Tomkins Cove, NY September 4th, 2019—Nearly 50 years after the so-called Munich Massacre, a new documentary about the effort to get a Minute of Silence for the victims at the opening of the Olympic Games will premiere on Thursday, September 5th at the Lafayette Theater in Suffern.
Produced in association with JCC Rockland and Active International, “There Was No Silence” is the story of how a local JCC in Rockland County stood with the families of the 11 Israeli athletes, coaches and referees murdered by Black September terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich and demanded a minute of silence during the 2012 Games in London. Rejected every four years by the International Olympic Committee, the families forged an alliance with the JCC and together, brought the story of the Munich 11 to people around the world leading up to the 2012 Games. A petition with 111,000 names, a press conference across the street from the Olympic Stadium and many other moments brought the minute of silence very close to fruition, but it was ultimately denied.
The film, was produced, written and directed by award winning filmmaker, Joe Allen.
With the 2020 Games coming up next year in Tokyo, “There Was No Silence,” examines all that has happened since the 2012 Olympics in the effort to get a minute of silence, including the dedication of a memorial to the victims in Munich and an IOC memorial in the Olympic Village during the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. A travelling memorial will go to each city where the Olympics will be held. However, none of these achieve the minute of silence for the victims during the opening of the Games.
The film will premiere at 7:30PM on the 47th Anniversary of the Munich Massacre. It will be less than a year before the Tokyo Games, but still plenty of time for the IOC to end nearly five decades of turning a blind eye, rejecting all calls to hold a moment of silent reflection and giving in to the anti-Semitism behind the attack.
“There Was No Silence” celebrates the power of never giving up, the importance of communities standing up for what is right and how JCC Rockland’s effort had a world-wide impact on public opinion. For tickets, click the link below.
