19 April 2013
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THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN The oldest circulating Greek newspaper outside VEMA Greece APRIL 2013 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 E-mail: [email protected] MEDIA’S IMPACT ON OUR CHILDREN: Parenting the Net Generation: Part 2 PAGE 7/25 US ON Christian Architectural Symbolism and the Holy ALERT Monastery of Pantanassa AFTER BOSTON MARATHON CARNAGE PAGES 10/28-11/29 The FBI has launched a potential terrorist investigation "We will find out who did this. We'll find out why they after at least three people died when twin explosions did this," Obama said in his brief, three-minute state- ripped through the finish line of the Boston Marathon. ment. More than 100 people were injured in the near-simul- "Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, taneous blasts, which happened as runners finished the will feel the full weight of justice." marathon, and with tens of thousands of spectators lin- Authorities say at least three people were killed and ing the streets. more than 80 injured during two explosions near the fin- TV footage showed the blood-stained street littered ish of the marathon. A senior US intelligence official said with casualties after runners were cut down by flying de- two other explosive devices were found near the end of bris. Dozens of people were taken from the scene on the 26.2-mile (40 kilometre) course. stretchers and in wheelchairs. Additionally, the president spoke with Republican and US president Barack Obama has put federal authorities Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill, saying that "on days on alert and vowed to bring those responsible for the like this, there are no Republicans or Democrats, we are blasts to justice. Americans united in our concern for our fellow citizens." “Parthenon: An icon of Global Citizenship” The International Organising Committee - Australia - for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles will host the International Colloquy: “Parthenon: An Icon of Global Citizenship” in Sydney from 15th to 17th November 2013. PAGE 6/24 Arcadia The heart of the Peloponnese retains a gen- We extend our sincere good wishes to all our readers uine rustic feel amid traditional villages and fir forests. for a Happy Easter in good health and family unity PAGE 19/37 APRIL 2013 2/20 TO BHMA The Greek Australian VEMA Thessaloniki Jews mark deportations to Auschwitz By Hadas Parush It is exactly 70 years since the first de- portation of Jews from Thessaloniki (Sa- loniki) to Auschwitz, and the small com- munity that remains in the second lar- gest city in Greece will not let anyone forget. Thousands marched in Thessaloniki starting at Liberty Square, where Nazi oc- cupying forces assembled Jewish men aged 18 to 45 in 1942. There they were subjected to humiliation and beatings, and then registered and sent away to forced labor. The march continued to the old railway station where, on March 15, 1943, the Nazis first began sending Jews to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camps. The Thessaloniki Jewish community, together with the World Jewish Congress and the Israeli Embassy in Athens, and at the initiative of Thessaloniki Mayor Yian- Thessaloniki Jews march Auschwitz deportation (Photo: Hadas Parush) nis Boutaris, invited members and repre- sentatives of Greek and other Jewish ty of his city to the victims of the Holo- locaust happen again in Greece. body cares, and the police does not care. communities for a weekend of events caust,” said Victor Eliezer, of the Central “The reason we are here today is be- I would say that the Greeks are feeling marking the anniversary and the memo- Board of Jewish Communities in Greece. cause we remember,” Samaras said. “We the danger but do not yet know what to ry of almost 50,000 Thessaloniki Jews Eliezer said that the Jewish community of will continue with legislative acts to fight do about it.” who perished in the Holocaust. Greece decided that now is the time, violence and racism. I commit myself and During this commemorative event, the “We have to give a strong message to while Holocaust survivors are still alive everybody in Greece to the saying: ‘Nev- Monastir synagogue was filled over ca- all of Europe and to Greece that we will and able to share their stories. Another er Again.’” pacity with people from the local and Eu- never permit this terrible thing to hap- factor, he added, is that the Greek gov- Samaras, who also spoke of the impor- ropean Jewish communities, presidents pen again,” said David Saltiel, the presi- ernment seeks to assure its Jewish citi- tance of the Jewish community to Greek and representatives of Jewish delega- dent of the Thessaloniki Jewish Commu- zens that there is no danger of anti-Semi- civilization, as well as the good relation- tions from around the world, local and nity. tism