Speaking at a ceremony on the first anniversary of the murder of the 11 Israeli athletes and officials, at the Munich Olympic games, the Israeli Ambassador to Bonn, Eliashiv Ben-Horin, criticized today powerful and highly civilized nations which gave in to terrorism. Governments which supported terrorists or did not prevent their activities had not yet been called to account, he said.
The ceremony, attended by West Germans and Israelis, was held outside the apartments in the Munich Olympic Village where the Israeli team was housed. He said the world-wide indignation aroused by the terrorist attack at the games had not yet abated. But Arab terror in Europe continued, Ben-Horin stated, and the East Germans, of all people, had considered it correct to allow the establishment in East Berlin of a branch of the Palestine Liberation Organization whose declared aim is to turn Israel into a mass grave.
Ben-Horin reiterated Israel’s determination to combat murder and terror, adding that it was hypocrisy when international organizations failed to condemn Arab terror but censured the counter-measures of its victims. The Ambassador called on all states to contribute to defense against indiscriminate murder by strengthening security precautions and imposing tougher sentences on terrorists.
Plans were indicated to convert the apartments at the former Olympic Village into a permanent memorial in the form of a library for young people or as a research center for the study of international conflict situations. But the project is still being discussed and nobody seems to know where the necessary money will come from.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
