Antisemitic Ministers and Holocaust deniers enter the new Greek government

Chers Lecteurs, Chères Lectrices, Chers Blogeurs et Chères Blogeuses,

Le blogeur grec 'Abravanel' nous a signalé le lien vers cet article très détaillé concernant l'entrée au gouvernement grec de ministres antisémites et négationnistes.
http://abravanel.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/antisemitic-ministers-and-holocaust-deniers-enter-the-new-greek-government/

Merci de bien vouloir le lire et de le diffuser.

Nous vous alertions le 11 novembre Un négationniste conspirationniste dans le nouveau gouvernement grec?  - hélas, on peut supprimer le point d'interrogation.

A. What happened ?

Under international pressure over erroneous political decisions concerning the economic policy, the socialist government led by Yorgos Papandreou collapsed. A new government of national unity was formed led by former European Central Bank vice-president Lukas Papademos and supported by the majoritarian socialist party PASOK, the conservative Nea Dimokratia and the far-Right LàOS; the leftist SYRIZA and the Greek Communist Party have declined to participate. Although there is a long history of public antisemitism within all greek parties, it was usually kept under control by moderate leadership; these new developments mark the first time that the antisemitic far-Right gains institutional access and real power by entering in four ministries with one minister and three undersecretaries.

B. The recent history of the LàOS party

Until 2000 the greek Far-Right practically consisted of two major groups: the faction inside the greek conservative party of Nea Dimokratia and a small neonazi galaxy of groups in which the violentChrisi Avgi, (Golden Dawn) was prominent. The domination of the two major parties, the conservative Nea Dimokratia and the socialist PASOK in which nationalistic and antisemitic sentiments were tolerated but also kept in check, gave grounds to the often cited but misleading assumption that a strong Far-Right does not exist in Greece.

All this changed when Yorgos Karatzaferis, a parliamentarian from Nea Dimokratia was expelled in 2000 when he accused the party leader of being surrounded by gays. Immediately after he created his new party called LàOS, (Popular Orthodox Rally), which managed 4 years later to enter the European Parliament and 3 years afterwards to enter the Greek Parliament.

Since it’s foundation LàOS has professed a double identity: on one hand it has made declarations generically condemning the phenomenon of antisemitism although never specific events and has even made isolated statements supporting greek-israeli military cooperation; it should be marked that these statements were directed to international Press and not to the greek audience in order to shake the label of an extremist.

On the other it has consistently flooded greek media with statements varying from the explicit acceptance of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to statements saying that “the Jew smell blood”concerning Israel and Jews being responsible for 9/11, claiming world Jewish domination, Jews being Christ-Killers, expressing doubts over the Holocaust etc. Although Greek Jewry has expressly tried to stay outside political rivalries, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece has repeatedly issued statements condemning various Karatzaferis statements.

C. Specific instances of antisemitism by party leader Y. Karatzaferis

There are literally hundreds of statements of LàOS top politicians in which they express antisemitism and credence to all kinds of weird conspiracy theories in which Jews are protagonists. Some are dead serious like the accusations that Jews are responsible for the greek debt, others are traditional Christian antisemitism like the Christ-Killers accusation while others are simply funny like the ones being responsible for every major greek disaster beginning from the Peloponnesean War:

1. Should there ever be a Greek Jewish politician, then he/she will owe allegiance to foreign powers – no Greek Jew must take part in government.
In 1996 as a mainstream conservative parliamentarian he accused Minister Christos Rozakis, (a Christian Orthodox whose 1 paternal grandfather was a Jew who converted to Christianity), of double allegiance after a campaign led by a neonazi newspaper. Apparently Jewish blood, diluted to 1/4 and baptized is still poison to Karatzaferis.

LàOS party newspaper advocating the veridicity of the Protocols of the Elder of Zion

2. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are true
On the Lisbon Treaty of the European Union: “Whatever is being described in the Protocols of Zion is becoming reality today. One Goverment, one currency for all of Europe. And this for me is the coming of the New Order of things.”,  Y.Karatzaferis in the Greek Parliament, 11/6/2008

3. He is proud that no Jews, gays or communists are part of his party and has accused many Christian politicians as crypto-Jews.
“First of all I am not a Jew; let’s see if the Prime Minister (Simitis) can claim this. Second of all I am not a communist; let’s see if Karamanlis (conservative party leader) can claim this. And third I am not gay; and there are not many people who can claim this”, speech made at 28th May 2002.

4. Jews are directly accused as Christ-killers.
“The murderers of GOD would ever care for innocent children? Their pure blood is soaking the flesh not of the Jews whose skin has acquired a sheath of impermeability…”, in the main article in party newspaper A1 4 January 2009

5. He has openly asked for neonazi party Chrisi Avgi to enter the greek government.In this video one can see Yorgos Karatzaferis in his daily television show offering neonazis a ministry.

6. Jews are responsible for 9/11
Karatzaferis even asked for an official enquiry over the rumors of arab newspapers that 4000 American Jews did not go to the Twin Towers on 9/11. He repeated the claim multiple times in his television show, even challenging the israeli ambassador.

7. Speaking about Israel and the Cast Lead operation of 2009
“The Jews are transforming to the same ruthless killer as their perpetrator[the Nazi]“, “The blacklettered day the State of Israel was born”, “…more Jews practicing the ruthless policies of Zionism”,  main article in party newspaper A1 4 January 2009.

8. The Jews, the Vatican and the Peloponnesean War between Sparta and Athens.
A myriad of other statements like the “conspiracy of the Vatican and the Jews”, “Jews forcing their laws in countries outside their own”, “The New World Order expressed by the Jews”, “they [the Jews] print synagogues on banknotes”. A special mention goes to history lessons in which  Jews are responsible for the fall of Constantinople to the ottoman Turks in 1453. Even better is the revelation that Jews are responsible the Peloponnesean War of 431 BCE between Sparta and Athens.

I am certain that when his car hits a traffic jam he accuses the Jews of intentionally painting the traffic lights a communist red just to spike him.

9. An evergreen: Holocaust Denial
“…let’s talk about the myth of Auschwitz and Dachau and talk about these ovens, to talk about these gas chambers, whether the gas chambers were insulated to hold gas inside or they were simple bricks”. The specific excerpt is from 2001 but there are many occasions, especially in his daily television show when hosting his friend Plevris, eg here.

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