Thursday, July 19, 2012

The IOC Won't Honor Slain Israeli Athletes, But Sportscaster Bob Costas Says He Will


You might remember my piece on how the International Olympic Committee bowed to Muslim pressure and refused to honor the Israeli athletes murdered by PLO terrorists in 1972 at Munich with a moment of silence.

According to one of the widows,Ankie Spitzer, Jacques Rogge, the president of the IOC told her when they met that 'his hands were tied' by the 46 Arab and Muslim members of the IOC.

She replied, “My husband’s hands were tied, not yours.”

Veteran NBC Bob Costas has his own reply to the IOC's cowardice, according to what he told the Hollywood Reporter:

At the July 27 Opening Ceremony from London, Costas plans to call out the IOC for denying Israel's request for a moment of silence acknowledging the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Games. On the 40th anniversary of Munich, it's a decision he finds "baffling." When the Israeli delegation enters the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, Costas will stage his own protest: "I intend to note that the IOC denied the request," he says, modulating his voice as if he were on the air. "Many people find that denial more than puzzling but insensitive. Here's a minute of silence right now."


One man, willing to provide honor and dignity to an institution that has forgotten what the words mean. It will be absolutely wonderful if he does this, and even better if other media figures follow suit.

Give the man the gold if he follows through, for courage and for decency.

2 comments:

Roland said...

Good for him. He's always been a class act.

louielouie said...

while sitting in the dr. office waiting room this morning, i picked up an olympics edition of "sports illustrated".
in the back there is an introduction to the US olympians in various sports.
there is also a ten page spread regarding athletes coming from the arab spring from various war torn countries.
no mention of the jews.