The 50th anniversary of the devastating assassination attempt on the Israeli team at the Olympic Games is approaching. Can the dispute over compensation be settled shortly beforehand?
In the dispute over compensation for the 1972 Olympic assassination, negotiations between the German government and relatives of the Israeli victims are apparently heading towards an agreement. There is a German offer in the room to pay the bereaved about 28 million euros, as the German Press Agency learned from negotiating circles on Tuesday. The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and the “Stern” had previously reported on it. According to “Stern”, more than 20 million euros of the total should come from federal funds and the rest from Bavaria and the city of Munich.
The widow of the Israeli fencing coach André Spitzer, who was killed in the attack, Ankie Spitzer, had previously expressed hope for a positive outcome. The negotiations are still ongoing, said Spitzer of the dpa. If an agreement is reached, the surviving relatives can still take part in the commemoration ceremony in Munich on September 5th.
Next Monday – the 50th anniversary of the assassination – the murdered people are to be commemorated in Munich. But victims’ families have called for a boycott of the event. They consider the handling of the assassination to be just as inadequate as the compensation paid so far. Instead, they want to take part in an official commemoration in Israel on September 21 – the 50th anniversary of the assassination according to the Hebrew calendar.
Poor safety precautions
On September 5, 1972, Palestinian terrorists attacked the Israeli team at the Olympic Games in Munich. Eleven members of the team and one policeman were killed. The safety precautions were considered inadequate, and an attempt by the German forces to free them ended in disaster. Adequate compensation for the families of the victims of the attack has been a struggle for decades. They also demand an apology.
In 1972 and 2002, Germany paid around 4.6 million euros as a humanitarian gesture for those affected. In addition, around half a million euros came from the National Olympic Committee and donations from the German Red Cross. In 1994, victims’ families demanded 40 million marks (around 20.45 million euros) in damages in court, citing massive mistakes made during the police operation as the reason for this. The lawsuit failed due to the statute of limitations.
Spitzer emphasized that, contrary to media reports, the victims’ families had not reduced their demands. You would have mentioned a very clear minimum. “If not, then there is no agreement,” said Spitzer. However, she did not want to name a specific amount.
The President of the German-Israeli Society, Volker Beck, commented on the possible impending agreement: “I hope that this will really come together and that German stinginess will not end up stumbling over it,” he wrote on Twitter.
Source: Stern
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