Following the 7 October Hamas invasion of Israel and the massacre of civilians that led to the military response of Israel, causing a devastating situation for civilians in the Gaza Strip, antisemitism in Greece had rapidly become a daily problem. A red-brown antisemite movement intimidates Jews and Israelis living in Greece or visiting as tourists, discriminates against artists visiting Israel and calls for acts of violence against Israeli citizens. The Central Jewish Council of Greece expresses the intense concern of Greek Jews regarding the unprecedented and rapid increase in the phenomena that have been manifesting recently against Jewish targets in various cities of Greece.
Antisemitism in Greece is not a new phenomenon, but it has existed since the early years of the War of Independence. A 2020 survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found Greece to be the most anti-Semitic country across all of Western Europe, reaching 69%, with France being second with 37%.
Acts of vandalism against Synagogues, Jewish cemeteries or cultural centres were not rare in cities where Jewish communities existed. Recently, the Holocaust Memorial in Larissa and the Monument of the Old Jewish Cemetery at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki were desecrated, and an anti-Jewish inscription was written on the wall of the Jewish cemetery in Volos.
In a press release issued on 19 June, the Central Jewish Council of Greece noted that “such events are accompanied by extreme rhetoric that has led to acts of brutal violence, with attacks on tourists, assaults, vandalism and the constant targeting of people, who are often described as ‘murderers’, solely and exclusively because of their ethnic or religious identity”.
Criticism of the Israeli government, no matter how severe, does not constitute anti-Semitic behaviour, of course. “However”, the press release emphasises, “the generalised, ahistorical and aphoristic characterisations of Israeli citizens as murderers, Nazis and undesirables are vulgar and unacceptable hate speech that threatens the well-being of Greek Jewish citizens and endangers the safety of foreign citizens of Jewish religion who, for whatever reason, reside in or visit our country”.
During the last two years, verbal and, in some cases, physical attacks against Israeli tourists occurred in Athens. What is more shocking is that known activists and opinion makers use social media to spread Nazi-like antisemitism against the Jews and Israelis and instigate acts of violence against them. Antisemites working in the tourist sector call for violent treatment of Israeli tourists through social media. Even artists who performed in Israel were treated as criminals and excluded from cultural events in Greece.
As comments and articles threatening Jews and Israeli tourists in Greece increase, the Central Jewish Council of Greece “calls on the State and Local Government authorities to condemn these phenomena and to take all necessary measures to protect the lives of Greek citizens of Jewish religion as well as visitors of Jewish origin”.
“It is necessary to send a clear message of zero tolerance towards the Jew-phobia that is developing in our country, which certainly leads to antisemitism. History teaches that antisemitism begins by harming Jews but never stops with Jews. It harms the values of freedom and culture of the entire society,” concludes the press release of the Council.