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Gold medal winning gymnast Aly Raisman, an American and Jewish hero to us all

by Bob in Breckenridge ( 15 Comments › )
Filed under Anti-semitism, Bigotry, Crime, Gaza, Hamas, Hezballah, History, Islam, Islamic Terrorism, Islamists, Israel, Muslim Brotherhood, Palestinians, Racism at August 10th, 2012 - 12:00 pm

It wasn’t as it should have been, if the IOC (International Olympic Committee) had any balls, and since we all know they’re typical European leftists afraid of insulting the muzz swine, they punted when they could have scored a touchdown, and, instead, took the chickenshit route out.

I’m referring to 1972, and the XX summer Olympic games held in Munich, West Germany, as it was called back then, when the (still, to this day) cowardly Paleostinian scumbags stormed the unarmed quarters where the Israeli Olympic team was housed, and where members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group known as Black September.

Like I said, the London and International Olympic committee were afraid to insult the muzz scum, so they decided, being the chickenshit a-holes that they are, not to have a moment of silence to commemorate the Israeli athletes and coaches (and the West German policeman who tried to protect the quarters) who died forty years ago, in 1972.

But, thankfully, we had one lone American gymnast, Aly Raisman, who is an 18 year old Jewish American athlete, who decided to do the right thing on her own, and do what the entire International Olympic Committee was too damn chickenshit to do, for fear of offending the muzz scum. Here’s what she said:

[And if that weren’t enough, she won her event with the Hebrew folk song “Hava Nagila” playing in the background.]

“Having that floor music wasn’t intentional,” an emotional but poised Raisman told reporters after her performance.

“But the fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special, and winning the gold today means a lot to me.”

Then Raisman stuck the landing.

“If there had been a moment’s silence,” the 18-year-old woman told the world, “I would have supported it and respected it.”

It was 40 years ago at the 1972 Munich Games that members of the Israeli Olympic delegation were taken hostage and eventually killed by Palestinian radicals.

Executed in the massacre were 11 Israeli athletes and officials and a West German police officer.

The martyrs were remembered this week during a London ceremony filled with sadness and reflection.

But not a peep about them has been said publicly in the one place where it counts — at the Summer Games on Olympic soil.

The International Olympic Committee and its president, Jacques Rogge, have refused to properly honor the dead, arguing that the opening ceremony wasn’t an appropriate forum for a moment of silence.

But if the opening ceremony is good enough for James Bond and Mr. Bean, it’s hard to understand why it’s not good enough for 60 seconds of solitude.

“Shame on you International Olympic Committee because you have forsaken the 11 members of your Olympic family,” said Ankie Spitzer, whose husband, Andre, an Israeli fencing coach, was gunned down in the massacre.

“You are discriminating against them only because they are Israelis and Jews,” she went on.

Rogge was an athlete himself at the very Games where the massacre took place, representing Belgium on the sailing team.

“Even after 40 years, it is painful to relive the most painful moments of the Olympic movement,” Rogge said at an unaffiliated service before Spitzer spoke.

Yeah right a-hole, whatever. It will never change the fact that you Euro-pussies are so afraid of insulting the muzz scum that you’ll bend over backwards so as not to insult the murdering paleostinian swine. FOAD, scumbag…

Addendum by Speranza

Raisman invited to Israel

by Gil Hoffman

When American sports superstars celebrate victory, they traditionally go to Disneyland.

But gold-medal winning gymnast Aly Raisman could end up celebrating in Jerusalem after Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein sent an invitation Thursday to Raisman and her family to make their first visit to Israel.

Raisman, 18, became a household name worldwide last week when she performed her floor routine to the tune of “Hava Nagila,” making her the first US woman to win gold in that event. She won another gold medal for the performance of the US women’s gymnastics team she captained and a bronze in the balance-beam competition.

