The College Fix

While the Columbia campus quietly anticipated the arrival of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, outside the gates, dueling protests faced off on Broadway.

Wielding horns and drums, a large crowd had gathered outside Pinnacle by early afternoon to support Zenawi, the divisive figure who was scheduled to take the podium at Columbia’s World Leaders Forum. Meanwhile, a rival protest against the prime minister led a demonstration on the other side of 115th Street, many of whose participants called him a dictator who stole elections and crushed free speech.

The gathering of Zenawi supporters, often chanting loud enough to be heard across the campus, said they were there to stand up for the prime minister’s improvements to the country’s infrastructure and economy.

The occasion drew buses of native Ethiopians from all over New York, as well as D.C., Ohio, and Boston.

Anteneh Desta traveled from Arlington, Va., to protest Zenawi. He said that Zenawi “promised freedom from the leaders of the previous government” when he was running for office 20 years ago, but “introduced ethnic division in his rule. He divided the country into nine different ethnic groups. Things are becoming worse and worse. There is no freedom of speech. All the journalists have fled out of the country.”

He and others gathered outside Morton Williams supported jailed opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa, instead.

Dereje Alemeu appeared to have the longest commute—he flew in from Ethiopia to “oppose and shame on Columbia” for inviting a prime minister that he says runs the country in an unjust and undemocratic way.

On the other side of the street, Weldu Reda spoke favorably of Zenawi. “He is intelligent. He is the number one administration in Africa. He makes a lot of differences. There is a grown economy, all democratic, it is peaceful.”

Read the full story at the Columbia Spectator.

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