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HONORING THE MEMORY OF THE MUNICH 11
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HON. MONDAIRE JONES
of new york
in the house of representatives
Friday, August 13, 2021
Mr. JONES. Madam Speaker, in September 1972, during the Munich Olympic Games, the terrorist group Black September murdered 11 members of the Israeli Olympic Team. The victims became known as the Munich 11. Their names were David Berger, Ze'ev Friedman, Yoseff Gutfreund, Moshe Weinberg, Yoseff Romano, Mark Slavin, Eliezer Halfin, Yakov Springer, Andre Spitzer, Amitzur Shapira, and Kehat Shorr. They were athletes and coaches at the 1972 games. May their memory be a blessing.
The international community was deeply affected by the attack, and memorials have been placed around the world, from Rockland County, New York to Tel Aviv, Israel. The Jewish Community Center (JCC) Maccabi Games have included a memorial tribute to the Munich 11 at the opening ceremonies of every JCC Maccabi Games since 1995. When the JCC in Rockland County, located in my district, hosted the Maccabi Games in 2012, the Center decided to take up this cause.
JCC Rockland created an online petition calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to hold a minute of silence at the 2012 London Olympic Games, which was denied. But soon, the JCC began to find success. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, a memorial service in honor of the Munich 11 was held inside the Olympic Village. Further, the IOC established that a memorial service in their memory will be held at every future Olympic Games.
Starting with the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, Ankie Spitzer, the widow of fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, and Ilana Romano, the widow of weightlifter Yossef Romano, have gone to nearly every Olympic Summer Games. They have been leading the effort on behalf of the families to memorialize the Munich 11 at the opening ceremonies for the past 49 years.
After tireless advocacy from Ms. Spitzer, Ms. Romano, and JCC Rockland, the Munch 11 finally received a minute of silence during the opening ceremony of this year's Tokyo Olympic Games.
It is my hope that every future Olympic Games opening ceremony includes a moment of silence to commemorate the gravity of this tragic event for all Olympians and humankind. The Olympic Games serve to send a message of hope and peace through athletic competition, and reject and repudiate terrorism as antithetical to the Olympic spirit.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 146
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