Kesher Talk

The following article is part of a blogburst - a simultaneous and cross-linked posting of many blogs on the same theme. This blogburst commemorates the Munich Olympics Massacre which began in the dawn hour of September 5th, 1972. Go to the The Index of the Munich Massacre Blogburst to find links to all the other articles.

"They murdered the Olympic dream." Some quotations from some of the individuals involved:

"I don't see how the Germans could have made any mistakes that they didn't make. Over the years Munich has served as a model of what not to do in every conceivable way."
-- Michael Hershman, senior executive at a security consulting firm that has participated in five Olympics.

". . . . the village had been a refuge, admittedly imperfect, from a larger, seedier world in which individuals and governments refused to adhere to any humane code. For two weeks every four years we direct our kind of fanaticism into the essentially absurd activities of running and swimming and being beautiful on a balance beam. Yet even in the rage of competition we keep from hurting each other, and thereby demonstrate the meaning of civilization. I shook and cried as that illusion, the strongest of my life, was shattered."
-- Kenny Moore, American athlete at Munich in 1972

". . . . they didn't only murder 11 athletes and 11 Israelis but they murdered the Olympic dream, a dream that, as much as I know, my father really believed in."
-- Anouk Spitzer, who never knew her father, murdered Israeli athlete Andre Spitzer

"The tragedy of Munich was a direct onslaught on the Olympic values of internationalism, inclusiveness and respect for diversity. Nothing could have been more inconsistent with these principles than the terrible crimes committed in Munich."
-- New South Wales Chief Justice Jim Spigelman, upon unveiling a memorial to the slain athletes in Sydney, at the time of the 2000 Summer Games (an event which IOC officials declined to attend)

"Walled off in their dream world, appallingly unaware of the realities of life and death, the aging playground directors who conduct this quadrennial muscle dance ruled that a little blood must not be permitted to interrupt play."
-- New York Times sports columnist Red Smith

"I'm proud of what I did at Munich because it helped the Palestinian cause enormously. Before Munich, the world had no idea about our struggle, but on that day, the name of Palestine was repeated all around the world."
-- last remaining Munich terrorist Jamal Al-Gashay

". . . . the reason it became a defining moment . . . the Munich Massacre spread fear and intimidation to a global audience because through the medium of television the perpetrators got their message across to a global audience. The Germans could not effectively react to that, and in the deaths that followed, which included the Israeli athletes, we understood that we had a long way to go to deal with what was then a very new threat."
-- Steven Sloan, political science professor at the University of Oklahoma and co-author of The Historical Dictionary of Terrorism

"No shit."
-- Ankie Spitzer, widow of murdered athlete Andre Spitzer, after German officials told her they couldn't guarantee her safety if she came to Munich after the massacre.

posted by Judith @ 9/05/2002 12:49:26 AM