Showing posts with label Israeli athletes murdered at the Olympics in Munich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israeli athletes murdered at the Olympics in Munich. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Son of Murdered Israeli Olympian Speaks Out
Guri Weinberg who was one month old when his father, Moshe Weinberg and ten other Israeli athletes were tortured and murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics speaks out against the IOC's (International Olympic Committee) 40-year refusal of a 1 Minute Moment of Silence. Guri speaks with Rabbi Abraham Cooper, SWC Associate Dean. Read Guri's op-ed here: Why the IOC will never memorialize the '72 Munich massacre. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/07/27/why-ioc-will-never-memorialize-72-m.... More at http://www.wiesenthal.com
"Now, I have a message to all the members of the IOC. The torture inflicted by “Black September” on the 11 Israeli athletes and their families took 48 hours. Your torture of the families and the memories of those esteemed athletes has lasted 40 years. I am not satisfied with a moment of silence in every Opening Ceremony of the Summer Games. Now I want all of you to lose your jobs and be replaced by real Olympians who care about the athletes and believe in the Olympic charter.
The threat of the IOC coming after me does not scare me anymore. When you have no more dignity, you have nothing to lose. So, members of the IOC -- my name is Guri Weinberg and I am the son of Moshe Weinberg, the wrestling coach murdered at the 1972 Olympics. And I am not going away."
-July 27, 2012 excerpt from FOX NEWS op-ed by Guri Weinberg, son of slain Israeli Olympian
Monday, July 30, 2012
Bob Costas Led A Moment Of Silence At The Opening Ceremony After The IOC Refused
NBC's Bob Costas led a five-second moment of silence when Israeli athletes walked into Olympic Stadium yesterday, which the International Olympic Committee refused to do.
Costas was acknowledging the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches murdered 40 years ago during the Munich Games in 1972 by Palestinian gunmen.
"There have been calls from a number of quarters for the IOC to acknowledge that with a moment of silence at some point in tonight's ceremony, the IOC denied that request noting it had honored the victims on other occasions," Costas said on the telecast.
"Still, for many, tonight with the world watching is the true time and place to remember those who were lost and how and why they died," he continued.
Following his comments, Costas went silent for five-seconds before sending it to commercial.
ISRAEL DENOUNCES THE IOC AT THE SITE OF ‘84 GAMES IN LOS ANGELES
On Friday morning, just hours before the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, Consul General of Israel, David Siegel, convened local officials and community leaders at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, site of the 1984 Olympic Games, to do something that the International Olympic Committee has refused to do over the last 40 years. Hold a moment of silence for the Munich 11 – the Israeli athletes and coaches who were killed during the 1972 Munich Olympic Games by the Palestinian terror organization Black September.
"Israel proudly joins the 2012 summer games in the spirit of sportsmanship," said Consul General Siegel. "But for us, it is also a moment of solemn reflection as we remember the eleven Israelis who traveled to Munich in the spirit of the Olympic values of respect, excellence, and friendship; only to be brutally murdered at the hands of hate-filled terrorists."
Despite 40 years of requests from the global community, the IOC refuses to properly commemorate the victims during the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. "The Israeli athletes were murdered on Olympic soil and should be commemorated on Olympic soil," said Siegel. The Los Angeles community and its leaders have stood with the Israeli athletes to do what the IOC so adamantly refuses.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Barry Sanders, Chairman of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, and Justice Stephen Reinhardt, who served as secretary of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee were all instrumental in bringing a memorial plaque honoring the memory of the Israeli athletes to the Los Angeles Coliseum following the 1984 Olympic Games.
Supervisor Yaroslavsky vividly remembers as "the IOC vetoed our ability to erect the plaque here, so we erected it in City Hall on a temporary basis because the International Olympics Committee didn't want anything to do with remembering the 11 athletes. And now we fast forward to today - where one moment of silence is not granted." Justice Reinhardt recounted, "Twenty eight years ago in Los Angeles we experienced the same stubborn refusal by the IOC to allow us to mark the vicious murder of the 11 Israeli Olympians."
This week, Councilmember Eric Garcetti authored a resolution calling for a moment of silence at the 2012 Olympic Games. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement, "We take a moment to remember the brutal terrorism and senseless loss of life in Munich 40 years ago. I urge the International Olympic Committee to stand with us and pay tribute to the victims of the Munich Massacre."
