Arivan Shanmu

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• Arivan Shanmu
• CM Tongs
• Timothy Low

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I n t r o d u c t i o n

• On 26th August 1972, the world gathered for the
  greatest sporting event in Munich, Germany.
• Germany was eager to erase from the publics
  minds the memory of the 1936 Berlin games that
  Hitler infamously exploited as a platform for
  mass propaganda.
• The German authorities encouraged a happy and
  relaxed atmosphere among both the supporters and
  athletes alike.
• Athletes were allowed to enter and leave the
  Olympic village almost at will and there were not
  stringent security checks by the security
  officers.
• This laid the groundwork for the terrorists
  successful infiltration of the grounds and
  eventual hostage-taking.

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As it happened

• On the 5th of September, 11 days into the Games,
  8 terrorists from the Black September group
  entered the loosely guarded Olympics village by
  climbing over a 6-foot-tall chain-link fence,
  without meeting any form of resistance.
• After entering into 31 Connollystrasse, the
  apartments housing the Israeli, Hong Kong, and
  Uruguayan athletes, the terrorists forced their
  way into apartment 1, which housed Israeli
  officials and coaches. Tuvia Sokolovsky, a
  weightlifting coach, escaped by smashing a
  window. Moshe Weinberg, the wrestling coach,
  fought back against the terrorists and was shot
  in the cheek and forced to lead the terrorists to
  other Israeli athletes.
• Weinberg led the terrorists to Apartment 3,
  housing six wrestlers and weightlifters,
  supposedly because he thought they stood a better
  chance against the terrorists.

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As it happened

• As they were being led back to apartment 1,
  Weiberg and another weightlifter fought back
  against the terrorists and were shot dead for
  their resistance, however, their struggle allowed
  another weightlifter to escape via underground
  car park.
• This left the terrorists with 9 remaining live
  hostages.
• Soon, there were crowds of reporters, police and
  members of the public gathered in and around the
  village to monitor the situation.
• Then began the negotiations.

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Who were these terrorists

• The Black September was a Palestinian terrorist
  group and was formed in 1970.
• The name "Black September" comes from the
  fighting between Palestinians and Jordanian
  officials in September 1970. This month was
  labelled "The Black September" because the Arabs
  fought against themselves instead of the
  Israelis, and the name just stuck.
• The group had links to PLO (Palestine Liberation
  Organization), and similarly, its general
  mission was to liberate the Palestinians from
  Israel and to fight for their own independent
  state (similar to Sri Lankan conflict).
• The terrorists viewed the Olympics as an ideal
  platform to get Israel to accede to their
  demands. They were of course, helped by the low
  levels of security at the Olympics.

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The demands

• The aim of their taking the Israeli athletes as
  hostages was to twist Israels arms behind their
  backs and demand the release and safe passage of
  234 Palestinians and non-Arabs to Egypt.
• The terrorists then demanded the German
  government provide a jet for them to Cairo where
  they would meet the freed prisoners and in turn
  free the athletes.
• The terrorists also demanded 2 helicopters for
  their transport to the airport.

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Blunders

• As the negotiations were ongoing, the Germans
  sent a squad of armed police dressed in Olympic
  sweat suits that were criminally unprepared for
  these situations. Unbeknownst to the squad, their
  every actions and movements were being filmed by
  German camera crews and being broad casted live
  nationwide, keeping the terrorists updated about
  what was happening outside.
• The mayor of the Olympic village and another man
  that were allowed to briefly enter the apartments
  to talk to the hostages wrongly reported that
  there were only 4 or 5 terrorists in the
  building, which authorities took as the definite
  number.

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German government actions

• After successfully persuading the terrorists to
  board a plane for them at Fürstenfeldbruck
  airport, the Germans then positioned 5 snipers at
  the airport, thinking that there were only 5
  terrorists.
• The Boeing 727 jet on the runway contained 6
  German police officers dressed in flight crew
  uniforms.
• The plan was to overpower the terrorists who
  boarded the plane to inspect it, leaving the
  supposed 2 or 3 terrorists outside for the
  snipers to take down.

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What happened next

• Upon the arrival at the Fürstenfeldbruck airport,
  2 terrorists went to check the airplane, only to
  find it empty (as the officers on the plane
  aborted the mission without consulting central
  command upon realization that there were 8
  terrorists). Sensing a trap, the 2 terrorists
  rushed back to the helicopters, then the firing
  began.
• In the confusion, 2 terrorists were shot dead, as
  well as 1 policeman. The pilots had escaped,
  leaving the hostages bound in the helicopters.
• Many hours later, as the terrorists and snipers
  were still in a standoff, German APCs arrived at
  the scene, making the terrorists desperate at the
  realization their plan was falling apart.
• A terrorist then shot and blew 4 athletes in a
  helicopter dead.

