Opinion
By Paschos Mandravelis
Kathimerini Greece
Last Sunday we described what antisemitism is not. We noted that condemning the state of Israel for “genocide” in Gaza is not antisemitism. Criticizing state policies, even when the criticism is excessive or unfair, is not racism. Today, prompted by what Takis Theodoropoulos and Sakis Moumtzis wrote yesterday in their columns in Kathimerini Greece (26.5.2026), we can describe what antisemitism actually is.
Racism is when “the well-known anarchist group, dressed uniformly almost like a militia, once again marched in formation through the Psyrri neighborhood with the goal of identifying Jewish tourists and business owners.” It is when “a group of around 30 far-left students stormed a hall at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and disrupted an event featuring Israeli professor Margalit Finkelberg, who had to be escorted out for her safety.” It is when, even more horrifyingly, “a verified social media account posted threateningly that people in Larissa know the names and addresses of the city’s Jews” (Sakis Moumtzis). It is when an event organized by the National Theatre of Greece is canceled because one of its sponsors was a hotel company founded by someone of Jewish descent (Takis Theodoropoulos).
Fortunately, as both columnists point out, the groups behind these incidents are small and, we would add, made up of ignorant kids who know nothing about history and fail to understand that, through their supposedly leftist politics, they themselves are becoming racists. But then again, were the Nazis more numerous when they first emerged? Were they intellectuals?
Many people cannot seem to grasp that the mass killing of civilians in Gaza, the violent displacement of Palestinians, and the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories are not Jewish crimes. They are far-right crimes. The belief that all Jews are responsible for the actions of Itamar Ben-Gvir and the other gems in the Israeli government is a far-right belief, just as the idea that all Palestinians are responsible for the October 7 massacre is also far-right.
And what is the Greek Left doing? Apparently fixing its hair. Just as it inherited the stain left by the bloodshed of “17 November” because the terrorists claimed to be leftists, it will also inherit the stain of the antisemitism now being pushed by various far-left groups.
We refer to the Left because it should be speaking out more loudly than anyone else in order to crush this new antisemitism before it spreads. Not because it has historically stood against every form of racism, but because these racists insist on presenting themselves as part of its family.
