THE 1972 MUNICH MASSACREWei Xiang

Bryan

Jie Yang

BLACK SEPTEMBER

Arabic name: األسود أيلول منظمة Said to be controlled by Fatah

A left wing Palestinian political party Led by Yasser Arafat

Found to avenge the loss of Jordan and more directly target Israelis by terrorist means

Most notorious for the Munich Massacre Also responsible for other terrorist

movements such as the assassination of Jordan’s Prime Minister

OVERVIEW

The 1972 Munich Olympic Games were into their 2nd week

Lax security in the athlete’s village Israeli athletes housed in an isolated part of

the village

4 Sep

tEvening

•Israeli athletes enjoyed a night out

5 Sep

t4.30 am

•8 Black September members, with the assistance of unsuspecting athletes, snuck into the Olympic Village

•Intruders caught Moshe Weinberg, a wrestling coach

•Forced him help them find more hostages

DEMANDS AND NEGOTIATIONS

Terrorist•The terrorists demanded the release and

safe passage to Egypt of 234 Palestinians and non-Arabs jailed in Israel

•Granted 5 extensions to the deadlines

Israel•Immediate and absolute response

•No negotiation

Germany•Rejected Israel to send Israeli forces units to Germany

•Offered an unlimited amount of money for the release of the athletes

•Terrorists refused

DEMANDS AND NEGOTIATIONS

At 6 p.m. , the terrorists demanded transportation to Cairo.

Germany feigned agreement though Egypt made it clear that it did not want to be involved.

RESCUE PLAN

Five German snipers were selected to ambush the terrorists around the airport.

A Boeing 727 jet was positioned on the tarmac with five or six armed German police.

When some of the terrorists inspect the plane, the plan was that the Germans would overpower the two terrorists as they boarded, giving the snipers a chance to kill the remaining terrorists at the helicopters.

BUT…

They discovered that there were more terrorists than expected.

At the last minute, the German police abandoned the mission without consulting the central command.

The five snipers were left to overpower a larger and more heavily armed group of terrorists.

11.00 pm, 5 SeptSnipers fired but failed to kill the terrorists.

12.04 am, 6 SeptThe slaughter of hostages started.Hostages killed by rifle fire and hand-grenades

1.30 am, 6 SeptBattle was over.3 terrorists survived.

AFTERMATH

11 Israeli athletes and coaches and one West German police officer killed.

29 October, hijackers of a German jet demanded release of the 3 surviving terrorists. Germany promptly released them.

OPERATION WRATH OF GOD

Israel authorized the Mossad to track down and kill those allegedly responsible for the Munich massacre.

A wave of assassinations of suspected Black September operatives began across Europe.

Intended to exact vengeance for the families of the athletes killed in Munich

CAUSE: ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

In 1968, Palestine attacked Israel numerous times from Jordan, leading to retaliation from Israel.

In the late 1960s, tensions between Palestinians and the Jordanian government increased greatly

In July 1971, Jordan expulsed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to Lebanon

CAUSE: ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

Many Palestinians immigrated to Lebanon after Black September.

A 1969 agreement known as the Cairo agreement granted them autonomy within the south region of Lebanon.

The PLO launched rocket attacks at Israel villages from South Lebanon.

CAUSE: ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

Early 1970s, Palestinian terror organizations waged an international campaign against Israelis in Europe.

To publicize the Palestinian cause, they carried out various acts of terrorism, such as the Munich massacre.

LESSONS

Terrorism has political motives. Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Governments can make use of terrorist organizations to push through their objectives against other countries.

LESSONS

The terrorists succeeded in their plan due to lax security in the area. Letting down their guard

Reminds us that the threat of terrorism is real Never drop your guard Especially when Singapore is as vulnerable as

other countries