3.1 General Policy

The Middle East has both positively and negatively influenced our history due to our proximity to the region. In fact, the impact of the Middle East on Ethiopia is more prominent than that of the African countries.

The great religions that originated in the Middle East have had a great impact on our country since ancient times. It is noted that as a political community, Ethiopia embraced Christianity preceded by only Armenia and Constantinople. Christianity came to Ethiopia from the Middle East, and for more than 1600 years, Ethiopia's religious leaders, the patriarchs of the Orthodox church, came from Egypt.

Christianity, besides being the religion adhered to by millions of Ethiopians, has formed an integral part of our history and culture. Islam may have been born in Saudi Arabia but Ethiopia was the first country to allow its adherents to practice it, even before Saudi Arabia did. Because they were persecuted in their own country, the followers of the Prophet Mohammed were ordered by him to seek refuge in Ethiopia. It was after this that the Prophet ordered his followers not to touch the Abyssinians except in self-defence, a clear illustration of the regard with which Islam viewed Ethiopia. Since then, Islam has not only become the religion of millions of Ethiopians but also has come to form an integral part of our history and culture. Similarly, an ancient version of the Jewish religion was practiced in Ethiopia and this too had some influence on our history and culture. This is the backdrop for Ethiopia's long-standing relationship in language, history and culture with the middle east.

On the other hand, there are negative elements in our relations with the Middle East . One of the issues that strained relations between Ethiopia and the Middle East was the issue of the waters of the Nile. The Nile had a special place in the thousands-of-years long relationship between Ethiopia and Egypt. The Egyptians have been imposing their will so that no one but themselves would use the waters of the Nile. On the other hand, Ethiopia has struggled to ensure that its rights to the use of the Nile's waters are respected. As Egypt took the mantle of leadership of the Arab world, the subject of the Nile waters began to influence Ethiopia's relations with that region and still continues to do so.

Neither was religion free of casting a negative influence. There were two main sources for this: Islamic extremism, and Ethiopia's susceptibility to danger. One of the differences between Muslim extremists, and moderate Muslims concerns their differences on the subject of Ethiopia. The moderate Muslim believes that Ethiopia is a country which received the first followers of the Prophet, the first hijira (pilgrimage) country, a respected country which a believer should not touch if it does not touch him. As a result of this, he prefers to consider it a special place different from other countries. The extremist, on the other hand, preaches that it was the Ethiopian king who gave refuge to the followers of the Prophet and that he had been converted to Islam, though he did not make it public for fear of the people. So, the people are the enemy. Ethiopia should be categorised as the first "Andalusia", the land which betrayed Islam. So it has come to pass that when the extremist line prevails, Ethiopia becomes susceptible to danger; and when moderation reigns, Ethio-Arab relations improve.

However, even though it has been a defining characteristic of our history and culture, there are sometimes conflicts between the followers of the two religions. Various wars were waged at different times between Muslim sultanates that were flourishing in different regions and Christian kings, to achieve supremacy over the other. In the process, the systems of governance in Ethiopia evolved into ones where equality of religion was not realized for a long time. This situation triggered an internal struggle to ensure religious equality on the one hand, while it opened a door for external aggression on the other.

Another negative influence on the relationship between Ethiopia and the Middle East was simply that of ignorance. There may have been a relationship between Ethiopia and the Middle East for more than one thousand years, but the one did not really know the other during all that time. Other than looking at the Middle East and especially the Arab world with suspicion, Ethiopians have never studied the countries separately, and have not taken a stand based on a comprehensive knowledge of the countries. This has continued up to the present day. Similarly, the peoples in the Middle East, and especially in the Arab world, other than looking at Ethiopia with suspicion and with vigilance, have never tried to understand us. As a result, ignorance reigns and the relationship has been plagued by suspicion, dislike and even contempt. General ignorance has helped some forces to plant the seeds of hatred and suspicion, thus contributing to the further aggravation of the problem.