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MASSACRE AT MUNIcH

‘

.

.

Gabby

LEE" "'

“WNLIBRARY

The Munich massacre is no longer quite so uppermost in our minds as it was on that

dreadful morning when we woke up to heafi the atugning news

that the worst had happened in spite of all efforts to prevent it.

I

am

therefore all the more grateful to the Bnai Erich for calling this meeting. For there is a real danger that the.tragedy may be hgééuéaagvtéeay con;

.aigned to the limbo of other repressed memories bf an excessively painful kind, before we have assimilated its full significance or considered

sufficiently the lessons to be learnt from it.' kt=§saat it is beginning to fall into place as one of the many horrific happenings with which we

have become familiar in recent years, not essentially different from the

slaughter at Laid Airport or the genocidal wars in Nigeria find Bangladesh. Ami

ye}:

Munich atandé out

inwam.

not only because of the .ugprecedent-

ed publicity which it received, the almost unbearable suspense of the

drama as it unfolded itself on millions of television screens, but bqgguge it represented the very lowest depth of calculatéd gaggaxity.

mercilessness and cowardice to which human beings have sunk even in this brutal age;

At Munich we saw evtI at its most evil since the days of

hitler's extermination camps. I thank, therefore.

a'symbol and a

that Munich has become

warning of the extreme peril which faces civilisation from.tbe new rampancy of unrestrained violence©

Abbve all I hope, as-E4:==anzs

we¢511 do. that it will prove to have been a turning-point. Thap, of course. depends 6n whether we - that is to say, the world -

aré prefiared to leard thé lessons which it teaches.

léaaonsf

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What, then, are these

4 Mug.

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2 -

The first and the what ‘obvious bhe'is the need for greater vigilance

bightéf security. ‘This is

fiend-

cakenby

'cautio‘hs

'ob‘viotis that: up'

$15

the"

many governments and' transport agencies have

1166 yet' einulafiéd the

“by 21 A1.

~~ "World

Bavarian and West German vérm‘nents.‘

the new'thre'ét to

of.

the safety

at:

its qonferehce ln‘ Gen

whether for mgsbnal or pél'itiéal gain." ofth‘e worid_ [must-be ar'ouaed to ens 'pé’e'éagv‘e.

We therefore

agencies? and 'airli'n'es to b6:

'3

9‘

{fine such this 11199t

as well

,b‘erprbposed

"

§et woken

an

effdrta

~ ~

'all

"

I

~

~

firm

I

earlier

'make inter-

gainec h'ianackings,‘

it went: on: "The conscience

e the right to unmolested, safe,

upon governments, international

all appropriate meaéureé to this end,‘

including strict: insp stick: 6! p1anes..baggage and personnel’z“ might

is

'11:

innoceht‘ civilians, have

civil aviation safe and secur

'“hafiona‘l

But.

hot:

This point. therefor'e', still needs to be stressed“.

Union for Progressive Judaism,

chines

“

stringent security measures operated“. for example.

iéar,'-passed a resolution «unimending

"ffjéhié

EM me.

neéeasarily a criticism of

not:

It

re‘solutioh Were added to those which will ‘

The second need? is to consider how to deal with the ransom demands (madg'awby

those who take hostages for personal or political gain.

an agonisingly difficult ethical problem.

.w," the saving

For on the one hand, gikkuach

Mg am

of life, takes precedence

sideration,‘ and more particularly,

This is

Hover almost: gny,_ofiber

con-

in. the ransomihg of

captthveé; is (me of the bopprioritzy obligations in Jewish Law.

on the other hand. to surrender to blackmail may have

But:

the- effect; of

epggqrag‘ing other"? potenyial 'blackmailera, and may therefore in the end~ coat:

fibre lives; [As Rudy

.

-.-.3 6.;

,

, who discussed [For this quotation I am indebted to Rabbi David the whole question of ' Jewish Léw' 1n the summer issue of '

ournal of the Union of Liberal: and Progressive ,Synagoguesj' There is no easy answer to this dilemma, but

serious discussion of

1b,. to

at;

which Judaism has

least; there 811

should be

impartant contribution

"to makenin the hope of establishing an internationally agrqed policy.

~

The thudffheéd is

£01;

determineq counter-action against those organ-

ui'safiiona which train its members to commit: such ghastly crimes. as well .

by

‘hoée

and-governments which share in the responsibility

~o:.'gvanis¢al:ions

shingaéaietance

to the eerrorisb

3130n

or encotmage thém by condoning

theg;,gqtivicies;- What this demands or the British Géverhmegt is pretty clear and will be spelt out: in thaee resolutions to be put: to this meeting. But all these mqasures are merely defensive or preventive in a superficial sénse; Theyldaddress themselves to the symptom rather than the

dneaee,

3;:

-

.AAnq‘Iluse tbs

.:

.~

Qérd 'diseaae' advisedly'.

éondihion of man;

011

the contrary,

it:

.=

::-==-_::

,2:

=

.:--'

::3::

For violence is not the normal is abnormal, pathological.

