June 20, 2012
Group Asks Olympic Committee to Remember Jewish Athletes Slain in Munich
Several Catholic University students and recent alumni will attend the Olympic Games in London this summer. But first, they will stop in Tel Aviv to pay tribute to 11 Israeli athletes who were killed nearly 20 years before these students were even born.On July 27, the day of the opening ceremony in London, they hope to witness a successful outcome to their campaign for a minute of silence in memory of the slain athletes. This journey began in a Sociology of Sport class in fall 2011 when students watched a documentary on the Munich 11 - members of the Israeli Olympic team in 1972 who were taken hostage and killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Students in the class - taught by lecturer Leszek Sibilski, a former member of the Polish National Olympic Team in cycling - started the "one minute of silence" movement. In a Dec. 6, 2011, letter to Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the students identify themselves as the 9/11 generation "who honor our victims and heroes." They plead that a moment of silence for the Munich 11 would be appropriate given that those affected by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, (even though they were not members of the Olympic community) were remembered at the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002.Thus far, the IOC has rejected the students' overtures. In a letter dated May 15, the IOC declined the request for a minute of silence at the start of this summer's games, saying it has "officially paid tribute to the memory of the athletes on several occasions and will continue to do so in close coordination with the National Olympic Committee of Israel." Though the IOC has worked with the Israeli Olympic Committee at previous Olympic Games to honor the memories of the Munich 11, the students feel that the fallen athletes should be remembered on a more global stage at the opening ceremonies, instead of just in an Israeli ceremony. And they are not giving up."To restore such virtues that the Olympics attempt to instill (friendship, respect, excellence, and peace), the IOC must have a moment of silence for their fallen brethren," says Erick Orantes, a 2012 graduate from San Francisco. "To not have this memorial lets these Olympians vanish in the pages of history."University President John Garvey sent a letter expressing his support of the students' initiative at the end of May. The students partnered with the JCC (Jewish Community Center) Rockland in New York to help circulate a petition on Change.org . They aim to collect 80,011 signatures - the number of spectators the London Olympic Stadium holds, plus 11 for the fallen athletes. As of June 19, the petition had logged more than 75,000 signatures from all seven continents.
The initiative has been taken up by students from a number of different disciplines at CUA. Orantes, who majored in politics, contacted members of Congress to ask for their support. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) signed a resolution to ask the IOC to support a minute of silence. David Bauman, a senior sociology major from Austin, Texas, created a video to help spread the message.The students' letter to the IOC attracted the attention of Yedioth Ahronoth , an Israeli newspaper, which wrote a story in January titled "Lessons from America." In February, a story on the students' initiative also appeared in Washington Jewish Week . The Catholic University students will travel for 17 days beginning July 24. They plan to lay flowers on the graves of the fallen athletes in Tel Aviv on July 27, the day of the Olympic Opening Ceremony. They also plan to meet with survivors and the families of the fallen athletes, and to talk to Israeli high school and college students. The CUA students will also attend the formal memorial ceremony for the Munich 11 in London on Aug. 6 at the invitation of the Israeli Olympic Committee.Echoing the theme of the 2012 Olympics - Inspire a Generation - junior media studies major Chelsey Sterling says, "I hope that in seeing the efforts of our group, other young people around the world will be inspired to take up the cause as well. While the cause specific to the petition at Change.org will come to a close after the Olympic Games, memories do not have time limits. What we are really doing is asking young people from around the world to stand against the kind of terror that killed the Munich 11 in 1972.""Even if no minute of silence happens, it is important that we try, that we continue to raise awareness," Bauman says. "People need to continue to learn so that understanding can be fostered and hopefully people can learn about what happened in Munich, even 40 years after this tragedy, and they can try to figure out how to prevent future tragedies from happening again."
-30-
#266