Germany on Monday marked the fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympic assaults on Israeli athletes and staff members with a ceremony on the airfield close to Munich, the place a failed rescue try occurred.
As flags had been flown at half-mast in all state buildings within the Bavarian capital, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier laid wreaths on the website. The ceremony was attended by International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach and different officers. Members of the Israeli Olympic staff had been taken hostage within the athletes’ village on September 5, 1972 by Palestinians from the Black September group.
Eleven Israelis, a German policeman, in addition to 5 Palestinian gunmen had been killed after a standoff on the Olympic Village and close by Feuerstenfeldbrück airfield, as rescue efforts had been flooded with gunfire.
Despite the assaults, the Games continued, and the IOC for nearly half a century ignored calls from the households of the victims to formally commemorate the Olympic Games. The IOC finally held a second of silence and made reference to the victims of the Munich Games on the Tokyo Summer Olympics opening ceremony final 12 months – for the primary time in practically half a century. The ceremony to mark the assaults was welcomed by family members of the victims and Israel’s authorities, however Monday’s memorial was jeopardized by households threatening to boycott Germany’s supply of compensation.
The German authorities and the Israeli household agreed on Friday a suggestion of 28 million euros in compensation, with the federal authorities contributing €22.5 million, with €5 million coming from the state of Bavaria and €500,000 from Munich.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
