Greece: Church comes against Shoah Monument, Mayor accuses Jews

Via Abravanel (h/t Anti-Racism Network):

Anyway we have the full, unedited, speech by Mayor Tsanaka which you can read (unfortunately only in Greek, but do read the blog post by kavaliote journalist S.Christoforidou which also attended) in the link. Here’s the rundown:

The Mayor never apologized to the Jews. She only expressed her personal regret and apologies for those who came from away and may not be able to come again for financial reasons.

The Mayor blamed the Jews and especially the vice-president of the Jewish Central Board mr.Magrizos, for the cancellation.

(...)

In the meantime the international outcry had two distinct effects: mainstream political parties, (with the exception of the nazi Golden Dawn and the Communist Party of Greece), issued strong statements in favor of the monument and greek media followed along; a columnist jokingly remarked that Mayor Tsanaka singlehandedly united the political spectrum. On the other hand, one by one, the major opponents of the monument have come out publicly in a last minute effort to abort the inauguration: 

1. The president of the municipal counsil Giorgos Grammenos stated on the radio that he is against the monument (in that place) because of his religious beliefs. He also asked for vice-mayor Lichounas, who is a major advocate for the monument, to resign because he no longer enjoys the trust of their political group. He is probably one of the 2 councilmen the Mayor mentioned as major opponents of the monument.

2. The Metropolis of Kavala made an announcement which practically pits herself against the monument, (source the local newspaper Χρονόμετρο). It denies the uniqueness of the Holocaust. It says that the Holocaust did not happen in Kavala (suggesting in other words, that it does not concern Kavala), although she says that more urgent is heightening the visibility for the «equally horrible genocides» of greeks which happened during the greco-turkish wars in Asia Minor ! She also claims the monument is not needed to keep the memory alive. Indicative is how the Star of David is perceived: it is an «ideological» symbol which is placed along the five-pointed satanic star ! This announcement confirms the rumors that the Metropolis played a major role in the delay from 2004 to 2015.


I would have liked to claim that this is an isolated incident but unfortunately it is not. Last year there was an effort to remove Thessaloniki’s Holocaust Monument which was thwarted by a combined effort by the Jewish Community and the Mayor Boutaris who had to pivot around members of his own administration. The uniqueness of Kavala is the protagonists were honest and managed to give us a clear view of greek antisemitism: the very existence of Jewish symbols is not to be tolerated on religious grounds, the Jews still conspire against us through Israel, we Christians have suffered just as much, the Holocaust did not happen here, it is not unique and does not concern us. The Orthodox Church still exerts a huge influence over greek politicians and unfortunately religious antisemitism remains a major part of her culture. And unfortunately we still need to be told by others that racism and antisemitism is not accepted by the rest of the world.  more