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What happened next

• How the other 5 athletes in the other helicopter
  were killed is unclear. Some believe the police
  in the confusion shot all a few athletes and a
  sniper dead. Others believe that another
  terrorist had sprayed the 5 remaining athletes
  with bullets from close range.
• At this point, 4 terrorists had been shot dead,
  and 3 lay on the ground, feigning death. These 3
  were captured by police. Another fled the scene
  and was shot dead in a separate gunfight.
• Thus ended what many believe is the start of
  modern terrorism.
• Despite the killings, the games still went on
  without much other incident.

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Aftermath

• The 5 bodies, upon arrival back in Palestine,
  received heroes funerals and full ceremonious
  military burials.
• About a month later, on October 29, terrorists
  high-jacked a Lufthansa (German air company)
  aircraft, demanding the release of the 3
  imprisoned terrorists. Germany capitulated and
  released the terrorists.
• Israels Operation Wrath of God and Operation
  Spring of Youth, aimed at exacting revenge on the
  perpetrators including the 3 terrorists released.
• Israels stance changed from one of
  anti-terrorism to one more of counter terrorism.
  This was mainly by the authorization in the
  formation of the (in)famous Mossad-directed
  direct covert teams, essentially groups of
  assassins dedicated to tracking down and killing
  people directly or indirectly involved in
  terrorism (or individuals posing a threat to
  Israel).

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The Palestinian-Israeli conflict

• Fundamentally a religious conflict, as both Islam
  Palestinians and Jewish Israelis, both being
  Abrahamic in origin, the land of Palestine(Canaan
  in the Bible).
• After numerous wars, Israels initial territorial
  size has increased after winning all of the wars,
  having a modern and well-equipped army.
• Started with the formation of Israel after the
  World War II in 1948, where many Palestinians
  were displaced were displaced, most notably in
  Jerusalem.
• Ever since, many clashes have occurred between
  both sides, and heavy mortaring has cost
  countless lives from either side.

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Resolution in sight?
Benjamin Netanyahu
Mahmoud Abbas
Obama

• Many attempted peace talks, of which many had
  been ended prematurely by assassinations,
  unfeasibility and general inaction.
• The peace process largely has USA as a
  third-party mediator. This makes negotiations a
  little tricky as Israel is USAs biggest ally,
  giving it much financial and military aid.
• Options
• - two-state solution
• Entails the creation of an
  independent Palestinian state alongside an
  independent Jewish state or next to the State of
  Israel.
• - one-state solution
• Israel, Gaza strip, and all of West bank to
  become a bi-national state.
• Two-state option greatly favoured by civilians on
  both side.

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Resolution in sight?

• Efforts by USA or Palestine to reach an agreement
  has in recent times been undermined by Israels
  building of settlements in East Jerusalem, as
  Palestine views Jerusalem as a potential future
  capital for itself.
• Despite USAs demands that Israel halt
  construction in Jerusalem and other areas like
  Judae and Samaria, Israel has not scrapped its
  plans.
• A senior US official recently said "International
  tolerance of Israeli policies is eroding and
  Palestinian democrats are coming under increasing
  pressure. The prospects for a two-state solution
  are eroding as well as Palestinians lose
  confidence that peace is possible.
• http//www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/1
  9834
• Until a resolution is reached, Arab terrorists
  will target Israel and its major outspoken allies
  with terrorist attacks.

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Impact of Munich Massacre on world security

• Olympics games now have high levels of security.
• At every Games held since the 1972 Olympics,
  security has been a significant and highly
  visible presence. In addition to on site
  protection, the police forces of the host nation
  seek and obtain information from other nations
  with respect to any possible terrorist risk that
  might manifest itself at the Olympics.
• In great measure, it has been since 1972 that
  countries have submitted to security searches in
  airports, arenas and other public events -- and
  learned to live with the threat of terrorism.

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Singapores antiterrorism

• The main terrorist threat to Singapore is from
  Jemaah Islamiah (JI) The main terrorist threat to
  Singapore is from Jemaah Islamiah (JI).
• Singapore Police Force also enhanced security in
  various locations, especially in city areas and
  MRT stations.
• The Police MRT unit often carry out
  counter-terrorist exercises in MRT, like the
  Northstar V.
• Security in MRT stations is becoming tighter,
  with regular bag checks on random people and the
  emergency call buttons in the train carriages.
• In the upcoming YOG, responsibility would lie
  with the Singapore Security Agency. Singapore has
  extensive experience in organising large
  conferences and moderate experience in
  multi-sports events.
• Security will be stepped up during the YOG, and
  the committee is working with the police to
  secure the venue. Before anyone can enter the
  competition venues, athletes and spectators alike
  will have to go through security screenings. Its
  typically Singapore nothing is compromised when
  it comes to security.

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Links

• ABC news coverage 6 Sept 1972
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vlTqZPKZ4_wkNR1
• Steven Spielbergs dramatization of the events
  from the movie, Munich
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vY7oTGEVYwqg

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Biblio

• Google Images
• Google
• The Economist articles
• Wikipedia
• Textbooks

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• A N Y / Q U E S T I O N S