Jamal Al-Gashey

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Jamal Al-Gashey (Arabic: جمال الجاشي) (born 1953?) was a member of the Black September offshoot of the Palestine Liberation Organization and is believed to be the last surviving hostage-taker from the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. He is visible several times in videos of the event, identifiable by his blue and white striped jacket. During the abortive rescue attempt by Bavarian border guards and Munich police which resulted in the deaths of nine hostages and five of the hostage takers, Al-Gashey was shot in the wrist.

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[edit] Youth

In interviews, Al-Gashey has said that he was brought up in conditions of great poverty, mostly in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon. His family was displaced in the 1948 war between the Arabs and Israel, but always harbored a desire to return. Al-Gashey claimed that what he viewed as the unfairness of his having to live in squalor and rely on handouts while the "intruders" were living on his land fostered his hatred for Israel. This led to his joining the PLO in 1967. He said that during his initial training he felt, for the first time, "truly Palestinian . . . not just a wretched refugee, but a revolutionary fighting for a cause."[1]

[edit] Role in the Munich massacre

In July 1972, Al-Gashey was one of several young men recruited for what he referred to as "special training," without having any idea what their target might be. He flew to Munich at the end of August 1972, staying in a hotel and even attending a couple of Olympic events. On the night of September 4, Al-Gashey met for dinner with the other members of the strike team, along with a senior Black September operative (believed to be Abu Daoud), who briefed them on their upcoming mission and drove with them in taxis to the Olympic Village. Al-Gashey claims that until that dinner meeting, he had no clue that the team's target was to be the Israeli Olympians.

Although charged with multiple crimes related to the massacre, Al-Gashey and his surviving compatriots never stood trial. Seven and one-half weeks after the massacre, a Lufthansa jet was hijacked by Black September, who demanded the release of the three Munich survivors. The jailed fedayeen were quickly released by the West German government (It has been subsequently claimed by ranking West German officials that the whole hijacking episode was a sham, concocted by the West Germans and Black September so that the Germans could be rid of the three Munich perpetrators. The Germans were likely fearful that their mishandling of the rescue attempt would be exposed to the world if the three Fürstenfeldbruck survivors had ever stood trial.[citation needed]) When they landed in Libya, the three surviving hostage takers were interviewed. Footage of this press conference is shown in the film One Day in September and Jamal Al-Gashey is seen seated in the middle of the three, between his cousin Adnan (who was believed to be the hostage-taker who shot and killed five of the hostages tied up in one of the helicopters.[2] ) and Mohammed Safady. When asked directly if he had killed any of the Israelis, Adnan Al-Gashey rather flippantly replied, "It's not important for me to say if I killed Israelim [sic] or not."[3]

[edit] Post-massacre life

In 1999, Al-Gashey emerged from his believed hiding place in Africa to give a more in-depth interview in the film One Day in September. Since Al-Gashey believed that Israeli agents were still trying to kill him, he was disguised and his face shown only in blurry shadow as a precaution. Director Kevin Macdonald noted Al-Gashey's edgy, almost paranoid behavior throughout the interview, but was able to convince him that the film he was working on would only be truly authentic if Al-Gashey gave his side of the story. Except for an interview Al-Gashey had given in 1992 to a Palestinian journalist, this was the first time since 1972 that any of the participants in the Munich massacre spoke publicly about the incident. During the 1999 interview, he explained,

"I'm proud of what I did at Munich because it helped the Palestinian cause enormously . . . before Munich, the world had no idea about our struggle, but on that day, the name of Palestine was repeated all around the world."[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Personal interview, in One Day in September. 1999.
  2. ^ When the Terror Began (2002). TIME. Last accessed 7 June 2008.
  3. ^ Press conference, as shown in One Day in September. 1999.
  4. ^ Personal interview, in One Day in September. 1999.
  • Klein, Aaron J. (2006). Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response. Melbourne. ISBN 1-920769-80-3.
  • Reeve, S. (2001). One Day in September: The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre and Israeli Revenge Operation 'Wrath of God'. New York. ISBN 1-55970-547-7.
  • The Munich massacre (2000). BBC News. Last accessed 7 June 2008.
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