Antisemitism in the Olympic Games

For broader coverage of this topic, see Olympic Games.

The modern Olympic Games or Olympics, are leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart.^[1] In the Olympic Games during the years, despite its approach of "peace through sport", there have been many expressions of antisemitism, most notably in the Munich Massacre of 1972, which ended in the death of eleven Israeli athletes. The first official commemoration in acknowledgment of the massacre happened in 2016.^[2]

The Olympic Games

Berlin - 1936

 

Athletics, 5000 m, Berlin 1936

Main article: 1936 Summer Olympics

• The 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin, Germany soon after Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, were subjected to boycotts and racial discrimination.^[3] Jews were banned from the German team. Critics claimed that Hitler used the Olympic stage to propagate his own political ideologies. Hitler was also heavily criticized for his racist attitude towards the Jewish participants in the games. Recognizing the exploitation of the Olympic Games for political purposes by Hitler, a number of organizations and leading politicians called for a boycott of the games.^[3]

Munich - 1972

 

One of the Munich's terrorists

Main article: Munich massacre

• During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, eleven Israeli Olympic team members were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September who eventually killed them along with a German police officer.^[4][5][6][7] Shortly after the crisis began, they demanded 234 prisoners jailed in Israel and the German-held founders of the Red Army Faction (Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof) be released.^[8][9] The attack was motivated by secular nationalism, with the commander of the terrorist group, Luttif Afif, claiming to have been born to Jewish and Christian parents.^[10] German neo-Nazis gave the attackers logistical assistance.^[11] Police officers killed five of the eight Black September members during a failed rescue attempt. They captured the three survivors, whom West Germany later released following hijacked Lufthansa Flight 615 in October. Mossad responded to the release with the 1973 Israeli raid on Lebanon and Operation Wrath of God, tracking down and killing Palestinians suspected of involvement in the massacre. On 3 August 2016, two days prior to the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics, the International Olympic Committee officially honored the eleven Israelis killed for the first time.^[12]

Moscow - 1980

• Israel was one of the countries that boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but also because of Soviet anti-semitic and anti-Israel policies.^[13]

Athens - 2004

• Iranian judoka Arash Miresmaeili was to fight the Israeli Ehud Vaks but was disqualified for being over the weight limit. In order to avoid implicit recognition of Israel, Iran forbids its athletes from competing against Israeli athletes. An Iranian National Olympic Committee spokesman said it was Iran's "general policy" not to face Israeli athletes. He earned public praise from the Iranian government.^[14] In an editorial, The Jerusalem Post said that Miresmaeili disqualified himself and listed it as an antisemitic incident.^[15]

London - 2012

 

Remembering the Munich massacre, London 2012 (1)

• At a ceremony for memory of the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches that were killed at the 1972 Summer Olympics, top Olympics' official Jacques Rogge came under criticism over the refusal to honor the dead with a minute's silence at the opening ceremony of London 2012.^[16] Instead, a week before the official opening of the Games, Rogge held a minute of silence during a minor ceremony in the Olympic village.^{[citation needed]}

Rio de Janeiro - 2016

• Lebanese Olympians refused to ride on a bus with Israeli athletes to get to the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[17] When the Israeli delegation of athletes and coaches tried to board the bus to Maracana stadium, the head of the Lebanese delegation blocked the entrance.^[18]

See also

• Boycotts of Israel in sports
• Jewish Olympics
• Muscular Judaism

References

1. "Olympic Games".
2. "First official IOC ceremony in memory of Munich victims". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
3. "Most Controversial Summer Olympic Games In History". 14 March 2019.
4. Juan Sanchez (7 August 2007). Terrorism & Its Effects. Global Media. p. 144. ISBN 978-81-89940-93-5. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
5. Aubrey, Stefan M. (11 September 2001). The new dimension of international ... ISBN 9783728129499. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
6. Kushner, Harvey W. (2003). Encyclopedia of terrorism. ISBN 9780761924081. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
7. Simon, Jeffrey David (18 July 1976). The terrorist trap: America's ... ISBN 0253214777. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
8. Reeve, Simon (22 January 2006), , The Independent, archived from the original on 16 March 2012, retrieved 3 March 2012
9. Fleisher, Malkah (22 July 2012). ""Baffled" Bob Costas to Call Own Minute of Silence During Olympic Broadcast for Slain Israeli Team". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
10. Ciment, James (20 March 2015). Encyclopedia of Conflicts Since World War II. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-317-47186-8. Early acts at Palestinian terrorism were geared toward drawing international attention to the plight of Arabs living under Israeli occupation and to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners. Unlike much later terrorism in the Arab Muslim world, these acts, which ranged from plane hijackings to targeted attacks on Israeli civilians, were motivated largely by a secular brand of nationalism. In fact, Luttif "Issa" Afif, the leader of the PLO-affiliated Black September group that captured and killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, was born to a Jewish mother and a Christian father.
11. Latsch, Gunther; Wiegrefe, Klaus (18 June 2012), "Files Reveal Neo-Nazis Helped Palestinian Terrorists", Spiegel Online
12. "First official Olympic ceremony held in memory of Munich victims".
13. "TIMELINE: Jews in the Summer Olympics". Jul 20, 2012.
14. "BBC NEWS - Europe - Mystery over Iran judo 'protest'". 15 August 2004.
15. "Unsportsmanlike conduct". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
16. News, World. "Olympics officials accused of anti-Semitism over Munich remembrance". {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
17. "Rio 2016 Olympics: Lebanese athletes refuse to travel with Israel team". BBC Sport. 6 August 2016.
18. "Anti-Semitism at Olympics by Muslim nations keeps age-old animosities alive". 11 August 2016.