Munich massacre

At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich on September 5, members of the Palestinian Black September group (with links to the PLO, the PFLP and the DFLP) entered the Olympic Village and took eleven hostages from the Israeli team, killing two Israelis in the process. They demanded that Israel release 200 Arab prisoners and that they be given safe passage out of Germany

After a twenty hour stand-off the terrorists and hostages were flown by helicopter to Fürstenfeldbruck airbase intending to fly from there to Cairo. A failed attack by German forces lead to a fire-fight. Nine hostages, five terrorists and one policeman were killed and the three remaining terrorists were captured. The surviving terrorists were imprisoned.

The Olympic Games were continued after sports events were cancelled due to the event and a remembrance service in the Olympic stadium. The decision to continue the Games, made by IOC president Avery Brundage[?] ("The Games must go on"), was criticized by many. However, only a small number of athletes left the Games after the attack.

On October 29, 1972, a Lufthansa jet was hijacked by terrorists demanding that the Munich killers be released - and released they were. Israel targetted eleven individuals as responsible and eight were later assassinated by Mossad agents. Of the remaining three, two were killed by possibly non-Mossad forces and one died of natural causes. Abu Daoud[?], the confessed 'mastermind' of the operation is still alive.

See also: 1972 Summer Olympics