(CCL trepelu)

Forty years ago this summer, Palestinian terrorists broke into Israeli athletes’ apartments at the Munich Olympics, kidnapping and later murdering 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team:

• Wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg, 32
• Weightlifter Yossef Romano, 32
• Weightlifter Ze’ev Friedman, 28
• Weightlifter David Berger, 28
• Weightlifting judge Yakov Springer, 51
• Wrestler Eliezer Halfin, 24
• Wrestling referee Yossef Gutfreund, 40
• Shooting coach Kehat Shorr, 53
• Wrestler Mark Slavin, 18
• Fencing coach Andre Spitzer, 27
• Track coach Amitzur Shapira, 40

Here’s a brief BBC article from that horrible day.

For almost 40 years now, surviving family members, led by Andre Spitzer’s widow, Ankie Spitzer, have been asking the International Olympic Committee  to hold a moment of silence at  opening ceremonies in memory of the 11 athletes.

Says Spitzer:

Silence is a fitting tribute for athletes who lost their lives on the Olympic stage. Silence contains no statements, assumptions or beliefs and requires no understanding of language to interpret. . . . I have no political or religious agenda. Just the hope that my husband and the other men who went to the Olympics in peace, friendship and sportsmanship are given what they deserve. One minute of silence will clearly say to the world that what happened in 1972 can never happen again.

The IOC has repeatedly refused. IOC member Alex Gilady said the silence might:

 harm the unity of the Olympics [and] could cause some countries to boycott the Games.

Say it with me, now: Aw-w-w-w-w-w-w-w.

This isn’t about your position on Palestine. If you support the murder of Olympic athletes, you have no place at the Games anyway. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.

Or let it, I’m easy. Just go.

Please take a moment to listen to this video by Ankie Spitzer. Then go to Change.org and join the over 97,000 of us who have already signed sign her petition to the IOC. Because 44 years is too long to wait.