Did John Kerry Error Meb Kiflezghi's Eritrean origin to appease Ethiopia?

Eritrean-American Mebrahtom "Meb"  Kiflezghi  celebrating his Boston Marathon victory with Eritrean community members in Boston - 22 April 2014

Did John Kerry Error Meb Kiflezghi's Eritrean origin to appease Ethiopia?

During a speech made at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, John Kerry, Secretary of State, gleefully told the crowd an American won the Boston Marathon, and added the winner, Meb Kiflghzi, was of Kenyan descent. Kerry Said:

"This year, nothing negative to anybody in Ethiopia, but an American won the Boston Marathon. (Applause.) So, anyway. Pretty remarkable, though I might add of Kenyan descent. So I don’t know what it is. We’ve got to, I think, somehow get people running more or something like that."

Many Eritreans, including myself, were disappointed by Kerry's remark. We felt he purposely gaffed Meb's Eritrean origin in order to appease Ethiopia.

After all, Kerry's speech failed to condemn Ethiopia on its numerous human rights violations, including the gunning down of 47 Oromo protesters in Ambo just a day before his visit. He also failed to mention Ethiopia's illegal occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories. So purposely messing up Meb's origin should be seen as another political move to appease Ethiopia's regime.

Keep in mind, Kerry has intelligent speech writers. It's hard to believe they would gaffe Meb's origin when he was the talk of the country after winning the Boston Marathon. After his victory, Meb became an instant celebrity in America. He even received a phone call from Kerry's boss, Obama, to congratulate him on his victory. Every newspaper and TV news show mentioned Meb is American of Eritrean origin. Meb himself made this clear. So for me, it's hard to believe Kerry's team of speech writers didn't know his origin.

I believe the reason why Kerry and his writers deliberately gaffed Meb's origin is so reporters don't bring up the topic of Ethiopia's illegal occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories. Another reason is because the U.S. administration is well aware that the minority ruled dictatorship in Addis Ababa suffers from inferiority complex towards Eritreans. Several renowned professors and U.S. officials have noted that Tigrayan elites do suffer from inferiority complex towards Eritreans. Therefore, mentioning another successful Eritrean may have brought out uncomfortable feelings among many of his audience members.

So for Kerry, this was just another political move where he tells his audience members what they wanted to hear. This shouldn't come as a surprise for people in the U.S. Kerry has always been known as a flip-flopping politician who sailed whichever way the wind blows.

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