Walt Rubel Commentary: Admonition from 1972 still rings true

My simplistic, child-like worldview was changed forever a few days after the horrific murders of 11 Israeli athletes by the Palestinian group Black September during the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Two of my great loves as a kid were sports and stories. And so, I especially loved stories about sports. One of my favorites was the one about warring kings in Ancient Greece who laid down their arms and called for a temporary truce during the Olympics. That truce assured safe passage for athletes traveling to and from the Games.
​

From that, I created a myth in which the Olympics were a bastion of athletic purity where all politics and hostilities were set aside and the only thing that mattered was speed, strength and skill.

I was 14 when all that was shattered in Munich. I followed the events hour by hour, and can still remember the rage and heartache I felt when Jim McKay announced, “They’re all gone.”

A few days later I had a tennis match with Pat Snyder, a neighbor across the street who was finishing up her medical degree. She was about 10 years older, and much wiser. The only place we were equals was on the tennis court.

I told her about the rage I was still feeling. She listened calmly and then replied, “Yes, it was horrible. But the Palestinian people need a homeland.”

I was dumbfounded. This was the most obvious case of good vs. evil and right vs. wrong that I had ever seen. I didn’t know or care about the Palestinians. They got my attention by cruelly damaging something I held dear.

In the 51 years since then we have landed exploration rovers on Mars, seen the breakup of the Soviet Union and developed computer technology to the point of surpassing human intelligence. Yet, the Palestinian people still need a homeland.

Pat’s words have been ringing in my ear ever since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,400 people. The brutality and depravity of that attack, which included the taking of hostages, makes it easy to paint the conflict as good vs. evil, right vs. wrong.

“Yes, it was horrible. But the Palestinian people need a homeland.”

In the days since Oct. 7, Israel has engaged in a punishing campaign of retribution, with a death toll that quickly dwarfed the 1,400 killed on Oct. 7 and has left entire cities in ruin. Food, water and power have been cut off to noncombatants - actions we deem as war crimes when they take place in Ukraine.

Much like we did in Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel has launched this war without an idea as to how it will end. They have made Gaza uninhabitable, and have prevented anyone from leaving. The plan seems to be to kill everyone with any association to Hamas, ignoring all the women and children who will also die, and hope that will solve the problem.

It won’t. The struggle will continue until the Palestinian people have a homeland. 


Walter Rubel can be reached at waltrubel@gmail,com

Listen to the audio version