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said a prayer for the Munich 11 which was followed by a solemn, reflective minute of silence. As Sanders said, "there should never be such a thing as a murdered Olympian. We honor their memory and we always will."
"Israel proudly joins the 2012 summer games in the spirit of sportsmanship," said Consul General Siegel. "But for us, it is also a moment of solemn reflection as we remember the eleven Israelis who traveled to Munich in the spirit of the Olympic values of respect, excellence, and friendship; only to be brutally murdered at the hands of hate-filled terrorists."
Despite 40 years of requests from the global community, the IOC refuses to properly commemorate the victims during the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. "The Israeli athletes were murdered on Olympic soil and should be commemorated on Olympic soil," said Siegel. The Los Angeles community and its leaders have stood with the Israeli athletes to do what the IOC so adamantly refuses.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Barry Sanders, Chairman of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, and Justice Stephen Reinhardt, who served as secretary of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee were all instrumental in bringing a memorial plaque honoring the memory of the Israeli athletes to the Los Angeles Coliseum following the 1984 Olympic Games.
Supervisor Yaroslavsky vividly remembers as "the IOC vetoed our ability to erect the plaque here, so we erected it in City Hall on a temporary basis because the International Olympics Committee didn't want anything to do with remembering the 11 athletes. And now we fast forward to today - where one moment of silence is not granted." Justice Reinhardt recounted, "Twenty eight years ago in Los Angeles we experienced the same stubborn refusal by the IOC to allow us to mark the vicious murder of the 11 Israeli Olympians."
This week, Councilmember Eric Garcetti authored a resolution calling for a moment of silence at the 2012 Olympic Games. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement, "We take a moment to remember the brutal terrorism and senseless loss of life in Munich 40 years ago. I urge the International Olympic Committee to stand with us and pay tribute to the victims of the Munich Massacre."
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said a prayer for the Munich 11 which was followed by a solemn, reflective minute of silence. As Sanders said, "there should never be such a thing as a murdered Olympian. We honor their memory and we always will."
Sunday, July 29, 2012
STATEMENT BY DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER DANNY AYALON
We were deeply disappointed that the IOC did not see fit to remember during the Opening Ceremony the eleven Israeli athletes murdered during the Munich Olympic Games 40 years ago.
Only a few days we were told by IOC President Jacques Rogge that "the opening ceremony is an atmosphere that is not fit to remember such a tragic incident".
However, the Opening Ceremony did include moments of silence and respect for those British citizens who died during terror attacks. We can only conclude that Rogge meant
that the opening ceremony was not fit to remember a tragic incident involving Israelis.
On Friday night, Rogge finally ran out of excuses. He said a minute silence was not part of the protocol, yet many previous Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies held a minute silence.
It was claimed that it was too political, yet many political causes have been remembered and utilized during opening ceremonies. Finally, he used this his card, that it was not an
atmosphere fit to remember such a tragic incident, yet other tragic incidents were remembered.
On Friday night, Rogge lost our respect and lost his ability to legitimately represent the Olympic ideal that all are equal in the international family of nations. He was exposed as
a hypocrite and as someone who was led by political interests and not the interests of the Olympic Games whose darkest moment saw eleven Israeli athletes tortured and
murdered in the Olympic Village, during the Olympic Games under the auspices and supposed protection of the IOC.
Friday, July 27, 2012
The Massacre of the Munich 11 Israelis in 1972
Hypocrites!!! The Palestinian Authority is against the moment of silence at the Olympics to commemorate the Israeli athletes THEY murdered at the Munich Olympics in 1972. According to the headline in today’s official PA daily, “Sports are meant for peace, not for racism.” Funny, isn’t it, that the President of the Palestinian Authority, Muhammad Abbas, was in charge of financing the Munich 11 massacre! and it is HE who today says that “sports are meant for peace, not for racism.” How sad the world is that we allows such people to get away with murder, and allow him to be a leader!
The world should dis-invite the Olympic delegation from the Palestinian Authority to protest it’s elected leader from taking part in cold blooded murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. Arafat and Abbas were arch-terrorists and their people continue to use terrorism to kill Jews and destroy the State of Israel.
LATimes: Shamefully, IOC can't spare a minute to mark 1972 Munich terrorism The International Olympic Committee says the opening ceremony of the London Games isn't a 'fit' setting to mark deaths of 11 Israeli athletes. Those who disagree will defiantly stand as IOC chief Jacques Rogge speaks.
