August 30, 2012

By: Asher Weill

A central square in the capital of the Galilee, Upper Nazareth, was dedicated Wednesday evening in the name of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972.

The event, marking 40 years since the tragedy, launched Limmud FSU “Olympics,” an educational program for Russian speakers taking place in Upper Nazareth on Thursday and Friday. Nearly 1,000 participants are registered, including 150 Jewish young people from the FSU who are currently in Israel on a Masa program run by the Jewish Agency.

Mayor Shimon Gafsou said, “We are proud to be partners in this project, which combines education, culture and sport, together with basic qualities of Judaism, heritage and education. Our city is one of immigrant absorption: more than half of our population are new immigrants from the former Soviet Union and we see the Limmud festival here as a symbol of the enormous contribution of these immigrants to the city’s development.” Read more