Munich massacre Munich massacre The Munich massacre was an attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, in which the Palestinian terrorist group Black September took eleven Israeli Olympic team members hostage and killed them along with a West German police officer. Shortly after the crisis began, a Black September spokesman demanded that 234 Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel and the West German–held founders of the Red Army Faction, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, be released. Black September called the operation ""Iqrit and Biram"", after two Palestinian Christian villages whose inhabitants were expelled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during
1985 Maccabiah Games 1985 Maccabiah Games The 1985 12th Maccabiah Games brought over 4,000 athletes to Israel from 37 nations to compete in 28 sports. The Maccabiah Games were first held in 1932. In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee. Twenty years after his first appearance in the Maccabiah, Olympic Champion Mark Spitz returned to Israel to carry the Opening Ceremony’s Torch into Ramat Gan Stadium. He was accompanied by Shirli Shapiro, Anok Spitzer, and Shlomit Romano, children of three of the Israelis slain at the 1972 Munich Olympics.