Olympic Silence

[akycha]

Forty years after 11 athletes were murdered in Munich, Israel still mourns alone.I was 11 years old and a fanatical sports fan. I could stay glued to the TV and radio for hours on end, rooting for my hometown teams. The pinnacle sporting event was the Olympics, providing not only a panoply of world-class athletics, but a once-in-four-year

Comments

[vvalkyri]

From the continuation,

To his great credit, Bob Costas of NBC Sports, has promised his own "minute of silence" at the opening ceremonies - perhaps turning off his broadcasting microphone when the Israeli delegation enters.

I'd never known of how botched the rescue attempt was. I knew it had gone horribly awry, but not the reasons.

[anolinde]

I can't believe they haven't done a moment of silence. It's so disrespectful to the athletes and their families.

[stellaglam]

What's the IOCs reasoning behind not having a moment of silence? If they commemorate things like the '96 Olympic bombing etc it's pretty horrific that they still don't have one for what happened in Munich!

[twowaymirrrors]

I think the usual excuse is they don't want the games to become political

[ruby_chalice]

If there's existing precedent where other tragedies have been commemorated at the Olympics, I can't understand the IOC's refusal of a minutes silence for the athletes murdered in Munich. It seems deeply unfair.

[aviv_b]

If there's existing precedent where other tragedies have been commemorated at the Olympics, I can't understand the IOC's refusal of a minutes silence for the athletes murdered in Munich. It seems deeply unfair anti-semitic.

There, fixed that for you.

[sesmo]

Um, why do you think that's doubtful? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Palestine_at_the_Olympics

[yami_no_hoshi]

what exactly does that link prove?

[slurp]

And yet, with this very refusal the Olympics are being politicized. Olympic officials have said that if an official tribute were to take place, all Arab delegations (including those oil-rich states which provide Olympic funding) would quit the Olympics.

This reason would not have existed if it were anybody but Israelis, so it's not that doubtful.

[psychesky]

Why is this locked?

[akycha]

Oops! Yes, that's my default setting. I'll unlock it now.