Greece condemns ‘outrageous’ protest that barred Israeli cruise ship from docking: ‘Antisemitism will not be tolerated’

A day after a large anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protest prevented an Israeli-owned cruise ship from docking at the Greek island of Syros — forcing its 1,600 passengers to reroute to Cyprus — Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis condemns the “outrageous” incident, stating that “any form” of antisemitism “will not be tolerated.”

“Antisemitism and any form of fascism and racism will not be tolerated in Greece,” Marinakis says in an interview addressing the incident with Parapolitika Radio 90.1, as cited by the AMNA news agency.

“I consider what happened in Syros to be outrageous. There are no words to describe it. It is an incident which, I must say on behalf of the Greek government, is isolated, and the authorities must do everything in their power to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again,” he continues.

“Every necessary measure must be taken to ensure that in such incidents, citizens are protected, regardless of where they come from, their origin, religion, or anything else,” Marinakis says.

“Protesting is not prohibited… If citizens need to be relocated to a place where they can carry out their demonstration perfectly well, then that must happen,” he adds, noting that “caution is needed regarding the very fine line between a protest and an act directed against any individual, regardless of their origin or religion.”

“If certain individuals, whose behavior falls under provisions of the anti-racism law, should be arrested, then they must be arrested,” he says.

Marinakis emphasizes that “there is no issue” in Greece-Israel relations as a result of the incident.

Before the decision was made to reroute the ship to Cyprus, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke with his Greek counterpart, Giorgos Gerapetritis, to request Athens’ “intervention” in resolving the issue.