Tourists visiting Crete aboard an Israeli cruise ship were met by anti-Israel protesters on Thursday as they attempted to disembark. However, Greek police quickly dealt with the demonstrators, the Haifa-based cruise line told JNS.
“There was a small demonstration there, no more than 20 to 25 people. The police came and dispersed them, and all the travelers exited normally. They went on their bus tours. And the port is currently open for entry and exit,” Yuval Peleg, spokesman for Mano Maritime, told JNS.
It is at least the third time this year that Israeli tourists on board a Mano Maritime cruise have been singled out by protesters.
According to Israeli news site N12, which interviewed one passenger traveling on board the ship, the protesters threw rocks and metal bars. The passenger said the first Israelis off the boat were forced to retreat back to the ship.
“I’m not responsible for what N12 publishes,” Peleg said. “They say people who left came back. What I’m saying is that as soon as the police arrived and dispersed them, everyone disembarked normally. Everything is open and everything is fine.”
While acknowledging that tourists departing an Israeli-owned cruise line makes for an easy target for protesters, who don’t have to guess as to the nationality of those coming off the ship, Peleg said that at the end of the day such protests are still only sporadic.
“They were in Rhodes yesterday. It was quiet. They were in Rhodes last week, and other places. It was also quiet,” Peleg said, noting that the sad truth is that Israelis have been targeted throughout Europe.
“You can fly overnight to London, go to a square somewhere, and be attacked by some pro-Palestinian. Also in Italy. It’s the same everywhere,” he said.
Greece is determined to crack down on actions targeting Israeli tourists, particularly after a dramatic incident on July 22 when pro-Palestinian protesters prevented them from disembarking at the Greek island of Syros.
Local police there failed to contain roughly 150 protesters, leading the ship to divert to the Cypriot city of Limassol.
Greece’s Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis promised that anyone who tried to prevent a foreign national from legally entering the country would “face prosecution, arrest and then criminal proceedings under the anti-racism law.”
The event rose to the level of an international incident. Israel’s foreign minister called his counterpart to intervene. The ambassadors of Israel and Greece became directly involved.
The citizens of Syros themselves were deeply upset by the hostile reception the Israelis received, which they said was the work of outside elements.
Martakis Notis, a marketing and tourism consultant helping Syros manage the crisis, told JNS: “Everybody in Syros is sad because the image broadcast by the demonstrators didn’t represent the island, which is civilized and welcoming to people from all over the world.”
Notis said that he could only hope Mano would not remove the island from its itineraries.