LONDON — They're not asking for much, these two elderly women who lost their husbands to the worst crime in Olympic history.
They're not asking for a speech or a video or even a prayer to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the murder of 11 Israelis at the 1972 Munich Games.
They're asking for a single minute. One minute. One breath of silence at these London Games' opening ceremony. One brief remembrance of the lives that were lost on a day when terror triumphed over sport. One short but jarring condemnation of that terror.
Why can't the International Olympic Committee just give them that one minute?
"Jacques Rogge, you have let terror win today," said Illana Romano, the widow of slain Israeli weightlifter Yossef Romano.
Romano was speaking Wednesday at a London news conference that should never have been held. She was joined by Ankie Spitzer, wife of slain fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, in a sad plea for a bit of human decency that should have long since been granted.
Rogge is president of an International Olympic Committee that steadfastly has refused to allow the memory of the massacred Munich 11 to be part of the opening ceremony. Not once since that September day in 1972 has the IOC given the massacre's survivors the honor or comfort of even one second of solemnity during the important and symbolic opening night.
After four decades, two widows have been sadly reduced to begging for it.
The athletes, pleaded Spitzer, "were killed at an Olympic venue. They should be honored there."
Armed with a petition containing more than 100,000 signatures, backed by support from worldwide leaders including President Obama, the two women showed up in London with one last desperate plan.
"If you believe that the 11 murdered athletes must be mentioned, stand for a spontaneous minute when the IOC president begins to speak," Romano said.
She has also asked the broadcast media to follow Bob Costas, the NBC announcer who has stated he will stage his own minute of silence when the Israeli team marches into the Olympic Stadium during the broadcast. That minute has not yet been endorsed by a network with a billion reasons not to upset the IOC, but at least Costas is trying.
"Silence your microphones for a minute in memory of our loved ones and to condemn terrorism," Romano said.
I'll be standing. I'll be silent. And for that entire minute, I'll be noting the shame that will surround Rogge as he speaks of the Olympic spirit while clearly violating it.
Why can't the IOC just give them that one minute? It's politics, of course. There is no outfit more political than the IOC, backroom deal makers in altruistic clothing. Their Olympic vision has become as much about money and power as fairness and competition..
Simply, and disgracefully, the IOC won't honor the fallen Israeli athletes at the opening ceremony because they don't want to anger the nearly 50 Arab and predominantly Muslim countries that are also competing in the Games.
Rogge said the opening ceremony is "an atmosphere that is not fit to remember such a tragic incident."
So the atmosphere where one is murdered is not fit for the memory of those murders? As usual, the IOC's arrogance is tone-deaf to the point of being laughable.
This week Rogge suddenly asked for a moment of silence for the fallen Olympians during an appearance at the Olympic village. It was neither planned nor televised nor heard by more than a smattering of officials. It was lame and pandering and did not satisfy the widows, who called it "'shameful."
The 11 athletes were killed by the Palestinian group Black September because they were Israeli. At least one U.S. politician said in a conference call Wednesday that they are not being memorialized for the same reason.
"This is politics; they're afraid of offending Arab nations," said U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y), whose constituents include the Rockland Jewish Community Center, which spearheaded the petition. "The only reason they haven't done this in 40 years is because it's Israeli athletes.… If this had happened to athletes of any other country but Israel, there would have been this minute of silence years ago."
At the very least, the IOC has been inconsistent on this issue. As recently as 2002, the 9/11 flag was paraded into the Salt Lake City opening ceremony to honor those terrorism victims.
"The IOC says it's too political to honor the Israelis, but it's quite the opposite," said Engel, who has communicated with Rogge about the issue. "It's political not to have the moment of silence. It's a matter of decency."
Perhaps nothing has been more indecent than the reported recent exchange between Spitzer and Rogge, who told her that in this matter, his hands were tied.
"Your hands are tied?" Spitzer reportedly replied. "My husband's hands were tied. So were his feet."
bill.plaschke@latimes.com
They're not asking for a speech or a video or even a prayer to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the murder of 11 Israelis at the 1972 Munich Games.
They're asking for a single minute. One minute. One breath of silence at these London Games' opening ceremony. One brief remembrance of the lives that were lost on a day when terror triumphed over sport. One short but jarring condemnation of that terror.
Why can't the International Olympic Committee just give them that one minute?
