Post B2zD9CgQ2P05edOsgC by ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social
 (DIR) More posts by ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social
 (DIR) Post #B2zD9BoBI3cCwQ1Z8i by ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social
       2026-02-04T02:06:57Z
       
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       Today, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appeared in parliament to answer the usual softball questions and made a ground-breaking admission.He was asked about the security situation and a potential war with neighbouring Eritrea. What led to the fallout of two countries that were formerly allied?Abiy claims that things actually began to unravel as far back as the Tigray war, when Eritrean soldiers massacred civilians in the town of Axum. He claims that is where the feud began.
       
 (DIR) Post #B2zD9CgQ2P05edOsgC by ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social
       2026-02-04T02:12:46Z
       
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       It is groundbreaking because for years, Ethiopia denied that any massacre had taken place at Axum, this despite well documented report on it by Amnesty International. The state poured resources into a huge social media campaign, coordinated with government supporters around the world. It whipped social media into a fascist frenzy, spreading denialism, conspiracy theories and attacking victims as well as journalists and researchers who documented the atrocity.
       
 (DIR) Post #B2zD9KhmDEq8XA64uG by ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social
       2026-02-04T02:17:30Z
       
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       My coverage of the November 2020 Axum massacre for the UK's Daily Telegraph. The #FakeAxumMassacre was one of the campaigns that made me realize that Twitter was unfixable and that social media moderation needed an overhaul. It is being extensively documented by the wonderful team at @DAIR thankfully.Social media was flooded with the Ethiopian version of Holocaust denialism for weeks. It was sickening for me, now imagine how much worse it was for mourning victims.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/26/eritrean-troops-killed-hundreds-ethiopia-massacre-amnesty-claims/
       
 (DIR) Post #B2zD9ScklnZj5toBBg by ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social
       2026-02-04T02:28:19Z
       
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       There's a lot that should be said about the numerous prominent Ethiopian scholars, like this one, based out of EU and US academic institutions, who used their expertise to amplify Axum massacre denialism and attack researchers who documented the atrocity. It was a fascist frenzy unlike any I had ever seen. There were still people until recently who would swear nothing happened in November 2020. Institutions took no action, because nobody knew enough or cared enough to find out.
       
 (DIR) Post #B2zD9aTTaAuLRRWsq0 by ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social
       2026-02-04T02:32:58Z
       
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       For now, I'll keep the focus on the people who count: victims. This is my good friend Britawit Arefayne, a Canadian citizen & native of Axum. In 2022, two years after the Axum massacre, she appeared on a Canadian parliamentary hearing on human rights abuses in Tigray, where she bravely testified about the murders of her brother, cousin & uncle at the hands of Eritrean soldiers in the massacre.In addition to this heartache, she has spent years hearing Ethiopians belittle & mock her suffering