Why is the Mastermind of the Munich Massacre Roaming Free?

With all the attention focused on Steven Spielberg’s controversial new film about the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, barely a peep has been said about the mastermind of the carnage.

Until now.

Speaking to Germany’s Spiegel TV, Mohammad Oudeh (known also by his nom de guerre Abu Daoud), said he “regrets nothing” about the incident. 11 Israelis and one German police officer were killed after Oudeh and his fellow members of the Black September Palestinian terrorist group took Israeli Olympians hostage.

“You can only dream that I would apologize,” he said defiantly.

According to the German TV station, the interview with the 68-year old Oudeh, who lives openly in Damascus, Syria, was conducted in Cairo.

This means that not only is Oudeh being allowed to live out his days in peaceful retirement, but he also does not fear traveling abroad or visiting other countries on holiday.

This is nothing less than an outrage. German police issued a warrant for Oudeh’s arrest seven years ago, after he admitted in his autobiography that he was involved in the Munich attack.

Why, then, are the Egyptian authorities allowing him to visit Cairo undisturbed? And why isn’t the US government, which gives Egypt $2 billion in aid each year, or the Israeli government, which maintains relations with the Egyptians, insisting on Oudeh’s arrest?

Justice demands that Oudeh be made to pay for his crime. There is no statute of limitations when it comes to murder, and it is time for the aging Abu Daoud to at last see the inside of a prison cell for his gruesome offense.

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The Great Unmasking

The overwhelming Hamas victory in this week’s Palestinian elections is a political earthquake – the kind of seismic event whose aftershocks and repercussions will be felt throughout the region for a long time to come.

But the most immediate result – and the one least talked about by the mainstream media, of course – is that this turn of events constitutes the great unmasking, both of the Palestinians and of Israel’s left.

No longer can it be said that “the majority of Palestinians are interested in peace”, or that it is just “a small band of extremists” on the Palestinian side that stand in the way of regional reconciliation.

The Palestinian electorate has expressed itself loudly and unequivocally – they voted a movement into power whose political agenda amounts to mass murder. It was not a close race or a narrow election victory for Hamas – it was a sweeping and comprehensive triumph, one that was granted to the terrorists by the overwhelming majority of Palestinian voters.

The only possible conclusion one can draw from this is that most Palestinians want to see Israel destroyed, and most Palestinians want a political leadership that will actively advance that goal.

Needless to say, that is precisely what the Israeli Right has been saying all along for the past decade, warning against the creation of a Palestinian entity or its continued empowerment by Israeli retreats.

And that is also precisely what the Israeli Left has refused to believe in its delusory quest to appease our neighbors.

But now, the facts speak for themselves, and they are there for all to see. The withdrawal from Gaza has led directly to the creation of a “Hamastan” alongside Israel.

The only question now is whether this turn of events will at last wake up the Left and cause them to realize the folly of their ways.

If past experience is any indication – don’t count on it.

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What Olmert Didn't Say

In one of his first major policy addresses since becoming Acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert delivered a wide-ranging speech at the Herzliya Conference yesterday covering topics such as economic policy and the future of Israel’s relations with the Palestinians.

But the really interesting part of his remarks was not so much what he said – but what he didn’t say.

Toward the end of his speech, Olmert declared: “I believe in the people of Israel and in the State of Israel. I believe in the genuine will of the citizens of Israel to live in peace, security and tranquillity, and I believe in our ability to achieve this goal when we are united.”

When I heard this, I thought to myself: nice rhetoric. Uplifting, hopeful and even somewhat inspiring.

But then it immediately occurred to me - the leader of the Jewish state failed to mention the most important thing of all: what about the G-d of Israel? What about the Land of Israel? What about the Torah of Israel and the faith of Israel?

Does Olmert not believe in any of those too?

And that, my friends, is precisely the problem in Israel today. Most of our leaders are not men anchored in faith or guided by eternal principles of right and wrong. Instead, they put their trust in man and turn their backs on all that is sacred and revered by our people and our tradition.

As long as that is the case, I’m afraid, this country will only continue to stumble along. After all, we are here by Divine right, and we must not shy away from acknowledging this fact openly and proudly. We need to return to ourselves and to G-d, for unlike our politicians, He will surely not disappoint.

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