“Divide and Conquer” is one of the most notorious phrases when describing the establishment’s strategy for handling domestic and international pushback to its agenda. Many people are aware of the idiom but not privy to the frequency of its use in political agendas, and they lack the self-awareness needed to understand how the news and media they consume result in their active participation in the divide and conquer plan.
Jimmy Dore recently hosted Hermela Aregawi, former CBS and Al Jazeera correspondent, where they discussed her recent hashtag #NoMore. She collaborated with several other thought leaders in the African Expat community to raise awareness about the most recent civil war being enabled by the West. The hashtag went viral because of the collective international fatigue from offensive interventionalist foreign policy forcing the regime change of governments worldwide for selfish reasons. In this specific case, she referred to the war in Ethiopia between the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian government; but she presents it as a hashtag for all the victims of this “divide and conquer” foreign policy (which has been used at least 57 times by America alone since World War II).
During the interview, Hermela, points out how the group presented by mainstream media as freedom fighters, TPLF, would likely be classified as terrorists were their interests not directly aligned with US foreign policy. Hermela, a member of the Tigray minority group that TPLF claims to represent, describes how TPLF forces are frustrated about their group no longer maintaining power which TPLF seized by force in 1991. She describes them as an “ethno-fascist, terrorist group” trying to force regime change in the country with backing from NATO members. Her opinion contradicts mainstream media outlets, which largely portray TPLF as freedom fighters with harsh tactics.
Hermela points out how the current war started in November 2020, when TPLF forces, backed by America and the UK, attacked the largest army base in the country, located in Tigray, but were defeated by the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments’ combined effort. However, one needs to look no further than the New York Times to find this conflict started by TPLF described as a genocide. As usual, most Western mainstream media outlets report the side supporting NATO interests in the region being the underdog “good guys” and anyone against them being malevolent actors who must be stopped at all costs.
The United States Congress recently passed HR 7311, whose stated goal is to “counter the malign influence and activities of the Russian Federation and its proxies in Africa”. Hermela points out that, in her opinion, the bill was crafted to counter the success of the #NoMore campaign, which played a notable role in the Democrats’ recent gubernatorial election loss in Virginia. The African ex-pat community mobilized black voters to vote against democrats for what they described as a statement against Biden’s foreign policy that favors war over peace in Africa.
Political activism on this scale is intolerable to the establishment, so the other activists with whom she collaborated have been removed from Twitter and other social media platforms. However, the hashtag is still catching on and spreading all over Twitter in countries like Eritrea, Mali, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and ex-pat communities who are uniting across national lines to support the most recent victims of a regime change war. She still remains on Twitter (follow her @HermelaTV) and continues to shine a light on the ongoing conflict.
Hit the link below to watch her full interview with renowned Comedian and Political Commentator, Jimmy Dore.
