The IOC doesn’t like inconvenient truths.
That’s the only way to explain its studied indifference to calls for a memorial of the Munich Massacre in 1972. The International Olympic Committee has made an art form out of whitewashing Olympic history. Thus, in a retrospective video of past Olympics during the Opening Ceremonies, Atlanta was left out, because American terrorist Eric Rudolph set off a bomb that killed one and wounded 111 others. In 1988 Ben Johnson defeated Carl Lewis in the 100 meter sprint. When Ben Johnson tested positive for steroids he was stripped of his medal, but Carl Lewis was awarded gold behind closed doors and not in a public ceremony. The IOC ignored China’s vicious crackdown on dissidents in 2008 just as it ignored the Nazis in the 1936 Olympics being held in Berlin.
It should come as no surprise that the IOC would rather ignore the Munich Massacre. It is, however, a profound disappointment. Not much good can be said to have come out of terrorism, but the events in Munich—which were, perhaps, intended to rehabilitate Germany after the 1936 games—at least highlighted the ruthlessness of Palestinian terrorists and showed them for what they really were (and are). We should remember the Munich Massacre, not just to commemorate the innocents who died, but also to remind the world that sometimes it has to face things that are unpleasant and inconvenient. Every day Israel faces terrorism. The world can’t be allowed to forget that.
