Rogge’s shameful silence
AS the final minutes ticked away before the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) continued to snub the growing chorus of international leaders calling for a minute’s silence during the Games’ opening ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre.
Among the latest politicians to throw their weight behind the campaign for a memorial for the 11 Israeli athletes murdered in 1972 were US President Barack Obama, his presidential rival Mitt Romney and Mayor of London, the Games’ host city, Boris Johnson.
In an email to Yahoo News, US National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said, “We absolutely support the campaign for a minute of silence at the Olympics to honor the Israeli athletes killed in Munich.”
The sentiment was echoed by Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul, who said “Governor Romney supports the moment of silence in remembrance of the Israeli athletes killed in the Munich Olympic Games.”
Johnson, who unveiled a plaque near the Olympic Village on Sunday honouring the 11 Israelis, was asked on his Twitter account to give his view of the minute’s silence. “Believe me we will have one,” Johnson responded.
Referring to the 1992 Games, he added that he “was stunned to find Barcelona (20th anniversary) had nothing”.
However, despite the mounting pressure – including earlier pleas from the Australian, Canadian and German governments – IOC president Jacques Rogge held his ground, stating last weekend, “We feel that the opening ceremony is an atmosphere that is not fit to remember such a tragic incident.”
In what appeared to be an attempt to appease campaigners, Rogge did however hold a minute’s silence in the Olympic Village during a gathering on Monday. Opening the meeting, attended by Johnson and Lord Sebastian Coe – chairman of the Games organising committee – the IOC president said, “I would like to start today’s ceremony by honouring the memory of 11 Israeli Olympians who shared the ideals and have brought us together in this beautiful Olympic Village. The 11 victims of the Munich tragedy believed in that vision. They came to Munich in the spirit of peace and solidarity. We owe it to them to keep that spirit alive and to remember them. As the event of 40 years ago reminds us, sport is not immune from, and cannot cure, all the ills of the world.”
Following the minute’s silence, Rogge denied he was trying to appease the campaigners. “The intention was not to calm anyone,” he told reporters.
However, Ankie Spitzer and Ilana Romano, widows of two of the slain athletes, told The Jerusalem Post they felt it was a poor sop. “He is trying to do the bare minimum,” said Romano. “This is shameful.”
Spitzer added: “We asked for a moment of silence at the opening ceremony, not for someone to mumble something in front of a few dozen people.”
Spitzer and Romano were expected to hold a press conference in London on Wednesday in a final attempt to convince the IOC to memorialise the athletes during the opening ceremony.
ZEDDY LAWRENCE
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