[Ancesthntr]

In defense of one Greek though, my girlfriend's grandmother is Greek. She married into a Jewish family and has been nothing but nice to me and my girlfriend (we're both Jewish).

Which proves the point that in every nation or religion there are good people and bad people. Fact is, each of us has good and bad within ourselves.

That being said, over time and in general Greece has not been the friendliest country, nor Greeks the friendliest people, toward Jews and either the ancient or modern nation of Israel. The story of Chanukah is of Jewish rebels in Greek-occupied Israel fighting for their independence against a ruler who had pigs sacrificed in the Holy of Holies of the Temple. That was roughly 2,170 years ago, so I don't pin that on anyone or any government operating today, but it is part of an historical pattern of behavior (albeit not so extreme at all times). Balancing that off is the behavior of Alexander the Great, who was extremely friendly toward Jews and respectful of our religious practices. To this very day, many Jewish boys are named Alexander for this reason.

The real bottom line here - IMHO - is that the present government of Greece is not at all friendly toward Israel, and its call for restraint on both sides does a serious disservice to the victim in this situation, Israel.

[longtermmemmory]

"It is vital, to stop the (situation) worsening, Hizbullah must immediately release the soldiers taken hostage,"

TRANSLATION: Hammas, you are getting you posterior kicked return the hostages and end this stupidity.


"....calls on the government of Israel to avoid the use of excessive and pointless force which cannot provide a solution to the problem."

TRANSLATION: Israel, make sure you shots are accurate if you are going to use overwhelming force. Hammas, you are out gunned and have no hope of comming out of this alive.






Footnote: I think what is realy going on is the fact that ALL the nations in the area are putting their forces on alert. More inclursion flights from turkey, more defense flights from Greece. The green zone in cyprus gets a little more fortified. Turkey starts to worry if they divert forces the kurds will act up. and on and on...

[apro]

Ancesthntr, you and many others it seems from this thread, obviously have no clue as to what the hell your are talking about. As for your supposed "historical" knowledge I question even that, especially when you are comparing Greeks "not liking" Jews since ancient times because of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. If you really knew history, the battles between Antiochus and the Maccabees had nothing to do with Greeks "not liking" Jews and more to do with the political turmoil that was rocking the region back then. If you did know history, you would also have known that Antiochus ALSO attacked fellow Greeks such as the Ptolemy Dynasty. Hate to break it to you but it was more ambition that had Antiochus going at war and nothing to do with any "supposed" Greek dislike of Jews. Also if you really knew history you would have known that it was a GREEK, Ptolemy Philadelphus II ([285–247 BC]), that had the Toran translated into Greek for the Hellenistic Jews who did not speak Hebrew to be able to read and understand Jewish history and he wanted to make the books part of the Library of Alexandria's collection. Ptolemy wrote to the chief priest, Eleazar, in Jerusalem, and arranged for six translators from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The translators arrived in Alexandria to Ptolemy's gracious hospitality, and translated the Torah (or Pentateuch as its known in Greek: the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures). It was thanks to Ptolemy Philadelphus II who helped in spreading the Torah to Hellenic Jews that did not speak any Hebrew with this translation.

And finally if you really did have historical knowledge, you would have known that Jews in Greece go back to nearly 2000 years and that Jewish culture in Greece did not deminish until the Germans, Bulgars and Italians occupied Greece during WWII and basically shipped most of them out to be killed. Why don't you look up as to who the Romaniotes were and while your at it also do some research work on WHICH Western Leader stood up to Hilter before any of your supposed "friendly" Jewish nations, yes including the USA, ever did? Here I'll give you a hint: Archbishop Damaskinos.

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation:Archbishop Damaskinos

Archbishop Damaskinos

"Greek religious leaders are not shot, they are hanged. I request that you respect this custom." ~ Archbishop Damaskinos

"The appeal of the Archbishop and his fellow Greeks is unique; there is no similar document of protest of the Nazis during World War II that has come to light in any other European country." ~ The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

Bishop Chrysostomos

"Bishop Chrysostomos refused to submit to the Germans a list of Zakynthos Jews. He initiated the evacuation of the Jews to the hills, and all Jews were saved. Bishop Chrysostomos was honored by Yad Vashem in 1978 as a "Righteous Among the Nations" for his rescue operation." ~ The Simon Wiesenthal Center

Both Bishops and hundreds of other Greeks have been honored by Yad Vashem for their courage in help save many Jewish lives during WWII.

"Greek Jews had never encountered anything remotely as sinister as north European anti-Semitism. The twentieth century had witnessed the rise of anti-Jewish sentiment among Greeks... but it attracted an insignificant minority" ~Misha Glenny: The Balkans: nationalism, war and the great powers 1804-1999, New York: Viking Penguin

"Many Greeks helped Jews. Greek leaders protested deportations, the Greek Orthodox Church called upon its members to protect Jews and the Greek underground hid Jews and smuggled them to unoccupied Greece or to Turkey. Thousands of Jews were saved." ~ The Simon Wiesenthal Center

My advise to people: THINK and do your historical RESEARCH very well, before you open up your mouth and sound like an idiot when you are totally disproven by others who do have the historical background to make you look ingorant.