EJC President Moshe Kantor: “Murderous violence against foreigners and minorities in Greece is the natural result of tolerating racist and anti-Semitic incitement.”
The European Jewish Congress (EJC) expresses its profound shock and condemnation at the cold-blooded and racist murder of a Pakistani worker on the streets of Athens on Thursday.”
EJC President Dr. Moshe Kantor described the attack as “yet another example of a continuing climate of racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric and physical violence which finds its motivation in Parliament and violent expression on the streets.”
Two Greek men have been arrested in connection with the attack which saw a Pakistani worker knifed to death after being dragged off his scooter near the Acropolis in central Athens early Thursday morning.
“We are witness to an increasing violence against foreigners and minorities in Greece which is the natural result of inaction by the authorities against racist and anti-Semitic hate speech and violent attacks”.
“Racist violence and murder does not exist in a vacuum” Dr. Kantor said. The presence of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party with its paramilitary gangs of thugs on the streets, its swastikas, and leaders in Parliament openly inciting against minorities while engaging in Holocaust denial, is a national disgrace for a country that prides itself as the foundation of democracy” Dr Kantor said. “As we prepare to mark next week International Holocaust Remembrance Day marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we recall the pogroms and the street attacks which lead in a straight line to the death camps.”
“We call on all democratic parties in Greece to legislate against the presence of fascist and racist political groupings and to fully investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of these shocking crimes.”
“The European Jewish Congress federates 42 national Jewish communities across the European continent. The EJC holds consultancy status as a recognized international NGO at the Council of Europe and within the institutions of the European Union.”
