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Massacre in Munich: The Manhunt for the Killers Behind the 1972 Olympics Massacre
Few terrorists have been as internationally notorious - or as deadly as "The Red Prince." That was the nickname of Ali Hassan Salameh, a Palestinian who oversaw the Black September Organization from 1970 until his murder by car bomb in 1979. Salameh masterminded the 1972 hijacking of Sabena flight 572 to Tel Aviv, killing 27 tourists at Israel's Lod airport, and the murder of the Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich. In 1973, he organized the murder of the American and Saudi ambassadors in Sudan. The Red Prince's story is also that of General Aharon "Arale" Yariv, Golda Meir's choice to run Israel's counterterrorism response, and of Zvi Zamir, the head of the Mossad, Israel's intelligence unit. As this fascinating true cat-and-mouse story evolves, Zamir and Yariv orchestrate a series of daring cross-border assassinations, picking off Black September members one by one, chasing down Salameh until a final reckoning in Beirut. MUNICH does more than catalog the awful crimes of a terrorist, and Israel's search for a way to end his bloody it authoritatively recounts the history of one of the central conflicts of our time - the Palestinian-Israeli struggle.
231 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
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About the author
Michael Bar-Zohar
58 books157 followersProfessor Michael Bar-Zohar was a member of Knesset (Labour) and wrote the official biography of David Ben Gurion. He has written thirty non-fiction books, and has been translated into sixteen languages, winning many international prizes. He is currently working on a biography of Shimon Peres.
Has written under the pseudonym Michael Barak.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 27, 2010
I had no idea about this but way back before our current post-racial society the Arabs and Jews in the Middle East didn't get along. It was like that cartoon with the wolf and the sheepdog except the lunch whistle never, ever blew.
This book covers the struggle between Arabs and Jews from later part of the British occupation in the twenties and thirties through the late seventies. It focuses on two leaders on the Arab side and the efforts of Israel to hunt down and eventually kill them. They are Hassan Salameh and Ali Hassan Salameh, a father and son who were active at different times.
Ali Hassan Salemeh is the titular Red Prince and the main story of the book. His dad's story is a convenient way to quickly run through the history of the conflict and to rack up some bodies on both sides.
The two authors are Israelis and had "access to the highest levels of Mossad," which anyone could have probably figured out without reading the back cover of the book because of the strong pro-Israel bias throughout the book. The only positive trait ever ascribed to an Arab in this book is being smart, as in crafty. And one of the Arab women is described as beautiful -- one of the few Arabs women to even get a name in this book.
And these guys certainly weren't chosen for their ability to write -- there are a lot of "nervous eyes" following people around the room and the occasional poignant bottle of unopened champagne. My system is still processing all of the adjectives.
Okay, so these guys are probably Mossad, not crazy about Arabs, and write about as well as your average mommy blogger. I didn't care about any of that because of all the bad ass spy stories jammed into this book. Everything explodes in this book: cars, buildings, telephone stands, even books! The Arabs were quite a bit less dainty about collateral damage -- not a lot of progress has been made in this area, apparently -- but when it's spy vs. spy or spy vs. secret-wing-of-the-PLO the spycraft and action is just fascinating.
A few things I learned, though the odds that I'll corroborate it with a more objective source are pretty slim:
- The British were total jerks to the Jews before they left. What's up with that?
- I had no idea about the connection between the Nazis and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the time.
- A plot to poison everyone in Tel Aviv is mentioned pretty casually. I want to know what happened to all of the poison. And why didn't people flip out when it was revealed that Germany provided the materials and support? I mean, that's crazy stuff like the Romans might do.
- It was mentioned that the terrorists had a few Germans and British deserters as military advisors hanging around headquarters. That must have been awkward at meal times.
- I was surprised at how secular the PLO and Black September's ideology was. Especially in the early days it had sort of a Marxist vibe to it. I guess any justification these guys can think up will work in a pinch, whether it's class struggle or fundamentalism.
