How the Munich Olympics Proved the Hollowness of Post-World War II Internationalism
The UN became a dictators’ debating club, sports became politicized, and anti-Semitism got a pass in both.
September 6, 2022
How the Munich Olympics Proved the Hollowness of Post-World War II Internationalism
The UN became a dictators’ debating club, sports became politicized, and anti-Semitism got a pass in both.
During the 1960s and 70s, writes Gil Troy, both the United Nations and the Olympics represented a hopefulness about a future very different from the bloody first half of the 20th century. The former provided a forum where nations could come together to work through their differences over a negotiating table; the latter an opportunity for people all over the world to channel rivalries through sport rather than armed conflict. For Troy, and others, that image was shattered at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where, 50 years ago this week, Palestinian terrorists murdered eleven Israeli athletes and a German policeman:
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