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| Olympic torch in Munic today: Remembering when Arab terror first raised its ugly head |
| 2004-06-29 |
| The Olympic torch was passed on to the southern German city of Munich on Tuesday for the first time since the terrorism-marred 1972 Games. The torch, which was in Rome the previous day, was brought to Munich’s Olympic Stadium in ceremonies attended by more than 1,000 people. The torch is to be run some 48 kilometres through the city in a relay involving 124 personalities from Germany’s sports, entertainment and business sectors, culminating in ceremonies later on at the main Marienplatz square in downtown Munich. After Munich, the next stop for the Olympic torch will be the German capital Berlin, site of the 1936 Olympics, as it makes its way towards 13 August opening ceremony of the 2004 games in Athens. Oh well, Berlin... I was a kid then and remember when the crowds annoyed Hitler by cheering for the black runner Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals. The 1972 Munich games have gone down in history as the first major international sports event to be the target of terrorism. Palestinian gunmen entered the virtually unguarded Olympic village, killing two Israeli athletes and taking 9 more hostage to press the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. 32 years already, and it seems like yesterday._ Later, the other nine Israelis were killed, along with five of the terrorists and one policeman in a bloody shootout at an airport outside Munich. It was an awful blunder since nobody was prepared for a thing like that. I will never forgive the killers. I hope a similar (or worse) nightmare can be avoided in Athens. I attended the mourning ceremony in the stadium. The skies were weeping after a week of oh so sunny, peaceful and serene Olympics that had shown the world a new better Germany. I remember Avery Brundage’s famous words: "The Games Must Go On." Yes, but the fight against terror must go on as well. The Olympic flame was lit 25 March in ancient Olympia for the August 13 opening ceremony of the Athens Games, which run until 29 August. For the first time the 78,000-kilometres relay included an international leg, featuring 33 cities (among the all previous Olympic host cities) 5 June – 4 July. |
| Posted by:True German Ally |