine and ignorance, interest in African studies began to dwindle. At the same time, South Asia was becoming more attractive as the 'tiger' economics began to flourish. Global interest - academic and business, began to focus on this exciting part of the world.
Ethiopia too was not spared after it entered into its Marxist - Leninist period in 1974. Ethiopian and African studies still have not recuperated from being eclipsed by other regions. Even Israel where traditionally, interest in Ethiopia is high, has cut back on Ethiopian studies. There were two universities which had dedicated departments but they have both been terminated. I am pleased to say however, that in the Open University, I still carry the torch of Ethiopia high and with great success; again due to the presence of the Bete Israel. However, this is a special case. I might add that Ethiopian Studies are far from extinct. For instance, in July 2007 we held the 16th International Conference on Ethiopian studies, in Trondheim, Norway, which was well attended. I know of no other country that has this kind of scholarly 'Olympics' about its history every year. We had 300 papers presented in June 2007 and the previous year, in Hamburg, Germany, there were 500 papers submitted from a multitude of disciplines.
The Encyclopedia Etiopica - which is to be the anchor of Ethiopian Studies, is being finalized with the third of five volumes now published. I am very proud to be part of this great endeavor of which the main architect is Professor Zigbert Ulig of Hamburg University. The Encyclopedia Etiopica is a major achievement and a milestone in Ethiopian Studies and for the world's historical archives.
I would not say I am worried about the future of Ethiopian Studies but there is room for more energy after the decline of the 70s and 80's.
Capital: You cited in your lecture at A.A.U. that 'Ethiopia has been recycling its traditional systems, emboldened against change due to its military victories.' And that the notion grew that if something aint broke then don't fix it'. Please elaborate.
Prof. Erlich: This is a major theme throughout Ethiopian history. Paradoxically, Ethiopia has been a victim of its success. We in Israel are still striving to recuperate from our victory in 1967. I wish we had not been so victorious! In every victory there is a grain of defeat and in every defeat there is also some victory. Ethiopia was indeed fortunate to be victorious in that important period of history when the Scramble for Africa was intensified (last quarter of the 19th century).
The cost of those glorious victories is that Ethiopia continued on its path - recycling its traditions. All the defeated nations and civilizations had to change in order to confront the colonial powers, they learned how to get organized for independence struggles and other aspects. They borrowed not only machine-guns but also concepts of administration and governance of rebuilding their society. They created political movements and fronts - changing or modifying the tribal chieftain dynamism. They created trade unions and forums for public opinion to cope with the power of the West. This is the reality in the rest of Africa- out of their defeat they established a body politic. The same thing happened in the Middle East. Ethiopia meanwhile, continued to rehash ancient traditions. If you compare Haile Sellasie to Emperor Zera Yakob of the 15th century the difference would be only in the tools. The political ideology was exactly the same.
I first came to Ethiopia in 1970 and I remember how beautiful and romantic it was. However, it was a medieval society with no political parties and organization whatsoever. The people actually believed that the sole decision maker - the Emperor, was divine. No group of Ethiopians would cooperate. The Eritreans on the other hand, were already organizing and institutionalizing their politics. Ultimately Ethiopia's punishment was the emergence of the Derg regime. Ethiopia in 1973 - 74 had 10,000 university graduates - some from the best universities in the world. It had excellent armed forces. Everything was in place for a transition from the monarchy into a modern republic. However, due to disorganization, a group of brutal ruffian officers - the Dreg, hijacked the Ethiopian revolution.
If Ethiopia had political parties even as late as 1970 it would not have been done under by that band of soldiers from 1974 to 1991. Sadly, everyone was for themselves, suspicion of others was endemic, the Emperor manipulated the protagonists and in short, it was business as usual, like in the days of Fasilades and other kings.
Capital: And today? How do you view Ethiopia's condition of governance and future prospects? What has changed?
Prof. Erlich: I'm always apologizing for being an incurable optimist. I truly believe that today's Ethiopia is on the right track. Of course, if we look at the situation from a purely political science perspective and ask: "Is it a full fledged democracy as perceived along western lines, then we can find many deficiencies and room for all sorts of resentment. I wish that that were the real standard for evaluating Ethiopia. Perhaps in twenty years or so, when the economic promise of today is fulfilled and Ethiopian civil society makes progress, then, full-fledged western style democracy may become an accurate yardstick. At the moment, huge energy is being poured into the economy in education, freedom of movement, of ideas and opinions; and a better standard of living. From this vantage, I can state that Ethiopia is exponentially far better than ever before.
I have experienced the Ethiopia's of Haile Sellasie and then of Mengistu and now for seventeen years, EPDRF administered Ethiopia and can say that things are much improved.
I have seen here and there photographs of Mengistu and have noted with disbelief some who long and miss him. This is irresponsible. During the Derg period, even the delightful traditional humor of Ethiopian society disappeared- people were deathly afraid to share a joke. The very culture of Ethiopia was compromised.
The Mengistu era was a dark one and not just because of the mass killings, torture and the outflow of skilled and educated Ethiopians but also literally, as the nation experienced routine blackouts in the few areas with electric supply - most of the nation was not on the grid.
Opposition to Mengistu was led by Marxist intellectuals who were centered in the cities. Though they had good intentions, they could not defeat the Derg. The ones who did destroy the system were the liberation fronts on the periphery, including the EPDRF.
I maintain that the real Ethiopian Revolution began in 1991 instead of 1974. The country is in the process of transforming itself and I think this is critically important in order to make a break with the past, which as I stated earlier, was a 'policy' of recycling traditions. I feel that Ethiopia, with which I am in love, now has a great opportunity to emerge as one of the most important nations in the world.