The Paris memorial ceremony for the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics terror attack will be held in a secret location, allegedly due to security concerns.
The service – which had been set to take place at the Paris City Hall during the Olympics this year – was cancelled. According to news outlet Israel Hayom, this was due to concerns that the ceremony would be targeted by extremists. A smaller service is now set to be held at a non-disclosed location with fewer attendees.
The Israel Olympic Committee denied the change was made over security concerns. “Due to the delegation’s tight schedule, it was decided to hold the ceremony, in coordination with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, in its full format on August 6 in another location,” they said. “Claims that the ceremony is underground or that it was moved due to any specific security alerts, or that canceling it was considered are fundamentally false claims”.
Victims of the 1972 attack were honoured for the first time at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, after extensive campaigning from the victims’ families. The massacre saw 11 Israeli coaches and athletes killed by Palestinian militant organisation Black September in the Munich Olympic village. In 2022, 50 years after the attack, German police acknowledged wrongdoing for the first time.
