Greece’s Foreign Ministry disavowed a post published on the official social media account of the Greek Embassy in Luxembourg that advertised the anti-Israel protests held across the country on Sunday.
The ministry’s spokesman emphasized that the content of the post “does not represent the official position of our country,” in a statement on Tuesday.
The spokesman added that administrative and disciplinary procedures prescribed by law have already been initiated “in order to clarify the circumstances under which the controversial post was made on the official social media account of the Embassy of Greece in Luxembourg and to assign the appropriate responsibilities.”
The Jerusalem Post found the now-deleted post, which read, “DAY OF ACTION FOR PALESTINE at more than 100 locations across the country, on the islands and the mainland; mobilizations are taking place today with the demand ‘to stop the genocide’ in Gaza.”
Alongside the text was a map of the protest locations taken directly from the social media of the organizing groups.
On Sunday, Greek anti-Israel activists waved Palestinian flags and raised signs opposing Israeli tourists in a coordinated mass protest at over 100 islands and cities, according to organizing groups BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) Greece, March to Gaza Greece, and Palestinian Community Greece.
Victor Eliezer, the general secretary of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, traveled to the island of Alonissos to observe the action. He told the Post on Sunday evening that “there was not massive participation in these demonstrations” despite what the organizers said.
In fact, he said in some cases the policemen outnumbered the demonstrators.
'Not a pleasant phenomenon'
Nevertheless, he said that “it is not a pleasant phenomenon to see demonstrators looking for ‘Zionists’ in ports or squares in Greece.”
“It is the new antisemitism, which demonizes and delegitimizes the collective right of the Jewish people to live as a nation in his land, equal to other nations. Criticism of the policy of the Israeli government is not antisemitism. Delegitimization of the right of the state of Israel to exist is antisemitism.”
“We hope that Greece will remain a safe place for the Jewish community and the Jewish visitors, either from Israel or from any other country,” he concluded.