If you've read Vengance and liked it, as I did, then you'll enjoy this book.
This book covers the struggle between Arabs and Jews from later part of the British occupation in the twenties and thirties through the late seventies. It focuses on two leaders on the Arab side and the efforts of Israel to hunt down and eventually kill them. They are Hassan Salameh and Ali Hassan Salameh, a father and son who were active at different times.
Ali Hassan Salemeh is the titular Red Prince and the main story of the book. His dad's story is a convenient way to quickly run through the history of the conflict and to rack up some bodies on both sides.
The two authors are Israelis and had "access to the highest levels of Mossad," which anyone could have probably figured out without reading the back cover of the book because of the strong pro-Israel bias throughout the book. The only positive trait ever ascribed to an Arab in this book is being smart, as in crafty. And one of the Arab women is described as beautiful -- one of the few Arabs women to even get a name in this book.
And these guys certainly weren't chosen for their ability to write -- there are a lot of "nervous eyes" following people around the room and the occasional poignant bottle of unopened champagne. My system is still processing all of the adjectives.
Okay, so these guys are probably Mossad, not crazy about Arabs, and write about as well as your average mommy blogger. I didn't care about any of that because of all the bad ass spy stories jammed into this book. Everything explodes in this book: cars, buildings, telephone stands, even books! The Arabs were quite a bit less dainty about collateral damage -- not a lot of progress has been made in this area, apparently -- but when it's spy vs. spy or spy vs. secret-wing-of-the-PLO the spycraft and action is just fascinating.
A few things I learned, though the odds that I'll corroborate it with a more objective source are pretty slim:
- The British were total jerks to the Jews before they left. What's up with that?
- I had no idea about the connection between the Nazis and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the time.
- A plot to poison everyone in Tel Aviv is mentioned pretty casually. I want to know what happened to all of the poison. And why didn't people flip out when it was revealed that Germany provided the materials and support? I mean, that's crazy stuff like the Romans might do.
- It was mentioned that the terrorists had a few Germans and British deserters as military advisors hanging around headquarters. That must have been awkward at meal times.
- I was surprised at how secular the PLO and Black September's ideology was. Especially in the early days it had sort of a Marxist vibe to it. I guess any justification these guys can think up will work in a pinch, whether it's class struggle or fundamentalism.
If you've read Vengance and liked it, as I did, then you'll enjoy this book.
August 3, 2008
An intense book covering a tragic story. I remember watching the Olympics the day the news of this terrible massacre came over the news. Truly only the Prince of Peace can bring peace to this troubled region of our world.
January 25, 2008
After reading "Vengeance", I learned about Ali Hassan Salameh and became interested in the person supposedly behind the 1972 Olympic massacre in Munich. Unlike today's terrorists, Salameh was secular and didn't advocate for a fundamentalist Middle East. He was ruthless and violent, but started life out quite differently. This story traces his evolution from a normal, intellectual, young adult in the Middle East to the most sought after terrorist in the 1970s. Like "Vengeance", one learns more about the background of the problems today in the Middle East from this book and wonders if we weren't better off back in the 1970s when a hijacking usually just meant a free trip to another country with ultimately a safe return to one's home country.
February 24, 2014
This was a difficult book to read because of the content, but it was well-written, balanced, and very informative.
November 27, 2018
This is a piece of history I didn´t know much about but it confirms that reality often beats fiction.
I was wondering if it´s possible that everything in this book is true. It seems to me now that the 1970´s was close to total caos and mayhem:
Hijacking of planes, massacres, smartbombs, before the term is even invented. Israel kill one terrorist, the palestinians kill an israeli and multiply by the hundred. The book especially focus on the Mossad hunt for all members in the Black september terror organization. The title of the book is the alias of the most wanted of them all - the ruthless leader of the Black september. He was also the mastermind behind the terror actions during the Münich Olympic games 1972.
