The World Should Be Ashamed: Hateful Greek Antisemites Hold a Cruise Ship Hostage

What vile people, and what an absolute disgrace! All I could think of was the ship St Louis, whose Jewish passengers, fleeing from the Holocaust in 1939, were denied admittance to the U.S., Cuba, and Canada. Hundreds of them eventually were murdered in the Holocaust.

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Greek protesters block Israeli cruise ship from docking, forcing reroute to Cyprus; 1,600 passengers aboard the ‘Crown Iris’ spend several hours waiting in vain to disembark in Syros as 300 protesters gather in and around the port to protest Gaza war

By Nava Freiberg

"An Israeli-owned cruise ship was prevented from docking at the Greek island of Syros on Tuesday and was instead rerouted to Cyprus due to a large anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protest taking place at the port.

"The “Crown Iris” cruise ship, operated by Israeli shipping giant Mano Maritime, was carrying roughly 1,600 passengers when it arrived at Ermoupoli, in Syros, at around midday for a six-hour visit.

"Initially, Mano Shipping said that there would be a “slight delay” in disembarking the ship, as it estimated that the demonstration would disperse “within half an hour.”

"But as 3 p.m. came and went and the delay stretched on, Mano Shipping decided to skip Syros entirely and reroute the ship to Limassol in Cyprus instead.

"Passenger Dror Marshalkowitz told Channel 12 that it took the police two hours to arrive at the scene and that “whoever took the decision” to reroute to Cyprus “apparently did the right thing,” given that there were 300-400 children on board and it was best not to put them in danger.

"During the extended delay at the port, passengers told Channel 12 news that they had been told by onboard security to remain indoors, rather than to go out onto the deck.

"One Israeli passenger told the Kan public broadcaster, however, that when one of the passengers saw the protest, “we raised Israeli flags and some of us started singing.”

“We felt safe inside the ship, but the children are a little stressed,” the passenger said.

"The protest was organized by a group of the island’s residents who said on social media that the purpose of the demonstration was to “raise their fists in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.”

“It is unacceptable that tourists from Israel continue to be welcomed here while the Palestinians are suffering in the Strip,” the protesters said.

"Greek reports estimated that around 300 people attended the protest in Ermoupoli, which has a population of roughly 11,000.

"Local outlet Syros Press reported that flyers demanding to “Stop the Genocide” had been scattered on the ground along the entire route leading to the dock, and videos showed a group of protesters carrying a large Palestinian flag as they made their way through the streets. Chants of “Free, Free Palestine!” could be heard in the background.

"Other videos showed protesters waving Palestinian flags on the edge of the dock, chanting slogans in Greek."