Munich massacre

The Munich massacre occurred at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September, now known to be an operational cover for Yasser Arafat's Fatah. The attack led directly to the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes, five of the eight kidnappers, and one German police officer, and was followed by a series of Israeli revenge assassinations of the principal planners.

Surviving kidnappers

Of the three surviving hostage-takers released by the Germans, only Jamal Al-Gashey remained alive as of September 2005, reportedly in hiding somewhere in Africa. In 1999, Al-Gashey briefly emerged from hiding to participate in an interview for the film One Day In September, during which he was disguised and his face shown only in blurry shadow. Al-Gashey still claimed to fear for his life from Israeli authorities. The other two survivors of the Fürstenfeldbruck battle, Mohammed Safady and Adnan Al-Gashey, had been killed by Israeli agents in the late 1970's as part of Operation Wrath of God.

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Of those believed to have planned or executed the Munich massacre, only Mohammed Daoud Oudeh, the man who says Munich was his idea, remains alive in Amman, Jordan. He was shot five times from a distance of around two meters on July 27, 1981 in a Warsaw hotel coffee shop, but survived the attack.

Related Topics:
Amman - Jordan - July 27 - 1981 - Warsaw

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In his autobiography, Memoirs of a Palestinian Terrorist, first published in France in 1999, and later in a written interview with Sports Illustrated, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2002/08/20/sb2/ Daoud, now in his seventies, writes that funds for Munich were provided by Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the PLO since November 11, 2004 and President of the Palestinian National Authority since January 15, 2005. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=32292 http://www.israellawcenter.org/press.shtml?1700528700#april29 http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Abbas.html

Related Topics:
Mahmoud Abbas - November 11 - 2004 - Palestinian National Authority - January 15 - 2005

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Though he didn't know what the money was being spent for, longtime Fatah official Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, was responsible for the financing of the Munich attack. (Daoud 1999)

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Daoud, who lives with his wife on a pension provided by the Palestinian Authority, has said that, although Yasser Arafat was not involved in conceiving or implementing the attack, "the operation had the endorsement of Arafat." Daoud writes in his autobiography that Arafat saw Daoud off on the mission with the words "Allah protect you." Daoud provided no evidence to support his claims and Arafat never responded to them.

Related Topics:
Palestinian Authority - Yasser Arafat

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