Christine Brennan
In the worst decision of the Opening Ceremony, the International Olympic Committee allowed one moment of silence to be held – just not the one that it should have permitted for the past 40 years.
London, United Kingdom; Dancers perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 London Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium.
After saying there would be no moment of silence to honor the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches who were killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics, the IOC permitted a video tribute to the 52 people who were killed in the suicide bombings in the London transit system the day after the city won the Games in 2005.
That was kind, and fitting, but it only served to highlight the extraordinarily bad judgment the IOC has shown in the matter of the Israelis, who were killed simply because they were Olympians living in the Olympic village. As has been the case for 40 years, the IOC recently refused repeated requests from world leaders and families to honor the Israelis, including President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and leaders of Canada, Australia, Israel and Germany, among others.
They all knew last week that there would once again be no tribute in the Opening Ceremony. But then came this other moment of silence. Talk about a slap in the face.
So basically, “Europeans are anti-semitic.” Not exactly a newsflash, but nonetheless quite disgusting.
That is about as anti-semitic as some of the things that right-wing says about Obama are racist comments.
@Liberal1 (objectivity): You had me right up to point where you dissed the Right and put politics into the post. The IOC’s actions mirror the attitudes of its members towards Israel. The IOC and German government failed disgracefully, in protecting the athletes under their watch and care. The German police were inept, incompetent and the government weak, in its vacillation and ultimate betrayal of the victims,staging a fake hijacking to release the surviving terrorists. The victims deserve the memorials so far denied. If you really want to pursue your final point, please tell me why Obama hasn’t yet bothered to commemorate the men who fought and fell at Normandy? Short answer; the dead heroes of Normandy don’t vote Democrat, as often as do the dead of Cook County,Illinois.