Jawar Mohammed- Rebel with a cause?

Jawar Mohammed is a controversial political activist in the Ethiopian diaspora politics, known among many for his outspoken views on the northern Christian tradition and “Abyssinian supremacy”. He leads the Oromia Media Network (OMN), a Minneapolis based TV station that was launched last year, which is now becoming an important voice of the Oromo protests in the fast-shifting new political environment.
Jawar had close connections with Mohammed Ademo, an assistant opinion editor at Al Jazeera America and founder and editor of Opride.com, while they both were involved in developing the OMN format. However, the relationship turned hostile when Mohammed distanced himself from the media raising concerns on the project’s “feasibility, sustainability, professionalism, strategy, and accountability.” Most of the criticisms were directed at Jawar himself.
Despite such reproach, Jawar has turned himself into an unlikely star of the Oromo protests, developing a network of contacts through the TV station and social media, injecting new dynamism into the struggle of the Oromo people for more economic and cultural autonomy.He has built his brand by addressing the topics with the full brunt of his compassion and concern.
So the social media format—where he could develop symbiotic relationship with fans online—seems to suit him well. He is a master of rapport. Even in such crisis, he works to create a sense of community.
The Hararge-born academic and presenter, studied at the renowned Stanford and Columbia Universities, becoming politically active along the way. Passionate and driven, he started making use of every forum to condemn the current regimes and the atrocities, he says, is committing against the Oromo people. He wrote a number of articles for online magazines on federalism and the constitution and appeared on the Voice of the America Amharic and Oromo services regularly. An outspoken critic of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an underground opposition group that has been in the scene for the decades, he appeals to the younger generation who feel left behind in the new Ethiopia. Jawar is described as a reformist Muslim, yet he has similar ideas that he shares with the late Cheik Jaaraa (Abdulkarim Mohammed Ibrahim) (1936-2013). The founder of the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Oromia was known for his attempt to create Islamic Oromo nationalism, stressing the commonalities of the Gada age system and Islam.
Jawar has had many controversies, particularly in regards to outspoken comments on other ethnic groups and religion. He has been accused of being anti-Christian. He once said he comes from a majority Muslim area where there is no threat to the religion, “if someone tries, he would be executed with a machete,” something that shocked many, as the debonair academic suddenly becoming a cartoon villain.
Some also criticize him for being egomaniacal and paranoiac. Anybody in his circle who disagreed with him would be required to repent or face expulsion, one acquaintance said about him.
Despite all these, Jawar remains a popular figure among many with more than 14,000 followers on Twitter and 223, 406 people on Facebook. Since the start of the Oromo protests fifteen days ago, he is actively publishing every minute detailing the events taking place, not hesitating to publish gruesome images of the victims of the protests, in the meantime trying to change the course of action. “I would not say he is the firebrands of the movement but mostly the vehicle. He is publishing different photos and videos of the event, sent to him from different parts of the country,” an observer told us. “If he has any influence, it is by letting people about what is happening and keeping the flame alive,” he reflected.