Luttif Afif
Encyclopedia
Luttif Afif possible true name Mohammad Massalha, alias Issa (Jesus in Arabic), was the commander of the group of Palestinian terrorists who invaded the Munich
Olympic Village on September 5, 1972 and took as hostage nine members of Israel
's Olympic team after killing two members who resisted. He was the chief negotiator for the Palestinians, who were members of the Black September
offshoot of Yassir Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization
. The various pictures of Afif, wearing a white beach hat and a linen safari suit and his face covered with charcoal or shoe polish, are some of the iconic images of the 1972 Munich Olympics.
According to several sources, including Serge Groussard and Simon Reeve, Afif claimed that his personal reason for taking the Israelis hostage was to get two of his brothers out of Israeli prisons (another brother was said to be in Black September). Afif told the German negotiators that he had been born in Nazareth, to a Christian businessman father and to a Jewish mother. Issa was described by Manfred Schreiber, chief of the Munich police and one of the German negotiators, as "clearly fanatical in his convictions".
After tense negotiations, the hostage crisis ended after 21 hours with a bungled ambush on the terrorists at Fürstenfeldbruck
airbase outside of Munich
. Afif and four of his compatriots were killed by German snipers, but not before machine-gunning all nine remaining hostages and blowing up a helicopter containing four of them. Afif is reported in most accounts of the event (and depicted in the films Munich
and 21 Hours at Munich) as the terrorist that threw a hand grenade into the eastern helicopter. Recently-revealed autopsy reports show that the hostages in this helicopter were shot as well; it stands to reason that Afif performed both actions. It has been speculated that one of the other terrorists, Adnan Al-Gashey, machine-gunned the remaining hostages in the western helicopter seconds after.
The bodies of Afif and his four compatriots were turned over to Libya
, where they received a hero's funeral and were buried with full military honors.
In Serge Groussard's The Blood of Israel, Issa was misidentified as Mohammed Safady, one of the Munich gunmen who actually survived the Fürstenfeldbruck gunfight.
Issa has been portrayed by Franco Nero
in the 1976 TV movie 21 Hours at Munich, and by French actor Karim Saleh in Steven Spielberg
's film Munich
(2005).
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
Olympic Village on September 5, 1972 and took as hostage nine members of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's Olympic team after killing two members who resisted. He was the chief negotiator for the Palestinians, who were members of the Black September
Black September (group)
The Black September Organization was a Palestinian paramilitary group, founded in 1970. It was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of eleven Israeli athletes and officials, and fatal shooting of a West German policeman, during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, their most publicized event...
offshoot of Yassir Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
. The various pictures of Afif, wearing a white beach hat and a linen safari suit and his face covered with charcoal or shoe polish, are some of the iconic images of the 1972 Munich Olympics.
According to several sources, including Serge Groussard and Simon Reeve, Afif claimed that his personal reason for taking the Israelis hostage was to get two of his brothers out of Israeli prisons (another brother was said to be in Black September). Afif told the German negotiators that he had been born in Nazareth, to a Christian businessman father and to a Jewish mother. Issa was described by Manfred Schreiber, chief of the Munich police and one of the German negotiators, as "clearly fanatical in his convictions".
After tense negotiations, the hostage crisis ended after 21 hours with a bungled ambush on the terrorists at Fürstenfeldbruck
Fürstenfeldbruck
Fürstenfeldbruck is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it has a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s, Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base....
airbase outside of Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. Afif and four of his compatriots were killed by German snipers, but not before machine-gunning all nine remaining hostages and blowing up a helicopter containing four of them. Afif is reported in most accounts of the event (and depicted in the films Munich
Munich (film)
Munich is a 2005 historical fiction film about the Israeli government's secret retaliation attacks after the massacre of Israeli athletes by the Black September terrorist group during the 1972 Summer Olympics. The film stars Eric Bana and was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg...
and 21 Hours at Munich) as the terrorist that threw a hand grenade into the eastern helicopter. Recently-revealed autopsy reports show that the hostages in this helicopter were shot as well; it stands to reason that Afif performed both actions. It has been speculated that one of the other terrorists, Adnan Al-Gashey, machine-gunned the remaining hostages in the western helicopter seconds after.
The bodies of Afif and his four compatriots were turned over to Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, where they received a hero's funeral and were buried with full military honors.
In Serge Groussard's The Blood of Israel, Issa was misidentified as Mohammed Safady, one of the Munich gunmen who actually survived the Fürstenfeldbruck gunfight.
Issa has been portrayed by Franco Nero
Franco Nero
Franco Nero is an Italian actor.-Early life:Nero was born Francesco Sparanero in San Prospero Parmense , the son of a sergeant in the...
in the 1976 TV movie 21 Hours at Munich, and by French actor Karim Saleh in Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's film Munich
Munich (film)
Munich is a 2005 historical fiction film about the Israeli government's secret retaliation attacks after the massacre of Israeli athletes by the Black September terrorist group during the 1972 Summer Olympics. The film stars Eric Bana and was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg...
(2005).
See also
- Black SeptemberBlack September (group)The Black September Organization was a Palestinian paramilitary group, founded in 1970. It was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of eleven Israeli athletes and officials, and fatal shooting of a West German policeman, during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, their most publicized event...
- Munich massacreMunich massacreThe Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
- Palestine Liberation OrganizationPalestine Liberation OrganizationThe Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
Sources and further reading
- Groussard, S. (New York, 1975), The Blood of Israel: the massacre of the Israeli athletes, the Olympics, 1972 ISBN 0-688-02910-8
- Klein, A. J. (New York, 2005), Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response, Random House ISBN 1-920769-80-3
- Reeve, Simon. (New York, 2001), One Day in September: the full story of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre and Israeli revenge operation "Wrath of God" ISBN 1-55970-547-7