The families of the Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich Games in 1972 are lobbying the International Olympic Commission to have a permanent memorial in the Olympics’ opening ceremony: Athens 2004 remembers Munich 1972. (Hat tip: deja vu.)

It’s utterly shameful that the IOC has never commemorated this atrocity. But it’s almost worse to read the attitude of the Israeli IOC official quoted in this BBC article:

Ankie Spitzer, widow of fencing coach Andre Spitzer, told a crowd of more than 200 at the Israeli ambassador’s residence: “More than 30 years have passed, but for, the families of the innocent victims, it seems like only yesterday.

”But why are we standing here, we should have this memorial in front of all the athletes.

“This is not an Israeli issue, this concerns the whole Olympic family.”

The IOC says that to introduce a specific reference to the victims of the Munich massacre could alienate other members of the Olympic community.

Alex Gilady, an Israeli IOC official, told BBC News Online: “We must consider what this could do to other members of the delegations that are hostile to Israel.”

Wouldn’t want to offend people who approve of the slaughter of Jews, would we?