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Congress & the Middle East: Senate Resolution Supporting Minute of Silence in Memory of Munich Massacre at 2012 Olympics

(June 27, 2012)

In June 2012, the Senate unanimously passed S.Res.504 calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to observe a moment of silence at the 2012 London Olympic Games in honor of the 40th anniversary of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Games.
The resolution was initiated by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY] and Marco Rubio [R-FL] and had 33 co-sponsors from both parties.

S.Res. 504

Expressing support for the International Olympic Committee to recognize with a minute of silence at the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony the athletes and others killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

RESOLUTION

Expressing support for the International Olympic Committee to recognize with a minute of silence at the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony the athletes and others killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Whereas, in September 1972, in the midst of the Munich Olympics, the core spirit of the Olympics was violated when members of the Black September Palestinian terrorist group murdered eleven members of the Israeli Olympic Team consisting of athletes, coaches, and referees;

Whereas one West German police officer was also killed in the terrorist attack;

Whereas the international community was deeply touched by the brutal murders at the Munich Olympics and memorials have been placed around the world, including in Rockland County, New York, United States; Manchester, United Kingdom; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Munich, Germany;

Whereas the International Olympic Committee has an obligation and the ability to fully and publicly promote the ideals embodied in the Olympic Charter, which states, ‘The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.’

Whereas no opening ceremonies of any Olympics since 1972 have marked an official recognition of the terrorist attack that brutally betrayed the vision of the Olympic Games; and

Whereas the London Olympic Games in 2012 will mark four decades since this act of terror took place without a full and public commemoration of the gravity of this tragic event for all Olympians and all humankind: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate--

(1) should observe a minute of silence to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack and remember those who lost their lives;

(2) urges the International Olympic Committee to take the opportunity afforded by the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack to remind the world that the Olympics were established to send a message of hope and peace through sport and athletic competition; and

(3) urges the International Olympic Committee to recognize with a minute of silence at the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony those who lost their lives at the 1972 Munich Olympics in an effort to reject and repudiate terrorism as antithetical to the Olympic goal of peaceful competition.


Sources: GovTrack