Olympics protest – Danby adds his name
The International Council of Jewish Parliament MPS has called for a minute’s at the Olympic Games which open in London this Friday evening…and Australian Federal Labor MP Michael Danby is a signatory.
The text of the message sent to IOC president Jacques Rogge reads:
Dear President Rogge,
Michael Danby
We, the undersigned, Jewish parliamentarians from around the world and members of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP), write you in order to call on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to hold a minute of silence in memory of the 11 Israeli athletes killed on September 5th 1972, during the Munich Olympic Games by the Palestinian terror organization Black September, at the upcoming opening ceremony of the Olympic summer games in London.
Over the last forty years, the victims’ families, lead by Mrs. Ankie Spitzer, widow of the fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, have asked the IOC to observe a minute of silence during the opening ceremony of all the Olympic Games that followed the massacre. Their request has never been answered.
This summer marks 40 years to the massacre in Munich and we feel the need to join the voices of the widows, and of other representatives of civil society, to call on the IOC to respond favorably to our request. It is inspired solely by respect for the memory of the victims of terror and by the hope that sports and athletics must be a unifying force, transcending boundaries and flags.
The young athletes killed in Munich came to take part in a time-honored international sporting competition that stands for worldwide peace and reconciliation. The nationality of the victims of such a brutal attack cannot and must not be an obstacle to their commemoration or the condemnation of global terrorism.
An international petition calling on the IOC to reconsider its decision and to observe a minute of silence has already collected over 87, 000 signatures. The Canadian Parliament has been the first legislative assembly to unanimously approve a resolution supporting our plea to the IOC. It has been followed by the U.S. Senate and the Australian Parliament. The Italian Parliament is currently collecting signatures to an open letter addressed to the IOC. On June 26th, Germany’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guido Westerwelle, sent a personal letter to the IOC with the same request.
We urge the IOC to make its voice heard through the strength of silence, in order to remember the victims of the Munich Massacre and to condemn any form of terrorism. For this purpose, we believe there will not be a more proper occasion than the opening ceremony of the XXX Olympic Games, to be held on July 27th in London.
Sincerely,
1. Hon. Fiamma Nirenstein, Italian Chamber of Deputies
2. John Sudarsky, Congress of the Republic of Colombia
3. Žarko Korać, Parliament of Serbia
4. Jaromir Schling, Parliamen of Czech Republic
5. Gary L. Ackerman, US Congress
6. Irwin Cotler, Canadian Parliament
7. Joseph Roger Bismuth, President of the Tunisian Jewish Community and past Senator
8. Boriss Cilevics, Parliament of the Republic of Latvia
9. Baroness Ruth Deech, UK House of Lords
10. Louise Ellman, UK House of Commons
11. Michael Danby, Australian Parliament
12. Luciana Berger, UK House of Commons
13. Viviane Teitelbaum, Chamber of Representatives of Belgium
14. Luis Fishman, Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
15. Tibor Szanyi, National Assembly of Hungary
16. Mark Adler, Canadian Parliament
