Several years ago, I was flying through the Munich airport making a connection on the way home to Israel. For some reason I was selected for additional and what felt like particularly obnoxious screening inside the airport. Admittedly, until that point, passing through the Munich airport was the closest I had ever been to “visiting” Germany, a place that I never really wanted to go, and where I was uncomfortable being at all.
Hearing airport announcements in German sounded to me particularly severe and were triggering in a way I did not anticipate. For many – maybe most – Jews it’s impossible to remember that history not so long ago without experiencing a range of feelings still today. Hearing German in the airport made me realize that this same language was what my own relatives heard shouted at them in their final moments – commands to dig the ditches and then remove valuables and all their clothes before being lined up and shot on August 22, 1942.
Despite being uncomfortable and having my back up, the security screening was particularly harsh. I couldn’t help but feel that among all the other passengers, I was being singled out as an identifiable Jew. Maybe I was wrong, but my instincts are typically good on such things.
As things progressed unpleasantly, at one point I said to the German police/guards, “If you had cared this much about security in 1972, nobody would have ever heard of Munich.” Admittedly, this was not a page out of “How to Win Friends & Influence People.” To put it mildly, my reference to the security ineptitude, if not outright collaboration, of certain German authorities leading up to and during the Palestinian Arab terrorist “Black September” massacre of the Israeli team at the 1972 Munich Olympics was not met with smiles.
This week is the anniversary of that terror attack, September 5-6, 1972. It was not only a terrorist attack that left 11 Israeli athletes dead, but the whole incident was broadcast to the world, live.
Shrill as it is, my statement is still probably true. Along with Oktoberfest, the Bayern Munich soccer/football team and the headquarters of BMW, the Munich Olympics terror attack is one of a handful of things for which Munich is known today. It’s a much uglier reality than drinking beer, watching soccer or driving a luxury car. It’s a history and reality they still confront, always will, and should.
The Munich terror attack is not ancient history. Just like September 11, it must never be forgotten, and must be remembered for what it is: a Palestinian Arab terror attack on German soil just under three decades after the Holocaust. The incident and slaughter of Israel’s 11 athletes was terrible enough. The world’s flaccid response and not forcefully combating it and the ideology that bred it every day since allows others to think that they can get away with it. They still do.
With Munich, Palestinian Arab terrorists raised the bar to a new low. They turned sports into terror, and turned terror into their sport. Today, we can list dozens of infamous Palestinian Arab terror attacks that took place around the world, including numerous airplane and cruise ship hijackings, hostage takings, shootings, bombings and more. These, in addition to thousands of such terror attacks inside Israel, paint a picture of widespread terror becoming their national pastime. It has become a sport. The “heroes” they celebrate are the ones who kill and maim the most. They receive generous stipends – “pay to slay” – from their Palestinian Authority government like a sports star would receive huge contracts and endorsements. This is similar to any other society investing in building up their sports heroes, with the difference being that these Palestinian Arab heroes count dead bodies as their stats, not homeruns, touchdowns or goals.
If one considers the array of different Palestinian Arab terror groups – Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Black September, Fatah, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, Abu Nidal, Lion’s Den and others – it sounds like a group of teams in any sporting league. Except their sport is murder. Their rules are jihadi.
Indeed, it’s the Palestinian Arab terrorist All-Star Team.
As unacceptable and offensive as the very existence of these are on every level, there’s more to the story. Because the Palestinian Arab ethnic identity was only invented in 1964, they have no history other than one of terror. Even though they claim they have thousands of years of history, they have no icons other than from the past century. Their earliest leader was Haj Amin Al Husseini, the former “Grand Mufti” of Jerusalem and Nazi collaborator under the British Mandate – about as far back as one can go. His sport was also incitement and killing of Jews. But he was not referred to as a “Palestinian” because the ethnic identity did not exist until decades later.
Consequently, the Palestinian Arabs’ most celebrated leaders today are only those who have perpetrated or been involved with terrorism. There are virtually no statesman or poets, or scientists, athletes or philosophers. Not a chef, painter or architect whose names adorn public spaces and are celebrated across Palestinian Arab society. There are not schools, public parks, streets or municipal buildings named for anyone other than terrorists or those affiliated with terrorist groups. None.
Terror is their pastime. Its perpetrators are their heroes. It’s their names that adorn the Palestinian Authority, their history, legacy … and their future.
With a reality like this, it’s hard to ever imagine a Palestinian Arab who is not part of this terror culture having any influence on the Palestinian Arab street to change the reality. Even without the celebration and glorification of terror across their society, it’s hard to imagine a person – from young to old – becoming a hero to their people in a way that breaks from the jihadi goals to liberate “Palestine” through violent “resistance.”
Thus it’s hard for anyone raised on their street not to look at the Munich massacre as one of their crowning moments as a people. For them, it’s like winning the gold medal, setting records for terror, carnage, fear, bloodletting and murder. That’s how and why we remember Munich.
