Protesters on Crete demonstrated against the war in Gaza on Tuesday, July 29, targeting the arrival of the Israeli cruise ship Crown Iris at the port of Agios Nikolaos, the third such protest on a Greek island in a week.
Demonstrators unfurled a large Palestinian flag and chanted “Free, free Palestine” as passengers disembarked and boarded tour buses.
Riot police kept the protesters back, and scuffles broke out, with local media reporting the use of pepper spray. Four people were detained.
The previous day, similar scenes occurred in Rhodes, where the Crown Iris again docked amid anti-war protests. While passengers disembarked for tours, no violence was reported.
The first protest took place on July 22 in Syros, where around 150 people gathered with banners reading “Stop the Genocide” and “No a/c in hell.”
The ship’s 1,700 passengers remained on board, and it departed earlier than scheduled. The cruise operator, Israel’s Mano Cruise, said it diverted the ship “in light of the situation in the city of Syros.”
The Syros protest prompted a call from Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.
Source: AP News.