"Jacques Rogge, you have let terror win today," said Illana Romano, the widow of slain Israeli weightlifter Yossef Romano.
Romano was speaking Wednesday at a London news conference that should never have been held. She was joined by Ankie Spitzer, wife of slain fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, in a sad plea for a bit of human decency that should have long since been granted.
Rogge is president of an International Olympic Committee that steadfastly has refused to allow the memory of the massacred Munich 11 to be part of the opening ceremony. Not once since that September day in 1972 has the IOC given the massacre's survivors the honor or comfort of even one second of solemnity during the important and symbolic opening night.
After four decades, two widows have been sadly reduced to begging for it.
The athletes, pleaded Spitzer, "were killed at an Olympic venue. They should be honored there."
Armed with a petition containing more than 100,000 signatures, backed by support from worldwide leaders including President Obama, the two women showed up in London with one last desperate plan.
"If you believe that the 11 murdered athletes must be mentioned, stand for a spontaneous minute when the IOC president begins to speak," Romano said.
She has also asked the broadcast media to follow Bob Costas, the NBC announcer who has stated he will stage his own minute of silence when the Israeli team marches into the Olympic Stadium during the broadcast. That minute has not yet been endorsed by a network with a billion reasons not to upset the IOC, but at least Costas is trying.
"Silence your microphones for a minute in memory of our loved ones and to condemn terrorism," Romano said.
I'll be standing. I'll be silent. And for that entire minute, I'll be noting the shame that will surround Rogge as he speaks of the Olympic spirit while clearly violating it.
Why can't the IOC just give them that one minute? It's politics, of course. There is no outfit more political than the IOC, backroom deal makers in altruistic clothing. Their Olympic vision has become as much about money and power as fairness and competition..
Simply, and disgracefully, the IOC won't honor the fallen Israeli athletes at the opening ceremony because they don't want to anger the nearly 50 Arab and predominantly Muslim countries that are also competing in the Games.
Rogge said the opening ceremony is "an atmosphere that is not fit to remember such a tragic incident."
So the atmosphere where one is murdered is not fit for the memory of those murders? As usual, the IOC's arrogance is tone-deaf to the point of being laughable.
This week Rogge suddenly asked for a moment of silence for the fallen Olympians during an appearance at the Olympic village. It was neither planned nor televised nor heard by more than a smattering of officials. It was lame and pandering and did not satisfy the widows, who called it "'shameful."
The 11 athletes were killed by the Palestinian group Black September because they were Israeli. At least one U.S. politician said in a conference call Wednesday that they are not being memorialized for the same reason.
"This is politics; they're afraid of offending Arab nations," said U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y), whose constituents include the Rockland Jewish Community Center, which spearheaded the petition. "The only reason they haven't done this in 40 years is because it's Israeli athletes.… If this had happened to athletes of any other country but Israel, there would have been this minute of silence years ago."
At the very least, the IOC has been inconsistent on this issue. As recently as 2002, the 9/11 flag was paraded into the Salt Lake City opening ceremony to honor those terrorism victims.
"The IOC says it's too political to honor the Israelis, but it's quite the opposite," said Engel, who has communicated with Rogge about the issue. "It's political not to have the moment of silence. It's a matter of decency."
Perhaps nothing has been more indecent than the reported recent exchange between Spitzer and Rogge, who told her that in this matter, his hands were tied.
"Your hands are tied?" Spitzer reportedly replied. "My husband's hands were tied. So were his feet."
bill.plaschke@latimes.com
Thursday, July 26, 2012
UK Chief Rabbi’s Prayer for the 1972 Olympic Tragedy
Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks of the UK composed a special prayer to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the massacre at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists..
Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organisation of 54 independent member states including The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and South Africa.
Here are the words of Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks (prayer is found down below):
“The massacre of eleven Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich was a tragic event in the history of the Olympic Games. But for the Jewish people, Munich 1972 is more than history.”
“It is an event forever etched into the hearts and minds of our collective Jewish memory.History is his story – an event that happened sometime else to someone else. Memory is my story – something that happened to me and is part of who I am.”
“History is information. Memory, by contrast, is part of identity. The eleven Israeli athletes and coaches were targeted not just because of their nationality, but because they were Jews.”
