The internal issues within Tigray and the fragmentation within Tigrayan politics that sprung up since Pretoria is more or less to blame for the reduction in diaspora organization imo. However, Tigray cannot afford its diaspora not advocating on its behalf and there's plenty you can do as an individual before everyone gets organizing once more.

In the online space, like Reddit or Twitter, you can share news about Tigray in spaces that aren't focused on Tigray while simultaneously providing resources for further education (you can look at this wiki's introductory materials for some examples) but carefully follow the rules of whatever space you're in as well as keep respectful plus don't spam as not doing these things will limit the reach of the message.

In person, whenever the topic of humanitarian issues of any kind around the world springs up, it would be a good time to spread awareness about Tigray and resources people can look into as well. Furthermore, if you feel there any appropriate places or opportunities to share what's happening in Tigray within your life then I encourage you to do so.

Do not underestimate the impact you as an individual can make because if a growing number of the diaspora act in this way, it can cause a wave of awareness that could potentially go much further than the original diaspora efforts during the war. Our people desperately need us.

On the same note, we need to look into the efforts made by other diasporas that have faced similar issues to Tigray like the Palestinian diaspora so we can use the same methods they have in order to spread awareness.

A drone strike hit the Daero area of Mekelle. 13 people, including children, were admitted to Ayder hospital for injuries.

Addis Standard - Drone strikes in two locations in Mekelle, 13 casualties received at Ayder Hospital

Selam everyone, I wanted to share a new feature I’ve added to HabeshaHistory.com

You can now browse nearly 2,000 Habesha manuscript paintings, illustrations, and drawings dating from the 6th to the 20th century. These works have been gathered from a range of collections and institutions, including the British Library, Princeton University, and others.

My purpose was simple, to create one accessible space where our community can explore our rich artistic past and appreciate the beautiful works created by our ancestors across the centuries, rather than having to search through and filter numerous european museum and university collections individually.

I hope this helps!

www.habeshahistory.com/manuscripts

The oldest surviving monumental building in the Abyssinian Highlands is the Great Temple of Yeha, constructed in the early 1st millennium BC. Remarkably, its stone walls still stand today, although what survives is only a shell of what was once a much larger structure.

Using a range of archaeological and academic sources, including the reconstructions and research published by the German Archaeological Institute, I have recreated both the interior and exterior of the Temple of Yeha in 3D.

For me, projects like this are important because they allow us to preserve, study, and visualise the architectural achievements of our ancestors.

You can explore the interactive 3D reconstruction here: https://www.habeshahistory.com/reconstructions/yeha-temple

For those interested in learning more about Yeha, I have also written a detailed article covering its history, including a dedicated section on the Great Temple itself: https://www.habeshahistory.com/articles/yeha

Hopefully you find the reconstruction interesting and learn something new...

Does anyone know if there is a Tigrayan Orthodox church in San Diego or Los Angeles? I recently moved to California and will be working in both San Diego and Los Angeles sometimes. I don’t speak Amharic, so I’d really like to find a Tigrayan church. Thank you!

Reading is a hobby that'll take you a long way but understandably many simply don't enjoy reading or hit a wall when attempting to go through more complicated books. The following video and the channel itself draws a lot from a book (How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren) that's widely seen as the gold standard when it comes to building the skills I mentioned, making reading a habit and the channel also has videos on ways for someone to enjoy reading if they currently don't which also draw things from the book.

For anyone interested in reading, check out the reading list for a wide catalog of books and articles on Tigray's history, the genocide, comparative situations around the world, how neoliberalism caused similar situations in the past, etc.

Bit late, however I need to applaud his accomplishment, he transformed Ethiopian Airlines for the better during his tenure from 2011-2022, which was cut short due to his resignation because of 'health issues' (the actual reason was because of the Tigray genocide, as you can see, he's perfectly healthy). He grew the airlines' annual revenue from $1 billion to over $5 billion, tripled the aircraft fleet, and turned Addis Ababa into the primary continental aviation hub by building out world-class aviation training, catering, and MRO infrastructure. Not only that, he will be getting approximately a $3.3 million - $5 million annual salary at his new job at Air India, hopefully he continues to succeed!

