Protest against Israeli cruise ship sparks debate in Greece

Protesters on the island of Syros said it was unacceptable to welcome Israeli tourists while Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were starving and decried the increasingly close relationship between Israel and Greece.

“We owe an apology to these friends of Greece who chose to spend their holidays here and were forcibly denied it by some,” Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis wrote on the social media platform X. “Our country remains hospitable to all and antisemitism has no place here!”

His comments came in response to last Tuesday’s protests on the island of Syros, where around 300 demonstrators assembled at the island’s port carrying Palestinian flags and a large banner that said, “Stop the genocide.”

They were there to meet the MS Crown Iris, a ship owned by the Israeli cruise line, Mano Maritime.

Full story Protest against Israeli cruise ship sparks debate in Greece