Let's remember

The opening ceremonies of the Olympics feature a moment of silence- for "lost friends and family." As outrageous as it is, on this, the fortieth anniversary of Palestinian terrorists invading Olympic Village in Munich and murdering 11 Israelis, 5 athletes, 4 coaches, an Olympic judge, and a referee, there will be no moment of silence, no remembrance. Even from the point-of-view of stark self-interest, one would think that an organization that has continually been exposed as corrupt would welcome an opportunity to improve their public image.

Insisting that those murdered be remembered is not about politics, as some have suggested. These athletes, coaches, and officials came to Munich in peace and friendship, what used to be known as the Olympic spirit, a time when everyone tried to put political differences aside. Despite this, they were murdered by those who were (literally) hell-bent on pursuing politics through terror and cold-blooded killing. Hence, observing a moment of silence, in my estimation, would be anti-political.

I was seven at the time. I was a huge sports fan, the Olympics were exciting, even as I rooted for my Charlie Finley-owned Oakland As. I still have vivid memories of Jim McKay reporting on this horror. I can remember how quiet our living room was and being scared.

So, below are the names of those murdered:

Moshe Weinberg (wrestling coach)
Yossef Romano (weightlifter)
Ze'ev Friedman (weightlifter)
David Berger (weightlifter)
Yakov Springer (weightlifting judge)
Eliezer Halfin (wrestler)
Yossef Gutfreund (wrestling referee)
Kehat Shorr (shooting coach)
Mark Slavin (wrestler)
Andre Spitzer (fencing coach)
Amitzur Shapira (track coach)


Kudos to Bob Costas for taking a moment of silence for the murdered athletes coaches, and officials.

From Wikipedia Commons

The inscription on the Memorial, which is in front of their Olympic quarters, reads: "The team of the State of Israel stayed in this building during the 20th Olympic Summer Games from 21 August to 5 September 1972. On 5 September, [list of victims] died a violent death. Honor to their memory."