ROME – All of the useful idiots who maintain Israelis are colonial oppressors would do well to take a look at the happy impromptu team pictures after the men’s half-marathon here Sunday at the European track and field championships.
The Israelis sent six runners. All six are Ethiopian Jews. Translation: they are black. Complete translation: they are fully, completely, thoroughly Israeli. Three finished in the top 10, led by Budapest 2023 world championship marathon silver medalist Maru Teferi, who on Sunday finished fourth.
That earned Israel the team silver medal in the men’s half. And to the obvious question: yes, the four hostages freed Saturday in Gaza were on their minds and, yes, damn straight they were racing for them.
Team silver in the men’s half-marathon at the European track and field championships for the Israeli men
As Gashau Ayale, who finished seventh, said, “It gave us a lot of strength to show the world what is happening in Israel and to show our power.
“Thanks to this medal, we can show the world that although there are those who want to eliminate Israel, we are here, we are strong and we are elite athletes who are ranked in the top.
“Of course, we pray that all our all our hostages will be free soon and return back to their homes and families. And we pray also for peace in our country and in the world. We dedicate this medal to our IDF soldiers, to all the hostages that were rescued and those who are still in Gaza and, please God, will be rescued soon."
Italy went one-two in the half-marathon, Yemaneberhan Crippa winning in a championship-record 1:01.03, Pietro Riva just one second back.
The Italians are having a crazy good meet here at home, keyed by Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs’ victory Saturday night in the men’s 100, at 10.2 seconds, a signal he may be rounding into form for Paris, one newspaper blaring in a big headline, “The King is Back!” Heading into Sunday night, Italy had 13 medals, seven gold; next-best, far behind, five teams with four (total) medals apiece.
Germany’s Amanal Petros finished third in the men’s half, four seconds behind. Teferi came next, in a season-best 1:01.10, seven seconds back.
The half-marathon, meanwhile, featured not only the traditional 1-2-3 medals; it also, in the manner of a cross-country race familiar at American high schools, offered those team medals. Italy took gold, that 1-2 finish complemented by Pasquale Selvarolo finishing in sixth in 1:01.27.
Total team time for the lowest three finishers: 3:03.34.
Silver: Israel, 4-7-9, 3:04.09, Ayale No. 7 in 1:01.28, Girmaw Amare No. 9 in 1:01.31, both personal bests.
The story of the Ethiopian Jews in what is now Israel dates to the 1930s. Most came in two waves, helped by the Israeli government: the first in 1984 and the second in 1991.
Today, there are roughly 160,000 or so Ethiopian Jews in the country, just over 2% of the Israeli Jewish population and about 1.75% of the total Israeli population.
From the department of the obvious: people of eastern African descent are good at long-distance running.
Crippa, Sunday’s winner, is Ethiopian-born; he lost his parents in the Eritrean-Ethiopian war at the turn of the century and, after landing in an orphanage in Addis Ababa, was adopted, along with two older brothers – in all, among nine children adopted – by Roberto and Luisa Crippa, everyone settling in Trento, in northeastern Italy, by the Alps.
Eyob Faniel, who finished eighth Sunday, running for Italy, was born in Eritrea. He is the third-place finisher in the 2021 New York Marathon.
The twist, especially with the Olympics coming up in seven short weeks:
Israel’s Ethiopian Jews are for real in the long-distance game, too.
On the podium, in silver-medal position, far left
Teferi came into Sunday with a European ranking of No. 2 in the half-marathon. Ayale, 8. Amare, 21. Those three are due to run in Paris.
It’s not just them, though. There is a bench. And the Israelis have a special motivation.
Haimro Alame finished Sunday in 1:02.38, a personal-best 18th, Godadaw Belachew 1:02.53, 20th, a season’s best. Tesema Moges crossed in 1:06.06, 48th, also a season’s best.
Belachew said, “Every day, we train. Hard. Of course, sometimes we don’t have motivation because our brothers are fighting there. Our friends fighting there. Some are killed, some are injured.
“… It’s very hard sometimes. We feel like – in the war, you know? We do our best in the training when we feel bad times. We know we have to continue to train, to continue to represent Israel, the idea of representing our culture, our people.”