Israel Denied Moment of Silence at Olympics for Victims of 1972 Massacre
Israeli politicians, U.S. senators, and activists around the world are calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to issue a moment of silence during this summer's London games in honor of the 11 athletes, coaches, and referees killed in a terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich.
Israeli and American politicians are calling for "just one minute" – a request that has been made every year since the 1976 Montreal Games – on behalf of two widows. Ankie Spitzer, widow of fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, and Ilana Romano, widow of weightlifter Yossef Romano, lost their husbands in the terrorist attack carried out against the Israeli Olympic team 40 years ago.
Despite the renewed calls for a moment of silence, the IOC has once again denied the request to pay tribute to the fallen athletes saying that the organization has already paid official tribute to the victims of the Munich massacre.
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"We strongly sympathize with the victims' families and understand their lasting pain," IOC President Jacques Rogge said in a response letter to Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who called for the moment of silence.
"What happened in Munich in 1972 strengthened the determination to the Olympic Movement to contribute more than ever to building a peaceful and better world by educating young people through sport practices without discrimination of any kind and in Olympic spirit," Rogge added.
The IOC president also said he would be in attendance at the Israeli delegation's tribute ceremony honoring the victims before the games.
"Please rest assured that, within the Olympic family, the memory of the victims of the terrible massacre in 1972 will never fade away," Rogge said.
This summer's games will mark the 40th anniversary of the attacks and activists around the world are utilizing the Internet and social media to build momentum for the moment of silence they believe the IOC should ensure at London's opening ceremony.
"I am the wife of Anderi Sptizer. My husband was killed at those Olympic Games in 1972," reads a petition launched on Change.org that has garnered nearly 47,000 signatures. "I am asking for one minute of silence for the memory of the eleven Israeli athletes, coaches and referees murdered at the 1972 summer Olympics in Munich."
"These men were sons; fathers; uncles; brothers; friends; teammates; athletes. They came to Munich in 1972 to play as athletes in the Olympics; they came in peace and went home in coffins, killed in the Olympic Village and during hostage negotiations," the petition says. "We have no political or religious agenda. Just the hope that my husband and the other men who went to the Olympics in peace, friendship and sportsmanship are given what they deserve."
After receiving a negative response from his personalized call to Rogee, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon created a Facebook page and took to his Twitter account to promote the initiative.
"Olympic silence – no more! support the call for a minute of silence in the London Olympic games," Ayalon tweeted to his followers on Monday.
On Tuesday, Ayalon also uploaded a YouTube video calling for IOC to "stop and remember, contemplate, and to send a message that the international sporting community will stand against hatred and violence."
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) has also supported the movement, along with New York Reps. Eliot L. Engel and Nita M. Lowey, who are both Democrats.
"Is one minute too much for the IOC to spend in remembrance of 11 innocent lives brutally cut short at the 1972 Games?" Ros-Lehtinen said in a Friday statement.
"I strongly encourage the IOC to reconsider and allow sixty second of tribute to be paid to these athletes who were murdered by violent extremists in a horrific repudiation of the very values to honor, harmony, and fraternity that the Olympics represent," the Republican Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee added.
Lowey and Engel also drafted a joint letter calling for the reversal of the IOC decision.
"We are not persuaded by arguments articulated by members of the IOC and others that a minute of silence would politicize the Olympic Games or risk alienating countries that have disagreements with Israel," the letter read.
On Sept. 5, 1972 Palestinian terrorists from the Black September group broke into the Olympic village in Munich and killed two Israelis while holding nine hostage. The terrorists demanded the release of 200 Arab prisoners being held by the Israeli government, but Israel refused to negotiate and the group killed all the hostages. The games were suspended and a memorial service was held at the Olympic Stadium following the attack.
The 2012 London Games are scheduled from July 27 to Aug. 12.
