Black September Research Paper

This week we mark the 14th anniversary of one of the worst days in American history -- the day we have come to know by two numbers: 9/11.

The Munich massacre occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, where members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually murdered by Black September, a Palestinian terrorist organisation. By the end of the agonising ordeal, 11 Israeli athletes and coaches had been killed, and one German police officer. Consequently, the “Operation Wrath of God” was carried out in order to assassinate the individuals involved in the massacre, in which five of the eight members of the terrorist group were killed. The remaining three members were captured, and later released by West Germany after the hijacking by Black September of a Lufthansa airliner. The aftermath of the terrorist attack consisted of several short and long term impacts, including the effects on the Olympic Games, the world’s view on security and the victims’ families.

A narrative based on collective memory is difficult to deconstruct and functions as a barrier to negotiations. Given that narratives play an important role in determining the flow of the negotiations and that every new generation on both sides is raised with this narrative of insecurity in mind, the gap of conflict is widened through a hardening of attitudes amplified by the delay of resolving the stalemate. Connecting the gap to security arguments, the gap is further widened when collective memory functions as the key in altering the status quo especially in asymmetrical conflict where the weaker group fears the total domination of the other and contests the imbalance by resorting to violence. A clash in security narratives is seen: Palestinians justify their violent actions by trying to balance out with Israel claiming that they feel powerless and fear the loss of dignity, while Israelis justify their actions citing issues of threat and security. As seen in the eruption of the second intifada, Palestinian riots occurred after events that affected their sense of security. First, Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount reminded the Palestinians of their claim over East Jerusalem and saw Sharon’s visit

Chapter three of Eyal Press’ Beautiful Souls follows Avner Wishnitzer, an Israeli combat soldier serving in the occupied territories during the Second Intifada. In the 6-Day War of 1967, Israel captured the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and has since kept the land under an Israeli military occupation. In 1987 to 1991, a Palestinian uprising involving resistance and civil disobedience, known as the First Intifada, occurred in the occupied territories. Consequently, Israel deployed many soldiers into the occupied territories, and an estimated 1,674 people were killed in total. The Second Intifada, a much more violent Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories, transpired from 2000 until 2005. In response, Israel enacted Operation Defensive Shield, a large-scale military operation, in 2002 to stop the terrorist attacks and suicide bombings of the Second Intifada. An approximate 4,426 people were killed in the Second Intifada. Avner Wishnitzer’s public refusal to serve in the occupied territories was worth getting kicked out of Sayeret Matkal and being disgraced by Israeli society because it made people question the occupation and the treatment towards Palestinians. Even if Avner had been my father, I would have condoned his choices because I could create my own reputation in the military. Additionally, the current controversy over the Israeli occupation legitimizes his stance and actions for many Israeli citizens.

On Friday night, the University of Washington played host to three of today’s greatest historians concerning the Israel/Palestine issue. Professor Anita Shapira, known for her contextual history of Israel ignited the room with her powerful comments about the circumstances for Arab removal from Israeli lands. Professor James Gelvin tiptoed on several touchy subjects, reiterating his concentration with causality history, nevertheless his historical background gave insight to nationalistic movements both groups have. The third historian, Professor Ilan Pappe concentrated the bulk of his talk on explaining the movement of Palestinian refugees while advocating for the acknowledgement of Israeli brutality in some Arab villages. Naturally, as it was the first time all three sides had come head-to-head, the debate got heated. This was especially true when comparing ideas of what the occupied territory should be described as. History of Modern Israel/Palestine student Erika Arias was able to mediate the debate, defuse tensions and at times draw laughs from the audience.

The Massacre occurred on September 5th, the eleventh day of the 1972 Olympics. Eight Palestinian Terrorists that belonged to the group Black september killed two Israeli athletes and took another nine hostage. The terrorists did this because Israel has Arabs in their prisons. They wanted Israel to “release over 230 Arab prisoners being held in Israeli jails and two German terrorists” (History). The Olympics did not have very good security during this time so this made it easy for the terrorists to carry out their plan. Israel did not want any negotiations to be made however, German authorities tried to make many with the terrorists. “The terrorists demanded transportation to Cairo following more than twelve hours of unsuccessful negotiations. Authorities led the terrorists to believe they would comply while in truth they were planning to ambush them at the airport” (NPS).The ambush did not go as planned. The authorities thought that there were only five terrorists although there were eight. The rescue failed for a few reasons. First, “the German snipers that were chosen had no sharpshooting experience and had no communication with each other. [...] Second, the police were

An event such as 9/11 was bound to occur at some point and time, due to the United States’ strained relationship with the Middle East, with roots back to the year 1910. However, it wasn’t until the Gulf War in 1991, when tensions began to run high. The Gulf War began due to an Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who ordered an invasion of Kuwait. Neighbouring countries were alarmed by the news and immediately asked for Western nations to intervene, fearing Hussein would continue to feed his power hunger and advance to other Arabian countries. Finally after forty two days at war, his troops surrendered. From this moment on, the events leading up to the attack on 9/11 snowballed. This is evidenced by, “After the Gulf War ended in 1991, the United

is: the way do we comprehend what happened, and in what capacity would we be able to make headway?

