Luttif Afif

Luttif Afif (1937? or 1945? – September 6, 1972), possible true name Muhammed Massalha , alias Issa (Jesus in Arabic), was the commander of the group of Palestinian terrorists who invaded the Munich Olympic Village on September 5, 1972 and took as hostage nine members of Israel 's Olympic team after killing two members who resisted. He was the chief negotiator for the Palestinians, who were members of the Black September offshoot of Yassir Arafat 's Palestine Liberation Organization . The various pictures of Afif, wearing a white beach hat and a linen safari suit and his face covered with charcoal or shoe polish, are some of the iconic images of the 1972 Munich Olympics. According to several sources, including Serge Groussard and Simon Reeve, Afif claimed that his personal reason for taking the Israelis hostage was to get two of his brothers out of Israeli prisons (another brother was said to be in Black September). Afif told the German negotiators that he had been born in Nazareth, to a Christian businessman father and to a Jewish mother. Issa was described by Manfred Schreiber, chief of the Munich police and one of the German negotiators, as "clearly fanatical in his convictions". After tense negotiations, the hostage crisis ended after 21 hours with a bungled ambush on the terrorists at Fürstenfeldbruck airbase outside of Munich . Afif and four of his compatriots were killed by German snipers, but not before machine-gunning all nine remaining hostages and blowing up a helicopter containing four of them. Afif is reported in most accounts of the event (and depicted in the films Munich and 21 Hours at Munich ) as the terrorist that threw a hand grenade into the eastern helicopter. Recently-revealed autopsy reports show that the hostages in this helicopter were shot as well; it stands to reason that Afif performed both actions. It has been speculated that one of the other terrorists, Adnan Al-Gashey, machine-gunned the remaining hostages in the western helicopter seconds after. The bodies of Afif and his four compatriots were turned over to Libya , where they received a hero's funeral and were buried with full military honors. In Serge Groussard's The Blood of Israel , Issa was misidentified as Mohammed Safady , one of the Munich gunmen who actually survived the Fürstenfeldbruck gunfight. Issa has been portrayed by Franco Nero in the 1976 TV movie 21 Hours at Munich , and by French actor Karim Saleh in Steven Spielberg 's film Munich (2005).

Luttif Afif ( ; 1937 or 1945 – 6 September 1972), alias Issa (Jesus in Arabic), was the commander of the eight member attack team from Palestinian terrorist group Black September who led the Munich massacre , an invasion into the Munich Olympic Village on 5 September 1972 taking nine members of Israel 's Olympic team hostage after killing two members who had resisted. He was the chief negotiator on behalf of the Palestinians, who were members of the Black September offshoot of Yassir Arafat 's Palestine Liberation Organization . Afif and four of his compatriots were killed by German snipers at Fürstenfeldbruck airbase outside of Munich . One day in September: the full story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre and the Israeli revenge operation "Wrath of God" (1st U.S. ed.). Munich 1972 tragedy, terror, and triumph at the Olympic Games .

Palestinian terrorist (died 1972) Luttif Afif ( ; 1937 or 1945 – 6 September 1972; alias "Issa"—Jesus in Arabic) was a Palestinian terrorist. He commanded the eight-member attack team that carried out the Munich massacre , an invasion of the Munich Olympic Village on 5 September 1972. During the incident, nine members of Israel 's Olympic team were taken hostage after two others, who had offered resistance, were shot dead. Afif was the chief negotiator on behalf of the Palestinians, who were members of the Black September offshoot of Yassir Arafat 's Palestine Liberation Organization . Afif and four of his compatriots were later killed by German snipers at Fürstenfeldbruck air base outside Munich. The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli Revenge Operation "Wrath of God" (1st U.S. ed.). The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli Revenge Operation "Wrath of God" (1st U.S. ed.).

Palestinian terrorist commander of 1972 Munich massacre Luttif Afif ( Arabic : لطيف عفيف ; 1937 or 1945 – 6 September 1972; alias "Issa"—Jesus in Arabic) was a Palestinian militant who commanded the Munich massacre , a terrorist attack in the Munich Olympic Village on 5 September 1972. Afif was born to an Arab Christian family in Nazareth , Mandatory Palestine in 1937. In 1958, he moved to West Germany to study engineering, learned the language, and then moved to France to work. Afif joined the Palestinian militant organization Fatah in 1966, possibly while residing in Germany. He later returned to the Middle East to fight several battles against Israel. He also likely participated in Jordan's Black September in 1970. In the early 1970s, Afif was living in Berlin and was engaged to a German woman. In 1972, Afif commanded the Munich massacre attack team, which took nine members of Israel 's Olympic team hostage after two others, who had offered resistance, were shot dead. Afif was the chief negotiator on behalf of the Palestinians, who were members of the Black September offshoot of Yassir Arafat 's Palestine Liberation Organization . Afif and four of his collaborators were later killed by German snipers at Fürstenfeldbruck air base outside Munich. He called the operation Iqrit and Kafr Bir'im , after two Christian Palestinian villages whose inhabitants were expelled by Israel during the 1948 Palestine war . The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli Revenge Operation "Wrath of God" (1st U.S. ed.).