A series of anti-Israel protests were organized in Greece on August 10. However, they only got a fraction of the showing that they threatened to have.
By Rachel Avraham
According to a recent report in the Jerusalem Post, 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.
According to the report, pictures published on social media by the anti-Israel groups showed beaches, ports, and cultural sites flooded with activists rallying against Greece’s relations with Israel and the presence of Israeli tourists in the country during the Gaza War.
“Our land, our sea, and our communities have no space for Zionists and supporters of genocide,” read the notes distributed by the Nisyros Island chapter of March to Gaza to visitors of the Greek island. “We will not offer recreational time and space for IDF murderers. If you support the genocide against the Palestinians, you are not welcome here! If you choose to turn a blind eye, we urge you to take a stand.”
In front of the Meteora rock formation in northwestern Greece, according to a photograph shared by March to Gaza Greece, a flag of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organization flew among several Palestinian national flags, the Jerusalem Post reported. On Saturday night, anti-Israel activists interrupted a Zakynthos concert by singer Vasilis Papakonstantinou, draping a Palestinian flag across the stage, the Jerusalem Post added.
Ahead of the Greek Day of Rage, Haaretz reported: “In light of planned events on August 10, 2025,” read the precaution, the Foreign Ministry recommended that Israelis “stay away from areas of demonstrations, avoid public debates and expressing political positions in public spaces, and minimize visible signs of identification (such as [Israeli] flags, shirts with Hebrew writing, IDF symbols).”
Haaretz reported that protest leaders called for activists to gather at popular tourist destinations, urging them to turn “beaches, alleys and mountaintops” into sites of protest, not relaxation. The “Day of Rage” follows several incidents of anti-Israel protests in Greece over the last few months, including protesters preventing Israeli cruises from docking and vandalism targeting an Israeli restaurant in Athens, Haaretz added.
However, the Times of Israel reported that social media pages connected with BDS Greece and several other anti-Israel organizations in Greece posted photos of numerous small gatherings on different islands throughout the country. According to the report, most appear to have just a handful of participants, or several dozen at most.
Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis slammed the anti-Israel protesters as uncaring about the jobs and economic situation of fellow citizens: “They have no humanity. They simply hate the West and are antisemites. If they cared about innocent victims in general, they would talk about the Druze, the Hamas hostages, the massacre of Christians in Sudan, the oppression of women in Afghanistan, etc.,” Georgiadis said on X/Twitter on July 28.
According to Minister Georgiadis, “They only care about Gaza because that is how they slander the Western democracies, which they hate. They don’t even care about anything that concerns Greece, of course, which they also hate.”
In an August 3 social media post, Voice of Reason MEP Afroditi Latinopoulou challenged activists to go to Gaza if they wanted to raise a Palestinian flag, but said that they shouldn’t do so in Greece.
Photo from NEWS9 Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDhcNfs5ct4
