Greek Anti-Semitism on Rise?

[ProJewGreekChristian]

     

2 arrested in Corfu synagogue arson case

Less than 48 hours after unknown assailants break into Corfu synagogue, burn Torahs and Judaica, Greek security forces arrest two suspects and are examining terror connections as security around Israelis increased

Yoav Zitun
Published:    04.20.11, 21:09 / Israel News
   
Greek Police said Wednesday that they have arrested two suspects in the Corfu synagogue arson attack case. According to suspicions, the two are also involved in vandalizing the Jewish community's offices on the Island.

Meanwhile, the police have decided to reinforce security around Israelis arriving in the country on cruises, due to the recent travel advisory published by the Counter Terrorism Bureau.

Hate Crime?
Washington synagogue's windows smashed / Yitzhak Benhorin
Unknown elements use pellet gun to fire at synagogue, Jewish-owned stores. Police checking possibility act was hate crime.

 
The fire took place at the Corfu synagogue on the eve of the Passover holiday. Unknown assailants broke into the synagogue in the old town of the island's capital after 3 am by forcing open a back door into the 19th century building, a senior officer said. They made a pile of books and documents in front of the rabbi's platform, or bimah, on the synagogue's first floor and set them on fire.
 
Greek security forces launched a search for those responsible and are now examining the connection between the two arrested suspects and terror groups. The search for additional suspects who most likely entered Greece recently continues.

Travel warning
The security department at the Transportation Ministry noted that heightened security was also in evidence around Israeli groups arriving in Cyprus via flights and cruises. Cypriot security forces, who are receiving a great deal of praise in Israel, have also arrested a number of suspected terrorists.

Just ten days ago the Counter Terrorism Bureau published a travel warning stating that not only Sinai and Arab countries were dangerous destinations – adding Turkey and Greece to the list.

In the announcement published ahead of the Passover holiday the bureau said that the warning was focused on Mediterranean Basin countries as well as certain Far East destinations.

Security sources noted that the warning is due to the escalation in the south and refers mainly to threats from Turkey, Egypt, Libya and Greece with special emphasis on Crete.

source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4059127,00.html


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I don't understand it; let's just say (hypothetically) you don't "like" the Jews for some reason. Why go out and be actively a Jew hater? Greeks are very intelligent people and should know what their bible says, even if Jews rub them the wrong way or they're angry about Israeli policies, etc, don't engage in JEW HATRED that will curse the entire Έλληνες!!!! I love proud, anti-Muslim Jews and am attracted to Jewish culture and history, but even if I wasn't I would be far too scared to engage in active anti-Semitic hate, lest Gd strike me down and curse me...

[muman613]

This is terrible news... I hope they catch the perpetrator of this horrible crime. I have read that some irreplacable books have been destroyed along with a Torah scroll.

I hope that you are right PJGC...

[muman613]

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143651

Torah Scrolls Torched By Arsonists In Corfu on Passover
Nissan 16, 5771, 20 April 11 10:22
by Gavriel Queenann

(Israelnationalnews.com) Arsonists broke into Corfu's only synagogue and burned the community's prayer books and torah scrolls Tuesday morning.

On Wednesday members of the community, some distraught and weeping, gathered at the synagogue and mourned over the ashes of the Torah scrolls.

Today the Jewish community on Corfu numbers less than 100.

“It’s very difficult for us,” Rabbi Shlomo Naftali, an Israeli rabbi who was flown to Greece to conduct Passover ceremonies. “We stood around the books and cried. Now we’ll have to bury them.”

Former President of the Jewish community of Corfu, Vino Shohi, described the crime, “They came at 3 a.m., put all the books together and burned them. At first I was very upset. I was ashamed that something like this happened here in Corfu, but we have received the support of all the political parties and the archbishop. They all came out in support of us and told us they were our brothers.”

Giorgos Petalotis, a spokesman for the Greek government, condemned the attack Wednesday, saying,, “The burglary that took place in the Jewish Synagogue in Corfu and the destruction of sacred liturgical books is an immoral and appalling act, which the Greek government condemns in the strongest possible manner,”

“I've said before and I say once again," Petalotis said. "Under this unfortunate circumstance, that bigotry and anti-Semitism are concepts incompatible with Greek culture and alien to the mentality of the Greek people. This act cannot overshadow the longstanding tradition of friendship and mutual respect between the two peoples. The Greek authorities have already received instructions to carry out intensive efforts to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice”.

Police on Corfu are investigating the crime. Jewish officials said they had faith the authorities will find the assailants.

