Against the backdrop of the 50th anniversary of the September 5, 1972 Munich massacre, which was perpetrated by Fatah's Black September organization and in which 11 Israeli Olympic athletes were murdered, and the 21st anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Lebanese journalist Samir 'Atallah wrote in his column in the Saudi Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily that these were two events that shocked the world and did nothing to promote the Palestinian cause. He condemned Arab terror organizations that in the past joined forces with international terrorist groups whom he called "murderous lunatics," and added that Arab violence and its leaders – such as Bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri, George Habbash and Yasser Arafat – not only failed to promote the Palestinian cause but only impeded it and tarnished the reputation of the Arabs and Palestinians.
Samir 'Atallah (Source: Elaph.com)
The following are excerpts from his column: [1]
"Had the Arab world been in a normal condition, its leaders would now have convened to study the ramifications of the 1972 Munich massacre, on the 50th anniversary of this event, and [the ramifications] of the September 2001 attacks in New York, on the 21th anniversary of that event. These were two events that shocked the planet, sowed fear in people's hearts and sparked an unforgettable storm [of debate] over the Palestinian issue. Both these events exposed remarkable cooperation between Arab revolutionary groups and international underground movements from Japan, Italy and Germany. Both events dominated the screens and newspapers throughout the world. The name of the Venezuelan [terrorist] Carlos [who was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine][2] and the term 'Black September' became as scary as the medieval 'black hand'. [And all this] for what? For nothing! Just in order to associate the sacred [Palestinian] cause with murderous lunatics like the Red Brigades,[3] the Baadr-Meinhof [Gang][4] and violent Japanese teenagers. Osama Bin Laden rejoiced at the [financial] losses he caused New York, which do not amount to the losses of one [bad] day in the stock markets. Then he was killed in a movie-like scene, while Carlos ended up in a Paris prison with the blessing of [former Sudanese president] 'Omar Al-Bashir [who extradited him to France]. Later Al-Zawahiri was murdered on his balcony in Afghanistan, after one of his comrades informed on him, as usual.
"[And all this] for what? What did the era of Arab violence achieve? What did September 11 achieve? What did the man named Edward Said ever achieve in the U.S.? What did George Habbas and Yasser Arafat ever achieve in this long campaign [of violence]? By how much did the Munich massacre delay the [resolution] of the Palestinian problem, and what was its effect on the reputation of the Palestinians, who had just emerged from [the period of] the [Black September] clashes in Amman, which also yielded nothing but catastrophes and tragedies?
"September 5, [1972] and September 11, [2001] were days of horrible bloodshed. The attempt to avenge Jerusalem [by targeting] the Munich Olympics and the World Trade Center in New York was a predictable failure, and [these attacks] had no more impact than movies. They were just like the wars waged by the Arabs among themselves on the pretext of fighting Israel. This is an ongoing tragedy of a national adolescence in an existential struggle. There is always Hamas, who takes part of Palestine hostage on the pretext of defending it, and there is always someone from Tehran, California or Siberia who wants to restore Jerusalem to us. And there is our failure on the domestic level. On its way to Jerusalem, Tehran is occupying four Arab capitals based on its own considerations, and [Hamas leader] Isma'il Haniya makes threats from the refugee camps in Lebanon. God help Abu Iyyad [one of the planners of the Munich massacre], who used to say that the road to Jerusalem passes through Junieh [a Christian town in Lebanon, north of Beirut]."
[1] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 15, 2022.
[2] Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, aka Carlos the Jackal, is a Venezuelan global terrorist who for decades was on the most-wanted lists of police and intelligence forces throughout the world. In 1970 he joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Jordan, and during the Black September events he fought with this movement against the Jordanian security forces. Subsequently he was involved in attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets, until in 1994 he was captured by Sudanese intelligence and extradited to France, where he is currently serving a life sentence.
[3] The Red Brigades was an Italian Marxist terror group founded in 1970, which is thought to be responsible for some 14,000 violent incidents in the 1970s and 1980s, including the assassination of Italian prime minister Aldo Moro. Today it has only several dozen members.
[4] The Red Army Faction, also known as the Baadr-Meinhof Gang, was a far-left German terror organization founded in 1970, which was active until 1998.
