[ALBSA-Info] Greece

[Uk Lushi]

>>
>>Greek Jews Wary of Backlash
>>By Brian Murphy
>>Associated Press Writer
>>Wednesday, May 31, 2000; 4:34 p.m. EDT
>>
>>ATHENS, Greece –– The messages dripped of pure hate. "Hitler was right,"
>>vandals wrote during the desecration last week of the largest Jewish
>>cemetery in Greece. A similar message appeared on a Jewish community Web
>>site.
>>
>>The attacks are startling in a nation with no history of widespread
>>anti-Semitism and a strong distaste for Fascist-style groups since the
>>collapse of a military dictatorship in 1974.
>>
>>But Greece's small Jewish community is being targeted in the backlash
>>against a government plan to remove religious affiliations from identity
>>cards – a proposal that has incensed the powerful Greek Orthodox Church.
>>
>>Many opponents blame a vague "conspiracy" of Jews and European Union
>>bureaucrats for the ID changes. Church leaders have declared a "relentless
>>struggle" to overturn the plan, which they see as a first step toward a
>>possible separation of church and state.
>>
>>"We ask our politicians: Are they listening to the Greek Orthodox people 
>>or
>>the Jewish lobby?" protest leader Panayiotis Lyras said at a march 
>>Wednesday
>>of about 2,500 people opposed to the plan.
>>
>>"Those who lay a hand on Orthodoxy will pay for it. There are battles
>>ahead," he said as the marchers headed toward parliament.
>>
>>Most mainstream clerics have been careful to distance themselves from any
>>calls for violence. Yet cliques of religious fringe groups and
>>ultra-nationalists have drawn considerable strength from the 
>>church-fostered
>>controversy.
>>
>>The cemetery attack – Nazi slogans and symbols painted on buildings and 
>>more
>>than 90 graves last Friday – was the third against Jews or Jewish sites in
>>Greece in a month.
>>
>>"Jewish plot behind the IDs," said a headline in the Orthodox Press, a
>>weekly newspaper thought to reflect church thinking.
>>
>>Meanwhile, the crusaders fighting the ID changes are trying to rally 
>>support
>>with calls similar to the slogan of the 1967-74 junta: "Greece for 
>>Christian
>>Greeks."
>>
>>A parliament member, Giorgos Karatzaferis, has made an issue of whether a
>>respected colleague, Miltiades Evert, wore a yarmulke while accepting an
>>award for his father's role in saving Jews during the Nazi occupation of
>>Greece. Only about 5,000 Jews remain from a prewar population of more than
>>80,000.
>>
>>"Who is, or who is not with the Jews?" said Karatzaferis, who has used his
>>Athens television station as a soapbox to attack the ID changes. "Who
>>conspires and who does not conspire against our country?"
>>
>>Jewish leaders note there are no signs of an organized ultra-nationalist
>>political movement such as Austria's Freedom Party. But there are clear
>>worries of a backlash against anyone not Greek Orthodox, who comprise more
>>than 97 percent of the population.
>>
>>"It's xenophobia," said Jean Cohen, a Greek Jewish journalist and
>>commentator. "There is a difference between being anti-Semitic and
>>xenophobic ... Xenophobic means they are against anyone who is not Greek
>>Orthodox."
>>
>>At a news conference Wednesday, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church,
>>Archbishop Christodoulos, used descriptions that could be viewed as
>>incompatible with the secular and multicultural strivings of the European
>>Union.
>>
>>"The Greek church and people are one and the same," he said. "Greeks are
>>Christian Orthodox."
>>
>>But, he later added, Jews "have no reason to be scared."
>>
>>Andreas Andreanopoulos, a commentator writing in the daily Exousia
>>newspaper, blamed Greek Orthodox leaders for "cultivating a dangerous 
>>spirit
>>of inquisitorial mania and fanaticism."
>>
>>This atmosphere can turn suddenly against minorities, some scholars say.
>>
>>"Anytime you have ethnic identity and religion intertwined, as in the case
>>of the Greek Orthodox Church, there is the potential for very negative
>>attitudes toward anyone considered an enemy of their perception of the
>>world," said Doug Bandow, an analyst specializing in religion and politics
>>at the Cato Institute in Washington.
>>
>>© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
>>

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