NYC Officials Hold Moment Of Silence For The Munich 11
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It is being viewed as a dramatic slap in the face by the International Olympic Committee -- refusing to observe a moment of silence for the Israeli athletes massacred 40 years ago at the Munich games.
New Yorkers held their own memorial on Friday, CBS 2's Marcia Kramer reported.
Israel Consul General Ido Aharoni read the names of the 11 members of his nation's Olympic team massacred by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich games 40 years ago.
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A memorial candle was lit. Paul Zim chanted "El Malei," a Hebrew prayer for the dead and a moment of silence observed on the street across from the Israeli consulate.
It was a stinging rebuke to the IOC, which has refused to honor the dead Israeli athletes at this year's London Games.
"Shame on them. For the sake of the memory of 11 sons of Zion we cannot, we will not, quiet," said Michael Miller of the Jewish Community Relations Council.
"A moment of silence at the London Olympics would have been a declaration to the world that we reject terrorism, that we condemn those engage in it. The failure to do so screams to the world that we continue to tolerate that we are intimidated," said Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conferences of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations.
Others charge that the IOC was anti-Semitic, that it was giving in to Israel's enemies.
"They are so so afraid of the Arab nations walking out that they will do nothing to upset them," said Rabbi Joseph Potasnik of the New York Board of Rabbis.
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Also on hand was Avi Melamed, a surviving member of Israel's 1972 Olympic team.
"It is just a moment of silence we are asking for the commemorate of the first Olympic battlefield so it never happens again," Melamed said.
Leaders are calling on first lady Michelle Obama and Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney to observe their own one minute of silence when the attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympics on Friday night in Midtown.
IOC President Jacques Rogge has said only that a moment of silence wouldn't be appropriate.
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