Role in The Munich Massacre
In July 1972, Al-Gashey was one of several young Black September members 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 4 September, 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. Nearly eight 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 subsequently released by the West German government. 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. ) and Mohammed Safady. When asked directly if he had killed any of the Israelis, Adnan Al-Gashey simply replied, "It's not important for me to say if I killed Israelim (sic) or not."
Read more about this topic: Jamal Al-Gashey
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