Lecture 17: Munich 2

The German launch assault plan failed to rescue the hostages. The assault team
was pathetic. Following WW2, there was immense de-nazification which basically
meant, even if people still had nazi ideas, they should have no way of
accomplishing it. The German military too was completely silenced. The assault
team was wearing orange jumpsuits, hoping to be mistaken for fans.

The german police commissioner was under tremendous pressure from the
world, and from Israel to send Mossad agents. Even he wants to let Israel help if
they felt they had somebody who could take over the situation however, a
decision to not let Mossad agents enter was made at a much higher level. The
primary reason for the same was the US did not want this kind of a crisis to be
resolved by the Israelis because that would be a huge PR disaster and a pitiable
situation for Germany to call the Jews for help.

The main demand of the terrorists was to have the Palestenian prisoners sent
back from Israel. The terrorists are told that Israel is compromising, you have to
wait. They get apprehensive and start feeling these are just delay tactics. They
also understand that this may not be entirely true because after all Germany did
send out an assault team, however pathetic it may have been, it was still an
attack. If Israel had agreed, why send an assault team at all?

By 5 O clock, the terrorists Leader, Isa just says that there is some
communication gap and demands a plane out of Munich to Egypt. Egyptians
have been enemies of Israel, and there is no clear understanding as to why they
want a place to Egypt. Isa says, we will check for ourselves whether Israel is
serious. Why would Egypt allow this?

The police commissioner agrees and he has a plan. There will be a special
helicopter outside the Olympic field, which the terrorists and hostages would
board. The seating capacity is 20. There are 9 hostages and 1 pilot. They assume
there are 5 terrorists. By this experiment they hope to understand how many
terrorists are there for sure. This helicopter is to take them to another military
airbase, north of Munich called Felbrook from where a Boeing was going to take
them to Egypt.

The Helicopter is expected to land at Olympic village at 6 p.m. where they can
confirm how many terrorists are there. This would land at the military air base
just at sunset. On the watch tower of the air base would be two snipers, along
with many more hidden behind vehicles across the runway. The helicopter would
launch in a way // to the watch tower, and not facing it.

Isa says that when they land at the airbase, they will check the next aircraft
properly to see whether it is as per what they wanted and no kind of trap. Here
too, there is a plan. Though there will be no armed guards, the pilot, co-pilot and
person who is to escort them to their seats shall be armed because they are
actually a part of the German police force. These people were supposed to shoot
them. Then, the pilot and co pilot would flee the plain, and in the darkness the
other terrorists would feel they are Isa and another one of them. However, as
soon as they realize this isnt no, they will come out to check and that is when
the other snipers would start shooting.

This depended on several variables. The time of the landing for one. The dark
would create vision problems. The hostages could be shot instead. Everything
depends on the plan materializing exactly as envisioned.

The helicopter lands in Olympic village, and the police commissioner makes a
very big mistake of not banning the media. The area is FLOODED. In fact the
media was told from where to where the helicopter is headed. Hence, media is
also waiting outside the airbase.

VIDEO

The helicopter lands on the airbase at 10:30. Isa delayed the helicopter till well
past dusk because everything was seeming too good to be true.

VIDEO

The mission is apparently a huge success. And the news spreads the world
saying that everybody is safe. An armpured vehicle is seen entering the
compound, and it is considered to be a formality. However, soon, a bomb blows
up with a huge mushroom cloud. The german police had not anticipated the
presence of 7 militants. The last two militants had been inside the helicopter with
the hostages. When they understood that all bets were off, they simply removed
hand grenades and blew the helicopter up, and nothing alive inside that could
have even remotely survived.

People were blown to bits, even body parts were not recovered. This was very
problematic because news had gone around the whole world that the athletes
were alive. 3 hours later, the Munich triumph became the Munich disaster. The
disaster happened because of

a. The timeline of the plan the visibility during the landing was very low.
b. The people inside the plane which was supposed to be ready for Isa was
supposed to have 3 german police officers the 3 german policemen,
leave the plane and escape due to the fear of being killed in bomb
detonation.

When isa reaches this empty plane, he realizes that it is a trap. The policemen
entrusted with killing Isa had fled. The sniper from outside sneezed while
pressing the trigger, hence missed Isa. It isnt their fault, because this was the
same team who had climbed on the Olympic village in orange jumpsuits. These
were the best people Germany had.

