The 2012 Olympics one minute of silence campaign refers to an international campaign created to persuade the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to hold one minute of silence at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics to remember the Israeli athletes killed in the Munich massacre at the 1972 Olympics by the Palestinian terrorist organisation Black September. Support for the campaign came from a number of high-ranking officials and governments, including the United States Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the Italian Parliament, the Australian Parliament, the Canadian Parliament, the German Parliament, and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
The IOC declined the request for a minute of silence at the opening ceremony, but IOC officials honoured the victims at a ceremony organised by the Israeli embassy and the Jewish community in London during the Olympics on August 6, 2012. A further ceremony was planned in Germany on the anniversary of the attack on September 5, 2012 at the military airfield of Fürstenfeldbruck.[1][2] IOC President Rogge led a spontaneous minute of silence during a ceremony on July 23, 2012 which promoted the Olympic truce, marking the first time ever that the IOC honoured the Israeli victims in a ceremony inside an Olympic village.[3][4][5]