Saturday, January 22, 2011

Israeli Olympic chiefs ready to help Palestinians, says committee
 
From Alexander Munch:

Representatives of Israel's Olympic committee are ready to help Palestinian athletes train for the London 2012 Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday.

The offer came during a "constructive and cooperative" first meeting of Israeli and Palestinian Olympic officials in the Swiss city of Lausanne hosted by IOC President Jacques Rogge, the Olympic body said in a statement.
The meeting at IOC headquarters was a first attempt to broker an agreement over obstacles Palestinian athletes and players say they face, hampering training and travel to compete in sports events.

"In the short run, priority will be given to assisting Palestinian athletes to move towards their dream of taking part in the Olympic Games in London next year," it added.

A second meeting will be held in two months time.

The Olympic chief's visit came two months after the head of the Palestinian Olympic Committee (POC) vowed "open war" against Israel, as the dispute escalated when Palestinian footballers were blocked at the Jordanian border.
"open war"  -  PLO Munich Massacre of 11 Israeli Athletes  ( 1972 )

2 comments:

christian soldier said...

I remember at the time - that there was no out-rage--and I was still a semi-lib at the time--and I was very angry---it was my first eye-full of muslims...
C-CS

Pastorius said...

I was nine when this happened. But, it was the first time I had ever been truly invested in something I was watching on TV other than cartoons.

One could say that this event probably helped shape my world view.