Page 270 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

M-Kushner.qxd 29-10-02 2:10 PM Page 248

248———Munich Olympics Massacre

siege began, the terrorists announced that they were which to communicate with each other, and no night-
members of a Palestinian terrorist organization called vision goggles to help them see at night. This was to
Black September. At 9:35 A.M. the terrorists issued lead to disaster.
their demands. They set a noon deadline for the release The German helicopter pilots had been told the
of 200 Arab prisoners being held in Israeli jails, and police would try to rescue the Israelis once they had
safe passage out of Germany. They threatened to begin landed at the airbase, but after landing the terrorists
killing the athletes if their demands were not met. told the pilots to stand in front of their aircraft, break-
Negotiations dragged on for hours as the deadline ing an earlier promise that West Germans would not
was set back to 1 P.M., then 3 P.M., then 5 P.M., and be involved as hostages.
finally cancelled. During the standoff, a great number Two terrorists then walked the 170 yards to the
of people became involved in the negotiations, includ- 737 for an inspection, bringing two hostages with them.
ing A. D. Tuney, the Egyptian mayor of the Olympic As they were returning to the helicopters, German
Village. West German chancellor Willy Brandt con- sharpshooters opened fire. In the ensuing firefight,
sulted by phone with Israeli prime minister Golda the two terrorists and their hostages were killed. The
Meir. The Israeli government announced that it would remaining terrorists leaped from the helicopters, then
stand by its policy of never dealing with terrorists and turned and fired into one helicopter, and tossed a hand
would not negotiate. At 9 P.M., Brandt phoned grenade into the second, killing all of the hostages.
President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. Egyptian premier The firefight continued, but with the hostages dead,
Aziz Sidky took the call, told Brandt, “We don’t want the police did not hold back and it was all over in a
to get involved in this,” and hung up. few minutes. In all, 11 athletes, five terrorists, and one
The Germans decided that the terrorists would kill policeman were killed. Three of the terrorists were
their hostages if their demands were not met, so the captured.
decision was made to allow the terrorists to leave West Despite much criticism, Brundage decided to go
Germany in exchange for the hostages’ release. Avery ahead with the Games. The remaining 11 members of
Brundage, president of the International Olympic the Israeli team, however, did not stay for the end of
Committee, decided to allow the Games to continue the Games.
during the siege. The public could watch the hostage
drama unfolding on one TV channel, while athletes THE AFTERMATH
competed on another.
Although the 1972 Games ended, the story of the
Munich massacre continued for another 30 years, and
THE AIR FIELD
its impact continues today. On October 29, 1972, just
Although several plans were proposed, terrorists and over a month after the Games, a Lufthansa jet was
police eventually agreed to a plan whereby the terror- hijacked by Palestinian terrorists demanding the
ists would be flown by helicopter to the military release of the three captured Munich terrorists.
air base at Furstenfeldbruck, 15 miles away. There The Germans capitulated and the terrorists were
they would be met by a 737. The Tunisian government released. Israeli prime minister Golda Meir gave
agreed to let a plane carrying the hostages and terror- instructions for Israeli agents to hunt down and kill
ists fly to Tunisia. Once in Tunisia, the hostages all those responsible for the Munich massacre. She
would be let go. West German negotiators would told the Israeli Knesset on September 12: “We have
accompany the terrorists to the airfield to ensure their no choice but to strike at the terrorist organizations
safety. wherever we can reach them. That is our obligation to
Shortly after 10 P.M., the terrorists and hostages, ourselves and to peace. We shall fulfill that obligation
followed by hundreds of media cameras, emerged undauntedly.” At least eight Palestinian terrorists
from the building and walked to the helicopters. The connected with Munich were assassinated in the fol-
Israeli hostages were bound, blindfolded, and tied lowing months, including the three released by West
close together. Germany.
The German counterterrorist team had not dealt In 1999, Abu Daoud, a member of the Palestine
with such well-trained terrorists before and were not National Council, admitted in his autobiography,
prepared. The German snipers had no radios with Palestine: From Jerusalem to Munich, that he had