“There’s no fear here,” Shoshi said. “There never has been any fear and there never will. We are well-established in Corfu and nobody will make us afraid.”

The Jewish community in Corfu is ancient with roots dating back to antiquity, but most Jews on the island were murdered by the Nazis during the holocaust. The holy books and torah scrolls survived the holocaust, however, in the hands of gentiles who safeguarded them.

“After the war they gave us all our books back,” Shoshi said. “We had books from the 15th, 16th and 17th century from Trieste, Padova and Verona. Now they are gone.”

The community of Corfu's loss is a loss for the entire Jewish people. The Corfiote Rite is distinct and its liturgy has many peculiarities that set it apart from the mainstream Ashkenazi and Sephardic liturgies most Jews are familiar with today.

Corfiote prayer books, which contain emendations from Mazal-Tob, Isaac ben Abraham, Abraham ben Gabriel ben Mordecai, and Moses ha-Kohen, are rare and unique cultural treasures. This, in addition to the destruction of the sacred Torah scrolls.

Joseph ben Abraham, the popular commentator of the Maḥzor, lived in Corfu in 1554.

[Zelhar]

From what I read anti Jewish sentiments is on the rise in Greece on parallel to the economic meltdown that they are facing. The Jewish community in Greece is tiny but still you there are populist politicians who blame the Jews for all their problems.

The real problem in Greece is an entrenched, corrupted socialism.

[mord]

The last time they had this it was done by Brits hanging around in Greece

[ProJewGreekChristian]

The last time they had this it was done by Brits hanging around in Greece

Before I got to this comment it started to cross my mind, "what if this was done by Turkish Nazis or German Nazis?" I don't know though (obviously...). How sick and evil. Doing these abominations on important, Holy days in the Jewish faith reminds me of Muslim "tradition." (e.g. Yom Kippor War and I believe 1948 invasion by the Arab Nazi world was on an important day, no? I may be wrong about the last one..)

There's a good chance this was done by neo-Nazi, self-hating so-called Greeks. Any Greek who identifies with Hitler and the Nazis (yemach schmum) should be executed. WHAT THEY DID TO THE GREEKS AND SERBS IS ENOUGH TO ENGENDER INTENSE HATRED OF NAZISM. But the six million Jews they hate so much (may Gd avenge their blood) causes these homosexual, self-hating "Hellenic" trash to identify with their sodomizer in chief. Greeks pretty much "exterminated" all Nazi collaborators once the war was over. I've never personally met a Greek who did not harbor a hatred for Nazis.

[Zelhar]

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/141286

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) called Wednesday for the Greek Orthodox church to remove the Metropolite of Piraeus, Seraphim, after the high-ranking priest sounded an anti-Semitic rant on Greek TV.

Speaking on the morning show on Mega-TV, the largest television station in Greece, Seraphim blamed world Jewry for Greece's financial problems.

"Mixing Freemasons with Jewish bankers such as Baron Rothschild and world Zionism, the Metropolite said that there is a conspiracy to enslave Greece and Christian Orthodoxy," JTA reported. He also accused "international Zionism" of trying to destroy the family unit by promoting one-parent families and same-sex marriages.

Thirteen minutes into the program the host asked Seraphim, "Why do you disagree with Hitler's policies? If they are doing all this, wasn't he right in burning them?"

The Metropolite answered, "Adolf Hitler was an instrument of world Zionism and was financed from the renowned Rothschild family with the sole purpose of convincing the Jews to leave the shores of Europe and go to Israel to establish the new Empire."

Jews such as "Rockefeller, Rothschild and Soros control the international banking system that controls globalization," he said.

Salonika's Metropolite Anthimos has preached similar ideas from his pulpit.
...

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

There's a good chance this was done by neo-Nazi, self-hating so-called Greeks. Any Greek who identifies with Hitler and the Nazis (yemach schmum) should be executed. WHAT THEY DID TO THE GREEKS AND SERBS IS ENOUGH TO ENGENDER INTENSE HATRED OF NAZISM. But the six million Jews they hate so much (may Gd avenge their blood) causes these homosexual, self-hating "Hellenic" trash to identify with their sodomizer in chief. Greeks pretty much "exterminated" all Nazi collaborators once the war was over. I've never personally met a Greek who did not harbor a hatred for Nazis.

I was thinking the exact same thing, that Koranimals probably weren't responsible (this one time). Probably November 17 communists or some like organization.

[ProJewGreekChristian]

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/141286

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) called Wednesday for the Greek Orthodox church to remove the Metropolite of Piraeus, Seraphim, after the high-ranking priest sounded an anti-Semitic rant on Greek TV.

