RSS
Athens Mayor Accuses Israel of Genocide After Criticism of Greek City’s Antisemitic Graffiti

A man waves a Palestinian flag as pro-Hamas demonstrators protest next to the Greek parliament, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Athens, Greece, May 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Haris Doukas, the mayor of the Greek capital city Athens, on Sunday responded to criticism from Israel’s chief diplomat to the country, Ambassador Noam Katz, with charges of genocide against the Jewish state.
In an interview with Greece’s Kathimerini newspaper, Katz said that antisemitic vandalism in Athens had generated concerns among Israeli tourists. He charged that Doukas, a member of the Socialist PASOK party, had failed to counter the “organized” groups responsible for the hateful graffiti. In one example, on July 12, six individuals entered an Israeli restaurant in Athens and sprayed black paint on walls and tables in addition to dropping pamphlets. They spray-painted graffiti with slogans such as “No Zionist is safe here” and posted a sign on one of the restaurant’s windows that read, “All IDF soldiers are war criminals — we don’t want you here,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
Doukas pushed back on the accusation, lashing out against Israel.
“We do not accept lessons in democracy from those who kill civilians,” he wrote in Greek on X. “Athens, the capital of a democratic country, fully respects its visitors and supports the right of free expression of its citizens.”
Doukas asserted that “as the city’s municipal authority, we have proven our active opposition to violence and racism and we do not accept lessons in democracy from those who kill civilians and children in food lines, from those who lead dozens of people to death every day in Gaza, from bombs, hunger and thirst.”
The mayor rejected Katz’s charge of tolerating antisemitic crimes.
“It is appalling that Mr. Ambassador focuses only on graffiti (which is apparently being erased), while an unprecedented genocide is taking place in Gaza,” Doukas wrote. “I should also inform Mr. Ambassador that in the last year the number of Israelis granted Greek Golden Visas has increased by over 90%.”
The mayor’s comments came days after the coach of Israel’s national soccer team, Ran Ben Shimon, was physically assaulted by a pro-Palestinian activist who also shouted “Free Palestine” at him in Athens last month before a match between Hapoel Be’er Sheva and their Greek rivals AEK Athens. During the match, anti-Israel soccer fans throughout the stadium loudly chanted “F–k you Israel. Viva [Free] Palestine,” as seen in multiple videos from the scene that were later shared on social media. AEK Athens fans also raised numerous Palestinian flags in the stadium.
Then last week, anti-Israel protesters clashed with Greek riot police on the island of Rhodes as they attempted to block an Israeli cruise ship — the MS Crown Iris, owned by Israeli cruise line Mano Maritime — from docking at the island’s main port. The incident came one week after protesters prevented hundreds of Israeli passengers from disembarking the same cruise ship near the island of Syros.
In June, an Israeli tourist was attacked by a group of pro-Palestinian activists after they overheard him using Google Maps in Hebrew while navigating through Athens. When the attackers realized the victim was speaking Hebrew, they began physically assaulting him while shouting antisemitic slurs.
Last year, a mob of pro-Hamas demonstrators attempted to break into a hotel where Israeli tourists were staying in Athens, leading Greek police to deploy gas grenades to disperse the crowd and restore order.
“We reiterate that criticism of the government of Israel, no matter how severe, does not constitute antisemitic behavior,” the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece said in a statement on June 19. “However, the sweeping, ahistorical, and categorical characterizations of Israeli citizens as murderers, Nazis, and unwelcome in Greece is a vulgar and unacceptable hate-filled rhetoric that threatens the well-being of Greek Jewish citizens and endangers the safety of foreign citizens of Jewish faith who, for any reason, reside in or visit our country.”
The Jewish communal group called upon “the State, regional, and municipal authorities to condemn these phenomena and take all necessary measures to protect the lives of Greek citizens of Jewish faith as well as the Jewish visitors. It is imperative that a clear message of zero tolerance be sent against the rising tide of Judeophobia in our country, which unquestionably leads to antisemitism. History teaches us that antisemitism may begin by targeting the Jews, but it never ends with the Jews. It undermines the values of freedom and culture of the entire society.”
Greece features both one of the lowest Jewish populations in Europe —5,000, mostly based in Athens —and one of the continent’s highest levels of antisemitism.
According to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) update released in January to its annual Global 100 survey of antisemitism levels by country, 50 percent of adults — 4.3 million people — embrace at least six antisemitic stereotypes, what the longtime watchdog group defines as possessing “antisemitic attitudes.” This ranks Greece at 74 out of 103 countries in levels of antisemitism, with lower numbers indicating lower levels of hate against Jews. The ADL’s data shows elevated levels of antisemitism among those 35-49 (56 percent) and over 50 (55 percent) while individuals 18-34 reached 34 percent.
In comparison, Greece’s northeast neighbor Bulgaria reached a 45-percent rate with 2.6 million of its citizens embracing antisemitic attitudes, while nearby Italy (a roughly two-hour flight from Athens to Rome) reached a 26-percent level, or 13.1 million people. The Institute for Jewish Policy Research reports a “core” Jewish population in Italy of 26,800 and a “Law of Return” Jewish population of 48,910. This indicates that while Italy includes a higher Jewish population, its per capita rate of Jews to the broader population (approximately 59 million people) is lower.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.