The 1972 Munich Olympics Hostage Crisis Essay

The Olympics have shown over the decades that they can be affected by political conflict. However, it seems that this is the point of the Olympics, to illustrate national pride, by competition. Bloodshed should not be the way for pride of one’s country to be shown, but it should be shown through competition, in the words of the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de

the time, and the Nazis were in power. Before the Olympics, German Jews had been segregated and

In January 1979, Iranians opposed to the Shah’s rule invaded the American embassy in Tehran and held a group of 52 American diplomats and other hostages for 444 days. The Shah left Iran and the victorious Ayatollah Khomeini returned that February. Of the approximately 90 people inside the embassy, 52 remained in captivity until the end of the crisis. The reputation of the Ayatollah Khomeini and the hostage taking was further enhanced with the failure of a hostage rescue attempt that cost lives. The Ayatollah Khomeini set forth several demands to be met prior to the release of the hostages. The US had options of their own; however, the risk to the hostages required the utmost consideration. In order to secure their freedom, outgoing

“The Olympic Contradiction” in a passage by David Brooks about when people are stuck between two contradictions they should face both of them headon. Brooks uses the Olympics as a metaphor to make know the idea that competitive virtues can often coexist with cooperative values. In the passage Brooks uses the Olympics to effectively develops the idea that embracing contradiction should be considered positive rather than negative.

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.

Social and cultural aspects play a significant role in the media’s unflattering depiction of Islamic extremists, which correlates directly to military spending and relations with the Middle East. Since 9/11, when Arabs attacked the U.S. on behalf of Afghan Islamic extremists, relations with the Middle East have been tense, according to Thomas Kean and others in "National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States” from the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Kean and others report that repercussions of the 9/11 attacks included homeland security improvements. Dov S. Zakheim, former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense and Chief Financial Officer, similarly discussed that relations worsened after 9/11 in "September 11: A Decade Later What 9/11 Has Wrought”, which details the effects

Of the two articles we were given to read this week from the day after September 11th, 2001, I preferred the article from the New York Times. Though the article for ESPN by Hunter Thompson (2001) was more engaging, I could not get past statements like, “We are going to punish somebody for this attack, but just who or what will be blown to smithereens for it is hard to say” (para. 9). Even though I am certainly in support of punishing those who are responsible for attacks like the ones upon the world trade centers, but the vitriol with which Thompson describes blowing them to smithereens made my stomach turn. As a result, I cannot say that I liked Thompson’s article.

Most people would classify the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936 as just another Olympics, and they would be right because the Games did have the classic triumphs and upsets that occur at all Olympic Games. What most people did not see, behind the spectacle of the proceedings, was the effect the Nazi party had on every aspect of the Games including the results. Despite Nazi Germany’s determination to come off as the superior nation in the 1936 Olympics, their efforts were almost crushed by the very people they were trying to exclude.

We examined two articles about the bus bombing incident, one from Time and one from the New York Times. The Time article gave a much more general overview of the incident, and lacked some details, such as who was arrested and why, and the response of the government. The New York Times article discussed this information in great detail. It includes the names of the perpetrators and the reason for their arrest. It also discusses the response of Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who

The 1936 Olympics in Berlin, also known as the “Nazi Olympics”, was a milestone in the history of the world. All of the attention of the Olympics that year was focused on Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. In 1933, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler became leader of Germany and quickly turned the nation's democracy into a one-party dictatorship. He took thousands of political opponents, holding them without trial in concentration camps. The Nazis also set up a program to strengthen the Germanic Aryan population. They began to exclude all one-half million Jews from the population, and German life. As part of the drive to "purify" and strengthen the German population, a 1933 law permitted physicians to perform forced

The purpose of this study is to analyze extensively the role that Cold War tensions played in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. The analysis seeks to understand the effect that politics, have on the organization, implementation and eventually success of sporting events such as the Olympics. In order to do so, the analysis will address the events leading up to, during and after the Moscow Olympic Games of 1980. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 will be addressed to help place the games into perspective. Also, exchanges between the two nations before, during and after the games will be analyzed to understand if and to what extent they affected the games. To investigate the issue, the study will address the

A press corps of nearly 4000 members was expected to make their way to Munich to chronicle to games. The organizers of the 1972 games understood that the press played a vital role in the reconstruction of Germany's image around the world. In order to make them feel welcome, Organizers constructed a press village west of Munich less than a mile from the competition site. Each member of the press would have "well-appointed single rooms equipped with television and telephones.” The village had its own swimming pool with sauna and massage rooms attached for “relaxation after a hard day of reporting in the hope of influencing the nature of the reporting”. A large and fully staffed there would be open around the clock.

The 1972 Summer Olympics were an international multi-sport event. Another name for that Olympic Game was the 1972 Olympics Massacre. It was the 20th Olympic Games. It was held in Munich, Germany from August 26, 1972 to September 11, 1972.The 1972 Olympics were the second Olympics to be held in Germany. The first Olympic Games that were held in Germany occur in 1936 in Berlin, which occurred during the Nazi regime. The Olympic Committee in West Germany was hoping to get rid of the military image of Germany. They were tired of the image that was portrayed by the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which Hitler used for his own benefit. Also, tensions were high due to the fact that the last games occurred during the Nazi regime. The Israeli athletes and

In June 2012, there was a severe lapse in judgment regarding security at the Olympic Stadium in London, England. Local press and international press downplayed and whitewashed the incident. Had the incident occurred during the actual summer 2012 Olympiad, the consequence could have been fatal with moderate certainty. A number of security procedures simply were not executed. As one may imagine, the security protocols for the Olympics are very structured, detailed, and certainly specialists with specific expertise contributed to the security plans. The security procedures were in place; the staff did not execute all of the procedures they were supposed to. They did not perform perimeter checks with trained search dogs. The searches for bombs or other weapons hidden within the stadium structure and grounds were never made. The security staff did not perform their professional duties adequately, which if there were not already dangerous materials or weapons on the premises, the period during which the security procedures were supposed to be followed but were not provided anyone interested in terrorist activity during the Olympics their chance to get on the premises to do whatever is necessary to execute their plan(s). By locating sources in alternative press sources, readers expanded their perspective on the issues and have the opportunity to reflective upon normative forms of news & press.

According to Gilbert H. Muller in The Age of Terror, the new world has become a very dangerous place on behalf of terrorists. Around the world, people have different perspectives on foreign affairs, politics, and religion. Asking a Christian on their views of terrorism, they would agree that it is the most horrible thing to happen to anyone. Asking someone who supports terrorism, they would say that nothing is wrong with what is going on. In Phillip B. Heymann’s Terrorism, Freedom, and Security: Winning Without War, terrorism in the United States became a domestic concern for the government and citizens. Terrorist threats and attacks leave people asking questions: Who is to blame for the attacks? Why do they attack? When are they going to attack next?