Speaking on the morning show on Mega-TV, the largest television station in Greece, Seraphim blamed world Jewry for Greece's financial problems.

"Mixing Freemasons with Jewish bankers such as Baron Rothschild and world Zionism, the Metropolite said that there is a conspiracy to enslave Greece and Christian Orthodoxy," JTA reported. He also accused "international Zionism" of trying to destroy the family unit by promoting one-parent families and same-sex marriages.

Thirteen minutes into the program the host asked Seraphim, "Why do you disagree with Hitler's policies? If they are doing all this, wasn't he right in burning them?"


If this
The Metropolite answered, "Adolf Hitler was an instrument of world Zionism and was financed from the renowned Rothschild family with the sole purpose of convincing the Jews to leave the shores of Europe and go to Israel to establish the new Empire."

Jews such as "Rockefeller, Rothschild and Soros control the international banking system that controls globalization," he said.

Salonika's Metropolite Anthimos has preached similar ideas from his pulpit.
...

I find it hard to believe a literate man of the Bible would say something so insane and in utter contradiction to the Word of GD... I don't understand this desire among Jew haters to connect Judaism with the actions of self-hating, anti-Jewish "Jews" and make a connection that this is what Judaism is and thus all Jews are bad. Any decent Jew is obliged by being a Jew to agree with this man's view of same-sex "marriage" as detestable as well as that of the swine piece of sewage Soros (why does that animal choose a Greek name? at least it sounds like one... maybe a JTFer will prove me wrong on that though!)

I understand that in history Catholics have done many thing I "disagree" with (to say the least) but the violence and wickedness propagated by Catholics at various times throughout history was, in fact, in contradiction to Catholicism (even though I disagree with he idea of a Pope). But even then, Jewish religious establishments were never involved in institutional campaigns of unjust violence so perhaps not an appropriate comparison.

[Zelhar]

Soros is a Hungarian name- The dictionary says it means "fatigue man" (If he's so fatigue why can't he just die already ?!). His Original family name was Schwartz, but his family like many self hating Jews in Hungary took a Hungarian name to show how patriotic Hungarians they were.

BTW the Rockefellers are not Jews and never were Jews.

[ProJewGreekChristian]

Soros is a Hungarian name- The dictionary says it means "fatigue man" (If he's so fatigue why can't he just die already ?!). His Original family name was Schwartz, but his family like many self hating Jews in Hungary took a Hungarian name to show how patriotic Hungarians they were.

BTW the Rockefellers are not Jews and never were Jews.

Interesting... I'm sure it has a Greek origin, though 

The Rothschilds are Jews, no? I honestly don't know about ANYTHING they've done, good or bad, so I can't say anything, except that they make some good Bordeaux wine!

[mord]

Soros whatever his names origin should get a quick train to Hell

[muman613]

Soros is a Hungarian name- The dictionary says it means "fatigue man" (If he's so fatigue why can't he just die already ?!). His Original family name was Schwartz, but his family like many self hating Jews in Hungary took a Hungarian name to show how patriotic Hungarians they were.

BTW the Rockefellers are not Jews and never were Jews.

Yes, it is very funny how the antisemites consider people Jews who are not even Jewish. Rockafeller was never a Jew and yet whenever antisemites talk about Jewish conspiracies, they mention Rockafeller in the same sentence...

Such dummies..

[ProJewGreekChristian]

Soros whatever his names origin should get a quick train to Hell

Indeed.

It's funny (actually not really) but recently I was talking with my friend and his grandmother about Israel and they mentioned how much of a Nazi animal Soros is. When I asked them if they knew that he was a Jew they were stunned. Then when I told them, moreover, he escaped the Nazi inferno during WW2 they seemed to think I was exaggerating his intense, irrational self-hatred.

It's a sickness...

[SerbianPatriot89]

I don't really think that antisemitism is on the rise in Greece.I was in Crete last year and anytime i took it to the streets the restorant ownersa would greet me in Hebrew for some reason.Also i talked a lot with the natives.They all seem to be pro Israel,especially since the AKP was elected in 2002.

[muman613]

I don't really think that antisemitism is on the rise in Greece.I was in Crete last year and anytime i took it to the streets the restorant ownersa would greet me in Hebrew for some reason.Also i talked a lot with the natives.They all seem to be pro Israel,especially since the AKP was elected in 2002.