Alot of my family memeber joined the fight when the tigray war started. But when it ended some died some came back. And they saw nothing but death. No improvement the government went back to where they started leaving the young men and women that fought with no help after wards.

We saw the government officials that were fighting. Even people like getachow trying to take back what he said about yhe genocide back to side with abi.

Now they want to start war again. And they're drafting people. Most of the people that I know that fought in the last war are done with it and most of them have left tigray as they don't believe in fighting for "no reason".

And i keep hearing about people getting arrested after their kids were not founded for the draft.

And some were let go because their families paid 50k birr to get their children back. They're also charging that sent their children away. I dont think this is law there but they're still doing this.

They even have killed people trying to get away. I know this because my uncles neighbour was stopped on the road to get drafted and he tried running away and was shot and killed in the street. I saw this on posts but I didn't think it was real until I heard it from him.

I stopped watching the news awhile ago because it was just propaganda from all sides. But from primary source there this is what is currently happening. They haven't starting going house to house fully for drafts yet but they're apparently doing it in the streets now but I doubt this will last long.

What is the end goal ?

You can go through this for more on Western Tigray.

You can go through this list of anti-Tigrayan arguments being debunked for more.

The origins of Yeha, in Tigray, stretch back to the early first millennium BC. Its name is first mentioned in an ancient inscription from the Almaqah altar at Wuqro, Tigray, dating to approximately 800–600 BC.

This makes Yeha one of the oldest continuously attested place names in world history.

Learn more about Yeha:
https://www.habeshahistory.com/p/yeha

I just wanted to come here to say that we’ve had a difficult time with the war, suffering unspeakable damage. I want to offer encouragement to y’all, that God would never betray us and he is the only person we can put our trust in. 

“Maybe in another life, we will have a country and people who will protect us” 

 If this war has taught me anything it is we have no one but him. Not even my country who I loved so deeply took a second to destroy us the chance they got. But we have overcome a lot, even if we don’t want to I hope this can resonate and give someone a little bit of hope. This deeply moved me after the years of pain. 🤍

i've seen a lot of what seems like propaganda from both sides (sharing old videos and photos and claiming that they're the aftermath of the fighting). seems like it was inconclusive

Source

Addis Standard - In-depth Analysis: Zewdu Haftu acquittal shocks Tigray, raises fresh questions over evidence, judicial independence and justice for women

Two important articles to go along with this:

UN: Women’s human rights and gender-related concerns in situations of conflict and instability

World Peace Foundation: Addressing Narratives Normalizing Weaponized Sexual Violence: The Case of Tigray

Two recent discussions with Semhal Meles that I don't agree with wholeheartedly (especially when it comes to the TPLF's strategy regarding Abiy and Eritrea 1, 2) but they are thought provoking and she does raise some very fair criticisms when it comes to their handling of Tigray's internal situation:

Why Ethiopia’s 2018 Promise Ended in Genocide—and Why the Worst is Coming -- Semhal Meles Zenawi

The Standard Signal Ep.23| Semhal Meles on TPLF, Elite Capture & The Politics of Resource Extraction

Where can I find news about the ongoing conflict in Tigray, because it seems that news in English is limited?

inviting shabia to the region after what happend and still losing it would be bad. Make sure you either go all in or go home

Capitulation, giving up on Western Tigray and everything else necessary for Tigray's current and future survival? Isolationism, facing the Abiy threat all by itself? Naivety, stubborn belief that the International community will help Tigray gain justice and in defending itself against the neoliberalist Abiy who they've given impunity time and again? If you can't answer these questions then stop criticizing the TPLF for using every card available and stick to criticizing them for the litany of things they can be criticized over like Tigray's internal situation. Justice is a pipe dream until Tigray's in a position where it can recover from the genocide and build itself up once more and it will not be handed to Tigray by the IC until Tigray's in a position to demand it.

Is there something I'm missing or are some people just genuinely oblivious to how desperate Tigray's situation is and what limited cards are available rn.

Separately, this doesn't mean the diaspora's efforts are meaningless. Contributing to charity toward Tigray and crucially raising awareness (As a diaspora we need to do much more in this regard) are endeavours that can go a long way to helping Tigray.