The

need; therefore, is to study afresh the fiathology or v101ence.- What causes 4t? In the ,case of an individual, it; may be parental red ection or some other grave emotional disturbance,

andthis may account

inhuqlag b:e‘haviour of some of the hired assassins;

occura 'on a‘lyerge scale 13 almost

:-

when it

is_

the

But when. violence

a collectivg phenomenbn

variably fanaticism. A fanatic

’for

’-

its cause

is one who gets carried away

by unrestrained enthusiasm for- a cameo the tightness of which bé regards as unquestionable and the triumph of. which becomes to him a matter of supréme importance, overriding all other considerations. 'It; is then that

an Otherwise rational person becdmes irrational, and a normally peaceful person becomes violent. 'It11§ then that‘human'behauour descends to the

.5-

4

-.

level-of hefkerut. total lawlessness;

awn—m.

End

if;

is

then

that;

~ murderasare-given a hero's funerala

Fanaticism, 1n itsturn. doesn't emerge spontaneously. 'It is fostered, whipped up, by propgganda; This propaganda may of course have a kernel of-truth‘ahd'juaticea

,ror exampie,=the

aim eé#$he-Eaiesttnian-t£ab -u

Hpgepaga-aéa to secure the meet-filament of‘mlestinian Arabxrefugees in

~«fluthéif ~

'

former homeiand is a legitimate and honourable aspiration, though

has to Be gonsidgggd: infrelation’ to other legitimate and honounable asbdmafiibné as well as realistic possibilities; And inn climate of. it:

mdderation and éood W111

anal:

consideration would have taken place

ago; and ai'r‘easonable solution found;

toothez

haé

1‘1ea‘.

3

features},

10135

But? invariably such propaganda

he said: "Let

--

First, it disseminates ha1£+crutbs and dawnriéfit.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in his'Nobel Prize lecture, reminded

thié-'3Whe.n

‘

us‘

uia

of

not forget, that'violence does not exist alone

by1.

‘an@ cannot survive in isolation: it is inevitably.bound up with.che 11a." The.

chief lie disseminated, like a dogma. by Arab prgpaganda. 15 that

the Ehle'etinian refugees were forcibly evicted

or But:

course‘vthe statelof Israel has some responsibility in. this matter.

anytruthful reading of history'makes it clear

that:

the responsibility

is 'shared by the Arab States which .attacked' the State of Israel. in 1948 'and subsequently; which urged the Palestinians to flea and have‘ done

next to nothing

to rehabilitate chem ai-noe.

and less directly also by

the British Gavernment and the United Nations;

of the probkem

must:

And therefore the solution

eventually be similarly shared;

‘

And the other feature of fanaticism 15 that it: deliberately inculcates hatred; I have in my- po‘aae'aaiq’p the English transcript of the. proceedings

- 5‘of the.Fou;tfi pap§e£2ncefiof.bhe.Acadqmy'6f-Isla¢ic Reeearch,'h¢1d'1n

Cairo in 1968.

agdfi811m

The.abu3e poured forth theré by leading Arab statesmen

university ppofessors,.not‘only-againat Zionism and-Israel..

but;_against Jews. and.

daism,

would be beyond belief it we didn't: have

our memories,Qf-Qg£ Stuermer.= Here is one quotation, typical 6: dozens. The Jewsg-qaid due of the eminent lecturers. "are avaricioue, ruthless;

hypocritical qnd‘vengefiu1;

,

-Theae traits govern their lives.H They never

change; nqr are they inclined to change;"

figFaleehofid and hatredi-these are the roots of mass violencesh and It ‘égg,;ahove all, these evila wh1cb must be tackled.

ForQunacely, there is

':;iéo:plenty of égziEZLyAin the world; A23 I hope we éhall usher remember much without also recalling the noble gesture of the members of the

west,German Earliament who offered to.take the place of the Israeli ;;'h;stagés in the Olymp1c_v111age. But the trouble is that the great U

~.

méjfiifity of men are’neithex villains nor heroes.. They-are,repxesented 4 by the thousands or campetétOrs and afieotators who. havingxattended the‘

:

Mefiorial Service with genuine=emotion. then‘went‘on with thelGemes as if:‘ qpfiping much had'happenedg and by the millions of people aggupfl the«world whkere sincerely.mobed by the-tragedy when they watched it op their'» televisibn screens but will soon have forgotten all about it; It is this silefit ‘majduzity which, needa' bo’be roused out of its slumber and galvanised ihto action.

_

must be made-to realise that civilisation really is ;n HKHEHRX peril and may dollapse 35:33 all men.o£ good will. having see; the danger signal; will now rally together to oppose falsehood It

'

with truth. irrationalism witm reason, extremisn with moderation, oppresaé ion with auétice. hatred with love, cruelty with compassion, and violence wish gentleness and peace. If that happénh; if these values of Judaism,

~.‘»5

which are also the Values

of,

';

' ,

Christianity. are now re-activateq, then

the :bime may _come when ,we shall be _able so say, even Munich:- ggrggg 19tovah - .even that .

.ratzon.

~

‘

cm

4k:

brought forth

01?

the‘nightmare‘ of

goocj.

’

Ken zehi ¢