Olympics - Munich and Mossad

France recently hosted the successful XXXIII Paris Olympics, where the United States secured first place with a total of 126 medals, including 40 gold, while China followed in second place with 91 medals, also claiming 40 golds.  These two nations have long competed to show their dominance in the Olympics. 

Talking about the Olympics, the Munich Olympic Games of 1972 often come to mind, especially in connection with Israel’s Intelligence Agency, Mossad. A few months ago, I travelled to one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, Munich, Germany. Locally known as Munchen, which means Homes of the Monks, the city traces its origins to a historical monastery. It is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg.

Munich is also an industrial hub, boasting several of the largest breweries in Germany and is renowned for its beer and the annual Oktoberfest celebration. I had the opportunity to attend the Oktoberfest during my visit, where the atmosphere was vibrant, with people enjoying beer and a variety of entertaining events amidst the crowd.

Munich is a major tourist destination in Europe, with a rich blend of historical landmarks and modern attractions that captivate visitors from all over the world.

During the visit, I remembered the Munich Olympic of 1972. As a sports person, wherever I had visited, curious to know about the event related to sports. The XX Olympics was held from 26 August to 11 September 1972. The event was overshadowed by the Munich massacre committed by Palestinian Black September members. The motivation for the attack was the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict which is not finish yet.

Eleven Israeli athletes, coaches and officials had been hostage by a group of eight members of the Palestinian Black September in Olympic village on September 5. All of them were killed along with one German policeman. Similarly, five terrorists lay dead and three of them were arrested. 

 After the massacre not more than two months two Black September terrorists hijacked a Lufthansa Boeing 727 on its way from Damascus to Frankfurt on October 29 and demanded to hand over their friends. The three surviving Munich gunmen were hand over to plane hijackers as their demand. The terrorists were welcomed in their country as “heroes of the Munich operation” which was not acceptable to the Israel.

The government of Israel had assigned the Mossad to avenge the brutal killing of its players. Mossad is popular for its covert operation throughout the world.  The Mossad and its operatives have carried out various undercover operations against enemies of Israel. It maintains numerous Israeli secret agents in different countries.  

An Egyptian born Jew Eli Cohen was famous and one of them who infiltrated the highest ranks of the Syrian government by posing as a Syrian businessman before being discovered and executed in 1965. It is the major intelligence organizations of Israel and mainly engaged with foreign intelligence gathering, analysis and covert operations.

A famous Operation ‘Wrath of God’ was conducted by Israel’s Intelligence Agency Mossad to target the assassination campaign against Black September operatives and organizers. A secret Israeli committee chaired by Prime Minister Golda Meir is said to have authorized the assassination of everyone directly or indirectly involved with Black September group who were involved in the Munich killings. After a series of spectacular operations, that program was suspended in July 1973 when the assassination squad mistakenly killed an innocent man in Lillehammer, Norway. 

It seems like the revenge of Mossad for Munich Olympic incident was completed but the parties of Munich incident are still in conflict. The people of Palestine, Israel and Middle East are suffering from the terrifying conflict since long time. A peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires addressing several core issues including mutual recognition of national identities, territorial disputes and security concerns. Let's hope that their desire of living life in peace and security have been fulfilled soon.

(The author is a Former National Boxer and International Refree-Judge.)