2000 dollars for a mass murderer of the Munich Olympics attack

50 years after the 1972 Munich Olympics attack, Mohammed al-Safadi has no regrets. The Palestinian does not beat around the bush. Right at the beginning of the ARD documentary “Death and Games”, the now 69-year-old says that it was he personally who shot the Jewish hostages. At the same time, al-Safadi makes a movement with his arms as he uses an imaginary machine gun to “mow down” the nine Israeli athletes who are helplessly tied hand and foot in two helicopters.

He is proud of it and would do it again, he says in the four-part TV documentary, which is shown in Germany in the ARD media library is still available.

Al-Safadi’s appearance is irritating and raises questions. Is it legitimate to give a self-confessed mass murderer a stage on public television? Can the statements of the Palestinian terrorist be left largely unchallenged?

You shouldn’t delude yourself. Evil fascinates, especially in films. This can currently be seen in the latest Netflix hit: “Dahmer”, the series about an American serial killer and cannibal, has apparently recently had the most successful start of the streaming service. In the case of “Death and Games”, however, the production company al-Safadi paid 2,000 US dollars for his performance. That did it last week Focus magazine known.

One of the hostages shot dead in the helicopter at the Fürstenfeldbruck military airfield was Andrei Spitzer, the coach of the Israeli Olympic fencers. For his widow Ankie Spitzer, it’s a media scandal “when killers are paid money for their inhuman statements,” as she told Focus. The Central Council of Jews in Germany is also stunned and calls for clarification via Twitter. “Murderers shouldn’t be rewarded for their crimes.”

The outrage is understandable. The nonchalant way in which Mohammed al-Safadi expresses himself in the ARD documentary, without any sympathy, is deeply shocking. On the other hand, one can see his statements as an unfiltered contemporary document. It shows the disturbing implicitness with which Palestinian assassins justify their atrocities. In any case, al-Safadi does not arouse any understanding in the audience for his indiscriminate killing, especially since in “Death and Games” the relatives of the victims are also given due attention.

Meanwhile, Gunnar Dedio, the managing director of the responsible production company Looksfilm, describes the payment as a mistake. The compensation was only paid to al-Safadi months after the interview, without consultation with the ARD, he said on request. The reason was the subsequent securing of exclusive rights after a competing broadcaster had also announced exclusive contemporary witnesses with regard to the 50th anniversary of the Olympic attack in Munich.

Although the amount of 2,000 dollars does not seem exorbitant in the film industry, the report triggered a wide echo in the German media over the weekend. On the other hand, a fact that is at least as disturbing has hardly met with any response: although there is no statute of limitations on the criminal offense of murder in Germany, no efforts by the judicial authorities to get hold of the self-confessed mass murderer al-Safadi are known to date.

At the end of August, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office told the NZZ that they would not say what investigative measures would be carried out. The most obvious point of contact would undoubtedly be the production company responsible for making contact with al-Safadi. But Gunnar Dedio from Looksfilm said on Monday when asked that the German judicial authorities had not reported so far.

But the question also arises as to the responsibility of the public broadcaster ARD: Isn’t it at least its moral duty to pass on to the judicial authorities what they know about the whereabouts of Mohammed al-Safadi – and a second assassin who is still alive?

In any case, the excitement about the $2,000 fee is not the end of the case.