The International Olympic Committee has rejected proposals from the Israeli government and two United States representatives to hold a moment of silence at this summer’s London Games in memory of the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches who were killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

Last month, the deputy foreign minister of Israel, Danny Ayalon, sent a letter to Jacques Rogge, the president of the I.O.C., requesting a minute of silence 40 years after the Munich massacre. The letter was sent on behalf of Ankie Spitzer and Ilana Romano, widows of two of the murdered athletes, who have been urging the Olympic committee to hold a moment of silence at the Games for decades, officials said.

Representatives Eliot L. Engel and Nita M. Lowey, Democrats of New York, also sent a letter to Rogge this month requesting a minute of silence during the opening ceremony at the London Games on July 27.

“Unfortunately, this response is unacceptable as it rejects the central principles of global fraternity on which the Olympic ideal is supposed to rest,” Ayalon said in a statement Thursday. “The terrorist murders of the Israeli athletes were not just an attack on people because of their nationality and religion; it was an attack on the Olympic Games and the international community. Thus it is necessary for the Olympic Games as a whole to commemorate this event in the open rather than only in a side event.”

On Sept. 5, 1972, eight Palestinian militants belonging to the Black September group broke into a dormitory at the Olympic village where Israeli athletes and coaches were sleeping and took them hostage. After two of the Israelis were shot and killed, the militants had nine hostages and said they would release them in exchange for more than 200 Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel. Israel refused to negotiate, and a standoff ensued for 20 hours, captivating a global audience watching on television.

The Israeli hostages and their captors were taken by helicopters to a military airfield, where they had been promised to be flown to Cairo. Instead, West German sharpshooters tried to rescue the Israelis, setting off a gunfight in which five Palestinians, a German police officer and the nine hostages were killed.

In his letter to Rogge last month, Ayalon wrote: “The Olympic Games are a unique global event which transcends nations, peoples and boundaries and are meant to be a joyous event for all. However, for Israel and its people, each Summer Olympic Games also reminds us of the brutal murders which took place in the Munich Olympic Village during the summer of 1972.”

Ayalon requested a minute of silence “to send a clear message that we must not forget the terrible events of Munich 40 years ago so they will not be repeated.”

On Monday, Rogge responded with a letter that said he planned to attend a reception at London’s Guildhall traditionally hosted by Israel’s Olympic committee in memory of the victims, “and the I.O.C. is always strongly represented,” he wrote.

“We strongly sympathize with the victims’ families and understand their lasting pain,” Rogge said in the letter, adding, “What happened in Munich in 1972 strengthened the determination of the Olympic Movement to contribute more than ever to building a peaceful and better world by educating young people through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit.”

Rogge said the I.O.C. “has officially paid tribute to the memory of the athletes on several occasions and will continue to do so in close coordination with the National Olympic Committee of Israel.”

Gershon Kedar, a senior adviser for the deputy foreign minister, said in a telephone interview Thursday that his office believed “it’s more than an Israeli issue.”

“They were killed because they were Israelis, but they weren’t killed in Tel Aviv,” Kedar said. “They were killed as people in the Olympic Games.”

In their letter, Lowey and Engel said the large television audience for the opening ceremony provided “a unique opportunity to send a message that can literally reach every corner of the globe.”

“We are not persuaded by arguments articulated by members of the I.O.C. and others that a minute of silence would politicize the Olympic Games or risk alienating countries that have disagreements with Israel,” they said. “The Munich 11 were athletes, coaches and referees proudly representing their country when they were gunned down in an act of terrorism; a minute of silence would be a recognition of their sacrifice and a show of unity against terrorism, period, not an endorsement of any political position.” The families of the victims said they would begin a campaign of persuasion with the Olympic committee, foreign ministry officials said. While members of the victims’ families have in the past made appeals to the Olympic committee, Ayalon’s was a rare request from the Israeli government on behalf of the families.

“I’m so angry about this letter,” Romano, one of the widows, said of Rogge’s response. “If the Olympic Games don’t say anything, nothing is going to change.” (Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company 05/18/12)