Maybe that is how you feel, but there are Jews who have experienced antisemitism from Greeks...

http://www.aish.com/ci/ss/48951401.html

http://www.aish.com/ci/s/48906512.html

In a leading Greek newspaper, a journalist wrote that the Jews "have vindicated the persecutions of the Nazis. . . . They deserved such an executioner [as Hitler] since they proved to be murderers themselves." At a televised reception to mark the publication of his memoirs, Mikis Theodorakis, the composer of "Zorba the Greek," denounced Jews. "These little people are the root of evil," he told an audience that included two cabinet members -- neither of whom reacted to his antisemitic outburst.

I believe that the Greeks have the capacity to be antisemitic. But I hope each day to see things turn around...

http://www.ohrtmimim.org/global/print.asp?ID=2779&type=TO

Vacationers shunned the place, trips, hotel reservations and plane tickets were cancelled but for Rabbi Yoel Kaplan, the Chabad Representative in Sloniki, Greece it was just another challenge.

Rabbi Kaplan thrived on the unusual. His home, like all the hundreds of Chabad Houses throughout the world, was open to the public 24/7 with the hope of helping Jews and Judaism …and that required expecting the unexpected.

In the days of the rioting there was nothing to do there. And even weeks after the rioting signs of vandalism were everywhere and tension filled the air but the Rabbi tried to resume his normal activities.

It wasn’t easy; there were no tourists, certainly no Jewish tourists and after all the violence it seemed wise to just stay indoors for a few more weeks but the Rabbi had a job to do… there must be some Jews out there and then there were some things that were pressing …. like going to the post office daily.

But even such a seemingly simple task was fraught with danger. The post office was located in a part of downtown that was a youth hangout and had been hit the hardest by violence.

There were days that he took side roads to get there and used the back entrance, which meant a serious detour and time loss, just to avoid trouble.

But one day he was running late and forgot to worry for trouble. He headed straight for the post office but as he neared his goal he began to regret it. A group of ten or so healthy looking fellows, some of them with tattooed arms, punk hairdos and other bizarre and frightening body signs were staring at him with hatred in their eyes. His full beard, black hat, long black coat and entire Jewish demeanor were like a red flag before a maddened bull and he was a sitting duck for their frustrations.

He should have turned back, taken an alternate route and avoided them but something told him to just keep walking. From afar he heard the curses they directed at him first in Greek then, because they knew he spoke English, in English; all of them anti-Semitic.

He had experienced Greek anti-Semitism before. Usually he just ignored it but for some reason this time he glanced up, raised one hand and, as he got closer, said in as friendly a tone as possible “Hello, good morning!”.

“Someone talking to you?!” the biggest of them replied sarcastically as the others got ready for some action.

Suddenly the Rabbi realized something. Just like Abraham, the first Jew, some 4,000 years earlier was alone in his quest to bring meaning into a hostile world, but trusted G-d to protect him (therefore we pray to ‘The Shield of Abraham’) so this same ‘G-d of Abraham’ would protect him now.

[ProJewGreekChristian]

I don't really think that antisemitism is on the rise in Greece.I was in Crete last year and anytime i took it to the streets the restorant ownersa would greet me in Hebrew for some reason.Also i talked a lot with the natives.They all seem to be pro Israel,especially since the AKP was elected in 2002.

Hope you had a good trip!

Maybe that is how you feel, but there are Jews who have experienced antisemitism from Greeks...

http://www.aish.com/ci/ss/48951401.html

http://www.aish.com/ci/s/48906512.html


I believe that the Greeks have the capacity to be antisemitic. But I hope each day to see things turn around...

http://www.ohrtmimim.org/global/print.asp?ID=2779&type=TO

sadly, muman, there is truth in what you're saying. The few Nazi, self-hating Greeks I've met on the net are all fanatic atheists, though, calling Orthodox Christianity a "Jew religion" and a "Zionist conspiracy to enslave the minds of non-Jews," as insane as that sounds. They say they don't worship some "Jew Gd." These are clearly traitors to the Έλληνες, and thereby Serbs, though. Ask 99% of Greeks what they would say in response  to that; I guarantee it would be pretty harsh.

 I don't know why a religious Rabbi could be seen as the enemy. Especially for the Atheist Nazis, it's not like they hate Jews just because Jews aren't Christians, they just hate them for no reason, or many crazy, delusional reasons. I hate left-wing Jews, but only because they're left-wing, and I hate them no more than left-wing crackers. This Rabbi was probably pretty right-wing, for family values, and respected Eλλάδα and her sovereignty and needless to say, a civilized person not detracting from social services etc. Yet, this is what they do to someone who stands for the typical things Jew haters say Jews universally fight against.

