MUNICH AGAIN FOR THE 2018 OLYMPICS? HOW CALLOUS
http://israelity.com/2011/01/12/munich-memories/
Munich memories
When I saw a news report Tuesday that Munich was one of the three cities that had officially entered a bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, I could hardly believe my eyes.
What was behind the thinking of the city officials behind the campaign? ‘Well, we screwed up in ’72, but maybe we can do better next time if we get another chance.’
The families of the 11 Israelis killed in the Palestinian terrorist attack on the Olympic Village in 1972 may not be thrilled with the possibility that Munich will beat out Annecy, France, and Pyeongchang, South Korea for the privilege of hosting the 2018 winter games and they have good reason.
Anke Spitzer, widow of one of the victims, Israel fencing coach Andre Spitzer, has been spearheading a campaign for years to convince the International Olympic Committee to hold a memorial service during the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. The IOC has repeatedly denied the requests, saying they don’t want to mix politics and sport or offend the participants from Arab and Muslim states.
Spitzker related to The Jerusalem Post how she attended the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she met with the German delegation at their complex. She said that she was told by delegates that “the people of Munich feel short-changed, that they lost an Olympics because of what happened [in 1972]. We told them we lost a little more than this.”
Spitzker and other widows from the attack like Ilana Romano, the 64- year-old widow of weightlifter Yosef Romano, can live with another Munich Olympics if the memorial ceremony is included. Romano said the that the event being held in Munich again “will remind people of the victims and of what happened.”
“I absolutely believe that Munich is a very painful place for us, for families to walk there again and see the Olympics there again it will reopen old wounds. But, for the memory of the victims, this is the place where the ceremony must be held and someone with the courage to make it happen must step forward and do so.”
So, if the International Olympic Committee is brazen enough to choose Munich as the 2018 site, let them at least be compassionate enough to also vote to inaugurate the memorial ceremony for the Israeli victims of 1972. It’s the least they can do.
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