More than 3000 persons demonstrated tonight in the Place de L’Opera in the heart of Paris demanding that the 1972 Olympic games be cancelled in protest against “the blood-bath in Munich.” Although the throngs blocked traffic at one of this city’s busiest intersections, police did not interfere or try to disperse the demonstrators.
From the Opera, thousands marched later to the city’s Central Synagogue where thousands more were massed in adjacent streets to hear a special service for the Israeli victims. French Jewish organizations, non-Jewish groups and organizations devoted to amity between France and Israel issued statements expressing horror at the latest terrorist act.
Even the Franco-Arab Solidarity Association which usually supports acts said to be in behalf of Palestinians condemned the attack. It said the terrorists had shown “tragic irresponsibility” by introducing bloodshed and violence at the Olympic games.
The France-Israel Association said it was “inconceivable that passions can exert themselves in the middle of an international festival of youth where no one is armed.” The France-Israel Alliance expressed condolences to the families of the Israeli victims and said it spoke for the French people who felt horror and indignation.
The French Jewish Consistory and the Paris Consistory held memorial services tonight. Raymond Triboulet, president of the France-Israel Friendship group in the National Assembly, said that international organizations should totally repudiate “blind racial violence.” The International League Against Anti-Semitism said “If international opinion does not react energetically, it will alas prove that the Munich spirit (of violence) still reigns.”
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.