in Greece. ship between Greece and Israel, is the international media, as well as Mayor “If we want to be alive, if we want to This was reinforced by Prime Minister first Greek prime minister to honor the Boutaris and Prime Minister Samaras, by have a democratic country, we have to s- Antonis Samaras, who attended a con- Jewish community with his presence in a whom the words “Never Again” were re- tand against all this.” A combination of cluding ceremony in the Mo-nastir syna- synagogue. peated countless times throughout the circumstances brought about the idea to gogue, the only one of almost 60 syna- Perhaps the most pressing issue that two-and-a-halfhour ceremony. create this event for the first time. gogues that was not destroyed in the pushed to the organization of commem- “The financial crisis and ignorance are “We have here in Thessaloniki an intel- war. During his speech, Samaras empha- orating the first deportation is the con- creating prejudice and leading to a re- lectual mayor who feels the responsibili- sized he will not let anything like the Ho- tinued rise in support for Golden Dawn, a vival of anti-Semitism. Even in the Greek far-right political party which recently parliament we can hear voices calling to climbed up to 10-15% in a popular vote. harm foreigners,” said Natan Sharansky, Often described as neo-Nazi and fas- chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. cist, the party’s extreme nationalist “We cannot let the events which led to views and anti-immigration rhetoric, the the greatest disaster in history, the Holo- use of a very slight variation of the Nazi caust, to recur here in Greece.” swastika symbol on the party flags, and Ronald Lauder, president of the World its custom of greeting like the Hitler Jewish Congress, reminded the partici- salute, all send a clear signal to the Greek pants that “the Nazi party started as a Jewish community. splinter party,” and referring to the rise Although for the time being Golden of Golden Dawn, he said “Jews have Dawn supporters’ main target is the Afri- something to worry about today.” With can migrants, with gangs beating them the prime minister sitting behind him, up on the streets of Greece, Jews can’t Lauder concluded his speech saying that help but feel they might be next. Just re- Greece can be the first to set an example cently Golden Dawn made a statement to the rest of the word by outlawing calling for the creation of special schools Golden Dawn. only for Greeks, and other schools for The Jewish community of Thessaloniki non-Greeks. was the biggest community destroyed in “It was a clear racist declaration. The the Holocaust, losing 97% of its popula- political system knows very well the dan- tion. Only some 1,000 Jews survived and ger of the neo-Nazi party,” Eliezer said, returned to Thessaloniki to rebuild their adding that such statements are unac- lives. But the void of the rich and thriving ceptable in a modern country such as community, described as an integral part Greece. of both the economic and cultural life of “Big parts of the Greek society do not the city, seems to hover like a black feel yet the danger of the extreme Right, cloud over the second and third genera- because the poverty and the financial cri- tions that live here today. sis in Greece made many people desper- “The excellent relations that are still ate, and Golden Dawn actually goes to building between Greece and Israel and the desperate.” having here with us representatives of “I do not think that this is acceptable,” the World Jewry,” Eliezer said, “is a mes- Eliezer said, referring to the public acts sage that Greek Jewry is not alone and a of violence against African migrants. message of Jewish solidarity against any “Let’s say that this is the apathy of the danger from the extreme Right.” simple people who are walking in the streets and somebody is beaten and no- Source: The Jerusalem Post (22/3/2013) APRIL 2013 The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/21 Editorial Cyprus: The geopolitical dimension By Alexis Papachelas – Kathimerini, Athens ‘Cyprus bank solution won’t spread’ Cyprus’s entry into the European Union was billed Harsh bailout measures levied on wealthy bank de- as one of the greatest silent victories of Hellenism. It positors in Cyprus are unlikely to be adopted for oth- was the product of a long and organized battle fought er euro zone nations with failing banks, the central by Athens and Nicosia against the objections of the bank says. British and others who didn’t want to see Cyprus join Depositors with more than 100,000 euros at the the bloc. Bank of Cyprus will lose 30 per cent of their savings, For many, it was a pivotal moment as it placed the as part of a levy being raised, in order for that nation island republic in the safest possible haven following to get 10 billion euros ($A12.4 billion) to help its fail- decades of perilous adventures.