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Jamal Al-Gashey


Jamal Al-Gashey (Arabic: جمال الجاشي‎‎; born 1953) was a member of the Black September offshoot of the Palestine Liberation Organization and is the last surviving member of the group of eight Black September members who carried out the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. He is visible several times in videos of the event, identifiable by his blue and white striped jacket. During the abortive rescue attempt by Bavarian border guards and Munich police which resulted in the deaths of nine hostages and five of the Black September members, Al-Gashey was shot in the wrist attempting to aid a fellow Black September member.

In interviews, Al-Gashey has said that he was brought up in conditions of great poverty, mostly in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon. His family was displaced in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, but always harbored a desire to return. Al-Gashey claimed that the injustice of being forced to live in squalor and rely on handouts while the "intruders" were living on his land fostered his hatred for Israel. This led to his joining the PLO in 1967. He said that during his initial training he felt, for the first time, "truly Palestinian ... not just a wretched refugee, but a revolutionary fighting for a cause."

In July 1972, Al-Gashey was one of several young Black September members recruited for what he referred to as "special training," without having any idea what their target might be. He flew to Munich at the end of August 1972, staying in a hotel and even attending a couple of Olympic events. On the night of 4 September, Al-Gashey met for dinner with the other members of the strike team, along with a senior Black September operative (believed to be Abu Daoud), who briefed them on their upcoming mission and drove with them in taxis to the Olympic Village. Al-Gashey claims that until that dinner meeting, he had no clue that the team's target was to be the Israeli Olympians.


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