Spielberg's 'Munich' Omits an Innocent Victim - OhmyNews International

Spielberg's 'Munich' Omits an Innocent Victim - OhmyNews International


In 1973, Israeli agents mistakenly murdered the brother of a famous gypsy singer
Claire Ulrich (briconcela)
Spielberg's latest movie "Munich" tells with Hollywood proficiency a true story: how an Israeli intelligence agency hit-squad seeks vengeance on 11 presumed Palestinian terrorists, after the murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympic Games, in 1972. The film makes no mention of a not-so-glorious episode in this historical thriller.

Back in 1973, in Norway, another Mossad team murdered by mistake Ahmed Bouchiki, an innocent French waiter of Moroccan origin. It just happens that Ahmed's younger brother, Chico, is now a music star, the founder of the gypsy band "Gypsy Kings," which became famous with its worldwide hit-song "Djobi Djoba."

In France, a recently published biography of Chico Bouchiki by Gwendoline Sauval, from Assouline Publishers, sheds light on a major Mossad blunder that the "Munich" scriptwriters left aside.


Chico at the book-launch party for his biography. A chapter is dedicated to his brother Ahmed's fate.
©2006 C. Ulrich
In 1973, Chico's elder brother, Ahmed Bouchiki, was employed in a restaurant in the resort town of Lillehammer, in Norway. On July 21, Mossad spies apparently mistook the immigrant waiter for their number one target, the terrorist Ali Hassan Salameh, believed to be the mastermind of the Munich massacre. Ahmed was shot dead by an assassination-squad in front of his pregnant wife, as they came out of a cinema. The Norwegian police arrested four Israeli citizens shortly after, as they were boarding a flight out of Oslo, and put them on trial. They were found guilty of Ahmed's murder and sentenced to five years in jail.

The innocence of Ahmed Bouchiki was established during the trial. He had no criminal record, nor any connections with political networks or Middle-East activists. Yet Israel, then or now, 33 years after the death of Ahmed, has never publicly acknowledged its secret services blunder.

In his biography, Chico tells of the tragedy that nearly destroyed his family and its reputation in their hometown of Arles in Southern France, where the Bouchiki children grew up within the gypsy community. Rumors flew, accusing Ahmed of secret anti-Israel activities. If not, why had four Israelis killed him?

We had to cope with that, on top of the grief, but we never doubted, even for a minute. My elder brother was a kind, quiet, and honest man. He had just married a Norwegian girl, they were expecting their first child. We just could not understand what had happened. You can say that my father died of grief and my mother never recovered from the shock. My brother's widow is forever traumatized and never married again. Their daughter has never known her father, since he died before she was born.

For years, Chico's family battled with one question: Why? At the time, no one knew about the vengeance plot designed by Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir, in retaliation for the Munich hostage murders.

In 1984, when Canadian writer George Jonas published his book, Vengeance (the Spielberg film is based on it), it became public news that Ahmed's murder was linked to the Munich Olympic Games tragedy, and that it was a mistake. "Apparently, my brother looked a lot like a terrorist the Israeli secret services were hunting, but I don't see any resemblance between my brother and this Ali Salameh," Chico reflects during an interview.

I have learnt, later on, that one of the Mossad targets had visited Norway a while before. This guy may have stopped in my brother's restaurant. At the time, there were very few Arab-speaking persons in Norway. Maybe they had a chat during the meal and the spies thought they were in business together. A really heartbreaking thing -- one of the secret agents realized when she followed my brother at the swimming pool on his day off that he was not the man they were looking for. She immediately warned her boss, but the mission was not cancelled.


Chico with Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat.
©1994 Bouchiki
Even after the Vengeance book revelations, Israel and Mossad refused to admit their blunder in Norway. Ahmed's widow battled for twenty-four years, with her lawyer, against the state of Israel for a settlement. In 1997, Israel gave her and her daughter 100,000 euros (U.S.$119,000). But once again, it did not take responsibility or apologize. Yet, in his biography, Chico holds no bitterness against Israel. Other strokes of fate -- since his brother's death, he has changed his views on vengeance and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

In 1994, Chico and his band were asked to perform in Norway, at a last-minute concert date arranged by their agent. On stage, Chico discovered they were going to play for Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres. The occasion was the first anniversary of the Oslo peace process. The two political leaders went on stage to shake hands with the musicians. "That was it," remembers Chico.

After so many years of grief and hate for the people who were indirectly responsible for my brother's death, I was finally able to forgive. Of course, they didn't know at the time that I was remotely connected to the Munich tragedy. That became known later, through an article in a newspaper. UNESCO contacted me then and nominated me "Special UNESCO envoy for peace."

Extraordinary coincidences have continued up to this day and helped Chico make his peace with the past. As a UNESCO peace envoy, he gave gypsy music concerts in the Gaza Strip and in Israel, and has continued to do so even after the outbreak of the second Intifada and the September, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.

In 1997, during a music festival near Tel Aviv, he was approached by a young Israeli man. His mother had been a Mossad agent back in 1973 and had taken part in the assassination of Chico's brother. He came to Chico to ask for forgiveness and got it.


Vengeance, by George Jonas.
©2005 G.Jonas
According to George Jonas's book, the hit-squad portrayed in "Munich" was aware of the Mossad fiasco in Norway and it greatly shamed them. Chico would have appreciated a line of dialogue about his brother's fate in the Spielberg's film, but it isn't there. He did go and see the film when it was released in France, in January. "It was a painful experience, knowing that the plot leads to my brother's death. But I liked the conclusion: vengeance reaps nothing, but vengeance, more violence, more blood."

What Chico would really appreciate is an official apology from Israel or the Mossad. Not to him, but to his mother. "She is old and will not be around for long. She never really understood why they took her son's life in Norway. There is still time to make amends, before it is too late."
Further reading:
Journalist George Jonas's review of Spielberg's film, (based on his 1984 book Vengeance).

Time Magazine report on the Munich Olympic Games massacre:

Chico and the gypsies Web site.