[SerbianPatriot89]

Maybe that is how you feel, but there are Jews who have experienced antisemitism from Greeks...

http://www.aish.com/ci/ss/48951401.html

http://www.aish.com/ci/s/48906512.html


I believe that the Greeks have the capacity to be antisemitic. But I hope each day to see things turn around...

http://www.ohrtmimim.org/global/print.asp?ID=2779&type=TO

I didn't say there isn't antisemitism in Greece.I just said i didn't experienced many and the people there actually thought i am Jewish.Most of them feel Greece and Israel share a common enemy: Turkey.I feel the same about Israel and Serbia versus the Turkish Albanians.

[ProJewGreekChristian]

I didn't say there isn't antisemitism in Greece.I just said i didn't experienced many and the people there actually thought i am Jewish.Most of them feel Greece and Israel share a common enemy: Turkey.I feel the same about Israel and Serbia versus the Turkish Albanians.

no, no I agree 100%. I was just acknowledging there is truth that Greeks can be anti-Semitic. After I posted my prior post in this thread, I was thinking about that story muman posted. Although I don't want to say that didn't happen to the Rabbi, and such occurrences are terrible, it sounds dubious. Greece, no matter what kind of "riots" are going on, is not at all like the Rabbi's portrayal. He was making it out to be 1992 LA. Violence against people (tourists and random civilians) was virtually non existent; I've never heard of one act in fact, not to say there wasn't one.


EDIT: I just read the whole story... uhhhh... muman... you left the important parts out...lol:



"This was too much for the ‘leader’. He was livid with anger as he made a fist, held it before the Rabbi’s face and said, “I’m a trained boxer. Unless you want to taste a few of these you’d better get away as fast and far as possible and don’t come back!”

Rabbi Kaplan realized that things were about to get out of hand, so he calmly turned to the others, blessed them warmly with a good day and good news and continued on to the post office.

But after he finished his business there and left the building something told him not to take a detour back home, rather to return the same way he came… through the crowd. After all, he was only here to do good; the same G-d of Abraham that protected before would protect him now.

But this time when he passed the group something unexpected happened, they were quiet. He again blessed them with a good day and all of them answered “Same to you.”

He continued walking and the ‘boxer’ that had threatened him previously approached him and stuck out his hand. “I want to apologize for what we said before. We thought about it and decided that you are right. We really know nothing about the Jews. Must be that we were affected by the media or what people say.”

The Rabbi shook his hand, smiled and said. “Apology accepted. The fact is you should never judge anyone before knowing them and for sure you shouldn’t hate anyone just because of their opinions. Here” Said Rabbi Kaplan as he took a calling card from his wallet and handed it to the ‘boxer’, “if you ever want to talk over a cup of coffee … on me!”

[SerbianPatriot89]

no, no I agree 100%. I was just acknowledging there is truth that Greeks can be anti-Semitic. After I posted my prior post in this thread, I was thinking about that story muman posted. Although I don't want to say that didn't happen to the Rabbi, and such occurrences are terrible, it sounds dubious. Greece, no matter what kind of "riots" are going on, is not at all like the Rabbi's portrayal. He was making it out to be 1992 LA. Violence against people (tourists and random civilians) was virtually non existent; I've never heard of one act in fact, not to say there wasn't one.


EDIT: I just read the whole story... uhhhh... muman... you left the important parts out...lol:



"This was too much for the ‘leader’. He was livid with anger as he made a fist, held it before the Rabbi’s face and said, “I’m a trained boxer. Unless you want to taste a few of these you’d better get away as fast and far as possible and don’t come back!”

Rabbi Kaplan realized that things were about to get out of hand, so he calmly turned to the others, blessed them warmly with a good day and good news and continued on to the post office.

But after he finished his business there and left the building something told him not to take a detour back home, rather to return the same way he came… through the crowd. After all, he was only here to do good; the same G-d of Abraham that protected before would protect him now.

But this time when he passed the group something unexpected happened, they were quiet. He again blessed them with a good day and all of them answered “Same to you.”

He continued walking and the ‘boxer’ that had threatened him previously approached him and stuck out his hand. “I want to apologize for what we said before. We thought about it and decided that you are right. We really know nothing about the Jews. Must be that we were affected by the media or what people say.”

The Rabbi shook his hand, smiled and said. “Apology accepted. The fact is you should never judge anyone before knowing them and for sure you shouldn’t hate anyone just because of their opinions. Here” Said Rabbi Kaplan as he took a calling card from his wallet and handed it to the ‘boxer’, “if you ever want to talk over a cup of coffee … on me!”

The last part is very similar to my experience.