Olympics Won’t, But Chabad Will

By COLlive reporter

You are welcome to wonder: Are the Olympics a place for Jews?

First there was Israeli President Shimon Peres canceling his participation in the 2012 Olympic events in London because they won’t let him stay nearby so he does not desecrate the Shabbos.

Now the International Olympic Committee refuses to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes with a moment of silence at the opening ceremony of the games.

“We feel that the opening ceremony is an atmosphere that is not fit to remember such a tragic incident,” explained the committee’s president Jacques Rogge in response to call for a special observance to remember the murder of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches by Palestinian terrorists in Germany.

Pressure was mounting on the Olympic Committee from politicians in the United States, Israel and Germany and Jewish organizations to pay tribute to the slain Israelis.

Instead, there is a grassroots effort to honor their memory.

Sportscaster Bob Costas who is NBC’s host for its television coverage of the olympics said he will hold a moment of silence on the air, while Chabad of Northwest Connecticut will be hosting and presenting the new book by one of the athlete survivors.

Dan Alon, an Olympic Fencer from the ’72 Israeli delegation, will recount the horrific events that occurred and speak about his own experiences at the Olympics, at a lecture on August 12 at the Chabad community center, 7 Village Green Dr., Litchfield.

Alon, featured in the documentary “The Eleventh Day: The Survivors of Munich ’72,” began fencing when he was only 12 years old and quickly made a name for himself, earning bragging rights as Israel’s Junior Champion, and following national service, Israel’s National Champion.

As he tells it in his autobiography “Munich Memoirs,” in the world of sports, athletes relish the opportunity to represent their country at big sporting events such as the Olympics. But very few of them are faced with the life threatening situations that the Israeli delegation faced in Munich.

For the Israeli delegation, the Olympics wasn’t just a competition, it was a chance to show the world that the nation of Israel was thriving, he says.

They were the first Israeli team to compete since World War II, and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to show the world, that “we are here, and still alive!” Alon remembers how close he was to making it to the semifinals.

He had defeated his opponent in the first four rounds of his fencing quarterfinal, and needed just one victory to advance. “My opponent won a few points, and all of a sudden he had defeated me five games to four,” he recalls.

Though the games continued after the terrible massacre, according to Alon, “some of the players from various countries decided that in light of what had happened, they would pack their bags and return home – for this I applaud them.”

For Alon, and other Israeli Olympians, one of the most important aspects of the Olympics is that they know the people of Israel will always be by their side. Some of the pain and suffering he felt returning to Israel after the massacre was alleviated when he stepped off the plane.

“When we landed at the airport, and I see these beautiful Israeli people, waiting for us – thousands of them, it was something I will never forget,” Alon says.