Families of the Olympic attack victims will boycott German celebrations
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Munich : The families of 11 Israeli athletes killed in firing by Palestinian bombers at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich will boycott the German ceremony to be held on 5 September. According to German officials, the ceremony will take place on the 50th anniversary of the Munich Olympics. The families of the victims say that they deserve more compensation.
Members of the Palestinian group Black September broke into the Olympic Village, killed two Israeli national team athletes and took nine more hostages on September 5, 1972. The German army could not save the hostages. All nine hostages and a West German police officer were killed in the conflict. Relatives of athletes have been accusing Germany from the beginning of failing to protect the Olympic Village.
A group of athlete families have written to the Bavarian authorities regarding the event to be held on 5 September. The letter said that the abuse, lies, and humiliation of the Bavarian authorities cannot be forgotten. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has tendered a public apology, but the amount of compensation given by Germany was an "insult". Among those killed was Anki Spitzer, the widow of fencing coach Andre Spitzer, who said the families expected compensation according to international standards governing terrorist attacks. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Germany paid about 4.19 million (about 2 million euros, or $2.09 million) to the relatives of the victims, according to the Interior Ministry. Not only this, in 2002, an additional 3 million euros were given to the relatives of the deceased. The media say Germany has offered 10 million euros to the families. The payment made earlier will also be added to this.
