During the second week of the 1972 Olympic Summer Games in Munich, eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were kidnapped and taken hostage. It was a difficult time in Israeli-Palestinian relations, and concern had already been expressed over the safety of the Israeli competitors – fears that were realised when eight heavily armed members of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s Black September faction broke into the Olympic Village. An estimated billion people worldwide watched the 23-hour ordeal in horror as the situation escalated. When it was over, 17 people had lost their lives.
Striking documentary MUNICH ’72 AND BEYOND (Wednesday 25th, 19.45) tells the story of the kidnapping and execution of the Israeli Olympic team, using interviews with relatives of the murdered athletes to frame the building of a memorial in Munich 44 years on from the tragedy.
