The International Olympic Committee has disgraced itself by refusing a request for a moment of silence during the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics in commemoration of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered 40 years ago at the Munich games.
There is serious fear that commemorating Israeli athletes would upset some of the Arab delegations at the games and that a moment of silence would somehow politicize the opening ceremony.
This, however, is a perverted line of reasoning.
By publicly remembering the murdered Olympians, the IOC would not be taking a stand vis-a-vis Israel or its policies; it would merely be honoring 11 athletes who came to the games in order to compete within the fraternal framework of Olympic competition.
In fact not commemorating these athletes specifically because of the country they came from is a political act. Is there really any serious doubt that if six French athletes or 13 Russian athletes had been the victims of such a heinous attack, the IOC would hesitate for even a second in instituting a moment of silence?
It is important to remember that by refusing the request for a solemn remembrance during the opening ceremony, it is not only the deceased Israelis who are being denied the respect they deserve. Anton Fliegerbauer, a German police officer, was another victim of the Munich plot; he was killed in the gunfight that ensued after the initial kidnapping.
Two of the IOC’s roles, according to the Olympic charter, are “to encourage and support the promotion of ethics in sport as well as education of youth through sport and to dedicate its efforts to ensuring that, in sport, the spirit of fair play prevails and violence is banned.”
The lack of a moment of silence shows that the IOC has no problem ignoring its own charter, as the committee is refusing to take a stand against politically motivated violence at the Olympics
Long-time followers of the IOC may be angry but should not be surprised by the morally repugnant stance of the committee. This is the same committee that did little to stop the 1936 Berlin games from becoming the “Nazi Olympics" yet deemed the black-power salute of 1968 American Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos to be too political and had them expelled from the games.
Thankfully many countries, including Germany, the United States and Italy have passed resolutions condemning the committee’s decision. Bob Costas, NBC’s voice of the games, has also rebuked the IOC for not granting the request for a moment of silence.
Predictably, these voices of sanity have fallen on the IOC’s deaf ears.
It is disgusting and shameful that an organization which supposedly promotes international solidarity through sports would cave to political pressure and disrespect the memories of 11 Olympians who paid for their participation in the 1972 Munich games in blood.
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