When asked why she chose to perform to “Hava Nagila,” she said she was proud to be Jewish and she wanted to represent her heritage at the Olympics. She said that while she did not choose the song in honor of the 11 Israeli sportsmen who were murdered at the Munich Olympics in 1972, she dedicated her medals to them and she would have stood for a moment of silence in their memory had the International Olympic Committee accepted requests for such a gesture.

“Having that floor music wasn’t intentional,” Raisman said in a New York Post cover story under the banner headline “Star of David.”

“The fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special, and winning the gold today means a lot to me. If there had been a moment’s silence, I would have supported it and respected it.

Edelstein wrote Raisman an impassioned letter congratulating her for her victories and for giving Americans yet another reason to be proud. In the letter, which was obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post, Edelstein said Israelis were moved by her performance and her recent statements.

“I am sure you know that beyond your wonderful personal achievement, you also brought great pride to millions of Jews in Israel and around the world,” Edelstein wrote. “For me personally, as the minister in charge of relations with Diaspora Jewry, hearing why you chose the song made me realize that the concept of Kol Israel Arevim Zeh Lazeh [All Jews are responsible for one another] still holds true and that the Jewish people remain united no matter how far apart we may live. I was impressed that someone so young made such a monumental, ethical decision.”

Edelstein invited not only the 18-year-old gymnast, but also her parents, Lynn and Rick, her younger siblings Brett, Chloe, and Madison, as his guests.

“Making your first visit to Israel is not only important because it is the homeland of the Jewish people but also because you can contribute from your experience to the young generation of Israeli athletes,” wrote Edelstein, who has won international competitions in boxing and table tennis.

[…….]

Edelstein’s ministry was in touch with the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and Raisman’s synagogue in Newton, Massachusetts, to make sure she received the invitation.

US Ambassador Dan Shapiro tweeted congratulations to Raisman in Hebrew.

“I am so proud of the American gymnast Aly Raisman,” Shapiro wrote. “She won the floor exercise and immediately dedicated her medal to the Israelis murdered in Munich. What an impressive decision.”

Raisman’s rabbi, Keith Stern of the Reform Temple Beth Avodah, said her family was not particularly observant, but very proudly Jewish.

“I’ve known Aly since she started pre-school here at my temple,” Stern told The Jerusalem Post. “She has always been a sweet, kind, dedicated girl. To see her dancing and tumbling to “Hava Nagila“ was overwhelming.

That a young Jewish-American girl would proudly and yes, courageously perform to what even most non-Jews know to be an Israeli folk song on the international stage was inspiring. That she did it 40 years after Munich is a proclamation of Jewish strength and pride and determination. I will never forget it.”

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Jewish gal shows up IOC with a gold salute to Munich 11

by Mojambo ( 3 Comments › )
Filed under Headlines, Israel, Sports at August 8th, 2012 - 9:46 am

God bless Aly Raisman.  Her parents raised a  superb daughter and ought to be proud of her, not just for athletic abilities but for her strength of character.

by Leonard Greene

It wasn’t a gloved-fist salute from the medal stand, but Jewish-American gymnast Aly Raisman made quite a statement yesterday by winning a gold medal and invoking the memory of the Israeli athletes killed 40 years ago in Munich.

Raisman finished first in the women’s floor exercise, but she deserves to have another medal draped around her neck for having the chutzpah to face the world and do what needed to be done and say what needed to be said.

At the same Olympic Games where bigoted organizers stubbornly refuse to honor the slain athletes with a moment of silence, 18-year-old Raisman loudly shocked observers first by winning, then by paying her own tribute to 11 sportsmen who died long before she was born.

And if that weren’t enough, she won her event with the Hebrew folk song “Hava Nagila” playing in the background.

“Having that floor music wasn’t intentional,” an emotional but poised Raisman told reporters after her performance.

“But the fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special, and winning the gold today means a lot to me.”

Then Raisman stuck the landing.

“If there had been a moment’s silence,” the 18-year-old woman told the world, “I would have supported it and respected it.”

