Luttif Afif | |
|---|---|
لطيف عفيف | |
 Afif during the Munich hostage crisis, 1972 | |
| Born | 1937/1945[1][2] |
| Died | 6 September 1972 (aged 34–35) or (aged 26–27) |
| Cause of death | Gunshot |
| Resting place | Sidi Munaidess Cemetery Tripoli, Libya |
| Other names | Issa |
| Occupation | Militant (Black September Organization) |
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.[3]
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.
- ^ Reeve, Simon (2000). 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.). New York: Arcade. pp. 1. ISBN 1-55970-547-7./
- ^ Large, David Clay (2012). Munich 1972 Tragedy, Terror, and Triumph at the Olympic Games. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-7425-6741-2.
- ^ David Clay Large. Munich 1972: Tragedy, Terror, and Triumph at the Olympic Games: p196. [1]