Greece arrests seven people over arson attacks on a synagogue and Israeli-owned hotel in Athens

Greece’s anti-terrorism police have arrested seven people over arson attacks against an Israeli-owned hotel and a synagogue in central Athens.

A 25-year-old Greek woman, two Iranians aged 46 and 36, and an Afghan accomplice, 44, were arrested over a May 15, 2024 attack with a makeshift incendiary bomb on a building housing an Israeli-owned hotel and restaurant.

The four were accused of arson that could potentially put human lives at risk and of causing damage to foreign-owned property in a racially motivated attack.

In another incident on June 18, a 44-year-old Greek man and a 26-year-old Afghan rode near a synagogue in Athens on a motorcycle and threw flammable material at its entrance, causing fire, police said. A police official said a 30-year-old Iranian had been arrested as their accomplice.

The three were accused of arson, gun possession, and robbery, among other violations, the official added.

Five of those arrested have been detained, and two have been released on restrictions while awaiting trial.

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Declaration of the EJC on the 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau

The Shoah, the systematic and deliberate mission of the Nazis and their collaborators to annihilate the Jewish people, resulted in the murder of six million Jews between 1939 and 1945. This unparalleled atrocity in world history must never be trivialised, contextualised, or compared, as such acts perpetuate the suffering of its victims and their descendants.