The surrounding wall of the synagogue in Larissa was vandalized by unknown assailants on Friday, illustrating the worrying rise in anti-Semitic acts in the country.
Two graffiti inscriptions were discovered Thursday evening: “Free Palestine” and another insulting Zionism. The graffiti has since been removed and the wall repainted. Local police have opened an investigation against unidentified perpetrators.
This incident is part of a wave of desecrations. The Central Council of Jewish Communities of Greece (KIS) expressed its “deep concern at the rapid and unprecedented rise in acts targeting Jewish sites.” Recently, the Holocaust Memorial in Larissa, the old Jewish cemetery of the University of Thessaloniki, and the Jewish cemetery in Volos have also been vandalized. The KIS denounces “attacks on tourists, verbal attacks, acts of vandalism, as well as the continued stigmatization of individuals labeled as ‘murderers’ solely because of their nationality or religion.”
These incidents come as Greece is witnessing numerous pro-Palestinian demonstrations organized mainly by the Greek left to denounce the war in Gaza.
The Greek Jewish community, decimated during the Nazi period (86% murdered), today has only 5,500 members according to the KIS.