“The attack was carried out on a world stage because it had a global target: the Jewish people. We are a people whose faith is central to our identity. It is therefore not sufficient for the Munich 11 to be remembered simply in the secular setting. It requires an expression of religious remembrance as well. That is why I have composed a special prayer of remembrance to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the massacre and to ensure it has a place on the map of Jewish memory.”
“Coming at a time in the Jewish calendar when we recall the many tragedies that have befallen our people throughout history, the fortieth anniversary of the Munich massacre is also a moment when we can recall how, despite the many attempts to destroy our people, our faith has remained intact and the Jewish people, together with the memory of those lost, lives on.”
.
The Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks has composed the following prayer:
Almighty God,
We, the members of this holy congregation,
Together with members of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth,
Join our prayers to the prayers of others throughout the world,
In remembrance of the eleven Israeli athletes
Brutally murdered in an act of terrorism,
At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich,
Because they were Israelis,
Because they were Jews.
The Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks has composed the following prayer:
Almighty God,
We, the members of this holy congregation,
Together with members of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth,
Join our prayers to the prayers of others throughout the world,
In remembrance of the eleven Israeli athletes
Brutally murdered in an act of terrorism,
At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich,
Because they were Israelis,
Because they were Jews.
At this time in the Jewish year,
When we remember the destructions of our holy Temples,
And the many tragedies that have befallen our people throughout history,
We mourn their loss
And continue to protest against those who hate our people.
When we remember the destructions of our holy Temples,
And the many tragedies that have befallen our people throughout history,
We mourn their loss
And continue to protest against those who hate our people.
We pray to You, O God:
Comfort the families and friends of the Israeli athletes who continue to grieve
And grant eternal life to those so cruelly robbed of life on earth.
Just as we are united in grief,
Help us stay united in hope.
As we comfort one another under the shadow of death,
Help us strengthen one another in honouring life.
Comfort the families and friends of the Israeli athletes who continue to grieve
And grant eternal life to those so cruelly robbed of life on earth.
Just as we are united in grief,
Help us stay united in hope.
As we comfort one another under the shadow of death,
Help us strengthen one another in honouring life.
The Olympic message is one of peace, of harmony and of unity,
Teach us, Almighty God, to bring reconciliation and respect between faiths,
As we pray for the peace of Israel,
And for the peace of the world.
May this be Your will and let us say: AmenDavid Berger
Yossef Gutfreund
Moshe Weinberg
Eliezer Halfin
Mark Slavin
Yossef Romano
Kehat Shorr
Andre Spitzer
Amitzur Shapira
Yakov Springer
Ze’ev Friedman
Teach us, Almighty God, to bring reconciliation and respect between faiths,
As we pray for the peace of Israel,
And for the peace of the world.
May this be Your will and let us say: AmenDavid Berger
Yossef Gutfreund
Moshe Weinberg
Eliezer Halfin
Mark Slavin
Yossef Romano
Kehat Shorr
Andre Spitzer
Amitzur Shapira
Yakov Springer
Ze’ev Friedman
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
How dare the world shun Israel on terrorism (Jose Maria Aznar)
How dare the world shun Israel on terrorism
Forty years after Munich, we are wrong to block the country most affected by atrocities
Jose Maria Aznar
When we are about to mark the 40th anniversary of the terrorist attacks at the Olympic Village in Munich, in which 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists, it is a real paradox to see Israel excluded from the first meeting of the Global Counter-terrorism Forum.
This initiative, led by the United States and attended by 29 countries and the European Union, took place last month in an effort to improve the co-ordination of counter-terrorism policies at global level. Why wasn't Israel invited? The meeting was held in Istanbul and no one wanted to "provoke" the host, the Islamist Government of the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Worse still, in July, the forum organised its first victims-of-terrorism meeting. Not only was Israel excluded, but Israeli victims had no place in its official speeches. When we see deadly terrorist attacks such as the recent one in Bulgaria, targeting tourists simply because they were Israeli, the marginalisation of Israel is totally unacceptable.
As a terrorism victim myself, who was fortunate to survive a car-bomb attack, I cannot understand or justify the marginalisation of other terrorist victims just for political reasons. If we extrapolate Israel's experience of slaughter to Britain, it would mean that in the past 12 years about 11,000 British citizens would have died and 60,000 would have been injured in terrorist attacks. In the case of the United States, the figures would he 65,000 dead and 300,000 injured. Israel's ordeal is far from insignificant.
