RIO OLYMPICS 2016 HERO

Congratulations to Feyisa Lelisa winning silver in Brazil, RIO Olympics 2016, finishing behind Kipchoge of Kenya. Feyisa may have won Olympic medal, most of all; he has also won his people’s heart standing for his family and people unlawfully & awfully languishing in the country’s prison.

He strode across the finish line of the marathon event with his arms crossed over his head in a sign of solidarity for the Oromo people, his native group and the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and as a protest against the Ethiopian government's crackdown on political dissents and for all others suffering as a result of their demonstration for their right to live in freedom.

The reality is, Oromo people have been marginalized traditionally and for decades, with tensions rising recently as the government promoted development that took over their farmland.

Feyisa wanted to draw attention to the government's ongoing persecution of the Oromo people. He probably be imprisoned or killed if he returns back in Ethiopia. He already mentioned that his family members are now in prison and he worries about the safety of his wife and children.

It’s easy to figure out what will happen to him should he return to Ethiopia. If he chooses to remain, his chances of owning the medal might be put at risk by IOC, as this will drag on as a politically motivated gesture. Although the incident happened at a different time and belief setting long ago, I believe the idea of stripping their hard earned medals from athletes with political intentions at the Olympics still stands. I would like to hope otherwise.

In 1968, when African-American sprinters, Tommie Smith and fellow American John Carlos, won gold and bronze, respectively, at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, the Olympics committee has stripped the athlete’s medals for political protests raising a Black Power salute in a black glove covered clenched fist in a stand for human rights protest against discrimination in the United States.

But what the two African-American men did on the podium afterward has been talked about ever since. It was an iconic image from the turbulent '60s.

The year, of course, was the “Unforgettable” 1968. Months earlier, Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated and major riots took place that year across the US and in the years prior.

Smith and Carlos were deplored. Ultimately, they were expelled from the games. “How dare they!” as an IOC spokesperson put it. Then, he went on to say, “they breached the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit"

History vindicated Smith and Carlos. Today, as we have vibrant movements in the US demanding that “Black Lives Matter”, it is easier to see why the outrage directed by the American mainstream towards Smith and Carlos for their protest then should have been directed towards the atrocious racism and institutional discrimination upon which their country was built and continues to suffer from instead.

Four years later, in 1972, at the Summer Munich Olympics in West Germany, Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September have taken eleven Israeli Olympic team members as hostage and eventually massacred along with a German police officer, demanding the release of more than two hundred of their people jailed in Israeli prison. 

I've thought about this episode much over the last several days as the Olympics in Brazil took place. Much attention was paid to three incidents between Arab, Israeli & Ethiopian athletes.

In one, a Lebanese group of athletes refused to share a bus with Israeli athletes, and in another instance, an Egyptian judoka refused to shake hands with his Israeli competitor after a bout.

In the other incident, An Ethiopian marathon athlete crossed the finish line with his fisted hands crossed in protest against his government’s unlawful treatment of his people. Is it fair to say, like Smith & Carlos, history also vindicated Feyisa?

In the Western media, the Arabs were ridiculed for their stances. This was supposedly childish behaviour and did not fit with the spirit of sportsmanship.

No one notices and take it seriously when athletes, from the so-called third world countries, do something in protest of the ongoing unjust treatments of their governments.

How realistic is it to expect a global event to be entirely detached from global politics? What is this "Olympic spirit" that exists in a vacuum where the hearts and minds of humans and their connections to the political world suddenly go unnoticed?

I can understand the desire for sportsmanship and, as a lover of sport myself; I appreciate the ways in which it, as a human language, can transcend divides.

What I cannot understand and cannot accept, however, is when there is outrage over simple acts of protest without outrage, or even discussion, in those same conversations about the reasons behind those protests, the mass denial of basic human rights to millions of Ethiopians, Palestinians, Syrians, Iraqis, and the list goes on.

Ethiopia is one of the most mosaic nations in the world, mothering over 80 different ethnic groups. I do not mind if my president is from any group or minority nationalities as long as s/he demonstrates the capabilities that people yearn for. Indeed, I will be extra glad if the president comes from the tiniest ethnicities. That should be celebrated as it is one powerful way of ensuring social equity and justice. Remember, this is a government elected by the people to work for the people without despotism, nepotism and hatemongering corruptions.

While core beliefs are hard to change, because they develop so early in life, there are many habits that we can definitely amend with the changing times. The IOC and the world community must wakeup to their responsibilities and acknowledge that nobody intentionally disrupts this treasurable world community’s events and undermine the integrity of institutions that serve the world community, unless they’re deeply overwhelmed by personal and social tragedies they extremely care about.

‘Hate the sin and not the sinner’ is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world….” If one hates another because of race, colour, religion, ethnicity or other factors, the result is more hate. Madiba said, “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”. If hate is learned, it can also be unlearned. If love can be taught, it can be spread across the land.

We all know that no one is safe in any multicultural society. If we still cling to our past grievances and attempt to carry badges of vengeance from one generation to the next, we’ll not be able to sustain our profound opportunities that can navigate us toward peace, freedom and enduring happiness. It’s time to forgive, value, appreciate and help each other as we’ve always done in our societies. It’s TIME FOR CHANGE!

We must follow Gandhi’s precept that if we must hate, we “hate the sin and not the sinner.” It is a tough precept to follow and live by. We have all been part of the problem and part of the solution at one time or another. If this is not true, then “He who is without sin should cast the first stone”. But now all of us have an opportunity to become part of the grand solution to the political problems facing Ethiopia. It is a rare chance that comes once in generations. Let’s not squander it! We all must watch each other’s back!

Let’s also wish the government that nothing should happen if Feyisa decides to return home with his Olympic winning glory.

We salute all those who sacrificed their lives and those who continue to struggle for possessing strengths in the face of adversity, courage in the face of danger and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost.

TIME FOR CHANGE!