I Surrender…

I try not to be defeatist; not to give up hope. I try to believe that it will all be okay. I really do. I do believe I have faith and I do trust God. And having said all of that, I hate to introduce a “but” in there…but…

I surrender. I just give up. I’ve been reading about the Munich massacre in 1972. Only weeks before it happened, I had come to the conclusion, at 12 years old (the age my youngest daughter is now) that I wanted to live in Israel. I watched the Israelis march into the stadium with the Israeli flag and my heart soared – that was my flag! I was proud of the American flag; I really was, but my heart was already Israeli.

And then the report of an infiltration in the Olympic village. The Israelis. The hostage situation and the bungled rescue. A report that the Israelis were safe…and such relief…and then utter and complete shock that not one had survived…not one of the hostages. It would be only later we would learn of the incredible, criminal incompetence of the German police and “rescue” squad.

For weeks now, I’ve been posting and writing about the International Olympic Committee’s pathetic, disgusting and disturbing decision not to grant one moment, sixty seconds, of silence in memory of the Israeli athletes murdered in Munich – not once…in forty years. And today, I read an article about the heightened security concerns. Days after Israelis were attacked in Bulgaria, I surrender.

In London, Israel’s Olympic team of 38 athletes is training under tight security at the Olympic village, and British forces have even placed surface-to-air missiles at six locations.

 –Reports Israel National News

More than 17,000 troops and 7000 private security guards will protect the London Olympic Park and 26 other venues, with a further 12,500 police patrolling city streets in a series of “rings of steel”.

— The Australian
Tight security; 24,000 guards and an additional 12,500 police. Is it worth it? If this is what we need to have these games, does it truly represent the great gathering of all nations? Where is the peace and brotherhood that should be symbolized? I surrender – it just isn’t worth the risk. I don’t want the Israelis to go to London. I don’t want to spend my time checking the news to make sure they haven’t been attacked. 
I don’t want to trust those guards, those police and those missiles. I don’t ever want to feel what I did back when I was 12 years old watching as the world moved on and continued their games while I watched them loading coffins on planes that flew home to Israel. I couldn’t bring myself to watch them play while we cried.
Let them play – let them play among their missiles; praying they can finish before they are attacked. Let them watch the skies for missiles, the buildings for snipers, the roads for explosives. I know the Israeli team will go; I know they will play. I know others will hope they bring home some gold, some silver, some bronze. 
I just want them to come home safe so that we never have to beg the International Olympic Committee’s cold-hearted members for sixty seconds to remember them. Go in peace, I’ll pray to each one…and most important, come home in peace.

4 Comments

  1. I agree with you!

    Jews should not have to beg the world for favors. To have their dead being considered worthy of being shown respect.

    What kind of Olympics are they incidentally, where Iran and the Arabs can withdraw from any event in which Israeli athletes compete so they are not contaminated by the presence of Jews, whom they consider repellent?

    And whom the IOC which refuses to grant a moment of official silence of behalf of the slain Israeli athletes of the 1972 Games – won’t ever sanction for their anti-Semitism, raw bigotry and unsportsmanlike behavior? We know when it comes to the Jews, they will never be treated fairly or decently by the nations of the world.

    And why do Jews – Israelis – feel the need to associate with those who hate them and want to see them dead? We can see with our own eyes all the talk of the international Olympic movement about its vaunted ideals of good sportsmanship, fair play and universal brotherhood is empty talk – Jews simply don’t count in the human family.

    If it it was to me, Israel’s Olympic team wouldn’t be going at all this year to London.

  2. I will NOT watch, or contribute to the Olympic Games.

    In fact I am boycotting the athletes, teams and sponsors of this farce.

    Athletes are so doped up that their “records” mean nothing. Those who once were amateurs, are now professionals. Doing no job but “preparing” for their big day. And are considered losers if they do not win gold.

    For the next 2 weeks I’m going to read a few good books, lie on the beach and enjoy life.

    The Olympics can die out for all I care.

  3. I am grieved that so much security is necessary but I rejoice that our athletes will be there and I’m going to watch as much as I can, right here, from Jerusalem! I like to think that I’m a realist which means that I will look forward, that I will cry when terrible things happen and I will thrill to our successes. What else can we do? I love Israel and it is always a source of enormous pride and joy for me when I see our flag hoisted among others, for everyone to see. We are here! We are participating, we are a country, living and breathing and part of the world and no one will stop us!

  4. I agree with Robyne! The Olympics is about cheering on our young people who with tremendous skills and hard work and ambition and the competitive spirit have achieved something spectacular. It’s about hope and pride and community. People who insist on using the Olympics and these young athletes and this joyful occasion to settle scores or have their grievances heard or to punish other countries for their political views or any other negative reason need to do some serious soul-searching and get over yourselves (or do us all a favor and take an antidepressant). Stand up and cheer, cheer for everybody. Make yourselves and all those around you feel good for a change. We don’t want to wallow in your defeatism!

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