Olympics Widows To IOC: "Shame On You" -
Petition Eyes London Closing Ceremony
By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem, Israel --- August 6, 2012 ... The terrorism which marked the 1972 Munich Olympics as the "bloody Olympics" still has a grip on the London Olympics today. But rather than witnessing guns, knives and grenades by Palestinian terrorists, we now have a front row view of the IOC being held hostage by Arab political terrorism.
Eleven Olympians were murdered in the 1972 Games but one would never know it by attending stadium events in London which are broadcast to billions worldwide. IOC President Jacques Rogge had refused the requests of Olympic widows, the President of the United States, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several other nations and leaders to hold a moment of silence during the London Opening Ceremonies.
“We feel that the opening ceremony is an atmosphere that is not fit to remember such a tragic incident,” Rogge said a week before the London Olympics were to start. Yet, there was a minute of silence during the Opening Ceremony for British citizens who died during the 7/7 Islamic terror bombings in London.
The head of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, Jibril Rajoub, sent Jacques Rogge a letter during the week thanking him for silencing the Jews.
Rajoub spent almost two decades in Israeli prisons for directing terrorism in the Middle East.
What are we missing here?
It's okay to remember British citizens who perished in terror attacks, but not Jews from Israel. Is the word discrimination to be applied here? How about racist? How about just plain anti-Semitism!
The IOC gave into Arab terrorism by ignoring their own family members. That 40 Arab, Islamic nations have blackmailed the International Olympic Committee by stating that if the Jews are mentioned they will go home. The IOC had to make a decision - the dead Jews or keeping Arabs in London? They chose the Arabs.
As the widow of Israeli fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, Ankie Spitzer asked: "Is that the Olympic spirit which is supposed to promote peace, brotherhood and fair play?"
The audience of 850 people in London’s Guildhall responded to Spitzer with a standing ovation and broke out in thunderous applause.
But this applause and the 100,000 people who signed a petition coordinated by the JCC Rockland in New York, calling for a moment of silence by the IOC for the Munich 11, were completely ignored.
But let's try to give Rogge a way out here. Perhaps he may have been correct in avoiding a walkout by 40 Arab nations which could have destroyed the Modern Games.
But what if that minute of silence was held during the Closing Ceremony?
What would happen? The Arabs using political terrorism to dictate the modern Olympics would be going home any way.
A new petition sponsored by two groups 1 Minute for 11 Olympians on Facebook and Minute4Israel.com is now gaining social media strength in calling for a minute of silence for the murdered Olympians during the Closing Ceremony in London.
If Rogge listens to these groups which represent Israelis, Jews, Christians and the Olympic family of nations which are not bowing to political terrorism, then we know that the Olympic spirit of fair play is still alive.
If there is no minute of silence for the dead Olympians during the London Closing Ceremonies, we will then know that it is only pure, racist anti-Semitism which rules the IOC, not the Arabs who murdered men who came to play sport in peace.
The 11 Israelis murdered in Munich were Yossef Romano, Moshe Weinberg, Ze’ev Friedman, David Berger, Kehat Shorr, Yakov Springer, Mark Slavin, Andre Spitzer, Eliezer Halfin, Yossef Gutfreund and Amitzur Shapira.
One of the sons of the dead Olympians had this to say in a recent interview: "Now, I have a message to all the members of the IOC. The torture inflicted by “Black September” on the 11 Israeli athletes and their families took 48 hours. Your torture of the families and the memories of those esteemed athletes has lasted 40 years. I am not satisfied with a moment of silence in every Opening Ceremony of the Summer Games. Now I want all of you to lose your jobs and be replaced by real Olympians who care about the athletes and believe in the Olympic charter."
Weinberg concluded: "The threat of the IOC coming after me does not scare me anymore. When you have no more dignity, you have nothing to lose. So, members of the IOC - my name is Guri Weinberg and I am the son of Moshe Weinberg, the wrestling coach murdered at the 1972 Olympics. And I am not going away."
Guri, you will not be alone.
