Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 08/Jan 03:19

Disgraceful invasion

THE Italian-Ethiopian War (also known as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War) took place from October 1935 to February 1937. During the war there were emotive editorials, poems and articles in The People, a local publication, in which citizens openly expressed support for Ethiopia (Abyssinia), an African nation under siege by Italy. For instance, on July 13, 1935, there was an article entitled “Members of The Black Race Show Your Sympathy With Abyssinia,” with the subheading “By Boycotting all Italian Products and Italian Merchants doing business in the Colony.” The racial connotations emanating from the war was obvious in The People headlines of 1935 and 1936, which boldly proclaimed: “Africa for the Africans, White Man Emissary of Satan,” “World Black-White War Predicted” and “Ethiopia To Be Crucified By White Pharisees?” The battle in Ethiopia prompted some writers to compare it with biblical and historical events. In July 1935, the headline of one article was “Italy and Ethiopia Prepare for Armageddon.” The image conjured was one in which Ethiopia was oppressed as the early Christians in Rome during the reign of Julius Caesar. Also that month was a poem, “War Clouds in Africa,” penned by AM Clarke. One of the verses read, “To our great shame the world stands idly by,/To see a Roman triumph once again.” On August 3, 1935, in an emotional letter to the editor of The People, Theo Jean of Point Fortin claimed to have stood on a watchtower and sounded a bugle with music written in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of St John. She also warned, “Fellow Ethiopians, this is the kind of people who want to civilize us. Do we want there (sic) civilization? I say No! Let us, therefore, rally round the banner of Christ. Then, and only then, can we assuredly say – Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us.” Later that month there was an another article, headed “Italy’s Conquest for A Crown of Thorns,” that drew attention to the possibility that history was being repeated. It highlighted Julius Caesar’s invasion of the Gauls and Britain. The content of most of these articles reflected the anger and extensive knowledge of locals. An article reprinted from another pro-African newspaper, the Blackman, in September 1935, dealt with biblical imagery, “Righteousness shall be our breastplate, the Word of Truth shall be our weapon, the Cross of Christ shall be our implement that those mighty races and nations shall not break through in the mighty rush of Negro hope and aspirations.” There were attempts to resolve the conflict by drawing reference to Christ as the Prince of Peace, stating that whoever kills by the sword shall perish by the sword. The imagery was reinforced a month later by an editorial of The People, in October 1935, entitled “Peter Denies Christ.” It sought to arouse support by linking the actions of Peter (a disciple of Jesus Christ) to the conflict in Ethiopia, “The Roman eagle has put his claws upon Memnon, the cock has crowed and Peter has denied Christ. The duty of the Christian is to follow the example of Christ, and fear of persecution..." One editorial, in December 1935, referred to Haile Selassie I (Emperor of Ethiopia) as a descendant of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, who was the heir of David, “like Our Lord Jesus, another Son of David.” An anonymous letter writer, on October 26, 1935, questioned the local priesthood who clamoured for support when the issue of divorce was being debated but were noticeably silent on the Italo-Ethiopian conflict. A week later, another letter to the editor argued, “Must we coloured Catholics welcome the sad idea that his holiness sees nothing in Mussolini’s ungodly conduct which calls for Papal rebuke?” The support given to Benito Mussolini (leader of Italy) to defeat Ethiopia, a Christian country, was also addressed in a newspaper article, “Sacred relics in the churches, statues, crucifixes etc are being melted down and converted into cash to help Signor Mussolini spill blood and spread desolation in another Christian country that from the fourth century of Our Lord has been in communion with Alexandria, a patriarchate founded, according to tradition, by St Mark, the beloved companion of St Peter.” This conflict caused considerable disenchantment among blacks who belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. There is overwhelming evidence, from the correspondence in The People, that Italy’s disgraceful and cowardly invasion of Ethiopia resulted in racial antagonism and religious consciousness among blacks in the Caribbean and abroad. The post Disgraceful invasion appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.