UK Parliamentarians have taken part in a memorial service to mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich Massacre, taking place alongside similar similar services in Germany and around the world to remember the Israeli and German victims of the massacre.
The massacre took place on 5th September 1972, when eight members of the Palestinian terror group Black September, infiltrated the Olympic Village of the 1972 Summer Olymipcs in Munich. The terrorists murdered 11 Israelis and one West German police officer.
In London, an outdoor service took place in the palace of Westminster’s palace yard, led by the Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsey Hoyle. Also attending was the Israeli Ambassador H.E Tzipi Hotovely, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the CFI’s Parliamentary Chairmen Lord Pickles (Lords) and Stephen Crabb MP (Commons) and CFI Honorary President Lord Polak CBE. The Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer and many other MP’s from across the chamber also attended to remember the victims.
At a memorial ceremony in Germany, the German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated: “The Israeli delegation, who came to participate at the 1972 Munich Olympics, have trusted the ones who committed the holocaust against them. Germany did not deserve this trust. The athletes were tortured and murdered by terrorists. We were not prepared for this attack as we should have been”. The Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog who also participated at the ceremony said: “The truth was forgotten, this is a world tragedy”.
