Wednesday, May 12, 2010

11 Days

The Munich Massacre was a terrorist attack during the 1972 Olympic Games. Eight Palestinian terrorists killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team and then took nine others hostage. By the end of the ordeal, all eleven Israeli athletes were dead. Following the massacre, the Israeli government organized a retaliation against Black September, called Operation Wrath of God.

Well, one shouldn't end a post on such a sad note-- Jewish custom is to end on a happy note. So let's just remember that after the Six Day War, which was fought from June 5th-10th, Israel saw a Sabbath (not literally) on June 11th, 1967-- that is, a seventh day of rest and peace after six days of war and toil. Tonight (May 11th, coincidentally) we celebrate that victory on the Jewish holiday of Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim).

You can find out a little about Operation Wrath of God from the Steven Spielberg movie "Munich", and find out about the massacre itself from an amazing documentary called One Day in September (1999). Some prominent figures in modern Israel were involved in the Mossad's legendary operation to bring the terrorists to justice, including current Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak (in the movie, he is correctly depicted as having dressed up as a woman to assassinate one of the plotters of the massacre), and opposition leader and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Famous hero Yonatan Netanyahu (who lost his life leading the famous hostage rescue in Uganda depicted in the movies "Raid on Entebbe" and "Victory at Entebbe"), the brother of the current Prime Minister and one of Israel's most celebrated heroes, also led some retaliation operations.

Five of the terrorists were killed in a gunfight during the operation. Less than two months later, the three remaining terrorists were released by the German government after two other Black September members hijacked a plane and threatened to blow it up unless the three were released. (Israel's Prime Minister Golda Meir, by contrast, refused to negotiate with terrorists through the event.)

It has been a sad fact of Israeli existence to have to deal with frequent terrorist threats. After September 11th, Americans have also come to understand the destructive capacity of terrorism. Israeli counterterror experts often work with their American counterparts to protect American lives as well as Israeli ones.
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Only 11 days left to the Parade! Please join us as we celebrate Israel's accomplishments together. Now more than ever, it's important that we show our support for our brothers and sisters in Israel.

BE PROUD! CELEBRATE! STAND WITH ISRAEL!


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