In an exclusive interveiw with 'Sendek' newspaper (mainstream Amharic weekly) in late July, Ambassador Belaynesh Zevadia explained the current developments on the situation with the terror organization Hamas. In her interview with Sendek’s senior reporter Mr. Fanuel Kinfu, she clarified in detail that some of the international media’s distorted reports of Israel’s defensive attacks against Hamas are not the correct and actual picture on the ground. Hamas uses civilians as shields in military warfare, whereas Israel uses military force to protect its civilians.
Ambassador Belaynesh clarified, "we have no choice but to defend ourselves when rockets are raining on us."
Find the full interview of Ambassador with Sendek newspaper via: http://www.sendeknewspaper.com/poletica-eth/item/1175-“ሮኬት-እየዘነበብን፣-ራሳችንን-ከመከላከል-ውጪ-ሌላ-ምርጫ-የለንም”.html
Similarly, Chargé d'affaires Leo Vinovezky talked in-depth with local media about the current situation with Hamas. He explicated: "If Hamas puts weapons down, there will be a ceasefire, absolutely, in the hope to see light at the end of these tunnels.”
Replying to questions regarding Israel’s alleged attack on civilians in Gaza, he asserted that “Hamas has created a city of terror inside its own neighborhood, and is now preventing residents from leaving. This use of human shields makes Hamas a war criminal under Article 51 (7) of the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions. Israel continues to do its utmost to minimize civilian casualties, but Hamas ensures that they are caught in the cross-fire. Hamas perfectly knows what would happen if it started raining rockets into Israel. It is its strategy to force Israel to react and protect itself so that the rest of the world will condemn Israel.”
While conferring with media, he argued, "There can be no moral comparison between a democracy and a terror organization.”
Here is link to his full interview with 'The Reporter' newspaper (mainstream English weekly): http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/index.php/interview/item/2310-%E2%80%9Cthere-can-be-no-moral-comparison-between-a-democracy-and-a-terror-organization%E2%80%9D
Furthermore, Ambassador Belaynesh andher Deputy Leo together conducted an interview session with local media organizations: the Ethiopian Television, Fana Broadcasting Corporate, and Afro FM Radio. They gave detailed and concise replies to central questions raised by the journalists. We organized the interview based on our conviction that both our Embassy and the media should exert effort to inform the public, in this case of Israel’s clear stand on the issue, in addition to balancing the somewhat unbalanced reporting fed to the international audience by some media establishments.
Here is link to the coverage by Afro FM Radio:
https://soundcloud.com/user93920733/august-4-2014-evening-yemman-cut
Deputy Ambassador Leo Vinovezky wrote an article titled: So who is the real enemy of the Palestinian people? that is published on Geeska Afrika independent magazine. Here is link to the full article: