Kosher Olympics (and the other side of Greece)

[Guest guest]

Actually I keep politics out of the group, but I want to post this

article.

This is the other side of Greece I have sometimes mentioned here.

 

" As the world's athletes converge on the site of the original

Olympics, the Simon Wiesenthal Center calls on Greek Prime Minister

Kostas Karamanlis to take vigorous steps to contain antisemitism and

other expressions of hate and xenophobia, beginning with the

condemnation and active prosecution of those who have perpetrated

hate crimes.

 

To date, Greek police seem uninterested in pursuing the perpetrators

of hate crimes against Jewish synagogues and cemeteries, or providing

security to prevent repeated desecrations.

 

 

Combined with the tepid reaction of police, is the Greek media's

disinterest. To cite one telling example, when a Holocaust memorial

in Ioannina was defaced , there were no arrests or even mention of

the outrage in the Greek media.

 

When graffiti stating, " Out with the Jews " and " Death to Jews " was

painted in a most conspicuous spot overlooking the Corinth-Tripoli

highway where thousands of Greeks, including prominent governmental

officials, drive by every day, an open letter to then-Prime Minister

Costas Simitis from the Greek Helsinki Monitoring Group asking that

the authorities remove the antisemitic graffiti was met with further

silence.

 

When renowned " Zorba " composer Mikis Theodorakis described Jews

as " the root of evil, " Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos and

Education Minister Petros Efthymiou stood beside him, smiling, at a

book signing ceremony heavily covered by the Greek media. Not too

long ago, Giorgos Karatzafer, leader of the extreme right Popular

Orthodox Party, used the party-owned Piraeus television station to

denounce Greek politicians with " Jewish origins " and to claim, " Jews

were behind the 9/11 attacks. "

 

Cartoons portraying Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a butcher

of humans and other cartoons equating Israelis with Nazis are

commonplace in Greek newspapers. The government ignores protests and

does nothing - despite its obligation under European conventions to

act against incitement to racism and violence. "

 

 

http://www.wiesenthal.com

 

 

What else can I add? It is the day of the opening of the Olympics,

and although I have this constant feeling of being homesick and miss

Greece, it makes it easier to forget the idea about ever going back.

 

Gabriella