ABSTRACT
FORMING THE FIELD Munich-1972: the defi ning incident On September 5, 1972, 13 Arab terrorists invaded the Olympic compound that housed the Israeli Olympic athletes and took 11 hostages. The terrorists demanded the release of 200 Arab prisoners
held in Israel and free transportation to Egypt. Israeli diplomats contacted the terrorists and were advised that the threat of death to the hostages was real. Ten minutes later, the terrorists stated that if their demands were not met immediately, two athletes would be killed. If their transportation was not arranged, all of the athletes would be killed. Egypt’s President, Anwar Sadat, refused to become involved. Diplomats offered alternatives to the terrorists: free passage to the Far East, payment of money, or trade of hostages for other personnel. The terrorists interpreted this as an effort to stall in order to make plans to assault. They continued to insist on the release of all 200 Arab prisoners and transportation to Egypt. Police offi cers observed what they thought were two dead athletes and nine bound ones. The terrorists continued to threaten to kill two hostages if transportation was not arranged for them. Plans were made to move the terrorists and the hostages to the airport. During the move the terrorists demanded that they change from the bus to a helicopter and fl y into the airport. When they arrived at the airport, four terrorists took some of the hostages and moved toward a plane, leaving the remainder of the group in the helicopter. At 11:00 p.m ., police demanded that the terrorists drop their weapons and surrender. One terrorist immediately responded by throwing a hand grenade into the helicopter. Three of the terrorists tried to escape from the area: one was killed and two were captured. The terrorists remaining in the helicopter detonated another grenade. The incident ended at 11:15 p.m. with 11 Israeli athletes, one police offi cer, and 10 Arab terrorists dead ( Schreiber, 1973 ).
