BICOM

Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday the world must never forget the 1972 Munich massacre at an event marking the 40th anniversary of the killing of 11 Israeli athletes in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

The event at London’s Guildhall was held after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused an appeal by widows of the victims to hold a minute’s silence during the opening ceremony.

Cameron said the killings of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches and a West German police officer in the hostage taking was “one of the darkest days in the history of the Olympic Games.”

“As the world comes together in London to celebrate the Games and the values it represents, it is right that we should stop and remember the 11 Israeli athletes who so tragically lost their lives when those values came under attack in Munich 40 years ago today,” Cameron said.

“It was a truly shocking act of evil. A crime against the Jewish people. A crime against humanity. A crime the world must never forget,” the prime minister added.

The widows of two of the Israeli athletes attended the event, which was organised by the National Olympic Committee of Israel, the Jewish Committee for the London Games and the Israeli embassy in London.