Reuters reports that the mastermind of the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre wanted a job as a consultant on Steven Spielberg's new movie:

The Palestinian mastermind of the Munich Olympics attack in which 11 Israeli athletes died, said on Tuesday he had no regrets and that Steven Spielberg's new film about the incident would not deliver reconciliation. 

The Hollywood director has called Munich, which dramatises [sic] the 1972 raid and Israel's reprisals against members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), his "prayer for peace". 

Mohammed Daoud planned the Munich attack on behalf of PLO splinter group Black September, but did not take part and does not feature in the film.

He voiced outrage at not being consulted for the thriller and accused Spielberg of pandering to the Jewish state. 

"If he really wanted to make it a prayer for peace he should have listened to both sides of the story and reflected reality, rather than serving the Zionist side alone," Daoud told Reuters by telephone from the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Spielberg and his defenders take it as a sign of their even—handedness that the movie and director receive criticism from both Israelis and those who seek Israel's elimination. But I suspect that if Spielberg were to make a film equating the efforts of Hitler and Churchill, he would receive criticism from both neo—Nazis and patriotic Brits and Americans.

Hat tip: Scott Wright

Thomas Lifson  12 27 05