| “ | 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. | „ |
| ~ Jamal Al-Gashey in a 1999 interview. |
Jamal Al-Gashey (born 1953) was a Palestinian terrorist. He was the last survivor of the Black September strike team responsible for the Munich Massacre, during which eleven members of the Israeli team at the 1972 Munich Olympics were killed. Al-Gashey's whereabouts are unknown.
Biography edit
Al-Gashey grew up in the Sabra refugee camp in Lebanon. Blaming Israel for his family being displaced, Al-Gashey and his cousin Adnan joined the Palestine Liberation Organization to fight against Israeli occupation of Palestine.
In July 1972, Al-Gashey and his cousin were recruited for an eight-man strike team lead by Luttif Afif. He flew to Munich in August, and on 4 September he and the other members of the strike team met with senior Black September operative Abu Daoud, who was the architect of the massacre, and were briefed on their mission. They were to storm the site of the 1972 Olympics and take the Israeli team hostage.
On 5 September, Afif's team, including Jamal and Adnan Al-Gashey, stormed the Olympic village and took eleven hostages. Two of them, Moshe Weinberg and Yoseff Romano, attempted to fight back and were shot. The other nine were marched to Apartment 3, but weightlifting coach Tuvia Sokolsky had managed to escape the initial attack and raise the alarm. As a result, armed West German police arrived at Apartment 3 the next day. During the shootout, Al-Gashey was shot in the wrist attempting to aid another Black September member. The shootout ended in the deaths of all nine remaining hostages, who were killed by Afif and Adnan Al-Gashey. Five of the terrorists were also killed, but both Al-Gashey cousins and Mohammed Safady were captured alive.
Multiple charges were filed against the three surviving terrorists, but none of them ever stood trial; eight weeks later, they were released and allowed to escape to Libya at the demands of two Black September members who had hijacked Lufthansa Flight 615. Upon their arrival in Libya, the three terrorists were interviewed in a press conference. In the video Al-Gashey can be seen in the middle, seated between his cousin and Mohammed Safady.
Since the release of the terrorists, the Israeli government launched Operation Wrath of God to track down and assassinate those involved in the attack. Jamal Al-Gashey, Adnan Al-Gashey and Mohammed Safady were among the targets. Adnan Al-Gashey and Mohammed Safady were both allegedly found and killed by Mossad; however, Jamal Al-Gashey was never located. The last known record of him was in 1999, when he was located in North Africa by the makers of One Day in September, a documentary about the Munich Massacre. He was disguised and his face was censored because he believed that Mossad were still trying to kill him. He has never been heard of since the release of One Day in September but may still be in North Africa.