Ankie Spitzer launches online petition in support of initiative asking for minute’s silence during opening ceremony in London.
By GIL STERN STERN SHEFLERANDRE SPITZER 370(photo credit: MunichII.org)
The campaign to hold a minute of silence at the London Olympics for the victims of the 1972 Munich massacre is gathering steam.Last week, the movement received the endorsement of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, and now the widow of one of the Israelis killed in the attack has launched an online petition in support of the initiative.Ankie Spitzer, the widow of fencing coach Andre Spitzer, who was killed by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics, asked the public to sign the petition calling for a minute’s silence to be held during the opening ceremony in London later this month.“I have no political or religious agenda,” she wrote on the online petition. “Just the hope that my husband and the other men who went to the Olympics in peace, friendship and sportsmanship are given what they deserve. One minute of silence will clearly say to the world that what happened in 1972 can never happen again. Please do not let history repeat itself.”So far the International Olympic Committee has rejected repeated calls for a memorial service, saying the venue was wrong. It said it would hold a memorial to the 11 murdered Israeli sportsmen at a separate event.
