Pro-Palestinian protesters and Israeli tourists shouted angry and insulting slogans at each other the port of Heraklio on the island of Crete earlier on Thursday.
The tourists had disembarked from Israeli-flagged cruise ship Crown Iris whose passengers are often confronted with pro-Palestinian protesters when the ship docks at the ports of Greek islands or the mainland.
Strong riot police forces were deployed at the Heraklio port to protect the visitors and at some point there was tension between police and demonstrators on the waterfront with the latter to make limited use of tear gas.
According to local cretalivenews.gr, despite the strong presence of the police, several protesters arrived in front of the port central entrance and began shouting in solidarity with Palestine. At the same time, from the port side, some Israelis disembarking from the cruise ship responded with insulting slogans against the Palestinians.
It was then when the riot police fired tear gas at the protesters.
There were also passengers on the cruise ship who made short statement to TV cameras did not refuse to make statements to the television cameras. Among others, they pointed out that “everyone seeks peace” but also saying that the Crown Iris is carrying people who are on vacation, who “want to have a good time, visit the island and do their shopping.”
The cruise ship carries approximately 1,815 passengers, among them normal tourists but also members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on leave from the bombing and killing in Gaza.
The Crown Iris was initially scheduled to dock in Mykonos island, however, due to weather conditions, it changed its course and headed for Crete. It will sail for another port on the island, Agios Nikolaos, at 10 o’ clock tonight.
Last time, the Crown Iris docked at Agios Nikolaos, its passengers were “welcomed” by a big protest, too.
*pictures: cretapost.gr, cretalive.gr
Ah, the poor Israelis just want “to have a good time and do their shopping”, do they? This is before or after murdering Palestinian children, foreign doctors and journalists?
that’s in-between