Greek Jewish body deplores desecration of cemetery

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) expressed on Monday its abhorrence over the vandalism of tombstones at the Jewish cemetery of Athens, calling on Greek society to condemn the action.

According to police, around 10 marble tombstones were smashed at the 3rd Cemetery of Nikaia in Athens on Friday.

“It is not just another incident of antisemitism. It does not only constitute an act of disrespect towards the memory of our dead brothers, it insults the moral principle of the respect of the dead, which is shared by all three monotheistic religions and our civilization as well,” KIS said in a press release.

“If we remain passive bystanders of the deplorable acts instigated by hate preachers, it will be as if we, ourselves, open again the doors to barbarity, allowing the comeback of the darkest time in history, the time when human beings had lost their human nature,” it added.

KIS called on the authorities, social institutions and intellectuals to stand by the Greek Jewish community by firmly condemning antisemitism.

Earlier on Monday, political parties expressed their disgust over the incident in separate statements.

“Anti-Semitism, and all forms of racism, has no place in Greek society,” a statement by ruling Syriza read.

New Democracy said that “unfortunately the vandalism was not an isolated incident” as a string of such attacks have taken place against Jewish graves and Holocaust monuments in recent years.

Greece’s General Secretariat for Human Rights expressed its abhorrence” saying that “such incidents of hate are a challenge to human dignity and adversely affect society as a whole."