It was 40 years ago at the 1972 Munich Games that members of the Israeli Olympic delegation were taken hostage and eventually killed by Palestinian radicals.

Executed in the massacre were 11 Israeli athletes and officials and a West German police officer.

The martyrs were remembered this week during a London ceremony filled with sadness and reflection.

But not a peep about them has been said publicly in the one place where it counts — at the Summer Games on Olympic soil.

The International Olympic Committee and its president, Jacques Rogge, have refused to properly honor the dead, arguing that the opening ceremony wasn’t an appropriate forum for a moment of silence.

But if the opening ceremony is good enough for James Bond and Mr. Bean, it’s hard to understand why it’s not good enough for 60 seconds of solitude.

“Shame on you International Olympic Committee because you have forsaken the 11 members of your Olympic family,” said Ankie Spitzer, whose husband, Andre, an Israeli fencing coach, was gunned down in the massacre.

“You are discriminating against them only because they are Israelis and Jews,” she went on.

Rogge was an athlete himself at the very Games where the massacre took place, representing Belgium on the sailing team.

“Even after 40 years, it is painful to relive the most painful moments of the Olympic movement,” Rogge said at an unaffiliated service before Spitzer spoke.

“I can only imagine how painful it must be for the families and close personal friends of the victims.”

But by refusing to hit the pause button for a measly 60 seconds, Rogge and other organizers have committed a sin nearly as grave as denying there was ever a Holocaust.

Were it not for young Aly and her wedding dance/bat mitzvah accompaniment, the Munich dead may have never gotten their due.

“I am Jewish, that’s why I wanted that floor music,’’ Raisman said.

“I wanted something the crowd could clap to, especially being here in London.

“It makes it even much more if the audience is going through everything with you. That was really cool and fun to hear the audience clapping.’’

Raisman’s eyes opened as wide as the gold medal she would win when the judges announced her score of 15.600 points after her mistake-free routine.

Her top finish was the first by an American woman in the Olympic floor exercise, and the win gave Raisman her second gold medal. Raisman admitted the 40th anniversary of the Munich Games made her “hora” gold even more special.

“That was the best floor performance I’ve ever done, and to do it for the Olympics is like a dream,’’ Raisman said.

Raisman did not go to the Games with the star power of her teammate Gabrielle Douglas or the résumé of world champion Jordyn Wieber,

But those who know her best said she works as hard as anyone, and, more importantly, her heart is in the right place.

‘’I’m so happy for Aly,” Douglas, the first African-American to win the all-around title, said after the floor competition. “She deserves to be up on that podium.’’

“She is a focused person,” said Rabbi Keith Stern, spiritual leader of Temple Beth Avodah in Newton Centre, Mass., where the Raisman family are members.

“She’s very proud and upfront about being Jewish. Neither she nor her family explicitly sought to send a message. But it shows how very integrated her Jewish heritage is in everything that she does.”

Stern said he remembers picking up young Aly from preschool, and never imagined she’d be some sort of megastar.

He described the US team captain as a big sister-type who is a mother hen to all her younger siblings.

“I can’t wait to have her at the temple to talk about her experience,” he said.

“I know her sister’s bat mitzvah is coming up, so maybe I’ll catch up with her then.”

Stern said that he, too, was stunned by the IOC’s refusal to hold a moment of silence.

“I’m happy to hear any other explanation,” Stern said. “But short of some racist grudge somebody is holding, I can’t figure out why it would be a terrible thing to do.”

Stern said he watched the routine and was blown away. Even so, he said he is more proud of Raisman’s gold mettle than he is of the new jewelry around her neck.

“I have to say, the statement just warmed me to the very depths of my being,” Stern said.

He compared it to the iconic black-power, raised-fist protest made by track stars John Carlos and Tommie Smith on the medal stand at the 1968 Mexico City Games.

“They’re not going to forget that,” the rabbi said. “I certainly won’t.”

Read the rest – Jewish gal shows up IOC with a gold salute to Munich 11