Posted on 12/28/2005 5:02:24 AM PST by Leisler
GAZA (Reuters) - The Palestinian mastermind of the Munich Olympics attack in which 11 Israeli athletes died said on Tuesday he had no regrets and that Steven Spielberg's new film about the incident would not deliver reconciliation.
The Hollywood director has called "Munich," which dramatises the 1972 raid and Israel's reprisals against members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), his "prayer for peace."
Mohammed Daoud planned the Munich attack on behalf of PLO splinter group Black September, but did not take part and does not feature in the film.
He voiced outrage at not being consulted for the thriller and accused Spielberg of pandering to the Jewish state.
"If he really wanted to make it a prayer for peace he should have listened to both sides of the story and reflected reality, rather than serving the Zionist side alone," Daoud told Reuters by telephone from the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Daoud said he had not seen the film, which will only reach most screens outside the United States next month.
But he noted that Spielberg arranged previews in Israel, where some have accused "Munich" of lacking historical accuracy.
Several Israeli historians have also complained about what they see as a moral symmetry in the film between slain Olympians and the Palestinians assassinated by the Mossad spy service.
"Spielberg showed the movie to widows of the Israeli victims, but he neglected the families of Palestinian victims," said Daoud. "How many Palestinian civilians were killed before and after Munich?"
MOSSAD ASSASSINS
The Munich attack was "one of the pivotal moments of modern terrorism," the Los Angeles Times said last week.
Daoud used different terms.
"We did not target Israeli civilians," he said.
"Some of them (the athletes) had taken part in wars and killed many Palestinians. Whether a pianist or an athlete, any Israeli is a soldier."
Spielberg's producer, Kathleen Kennedy, told a preview audience at Princeton University that a Palestinian consultant was used for "Munich." She did not say who it was.
"I do feel that we spent an enormous amount of time in discussion and put effort into exploring a fair and balanced look at the Palestinians that were involved in the story," she said, according to an official transcript of the event.
Historians noted that "Munich" presents Mossad assassins as having hunted 11 members of the PLO, while other accounts put the final Palestinian toll at as many as 18.
Daoud survived a 1981 shooting in Poland that he blamed on a Mossad mole in the rival Palestinian faction of Abu Nidal.
Though Israel allowed him to visit the occupied West Bank after 1993 peace accords, and Mossad veterans say the reprisals are over, Daoud said he feels he could still be targeted.
"When I chose a long time ago to be a revolutionary fighter I prepared to be a martyr. I am not afraid, because people's souls are in God's hands, not Israel's," he said.
PLO lackey: NO!
Whatever is the case with "Munich" and Spielberg, you can always rely on "Reuters" to vet the terrorist side of the story.
After all, the Israelis were participating in the historical Euro-centric events of shot put, long jump, and the hundred meter dash. The Palis were just participating in their own native-born events of merciless execution and throat slashing of innocents.
Just because the Palis have different athletic contests is no reason to condemn them...
NOTE TO SPIELBERG: No matter how much you pander to the Palis, it will never be enough. They will take all that you give and then spit in your face. Remember this next time you are tempted to offer a sympathetic portrayal of terrorists.
The mastermind of the Munich massacre is being given safe harbor in Syria.
Sounds like the next stop in the war on terror.
In a Spielberg film??
Please, say it ain't so.
---------------------------
There goes Spielberg's dream of walking down the streets of Palestine and mingling with the natives.
Boycott Hollyweird--boycott Spewberg.
There are books that are historically accurate re the Mossad post Munich.
Striking Back : The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response by Aaron J. Klein
The Quest for the Red Prince: Israel's Relentless Manhunt for One of the World's Deadliest and Most Wanted Arab Terrorists by Michael Bar Bar-Zohar
One Day in September: The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli Revenge Operation "Wrath of God" by Simon Reeve
Support Amazon.com--boycott leftist Hollyweird.
The Terrorists would never do that!
Have you seen the movie? I heard this comment and went to see the movie and it certainly doesn't look sympathetic to the terrorists to me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.