Andrew Dismore

On 5^th September 1972, terrorists stormed the apartment of the Israeli athletes and coaches with assault rifles and grenades.

Two of the sportsmen were killed, the remainder were taken hostage. Following a botched rescue attempt, the terrorists executed their hostages. In total 11 athletes and coaches were murdered.

This was the first occasion on whichIsraelhad participated in the Olympics since the Holocaust.

One legacy of those events is the very different approach we now see to security at the Games, including the immense effort here inLondonto keep all safe, competitors, officials and spectators alike.

But commemoration of the memory of the victims  of the  1972 Games has never taken place during the Games themselves.

London represents both the  40^th anniversary and 10^th Olympiad since then. It is fitting that just 1 minute’s silence in 2  weeks of sporting excellence should be held to mark the memory of the only occasion on which Olympic competitors were murdered during the Games.

But the IOC have refused.

They say there will be an event away from the Olympic Park. That is welcome, but it is not organised by the IOC.

This response is  not good enough.

They say a minute’s silence would be a political gesture- but the political gesture is the refusal, not the request.

An on line petition has been started by Ankie Spitzer, the widow of Andre Spitzer, the fencing coach who died. She says:

“All we ask is one minute”

Tens of thousands have signed it.

In 2004, an IOC official told the BBC there would be no permanent  memorial because they “must consider what this could do to other members of the delegations that are hostile toIsrael”

In other words, if the victims had been any other nationality, there would not be a problem.

As Mrs Spitzer said

“ this rejection told us as Israelis that this tragedy is yours alone and not a tragedy within the family of nations”.

But the request is  not aboutIsrael. It is about the Olympics themselves, Olympic competitors and the now rather tarnished Olympic ideal. The nationality of the dead competitors is not the issue. Their status was that of Olympians, pure and simple.

Of course, world politics, including theMiddle Easthas moved on since then, some steps forward, more back. But that is  not, or should not,  be the reason for this rejection.

What we are seeing, as is all too common in World sport, is the interest of big business coming before the sport itself.

The IOC are an unaccountable, faceless, partisan global big business superpower, of questionable integrity, who repeatedly ride roughshod over their hosts.

The Olympics are guests ofLondon, not the other way round. Sometimes the IOC forget that, with their jealously guarded franchise of their 5 ring circus.

For once the IOC ought to respect the wishes of their hosts, for which there is wide and cross party support,  and allow the proposed minute’s silence.

And London’s mayor, our Mayor in this context, must not give in to the pusillanimous IOC and must again press the case with all his customary vigour, to get the IOC to reconsider, allowing one minute of reflection in the fortnight of spectacular sporting achievement we and the rest of the world will all shortly enjoy.