Paragraph 1: The two media sources i am using is Television and the Internet on 9/11 disasters. The television and The Internet will help me because i can use like CNN news or History channel and i can also research on the 9/11 attack. The disaster and the devastation and the fatality on 9/11. Journalist are reliable because without they help i wouldn't tell you about the 9/11 disaster. When did this disaster occurred? On September 11,2001 8:45 A.M. on a clear Tuesday morning. Where did this disaster occurred? The World Trade Center in New York City near the Twin Tower. Another one happened in Pentagon outside of Washington D.C. and Also in Pennsylvania.

Did you know that almost 3,000 people died on 9/11? People hijacked four planes and crashed them into the Pentagon, both World Trade Center buildings and into a field in Pennsylvania. 9/11 was a historical event because of what happened before, during and after.

So It was a sad moment for the people that lost their lives that day the day of September 9,2001 or a shorter word 9/11. The people that hit the two Twin Towers and the Pentagon and one was going for the White House but there was a fight in the plane that was going to the White House. But the plane was crashing in a field at Pennsylvania. So, every year at 9/11 they will have a memory for the people that died that day from the two Twin Towers. So, if you will try to go too see the twin towers they are not there because of the 9/11 they did not try to rebuild it so they just put water in the outside and there is trees too. So if you try to go there in the night you will see the light in the middle where it was.

9/11 had many people devastated. Many people lost many loved ones do to the 9/11 attack on the day of September 11, 2001. 3,000 people were killed during the attacks of New york and Washington D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters. If you may not know what 9/11 is it is the day when American Boeing Airlines loaded with 20,000 gallons of fuel crashed into the World Trade Center. The crash left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th to the 110th floor. About 18 minutes after the first crash on the north side of the Trade Center, the second Boeing plane hit the south side of the building on the 60th floor. The collision of the two planes made a massive explosion that showered debri.The people that were involved

On September 11, a plane crashed into The World Trade Center, demolishing both buildings. Many people were affected by this tragedy, some even were diagnosed with cancer from trying to clean up ground zero. There are speculations that the people who did have health issues were the ones not wearing the respirators, and many died because of not protecting themselves from the dangerous fumes. Some did not realize that, it could be the last day they might see their families and rushed out without saying goodbyes for the last time. There was little help provided to the sick workers. The lawyers of the workers treat them more as heros then the people who employed them to help clean up after the World Trade Center attack. There were many rising concerns given after the attack and a vast majority of people wish those concerns would be addressed.

On Thursday I asked a close family friend questions about important United States history events such as 9/11, Obama’s inauguration, Hurricane Katrina, the Recession, Pluto not being a planet anymore, and the fall of Facebook and Myspace. Many other US events were mentioned, but those five were the ones she remembered the most. Along with her opinions I also spoke or discussed my opinions about police brutality that’s currently happening and the current debates between who’s going to be the next president of the United States. We also spoke of which events were most important and impacted the US more than the other options. On that last topic we had different opinions on which were more beneficial. All of the historical events were beneficial and impacted the United States in some way and molded the actions of Americans in one way or another.

A little after 4 a.m. on September fifth, as the Israeli athletes slept, eight members of the Black September jumped over the six-foot high fence that encircled the Olympic Village. The terrorists headed straight for 31 Connollystrasse, the building where the Israeli team was staying. Around 4:30 a.m., the terrorists entered the building. They rounded up the occupants of Apartment one and then Apartment three. Several of the Israelis fought back and two of them were killed. A several others were able to escape out windows. Nine were taken hostage (Rosenberg). In another apartment, they captured the Israeli wrestlers and weightlifters Eliezer Halfin, Yossef Romano, Mark Slavin, David Berger, and Zeev Friedman. When the fearless Israelis fought back, the Black September opened fire, killing Romano and one other person (Olympics Massacre). Once the team was taken hostage, the Palestinians dropped a list of demands out the window. In return for the hostages, the terrorists demanded 234 prisoners released from Israeli prisons and two from German prisons by 9 a.m. (Rosenberg).