What I like with this book is that it is not just persons, years and facts over and over again. The authors have made an effort to put in a more fiction-like storytelling somtimes. It makes the book more interesting when you dramatize it. Not all the time of course but I think it´s a good balance in the the book. Also an extra plus that the authors are making humans of all the people in the book. Just to make it black and white is a good thing to avoid.
I strongly suggest that you read this book.
I was wondering if it´s possible that everything in this book is true. It seems to me now that the 1970´s was close to total caos and mayhem:
Hijacking of planes, massacres, smartbombs, before the term is even invented. Israel kill one terrorist, the palestinians kill an israeli and multiply by the hundred. The book especially focus on the Mossad hunt for all members in the Black september terror organization. The title of the book is the alias of the most wanted of them all - the ruthless leader of the Black september. He was also the mastermind behind the terror actions during the Münich Olympic games 1972.
What I like with this book is that it is not just persons, years and facts over and over again. The authors have made an effort to put in a more fiction-like storytelling somtimes. It makes the book more interesting when you dramatize it. Not all the time of course but I think it´s a good balance in the the book. Also an extra plus that the authors are making humans of all the people in the book. Just to make it black and white is a good thing to avoid.
I strongly suggest that you read this book.
September 3, 2025
Another good read. I pray every day that the world would be rid of terrorism.
May 19, 2008
If one is interested in the events surrounding the attack at the Munich Olympics and the resulting Israeli CT operations, I would recommend the following instead of this book:
One Day in September book/movie--great overview of the events, book has more on the Mossad Operation.
Stricking Back--Excellent review of the political/policy decisions that related to how the operation developed, carried out.
Vengance--Apparently the basis for the movie Muich, good, personal view of what it may have been like tactics, but also emotions, team dynamics (fyi unclear if the info came from actual participant, also it is a single source, so if the individual was acutally invovled, like any autobiography, it has to be taken w. a little salt)
The Quest for the Red Prince is good mainly in its history of Salameh and his family, especially his father's experience with the British and the family's experience in 1948. This gives a little more insight to the Palestiniant perspective--ie you can see how his history impacted his future. However, when it gets to his history, it repeats a lot of info that is available in more detail in the above mentioned books or other documentaries. The book promises to reveal much about this relationship with the CIA, but this gets about a paragraph of attention in the last chapter and discusses US efforts to use Salameh and others for back channel negotiations with the PLO.
One Day in September book/movie--great overview of the events, book has more on the Mossad Operation.
Stricking Back--Excellent review of the political/policy decisions that related to how the operation developed, carried out.
Vengance--Apparently the basis for the movie Muich, good, personal view of what it may have been like tactics, but also emotions, team dynamics (fyi unclear if the info came from actual participant, also it is a single source, so if the individual was acutally invovled, like any autobiography, it has to be taken w. a little salt)
The Quest for the Red Prince is good mainly in its history of Salameh and his family, especially his father's experience with the British and the family's experience in 1948. This gives a little more insight to the Palestiniant perspective--ie you can see how his history impacted his future. However, when it gets to his history, it repeats a lot of info that is available in more detail in the above mentioned books or other documentaries. The book promises to reveal much about this relationship with the CIA, but this gets about a paragraph of attention in the last chapter and discusses US efforts to use Salameh and others for back channel negotiations with the PLO.
January 31, 2017
An interesting snapshot into a small portion of the history related to Palestinian terrorism and the land of Israel/Judea.
I found this work compelling. The compilation of historical accounts are of interest for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research. Overall, a good book.
I found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
I found this work compelling. The compilation of historical accounts are of interest for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research. Overall, a good book.
I found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
September 3, 2007
for all those who love to know about miltary intelligence
December 3, 2009
A surprisingly gripping read about the Israelis exhaustive efforts to hunt down Ali Hassan Salameh. Dove-tailed nicely with my reviewing of 'Munich'.
August 16, 2013
Very detailed study of the Mossad's hunt and assassination of Ali Hassan Salameh which I found more detailed ad yet conflicting with the account given by the author of Vengeance, George Jonas.
August 29, 2012
Good book, but dragged on a little.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews