'I don't forgive,' Israeli ex-Olympian tells Youngstown audience

YOUNGSTOWN

Despite the passage of nearly 40 years since eight Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, the memories of that day remain raw for Yehuda Weinstain.

Weinstain, 57, of Reut, Israel, is a former Israeli fencer who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He and five team members also were staying in an apartment on Sept. 5, 1972, when several members of a terrorist group called Black September jumped a fence encircling the Olympic Village and took hostages in two neighboring apartments.

He later became a fighter pilot in the Israeli military and is now a pilot for Arkia Airlines. Security at the Games was lax, he recalled in a talk tonight at the Jewish Community Center on the city's North Side..

Last month, he visited the area where he stayed during the Olympics and reflected on his experiences during an interview on the History Channel.

“I cannot forget the past. … For me, Germany is responsible for what happened in Munich,” he said Tuesday. “I don’t forget and I don’t forgive.”

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