Hundreds of people gathered early in the morning on Wednesday at the port of Volos to protest the arrival of Israeli-flagged cruise ship “Crown Iris”.
Strong riot police forces hindered the protesters from coming closer to Israeli tourists with sound flares.
The march of local collectives, unions, organizations and members of the communist party KKE began at 7:30 in the morning through the streets of Volos, short before the Crown Iris docked at the port at 8 a.m.
Protesters were holding pro-Palestinian banners and chanted slogans in favor of Palestine and against Israel and the police.
They attempted several times and in different ways to enter the port and to come close to the cruise ship and the touristic buses waiting for them to transport them to the city center, Pelion and Meteora. However, every time they were met and prohibited by at least one riot police squad.
At one point, there was tension between protesters and police.
Later when they tried again to enter the port, police pushed back the protesters and threw sound flares into the crowd, local media magnisianews reported.
Mayor of Volos, Achilleas Mpeos, described the protest as “a pathetic phenomenon” claiming that it has “caused damage in local tourism.”
Pro-Palestinian protests were held in July on several Greek islands.
More pictures & videos: magnisianews.gr
No one wants to be called an antisemite, I suppose that’s why this is censored in the international media. The war in Gaza is disturbing on so many levels, but I was never a fan of punishing the citizens of a nation for the sins of their leaders. Also, it’s important to understand that there is media censorship also in Israel and it’s citizens are being told that genocide and famine do not exist in Israel and is propaganda from the western media. Even soldiers only know their tasks and not the big picture or overall strategy. So, denouncing Israeli tourists will only make them feel vilified and justified and they will call Greeks antisemites. With that said, leftist Israelis are trying to call attention to the actions of the government through their own protests.