As Israel mourns 50th anniversary of 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre, Fatah celebrates it
Israel is marking the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre with a series of memorial events, while the Fatah, led by Mahmoud Abbas, has chosen to celebrate it.
The massacre was carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Black September terrorist organisation who infiltrated the Olympic Village and subsequently killed 11 Israeli athletes.
The Black September was linked to Fatah. Abbas is one of three senior Fatah officials who assisted in planning the Munich massacre.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and other Israeli officials, together with the bereaved families and representatives of the Olympic Committee, attended a special ceremony in Munich on Monday to commemorate and mourn the 11 dead who were murdered 50 years ago.
The Fatah, in contrast, published a post celebrating the 50th anniversary of the “action” carried out by “heroes.” The poster features a photo of the Israeli athletes tied up and held at gunpoint by the terrorists.
Responding to the circulation, Ofir Gendelman, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson for the Arab media, stated Monday that “today marks the 50th anniversary of the Munich Olympics massacre by Palestinian terrorists against 11 of our innocent and defenseless athletes.”
“And when every person of conscience and morals bows his head in mourning for their barbaric killing, the Palestinians celebrate, as usual, this horrific massacre. This is a despicable act that shows the world their true ugly face,” he said.
Fatah often celebrates the terror attack and lauds the terrorists who carried it out, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has shown.
In June, Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi, a senior member of Abbas’ party, glorified the perpetrators of the massacre as “heroes of the Munich operation.” He also called the head of the Black September terror organisation Salah Khalaf, who was among the planners of the attack, a “Martyr leader.”
In September 2021, openly attributing the massacre to “the Fatah Movement’s foreign special operations branch,” Fatah called the terror attack “a heroic history written in blood by the Fatah self-sacrificing fighters.”
In February 2020, Fatah saluted the Munich terrorists in a video that included the infamous photo of one of them standing masked on the balcony of the building in which they held the Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village.
