Posted on 08/28/2004 3:36:29 AM PDT by F14 Pilot
JERUSALEM - Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, who outraged Jews in November by calling them "the root of evil," is at it again, this time saying Jews control the world's banks and the mass media.
Theodorakis, best known for the score of the 1964 film "Zorba the Greek," called himself a "true friend of the Jewish people" in an interview published Friday by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Theodorakis said he granted the interview to try to soothe the feelings he hurt in November.
"And I was very much hurt by the Jewish reaction to what I said. It was not a civilized reaction," he told the paper. He said he had received hundreds of "poisonous e-mails from Jews all over the world. I couldn't understand this hatred toward me."
But Theodorakis went on to reiterate his earlier comments and used common anti-Semitic invectives.
He said he doesn't hate Jews, but rather Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s policies regarding the Palestinians, which he described as Nazi-like. Sharon — and other Jews in influential positions — persuaded U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) to go to war against Iraq (news - web sites), he added.
Theodorakis' comments in November led Israel to complain to the Greek government, which distanced itself from the composer's remarks.
In March, the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish advocacy group, urged Jews not to visit Greece, saying: "There is no country in Europe that matches the intensity of anti-Semitic invective."
The composer — who wrote the Palestinian national anthem — also said there is no anti-Semitism in Europe, despite a recent wave of anti-Jewish attacks.
He called Jewish claims of anti-Semitism a "masochistic reaction" by a people who like to be "the victim."
Theodorakis claimed Jews control banks, the mass media and the United States.
"They hold world finance in their hands, so it's only natural that they would see themselves as very strong," Theodorakis said. "In America the Jewish community is very strong. It controls much of the economy, certainly the mass media," he said.
Theodorakis said Jewish control of orchestras has prevented him from holding concerts.
"The Jewish people now appear to control the big banks. And often the governments. So whatever bad or evil comes from the governments, it's natural for ordinary people to associate that with the Jewish people," he said.
After describing how his religious grandmother believed Jews drank the blood of Christian boys during Easter, the composer said the problem was that Jews didn't accept Jesus.
PING!
This guy are not smart.
This guy is clueless.
A hero of the European left no less!
(Don't think these comments will be published in many European newspapers.)
That's a known fact - move on...
In other words: anti-Semitic AND bone stupid.
This man is such scum. Why not just ignore the story? It may be an example of the new European antisemitism, but I've seen it posted four times in the last few days. Let it collapse into ignominy.
ROTFLMAO! Stop it Mikis you're killin me!!
And all blacks have a natural sense of rhythm, alll Germans are warlike, all Frenchman are great cook....
Racism, the last resort of a small mind.
Something like 95% of Greeks think Israel is the greatest threat to world peace. Does anyone know why Greeks are so anti-semitic? Does it have to do with Israel's supposed alliance with Turkey, Greece's traditional enemy?
"And I was very much hurt by the Jewish reaction to what I said. It was not a civilized reaction," he told the paper.
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
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