PA against moment of silence at Olympics: "Sports are meant for peace, not for racism"

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=7189

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

The Palestinian Authority is against the moment of silence at the Olympics to commemorate the Israeli athletes murdered at the Munich Olympics in 1972. According to the headline in the official PA daily, "Sports are meant for peace, not for racism."

According to Jibril Rajoub, President of the Palestinian Olympic Committee:

"Sports are a bridge to love, interconnection, and spreading of peace among nations; it must not be a cause of division and spreading of racism between them [nations]."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 25, 2012]

These words appeared in a letter sent by Rajoub to the President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge. The letter "expressed appreciation for [Rogge's] position, who opposed the Israeli position, which demanded a moment's silence at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London."

The PA daily does not refer to the murder of the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972 as terror. In the article about Rajoub's letter, the killing of the athletes is referred to as "the Munich Operation, which took place during the Munich Olympics in 1972."

The PA is against the moment of silence because they view the murder of Israelis by Palestinians not as terror but as heroism. Palestinian Media Watch has documented the PA's ongoing policy to glorify terror and terrorists. The murder of the 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics is presented as a highlight of Palestinian "operations" and one of their great accomplishments. In 2010, the official PA daily referred to the Olympic massacre as a "shining station" and its planner was called a "star who sparkled... at the sports stadium in Munich" (see below for full texts of the PA glorifying the terror attack at the Olympics and the terrorists who planned it).

In his letter, PA Olympics Committee Head Rajoub praised Rogge's refusal to have a moment of silence in memory of the Israeli athletes:

"He said that his [Rogge's] position not to politicize sports, and his determination to implement the International Olympic Charter represents a victory for freedom in sports." (See the full article about Rajoub's letter below.)

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 25, 2012]

The following are examples of how PA leaders and the PA's official newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida have glorified the Olympic massacre and the terrorists who planned it:

Honoring Amin Al-Hindi, planner of the Olympic attack:

"One of the stars who sparkled... one of many shining stations."

Official PA daily on Al-Hindi:

"Everyone knows that Amin Al-Hindi was one of the stars who sparkled at one of the stormiest points on the international level - the operation that was carried out at the [Olympics] sports stadium in Munich, Germany, in 1972. That was just one of many shining stations."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 20,2010]

Secretary General of the Abbas' office, Al-Tayeb Abd Al-Rahim on Al-Hindi:

"Secretary General of the President's office, Al-Tayeb Abd Al-Rahim, delivered a speech in which he praised the qualities of the deceased. He stressed that the loss of Al-Hindi is a great loss to the Palestinian people, who are bereaved of a prominent national leader...

The Secretary General of the Presidential office said: 'We shall continue in the path of the Shahid (Martyr) Yasser Arafat and his fellow Shahids, such as Amin Al-Hindi...'"

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 19, 2010]

Abbas and Fayyad honor Al-Hindi:

"The Palestinian leadership, along with President Mahmoud Abbas, parted yesterday from the body of the Fatah leader and fighter patriot Amin Al-Hindi. This was at an imposing official military funeral that was held at the [PA] headquarters...

Present at the headquarters for the farewell ceremony and for the official military funeral, along with the President [Abbas], were Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad; Secretary General of the Presidential office, Al-Tayeb Abd Al-Rahim; members of the PLO Executive Council and of the Fatah Central Committee; several ministers, commanders of security forces, senior civic and military personnel, as well as relatives of the deceased... President Abbas and the participants at the funeral cast a final parting look at the body, and laid wreaths. Afterwards, the President and those present read the opening sura [of the Quran] for the elevation of his pure soul."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 19, 2010]

Honoring Muhammad Daoud Oudeh, 'Abu Daoud,' a second planner of the Olympic attack:

"His name shined brightly in the German city of Munich"

 

PA TV News, on Oudeh:

"Palestinians were surprised this morning at the announcement of the death of one of the most important leaders of the Palestinian revolution, Muhammad Daoud Oudeh (Abu Daoud), who engineered the Munich Operation and was one of the most important of Israel's most wanted in the 1970s."

[PA TV (Fatah), July 4, 2010]

Official PA daily, on Oudeh:

"In its [Black September wing of PLO] ranks were many distinguished men and women, headed by the Panther of Palestine, Salah Khalaf 'Abu Iyad.' Abu Daoud was one of his prominent assistants. His [Abu Daoud's] name shined brightly in the German city of Munich in 1972, where the Olympics took place. Oh, how these events evolved into a violent drama of the most tragic kind... May Allah have mercy on this great Fatah fighter and patriot, Abu Daoud."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 6, 2010]

Mahmoud Abbas on Oudeh:

"What a wonderful brother, companion, tough and stubborn, relentless fighter."

"President Mahmoud Abbas sent a telegram of condolences yesterday over the death of the great fighter Muhammad Daoud Oudeh, 'Abu Daoud,' who died just before reaching 70. The telegram of condolences read: 'The deceased was one of the prominent leaders of the Fatah movement and lived a life filled with the struggle, devoted effort, and the enormous sacrifice of the deceased for the sake of the legitimate problem of his people, in many spheres. He was at the forefront on every battlefield, with the aim of defending the [Palestinian] revolution. What a wonderful brother, companion, tough and stubborn, relentless fighter."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 4, 2010]

Abbas Zaki, member Fatah Central Committee, on Oudeh:

"He started his life as a regular individual and concluded it with giant stature... We have lost a man on the level of the Arab region and on the level of the world revolutionary movement, by virtue of his noble actions and his glorious history. Bestowing this honor in every place, inside the homeland and outside of it, does justice to this mighty man."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 5, 2010]

Dr. Samir Al-Refa'I, Secretary of the Fatah branch in Syria, on Oudeh:

"With the fall of Abu Daoud as a Shahid we have lost a man who is worth all other men together... Abu Daoud is one of the symbols of the Fatah movement... He will always remain our ideal and a role model for the generations to come."

 [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 5, 2010]

The following is the article about Jibril Rajoub's letter of appreciation to the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge:

Headline: "Rajoub expresses appreciation for Rogge's position and emphasizes that sports are meant for peace, not for racism"

"'Sports are a bridge to love, interconnection, and spreading peace among nations; it must not be a cause of division and spreading of racism between them.' With these words the President of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, Jibril Rajoub, began a special letter which he sent to president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge. He expressed appreciation for [Rogge's] position, who opposed the Israeli position, which demanded a moment's silence at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London. He said that his position not to politicize sports, and his determination to implement the International Olympic Charter represents a victory for freedom in sports. It should be noted that Rogge once again expressed the position of the executive office of the International Olympic Committee, which opposes the idea of holding a moment's silence during the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, to mark the anniversary of the Munich operation, which took place during the Munich Olympics in 1972."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 25, 2012]