Munich massacre

Munich massacre
Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Front view of Connollystraße 31 in 2007. The window of Apartment 1 is to the left of and below the balcony.
LocationMunich, West Germany
Coordinates48°10′47″N 11°32′57″E / 48.17972°N 11.54917°E / 48.17972; 11.54917
Date5–6 September 1972
4:31 am – 12:04 am (UTC+1)
TargetIsraeli Olympic team
Attack type
Deaths
17 total (12 victims, 5 perpetrators; see list)
  • 6 Israeli coaches
  • 5 Israeli athletes
  • 1 West German police officer
  • 5 Black September members
PerpetratorsBlack September

The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, carried out by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September. The militants infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team, and took nine others hostage, who were later killed in a failed rescue attempt.[1][2][3][4]

Black September commander and negotiator Luttif Afif named the operation "Iqrit and Biram",[5][6][7] after two Palestinian Christian villages whose inhabitants were expelled by Israel during the 1948 Palestine war.[8][9][10] West German neo-Nazis provided logistical assistance to the group.[11] Shortly after the hostages were taken, Afif demanded the release of a significant number of Palestinians and non-Arab prisoners held in Israel, as well as West German–imprisoned founders of the Red Army Faction, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. The list included 328 detainees.[12]

West German police from the regular Bavarian State Police ambushed the terrorists, killing five of the eight Black September members. However, the rescue attempt failed, resulting in the deaths of all the hostages.[13]

A West German police officer was also killed in the crossfire. The West German government faced criticism for the rescue attempt and its handling of the incident. The three surviving perpetrators were arrested but were released the following month in a hostage exchange after the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615.

By then, the Israeli government had launched an assassination campaign, which authorized Mossad to track down and kill anyone who had played a role in the attack.[14][15]

Two days before the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazilian and Israeli officials led a ceremony where the International Olympic Committee honored the eleven Israelis and one German killed at Munich.[16] During the 2020 Summer Olympics, a moment of silence was observed in the opening ceremony.[17]

  1. ^ Juan Sanchez (2007). Terrorism & Its Effects. Global Media. p. 144. ISBN 978-81-89940-93-5. Retrieved 16 December 2012.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Aubrey, Stefan M. (2001). The New Dimension of International Terrorism. vdf Hochschulverlag AG. ISBN 978-3-7281-2949-9. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  3. ^ Encyclopedia of terrorism. Sage Publications. 2003. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-7619-2408-1. Retrieved 22 June 2010 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ Simon, Jeffrey David (1976). The Terrorist Trap: America's Experience with Terrorism. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21477-5. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  5. ^ "Germany and Israel: Whitewashing and Statebuilding". Oxford University Press. p. 146.
  6. ^ Sylas, Eluma Ikemefuna (2006). Terrorism: A Global Scourge. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4259-0530-9. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  7. ^ Black, Ian; Morris, Benny (1991). Israel's secret wars: a history of Israel's intelligence services. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. ISBN 978-0-8021-1159-3.
  8. ^ Benveniśtî, Mêrôn (2000). Sacred landscape: the buried history of the Holy Land since 1948. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23422-2. pp. 325–326.
  9. ^ "Justice for Ikrit and Biram" Archived 12 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Haaretz, 10 October 2001.
  10. ^ Elias Chacour with David Hazard: Blood Brothers: A Palestinian Struggles for Reconciliation in the Middle East. ISBN 978-0-8007-9321-0. Foreword by Secretary James A. Baker III. 2nd Expanded ed. 2003. pp. 44–61.
  11. ^ Latsch, Gunther; Wiegrefe, Klaus (18 June 2012), "Files Reveal Neo-Nazis Helped Palestinian Terrorists", Spiegel Online, archived from the original on 12 December 2013, retrieved 30 July 2012
  12. ^ "The hostage-takers' demands; Original typewritten English-language communiqués (with German translations) of 'Black September' and the complete name list of the 328 detainees to be released". Fürstenfeldbruck: Fürstenfeldbruck District Office, Munich State Archives, Munich Public Prosecutor's Office. 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ James Montague (5 September 2012). "The Munich massacre: A survivor's story". CNN. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  15. ^ "The Mossad's secret wars". Al Jazeera. 20 February 2010. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  16. ^ "First official Olympic ceremony held in memory of Munich victims" Archived 14 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Jerusalem Post; accessed 5 September 2017.
  17. ^ Spungin, Tal (23 July 2021). "Olympics: Moment of silence for Munich massacre victims for first time". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2021.

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