FROM BEYOND THE ARC By: Police Chief Inspector Rico C Santotome Jr (OS), RN, MPM Munich Circa 1972 A little over two years before I was born, an ugly incident marred the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany when 11 members of the Israeli Olympic Team perished after a Palestinian terror group called Black September had them hostaged inside the Olympic Village. of all places! A German police officer was also killed during the succeeding failed rescue try in an airport while five of the eight hostage takers were likewise neutralized during the firefight that ensued between the suspects and the Munich police with the assistance of Bavarian authorities. The incident happened on September 5-6, 1972 in Munich after the eight Palestinian terrorists gained access inside the Olympic Village and into the Israeli athletes quarters where two of the eleven victims were killed in the initial attack. The other nine got killed the day after the hostage-taking incident. I was able to watch the movie Munich many times already and yesterday, the said drama film which was based on the events which transpired during the 1972 Summer Olympics in West Germany dubbed as the Munich Massacre was once again shown on HBO Channel over Sky Cable albeit it was already halfway finished when I arrived from my Sunday class in my Evidence subject under Judge Abraham Bayona at UNO-R. The drama film which was released many years ago was directed and produced by Steven Spielberg. It was based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team about Yuval Aviv who claims to be a Mossad agent. Mossad is the international intelligence agency of Israel. After numerous positive reviews and five Academy Awards nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Original Score, the movie Munich grossed over $130 million worldwide. Along with movies like Schindlers List, Enemy At The Gates and National Treasure, the said Spielberg film is one of my favorites. Munich starred Eric Bana as the Israeli Mossad agent who led the assassination plot against the 11 Palestinian terrorists implicated in the Munich massacre as well as future Bond .007 star Daniel Craig as one of the four Jewish volunteers from around the world who volunteered their services for the execution of the said operation dubbed as Operation Wrath of God. It was the Israeli governments secret retaliation in the aftermath of the Munich Massacre against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which was determined to have a hand in the death of the six Israeli coaches as well as the five Israeli athletes in Munich some 41 years ago. The former Soviet Union eventually won the overall title during the 1972 Summer Games by winning 50 gold medals followed by the United States with 33 golds, the former East Germany with 20 gold medals followed by neighboring West Germany and Japan with 13 golds apiece. By the way, my former UNO-R School of Law student and fellow Barristers Club officer (SY 2012-13) Suzi Anne Quinones would like to invite our Watchmen Daily Journal readers to the Zumba Fitness Party on Friday, March 21, over at the Hall of Justice Parking Area here in Bacolod City. Presented by the Court Legal Researchers Association of the Philippines (CLERAP), tickets for the said activity can be availed off from Suzi through mobile number 09328616781. Be stress-free, join the party! (For comments, you may forward them to my mobile number: 09192777888 or you may send your messages to my E-mail/Facebook account: ricosantotome@yahoo or follow me in my Twitter account: RicSantotomeJr)
Posted on: Sun, 02 Mar 2014 04:42:01 +0000
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