It is even more poignant if one considers Israel's willingness to face up to terrorism and the practical experience that it has acquired to defeat it. Israel has much to contribute in this area and everyone else has a lot to learn if we really want to defeat the terrorists.
Fiamma Nirenstein, the vice-president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies (and a member of the Friends of Israel Initiative) has made a proposal that is as fair as it is attractive - to hold a moment of silence at the London Olympics in memory of the 1972 massacre. Remembering is important, first, because of the victims, but also because many Europeans adopted the wrong attitude towards Palestinian terrorism after the Munich attack. The culprits who were arrested were later quietly released for fear of further attacks. And because of that initial fear the terrorists knew hose to take advantage of the situation and to press for more rewards.
I have experienced terrorism at first hand. Many of my friends and some political colleagues have been killed by terrorists whose only merit was to have a hood, a gun or a bomb. Nonetheless, even in the most difficult times, I have always believed that weakness and appeasement are the wrong choices. Terrorism is not a natural phenomenon; it doesn't happen spontaneously; its not something ethereal. It can and must be fought using all the tools provided by the law and democracy - and most importantly, it can be defeated if there is the will to defeat it. Israel has provided ample proof that it possesses that will, since its own existence is at stake.
To marginalise or isolate Israel to avoid irritating Turkey is a big mistake. All of the Middle East, from Morocco to the Gulf, is undergoing profound, although not always peaceful, change, which is yielding very disturbing results. Although the elections in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt are something new and promising for the region, Syria is immersed in civil war and there is a danger that the region's largest arsenal of chemical weapons will spin out of control and become available to anyone - as happened with Libya's portable anti-aircraft missiles, which disappeared after the fall of of Colonel Gaddafi, In Egypt, the rise of Islamism threatens economic and political stability. Hezbollah is still in Lebanon, keeping alive its goal of eliminating Israel -just as members oft Hamas do in Gaza. Despite sanctions, Iran is moving forward with the development of a nuclear bomb in its effort to become the regional leader and to export its Islamist and revolutionaiy ideology as widely as possible. There are also other areas in turmoil that directly affect Europe, such as the Sahel region of Africa, south of the Sahara, which is now becoming dominated by al-Qaeda.
Isolation not only renders Israel weaker against its enemies, but also makes all Westerners weaker. And the practitioners of terrorism know all too well how to exploit our differences.
Remembering Munich 40 years on should be a useful reminder of our successes and failures. It should help us to enhance our collective abilities to light terrorism. Israel is key in this fight. Israel is a part of the West. Israel is not the problem; it is part of the solution. We will become the problem if we continue to cold-shoulder Israel, the country most affected by terrorism and, possibly, the one that knows best how to defeat it.
Jose Maria Aznar was Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004 and is chairman of the Friends of Israel Initiative.
Forty years after Munich, we are wrong to block the country most affected by atrocities
Jose Maria Aznar
When we are about to mark the 40th anniversary of the terrorist attacks at the Olympic Village in Munich, in which 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists, it is a real paradox to see Israel excluded from the first meeting of the Global Counter-terrorism Forum.
This initiative, led by the United States and attended by 29 countries and the European Union, took place last month in an effort to improve the co-ordination of counter-terrorism policies at global level. Why wasn't Israel invited? The meeting was held in Istanbul and no one wanted to "provoke" the host, the Islamist Government of the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Worse still, in July, the forum organised its first victims-of-terrorism meeting. Not only was Israel excluded, but Israeli victims had no place in its official speeches. When we see deadly terrorist attacks such as the recent one in Bulgaria, targeting tourists simply because they were Israeli, the marginalisation of Israel is totally unacceptable.
As a terrorism victim myself, who was fortunate to survive a car-bomb attack, I cannot understand or justify the marginalisation of other terrorist victims just for political reasons. If we extrapolate Israel's experience of slaughter to Britain, it would mean that in the past 12 years about 11,000 British citizens would have died and 60,000 would have been injured in terrorist attacks. In the case of the United States, the figures would he 65,000 dead and 300,000 injured. Israel's ordeal is far from insignificant.
It is even more poignant if one considers Israel's willingness to face up to terrorism and the practical experience that it has acquired to defeat it. Israel has much to contribute in this area and everyone else has a lot to learn if we really want to defeat the terrorists.
