Yusuf Nazzal (1937 – 6 September 1972) alias 'Tony', was the second in command of eight Palestinian fedayeen that invaded 31 Connollystrasse in the Munich Olympic Village on 5 September 1972. Nine members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage after two members, weightlifter Yossef Romano and wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg, were killed in the initial takeover. Television images broadcast to the billions of people watching around the world show Nazzal frequently throughout the crisis, seemingly always smoking, wearing sunglasses, open neck red shirt and a cowboy hat, which led him to be identified as the 'Cowboy'. According to author Serge Groussard, Nazzal "liked to be called Guevara".
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Early life
Nazzal had fought in Amman in 1970 after Jordan's expulsion of the PLO, and in the battles of Jerash and Ajlun in July 1971. He moved to West Germany to study. According to Simon Reeve, Nazzal worked for a Munich oil company.
Days before the attack
In the months prior to the attack both Nazzal and the leader of the attack Luttif Afif, had managed to gain temporary employment in the Olympic Village with Nazzal working as a cook. Afif and Nazzal would sit playing chess and observing the coming and goings of athletes in and around 31 Connollystrasse in preparation for the attack on the Israeli quarters. Nazzal was found inside 31 Connollystrasse apartments at 8:00am on the day prior to the attack, by Uruguayan official Luis Friedman. Reportedly, Nazzal shyly told Friedman, in English, that someone in the building occasionally gave him fruit, Friedman gave him all the fruit he could carry.
The hostage crisis
Whilst Afif was the main negotiator and leader of the fedayeen, Nazzal would at times accompany him in deliberations with the German delegates in front of 31 Connollystrasse. Whenever outside of the building, Nazzal was always armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a revolver in the waistband of his trousers. More often though, Nazzal could be seen at the window of the first floor apartment window, continuously smoking.
Fürstenfeldbruck
Upon landing at Furstenfeldbruck airport, Afif and Nazzal each left their Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopters and walked over to inspect the Boeing 747, parked just 150 metres away on the tarmac apron. Whilst Nazzal waited outside, Afif went inside to check the plane. Finding it empty, they immediately suspected a trap and jogged back towards the helicopters shouting warnings to the six fellow fedayeen guarding the two helicopters containing the Israeli athletes. As they ran, the area lit up and police commander George Wolf, lying next to the three marksmen on the roof of the control tower, instructed them to open fire. Two shots rang out from two marksmen on the tower, hitting two terrorists guarding the helicopters, Ahmed Chic Thaa and Afif Ahmed Hamid both fell to the ground, though only one was killed outright. A third marksmen moved around a corner pillar on the tower in order to keep both Afif and Nazzal in sight as they were still running back to the helicopters. His first shot hit the tarmac near Issa who steadied himself and managed to make it back to the safety of the helicopters by zigzagging across the tarmac. The marksmen's second shot hit Nazzal in the leg, making him collapse on the tarmac. One of his fellow fedayeen, eighteen year old Jamal Al-Gashey, managed to crawl over to Nazzal in the ensuing firefight but was shot through the wrist.
Despite being wounded in the opening exchange of gunfire at Fürstenfeldbruck and after a two-hour exchange with the German marksmen, Nazzal managed to escape across the airfield to a parking lot pursued by police, dogs and West German border guards. Nazzal managed to elude police for another hour before being cornered and shot dead around 1:30 am, though not before shooting a West German border guard in the neck.
Aftermath of Munich
The bodies of Nazzal and his four fedayeen compatriots were handed over to Libya and after a procession of 30,000 people from Tripoli's Martyrs' Square, were buried in the Sidi Munaidess Cemetery.
In popular culture
Nazzal has been portrayed by the actors Djamchid "Jim" Soheili in the 1976 television film 21 Hours at Munich and Merik Tadros in Steven Spielberg's 2005 film Munich.