of illegal immigrants reached the shores of Palestine on dozens of
ships, such as the Exodus 1947. When caught by the British, they
were interned in detention camps, about half of which were in
Cyprus. There they waited until the State of Israel was established in
May 1948. See also MOSSAD.MOSSAD LE’MODI’IN ULE’TAFKIDIM MEYUHADIM. See
MOSSAD.MUCHASSI, ZIAD. The replacement for Hussein Abad al-Chiras
the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s liaison with the Soviet
KGB in Cyprus after al-Chir was killed on 24 January 1973. As part
of the Wrath of God Operation, Muchassi was targeted for assassi-
nation by the Kidon team of the Mossad, which planted an explosive
device in his bedroom at the Aristide Hotel in Athens on 12 April- During the team’s escape, they observed a KGB officer in the
area with a weapon under his jacket, and they killed him as well.
MUNICH MASSACRE.In the early hours of 5 September 1972, ter-
roristsof the Black September Organization (BSO) took control of
the building that housed the Israeli team at the Munich Olympic
Games, located at 31 Connolly Street in the Olympic Village. They
captured 11 of the athletes. Two were murdered soon after, and in the
evening, after a full day of negotiations, the nine others were taken to
a military airfield near Munich. They were about to be hustled aboard
an aircraft and flown to an Arab state, apparently Egypt, to be ex-
changed for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Encouraged by Israel, the German authorities had no intention of
letting the terrorists go. German police lay in wait for them at the air-
field and opened fire, killing five of the eight terrorists together with
all of the Israeli athletes. The remaining three terrorists were arrested
and released in October 1972. Also only years later did it become
known that the Israeli athletes had all been killed by German sniper
fire; that bitter night, everyone was convinced that the Israeli athletes
had been shot by the Palestinians. The director of the Mossad, Zvi
Zamir, who managed to reach Germany from Israel just before the
shots were fired, was shocked and reported by phone to Israeli prime
minister Golda Meir, “They are all dead.”196 • MOSSAD LE’MODI’IN ULE’TAFKIDIM MEYUHADIM06-102 (03) H-P.qxd 3/24/06 7:25 AM Page 196