Despite the refusal to honour the victims during the opening ceremony of the Olympics , on July 23 IOC President Jacques Rogge led a minute of silence during a ceremony which promoted the Olympic truce . This was the first time that the IOC honoured the Israeli victims in a ceremony inside an Olympic village . Rogge started by " honoring the memory of the 11 Israeli Olympians who shared the ideals that have brought us together in this beautiful Olympic village " and said that the Israelis " came to Munich in the spirit of peace and solidarity . " Rogge added , " we owe it to them to keep that spirit alive and to remember them . " In response to Rogge 's spontaneous minute of silence , Ilana Romano , the widow of Israeli weightlifter Yossef Romano , said , " He is trying to do the bare minimum , " and called it " shameful . " Ankie Spitzer , the widow of Israeli coach Andrei Spitzer , also criticized Rogge , saying , " This is not the right solution , to hold some ceremony in front of 30 or 40 people . We asked for a moment of silence at the opening ceremony , not for someone to mumble something in front of a few dozen people . " At the London commemoration on August 6 , Romano told Rogge he had " submitted to terrorism " , and would be " written down on the pages of history as ... a president who violated the Olympic charter calls for brotherhood , friendship and peace . " Their attacks were applauded by the audience , but afterwards some attendees privately expressed discomfort at the sustained attack on Rogge , and Andrew Gilbert , formerly chair of Limmud International tweeted that " the memorial service for Munich 11 became an anti-IOC rally and heavy-handed humiliation of Rogge " . ' Jibril Rajoub , the president of the Palestine Olympic Committee , thanked Jacques Rogge in a letter for refusing to hold a minute of silence , saying that it promotes the " spread of racism " and that the Palestinian Olympic team was prepared to " confront the Israeli provocations , " referring to a minute of silence . Rajoub added that " sport in Palestine is a means to achieve national goals " as well as " a tool of struggle to present the Palestinian cause , " and that " sports are a bridge to love , interconnection , and spreading of peace among nations . " '' Al-Hayat al-Jadida '' , the official daily newspaper of the Palestinian National Authority referred to the Munich massacre as " the Munich Operation . " Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon denounced the use of the term " racist " by Rajoub , and insisted that the murder of the Israeli Olympians due to their nationality was the racist act
Munich massacre
Munich massacre
2012 Olympics one minute of silence campaign