Human Rights A Day

Palestinian terrorists raid Munich Olympics and kill 11 Israeli athletes. On September 5, 1972, 11 days into the 1972 summer Olympic Games in Munich, eight Palestinians raided the Israeli team headquarters at the Olympic village. These members of the militant group Black September immediately killed two Israeli athletes, then took nine others hostage. Olympic officials suspended the games and the world watched, horrified, as intense media coverage ensued. The terrorists demanded the release of 234 Arab prisoners in Israel, and two German terrorists in Germany. When they also demanded a plane, officials arranged for three helicopters to transport the terrorists and hostages to a military airfield outside Munich, where those officials secretly planned to rescue the athletes. In the bungled operation, all the Israeli hostages, five of the terrorists and one policeman were killed. But authorities had captured three of the terrorists. Thirty-four hours after a memorial service was held in the main stadium, the Int