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Crete protesters try to block arrival of Israeli tourists

Crete protesters try to block arrival of Israeli tourists

Arab News3 days ago
ATHENS: Greek police used tear gas and made arrests as some 300 people tried to block an Israeli cruise ship on the island of Crete, the latest in a series of protests targeting the vessel.
The protesters at the port of Agios Nikolaos waved banners saying 'Stop the genocide' as the Crown Iris approached, according to images on the public broadcaster ERT.
The images also showed police using tear gas to disperse the crowd, allowing several hundred passengers to board buses on the island.
'I had a sore throat from the tear gas and had to leave the demonstration,' Elena Toutoudaki, a teacher in her fifties, told AFP.
Three people were arrested before being released, according to a local police source.
Protesters have targeted the Crown Iris, with around 600 mostly Israelis on board, in other Greek islands.
On Monday, protesters scuffled with police who made eight arrests as it docked in Rhodes, media reports said, while last week 200 people protested in Syros as the ship approached.
Police had insisted passengers could disembark on Syros, but the Times of Israel reported that the ship's owners decided to skip the island.
Greek Minister of Citizen Protection Mihalis Chryssohoidis subsequently said anyone who 'prevents a citizen of a third country from visiting our country will be prosecuted under the anti-racism law.'
Numerous demonstrations against the Israeli war on Gaza have taken place in Athens and other cities across Greece.
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However, by May 2024 he changed his evaluation of Israel's military campaign, labelling it genocide, as he believes there is mounting evidence showing intent behind Israel's actions. Back then, the Israeli army had ordered Palestinians out of Rafah, in the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, and moved them to Mawasi – a coastal area with almost no shelter. The army proceeded to flatten Rafah. 'Statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his government constitute proof of their intent to destroy the Palestinians and to make Gaza uninhabitable,' Bartov told Euronews. Israeli officials have, for example, referred to Palestinians as 'human animals,' also saying they would reduce Gaza to 'rubble'. As per the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide can be established when there is an 'intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.' Prosecuting those responsible for genocide remains a complicated and complex matter, with cases in front of international courts taking as long as 14 years, as was the case in verdicts on the Bosnian genocide in Srebrenica. While some experts see genocide as "crime of all crimes", others argue that genocide is a legal category that should not be observed as more important than war crimes or crimes against humanity, cautioning against prolonged court cases in pursuit of justice. Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Zawaida in central Gaza, 31 July, 2025 Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Zawaida in central Gaza, 31 July, 2025 AP Photo To prove a genocide, you also have to show that the intent is being implemented and that there are no other motives than wanting to destroy the group, Bartov explained. He further pointed to systematic Israeli military operations aimed at demolishing 'hospitals, mosques, museums and the goal is then to force the population to leave,' despite the fact that 'people won't and can't leave and have no place to go to.' Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of conducting a genocidal campaign, stating its operation is solely geared towards disempowering and eradicating Hamas. Also, Israel has stated it never intentionally targeted civilians, in turn accusing Hamas of using them as human shields. What distinguishes Israel's operation in Gaza from ethnic cleansing and confirms the will to destroy Palestinians, according to Bartov, is that 'you make it impossible for that group to reconstitute itself and it is section D of the Genocide Convention, it's about imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.' He points to a recent 65-page report by Israeli NGO Physicians for Human Rights that says Israel's actions in Gaza amount to genocide. 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"If one has an interest in protecting Israel, helping it become a decent place, it has to impose measures on it now that would stop not only the killing of Palestinians but also the rapid erosion of democracy,' he implored. Bartov also expressed further concerns about the effect of Israel being a pariah state on Jewish communities around the world, which he says would be 'severe,' pointing to the rise of antisemitism. Bartov, who focused a great deal of his research on Nazi crimes, also deplores that institutions set up to commemorate the Holocaust, be they memorial centres or museums, have been silent on Gaza. Their mandate is not only to remind the public of the horrors of the Holocaust but also to prevent future atrocities by promoting education and remembrance. Their failure to speak up, he says, will dent their credibility. 'They will no longer be able to present themselves as anything but institutions that are only concerned with what could be done to the Jews by the Nazis. Anything else is not their business.' Asked whether the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October 2023, that left close to 1,200 Israelis dead, could also be qualified as genocide, Bartov says: 'obviously, it was a war crime. Obviously, it was a crime against humanity because of the large numbers of civilians killed." "One would need to adjudicate that but it could be, if it is connected to the Hamas charter of the late 1980s which is an antisemitic, genocidal document, it could be seen as genocidal act.' 'I'm a little sceptical about that, but certainly I think one could make that argument. I'm sceptical because Hamas actually issued different documents later," Bartov concluded. — Euronews

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