Families of 11 Israeli athletes massacred during the 1972 games demand $124 million in Libyan funds administered by the UN.
By David Hellerman, World Israel News
The families of 11 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich are demanding 110 million euros ($124 million) in Libyan money administered by the United Nations, Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported on Friday.
According to the German report, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan provided the UN with information tying former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to the terror attack through his active support for the terrorists after the massacre.
In 1972, terrorists from the Palestinian Black September terror group snuck into the Olympic Village and broke into two apartments used by the Israeli team, killing two Israelis in the process. With nine hostages, Black September demanded the release of more than 230 terrorists, mostly Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Police sought to ambush the terrorists at an airbase, but the Germans were ill-prepared and the plan was badly executed.
In the end, all nine hostages and one German police officer were killed on the tarmac. Five terrorists killed in shootout were buried in Libya with military honors. Three terrorists who survived were jailed for 54 days, then sent to Libya, where Gaddafi welcomed them as heroes and helped them go into hiding.
According to Sueddeutsche Zeitung Erdan presented evidence that the terrorists were able to enter Germany and access the Olympic village by using forged Libyan passports. The paper also reported that Erdan presented evidence of Gaddafi’s direct assistance for the terrorists after the attack.
The paper also reported that Gaddafi gave Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat $5 million as “recognition”
Although the families have received compensation from Germany. However the paper reported that “The families’ current argument relies on the fact that in the past, Libya has compensated the victims of terrorist incidents that were carried out by its citizens or on its soil. In 2008, Libya transferred $1.5 billion to the families of the 270 victims of the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing—a bomb attack on an aircraft flying from London to New York, for which Libya was held responsible.”
The Libyan money the families are demanding would come from a fund administered by the United Nations over accusations of embezzlement and rival governments claiming legitimacy.
Gadaffi was killed in 2011 when the Libyan Civil War broke out.
Libya is scheduled to hold elections on Dec. 24. Gen. Khalifa Haftar, a warlord and leading candidate, reportedly wants to normalize relations with Israel.