The Israeli PM got immense flak saying why you didnt let those Palestinian
prisoners go, because now these people are lashing back and civilians are being
hurt. Israel in the aftermath comes up with the most ruthless campaign of the
post war period. This was called The Wrath Of War wherein every Palestinian who
had been a part of black September was caught. These people were killed across
Europe, even though they had powerful wealthy contacts in Europe. Each
person is assassinated with 11 bullets in the chest 1 bullet for each athlete
killed. This broke all international law. The only conclusive evidence to suggest
that Mossad was doing this was the commonality in the killings i.e. all those
killed were Palestinians related to black September with 11 bullets. Israel denied
all blame.

There was one man the head of black September who survived till 1975. He
was known to be behind the Munich Massacre Salameh. He lived in Lebanon
and was married to Ms. Lebanon. He was the darling of the masses, a celebrated
figure and he knew that the Mossad was coming for him. CIA did not want to see
him dead. USA still wanted to be part of the conflict and knew that Salameh
dying would mean an end of the conflict. Salameh had resigned to his fate and
said it was just a matter of time till they get him, such was the terror of the wrath
of god. The Mossad agent who finally killed him spoke to the spiral of violence
which barely solves problems in the long run. But, this had to be done for the
Israelis demanding justice for what happened in Munich.

VIDEO

TOPIC CHANGE.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Entebbe - Please read the brief for a

better insight.

In 1976, 4 years after Munich, the Palestinian Militants went to Uganda which as
of now was under the control of Idi Yamin. He was the dictator of Uganda. He had
challenged the British embassy officials to leave, unless they recognized Uganda
as part of the British empire. Britain denied the same. He took these officials to
his palace and his bedroom, and showed them half eaten humans in his fridge.
He used to kill people and then devour them.

When the plane full of people landed, Idi Amin met all of them. All of them were
not Palestinian or terrorists, there was also a German couple. They were Neo-
Nazis. He brings them down on their knees. He asks them to address him as
dada. He then does a small jig. He shoots one of his own guys as an example
in the head. Israel refuses to give into his demands. Mossad is mobilized, and the
only way to get into Uganda is by air. Idi Amin has already told Israel that all of
the Uganda army will make sure they do not reach here. All the hostages were
inside the terminal. There are also anti-aircraft guns all over.

Israel tried approaching him diplomatically, and in the meanwhile, a Mossad

team is mobilized from Israel to fly in 3 planes to Uganda and carry out
lightening raids. Kenya agrees to offer them re-fuelling. The decision of whether
or whether not to allow this is being debated in the parliament. The planes are
sent off during this debate (// work) and are told that one hour before reaching
you get in touch with home base, and then you will be told whether you are to
carry on or come back.
They reach Uganda, and the Mossad agents know the entire blueprint of the
airport as if they had built it, because actually they had done so. Jewish
contractors had been sent to make large scale military construction sites in all
hostile neighbouring countries. Hence, Israel knows of vents and openings even
the Uganda people dont know of. They had everything covered. This mission is
lead by a man Yonatan Nthanyahu. This operation was called Opperation
Thunderbolt. It is one of the most critically acclaimed hostage rescue missions
ever.

VIDEO

For the help and refuelling that Kenya offered, Idi Amin and the army entered it
and killed 17,000 people there. They paid the price for this operation. The
mossad managed to not only rescue the hostages, but also to destroy the
fuelling capacity and some other areas in Uganda airport.

In 2006 Israel and Lebanon share a small boundary. The militant force in
Lebanon backed by Iran Hezbollah. It is now known as its a ground force
fighting ISIS but it has been problematic in the past. In 2006 - Israel told
Lebanon to restrain their militants. They used the cluster bomb a chain of small
bombs linked together. Generally what kills people when a bomb explodes are
shrapnel i.e. small sharp pieces which fly outwards. In the case of a cluster
bomb, the shock wave magnifies due to each shock wave overlapping with
another. These shock waves is what kill people, and if it touches your body it
almost instantly reduces matter to nothingness. Its much worse than even dying.
Nepam and cluster bombs have both been banned by the UN.

If a palestenian blows himself up in Israel, Israel goes and blows up their home,
to make the families pay for the sins committed thereby making them refugees.

The situation has completely reversed. Palestine barely exists any longer.

In todays time, for the first time in years, Israel doesnt have anything to worry
about. Syria and Iraq and busy fighting their own battles. Israeli hospitals
actually treat the fighters fighting the war, so that the war continues, and ISIS
continue fighting this battle. An Israeli general revently said that is wasnt in
their best interest for ISIS to lose. Iran is fighting ISIS, Iran doesnt exist any
more this entire paradigm of things happening is helping Israel.