A Convisero discussion with San Charles Haddad on his recent book, The File: Origins of the Munich Massacre. San was a participant in the IGL's 2000 EPIIC year on Global Games: Sports, Politics, and Society, and shortly thereafter became Founding President of the Palestinian Rowing Federation. He has served as a consultant to the Palestine and Qatar Olympic Committees.
San presented the remarkable and troubling history of sport in Mandate Palestine between the world wars. That history, meticulously researched and unrivaled, includes the true story of the first Palestine Olympic Committee, the influence of Nazi Germany in Mandate Palestine, and the long-forgotten attendance of a Palestinian delegation to the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.
These elements, buried until San unearthed them, fueled a distorted and dangerous narrative that he argues contributed, in part, to the tragic 1972 Munich Massacre, the 48th anniversary of which will be observed this year on 5-6 September. The same false narrative helps sustain the Palestinian-led movement to sanction Israel in international sport, which further encourages activists of anti-normalization and the Boycott Sanctions Divestment (BDS) movement.
San discussed the potential reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians through recognition and commemoration of their shared sport history. He proposed joint sport initiatives to promote the spirit of friendship, solidarity, fair play, and “the harmonious development of humankind” that is foundational to Olympism.
San’s interlocutor was the award-winning journalist Ken Shulman.
The File can be purchased here in print, ebook, and audio formats. San is also contributing a series of articles to the Journal of Olympic History on the research he has chronicled in The File, and further findings he has made since the book’s publication. Here are his first (pp. 35-50) and second (pp. 20-35) contributions thus far.
San Charles Haddad graduated from University of Rochester in 1997 with a BA in Art History and Italian Studies. He moved to Cambridge to train for a spot on the 2000 U.S. Olympic rowing team. However, the Oslo Peace Process presented a unique opportunity to qualify a Palestinian rowing team for the Sydney Games. Haddad founded the Palestinian Rowing Federation and served as its president for eleven years.
In 2002 and 2003, Haddad was a consultant at the Palestine Olympic Committee. From 2009 to 2015, he advised the Qatar Olympic Committee on strategic, financial, and executive training as part of its increasing presence in the Olympic Movement.
Haddad holds an Executive Masters in Sport Organisation Management and a Masters of Arts in Teaching. He is author of Managing Finances in Olympic Solidarity’s textbook Managing Olympic Sport Organisations (2007). He is an adjunct and visiting professor in organizational behavior, organization development, and corporate strategy with a focus on international trans-organizational systems. He was a participant in the IGL EPIIC Colloquium in 2000’s Global Games: Sports, Politics, and Society.
Ken Shulman is a longtime international correspondent for NPR’s “Only A Game,” and host and executive producer of “Away Games,” a television travel show and learning platform based on sport and social justice. He is a two-time RTDNA Edward R. Murrow winner for excellence in broadcasting, and was named a Champion of Justice by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
A veteran print and broadcast journalist, Ken has explored the intersection of sport, politics, and human rights for The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, Newsweek, The International Herald Tribune, National Public Radio, and the BBC.
Ken is a graduate of Middlebury College, and holds a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.