Germany reappraises 1972 Munich Olympics attack

Germany has appointed an eight-person commission to re-appraise the attack on Israeli athletes and team members at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement on Friday that the commission is expected to answer unresolved questions.

“For too many years, there was a lack of understanding or reappraisal of the events, transparency about them or acceptance of responsibility for them,” she said.

The project is part of a larger government approach to seek reconciliation with the families affected, including a compensation offer of 28 million euros ($30.67 million).

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Palestinians from the Black September militant group took members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage on September 5, 1972.

Eleven Israelis, a German policeman and five of the Palestinian gunmen died after a stand-off at the Olympic village and the nearby Fuerstenfeldbruck airfield.

The Games continued in 1972 after the attacks and the IOC took almost half a century to comply with families’ requests for an official act of remembrance at an Olympic event.

Zainab Sa’id