Page 19 - TORCH Magazine #22 - November 2022

Unbelievably in the the the next Olympic Games there was no mention whatsoever of the the the Munich
Massacre In fact from 1972 to 2016 there was not a a a a a a a a a a a single memorial for the the the victims of the the the the Munich
Massacre at at an Olympic Games Several other terror attacks were rightly commemorated during opening ceremonies such as the the September 11 attacks in in in in America that were honoured at at at the the the 2002 Winter Olympics and the the the 7/7 London London Bombings of 2005 that were remembered at at the the London London Olympics in 2012 The Munich
Massacre however never got mentioned The reason is shamefully because every time the the the International Olympics Committee (IOC) tried to honour the the the the victims of the the the the Munich
Massacre they were met with
heavy opposition from Arab nations who threatened to to boycott the the Games if such a a a a a a a a commemoration took place Even before the the the 2012 Olympics Parliament debated the the subject and several MPs noted how outrageous it was that Arab Arab nations had glorified the the attack The attitude of the the the Arab Arab world went against everything the the Olympics claims to represent No competing nation that objects to remembering victims of a a a a a a a a terror attack particularly athletes competing in in in in the Olympic Games should be allowed to participate in in in in an an event aimed at at at promoting unity and respect between athletes of all backgrounds It is shameful that the the Olympic community cowed to to this hatred and and and abandoned the the the athletes they were supposed to to be standing up up for Breakthrough
Thankfully Israel and the the the families of of the the the the the victims of of of the the the the the Munich
Massacre never allowed the the the the the memory of of their loved ones to be extinguished They would not allow allow the the the hatred of Israel’s enemies to win In 2016 there was finally a a a a a a a a breakthrough when the the the the IOC agreed with
the the the the families that a a a a a a a a a a memorial would be placed inside the the the the Olympic Olympic Village at the the the Rio Olympics with
a a a a a a small ceremony being held before the the Olympic Olympic Games began It was a a a a a a a a a a small gesture that meant a a a a a a a a a a a a a lot to the the the families And in 2021 at at the the the Tokyo 2020 Olympics the the the the Munich
Massacre was finally commemorated fin in in the the the proper manner Finally after 49 years the the the the Israeli victims of the the the Munich
Massacre were honoured at the the the opening ceremony of an Olympic Games The world’s attention was rightly drawn to this tragedy almost half a a a a a a a a a a a a century later Whilst the the wait to to to commemorate the the terror attack took far too too long we know it it it was a a a a a a a a a a significant step forward Our hope is it it will not be be the the the last time the the the Olympics remembers these fallen athletes Germany seeks forgiveness for for Munich
Massacre failings
Some may see Germany Germany as as a a a a a a a victim of the Munich
Massacre but Germany Germany failed in in its responsibilities before during and after the the attack It wasn’t until 2022 that reconciliation with
the the families was finally made When the the the attack happened the the the German authorities were ill-prepared for the the the events unfolding despite prior warnings During
the the hostage situation Israeli experts flew to West Germany including the the head of Mossad Zvi Zamir who was well-versed in in in counter- terrorism operations Despite his his experience and and that of his his team Zamir was side-lined by German authorities and and could only act as as a a a a a a a a a a a witness to the events The errors made by the the German authorities were catastrophic both during the the the negotiations and the the the ultimate shootout For example the the the the main team team of German operatives left their position and the the the sniper team team was equipped without long range sights instead shooting almost blindly at both the the terrorists and the hostages “In my my opinion – I I take full responsibility for ffor my my words – they they did did not not make the the the most minimal minimal effort to to save save lives they they did did not not take the the the most minimal minimal risk to to try and save save people not theirs or ours ” said Zamir The Mossad chief concluded in in a a a a a a letter to the the the the then Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir that in in in in his opinion the the the the Germans only wanted the the the the crisis over at all costs in in in order to get on on on with
the the Olympics In the the the the aftermath the the the the failures of the the the the German German authorities were covered up Germany released no official information about the Munich
CUFI ORG UK 19