Fiamma Nirenstein, the vice-president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies (and a member of the Friends of Israel Initiative) has made a proposal that is as fair as it is attractive - to hold a moment of silence at the London Olympics in memory of the 1972 massacre. Remembering is important, first, because of the victims, but also because many Europeans adopted the wrong attitude towards Palestinian terrorism after the Munich attack. The culprits who were arrested were later quietly released for fear of further attacks. And because of that initial fear the terrorists knew hose to take advantage of the situation and to press for more rewards.
I have experienced terrorism at first hand. Many of my friends and some political colleagues have been killed by terrorists whose only merit was to have a hood, a gun or a bomb. Nonetheless, even in the most difficult times, I have always believed that weakness and appeasement are the wrong choices. Terrorism is not a natural phenomenon; it doesn't happen spontaneously; its not something ethereal. It can and must be fought using all the tools provided by the law and democracy - and most importantly, it can be defeated if there is the will to defeat it. Israel has provided ample proof that it possesses that will, since its own existence is at stake.
To marginalise or isolate Israel to avoid irritating Turkey is a big mistake. All of the Middle East, from Morocco to the Gulf, is undergoing profound, although not always peaceful, change, which is yielding very disturbing results. Although the elections in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt are something new and promising for the region, Syria is immersed in civil war and there is a danger that the region's largest arsenal of chemical weapons will spin out of control and become available to anyone - as happened with Libya's portable anti-aircraft missiles, which disappeared after the fall of of Colonel Gaddafi, In Egypt, the rise of Islamism threatens economic and political stability. Hezbollah is still in Lebanon, keeping alive its goal of eliminating Israel -just as members oft Hamas do in Gaza. Despite sanctions, Iran is moving forward with the development of a nuclear bomb in its effort to become the regional leader and to export its Islamist and revolutionaiy ideology as widely as possible. There are also other areas in turmoil that directly affect Europe, such as the Sahel region of Africa, south of the Sahara, which is now becoming dominated by al-Qaeda.
Isolation not only renders Israel weaker against its enemies, but also makes all Westerners weaker. And the practitioners of terrorism know all too well how to exploit our differences.
Remembering Munich 40 years on should be a useful reminder of our successes and failures. It should help us to enhance our collective abilities to light terrorism. Israel is key in this fight. Israel is a part of the West. Israel is not the problem; it is part of the solution. We will become the problem if we continue to cold-shoulder Israel, the country most affected by terrorism and, possibly, the one that knows best how to defeat it.
Jose Maria Aznar was Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004 and is chairman of the Friends of Israel Initiative.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Just One Minute
In a new campaign #justoneminute , Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon calls on the International Olympic Committee to dedicate a minute of silence during the opening ceremony at this summer's London Olympic Games in memory of the eleven Israeli athletes who were brutally murdered during the Munich Olympic Games in 1972.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Forgotten martyrs
Some of the Israeli athletes assassinated by Arafat’s death squads were Holocaust survivors, while others were “sabras" born in Israel. Each of their stories calls up weeping and prayer. Every one of them was a member of the great body of Israel.Read the whole thing.
Like Amitzur Shapira, the father of four beautiful children and a teacher in Herzliya. Like Shaul Ladani, who contracted typhoid fever at the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen. Like Yosef Romano, who the day before he was killed had said, “This is my last competition; I don’t have enough time for my children.”
Like David Berger, an idealist and pacifist Jew from Cleveland, who was supposed to get married after returning from the Olympics. Like Mark Slavin, who kissed the Jewish soil upon his arrival in Israel from Minsk, where he had fought against the Communists who imprisoned thousands of Jews who, like him, wanted to reach Jerusalem. Like Ze’ev Friedman, who spoke a wonderful mixture of Yiddish and Russian and was the last male of his family, incinerated in the gas chambers.
Like Kehat Schorr, who had fought against the Nazi troops in the Carpathian Mountains. Like Yakov Springer, who taught school in Bat Yam and one of the few survivors of the armed revolt in the Warsaw ghetto. Like Eliezer Halfin, who had lost all his relatives in the Holocaust. Like Yosef Gutfreund, who spent months in prison in Romania under the accusation of “Zionist propaganda.”
The building that housed the Israeli athletes was located less than 10 miles from the Dachau concentration camp. They were the first Jews killed in Germany for being Jewish since 1945. Since then, their murder vanished from international memory. The victims’ relatives asked just for “30 seconds” of silence. The Olympic Committee refused it. The next distribution of silver and gold medals will be stained in disgrace and shame. The 11 Israelis died a second time.
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