There did appear to be some underlying motivations for the attack, although, as Loosehead states, the event was part of an overarching anti-Israel campaign. An excerpt of an in-depth study of the retribution initiated by Prime Minister Golda Meir and the Mossad reveals this:
"...The Palestinian off-shoot group, the Black September Organization, claimed responsibility for the actions at the Village Apartments. Their demands included the release of 234 Arab and German prisoners held in Israel and West Germany. The terrorists provided a typewritten list of prisoners for release; these included Ulrike Meinhof and Andreas Baader, the founders and leaders of the German based Baader-Meinhof Gang. The German police had arrested both individuals earlier in June 1972. The terrorists also demanded that the police provide three planes for their escape. Upon receiving confirmation on the release of the prisoners, the terrorists would select one of the planes to transport them to a safe destination."
The West German government and Munich Police attempted a rescue after the hostages had been placed on helicopters to transport them and the terorists to the Furstenfeldbruck Airport for final transport to Egypt. The attack by the police was successful in killing nearly all of the terrorists, but in the mayhem the terrorists killed all of the hostages while they sat shackled aboard the helicopters...