Greeks for Gaza: The Power of the People
Pro-Palestine protestors at the Piraeus port, holding red flares and banners. Photo courtesy of Sotiria Georgiadou.
Resistance is central to Greek identity: its national flag and anthem are bold declarations of opposition to the Ottoman Empire. Within the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Greek saga of rebellion continues to live on. Direct action keeps the spirit of democracy alive.
A vibrant display of Greek resistance came to fruition this summer in Athens, at the port of Piraeus. On July 16th, thousands of Greeks—port workers, students, professors, and pro-Palestine organizers—successfully blocked a cargo shipment to Israel. The contents were containers of military-grade steel, meant to be transferred onto another vessel and shipped to Haifa, an Israeli port city. At around 10 p.m., crowds gathered at the dock, eventually preventing the ship from unloading the equipment. This moment served as a spark of hope in a time that increasingly suppressed pro-Palestine demonstrations worldwide.
If there is any wisdom to take away from this Greek rally, it is persistence and determination. Grassroots organization is proven, once again, to be the most candid expression of the people’s will. Ultimately, it is the tree with strong roots that can withstand any storm. Citizens of different ethnicities, backgrounds, and ages united for a worthy cause. This is the true function of Greek democracy.
In a world where polarization and distrust continually disrupt democratic systems, it is refreshing to see so many people join together and prevail. A key figure at the rally was Mark Bekris, president of the Container Handling Workers’ Union (ENEDEP) at Piraeus. He declared the workers would remain at the dock until July 20th and were ready to take necessary action if the situation escalated. It worked. The cargo ship abandoned the port, changing course to La Spezia, Italy. There, Italian dock workers also succeeded in blocking the ship from unloading, forcing the vessel to return to its point of origin.
“At this moment, they are spreading death in Palestine. We are making it clear that our hands will only be dirtied by the grease from the ships, not the blood of the [Palestinian] people,” Bekris stated.
The protest in Piraeus represents just one success in a broader movement; dock workers across Europe have been organizing to stop the flow of military equipment to Israel. In October 2024, a similar demonstration took place in Piraeus to prevent the shipment of ammunition. As a result of these demonstrations, according to Bekris, the labor rights of his workers’ union have been at risk. He claimed that, to some extent, the ENEDEP has been bureaucratically constrained to discourage them from organizing these types of rallies.
At the Piraeus port, “we will not stain our hands with blood” was the protestors’ slogan. They carried Palestinian flags and banners, making sure their voices were heard in the animated night. “No port for genocide,” they cried. Considering that the current Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, maintains deep ties with Benjamin Netanyahu, direct action plays a pivotal role in making public opinion clear.
Although the current governing party, New Democracy, supports Israeli and U.S. interests, public opinion paints a more nuanced picture. In foreign affairs, Greece has little political or economic power to leverage. Its policies are often aligned with the interests of the multinational blocs of which it is a part. The general population is also quite pragmatic. Despite these tendencies, the government's position on Israel-Palestine has met vigorous opposition. Based on opinion polls, pro-Israel sentiment has plummeted. Through organized action, Greek protesters have shown that Israel’s occupation of Palestine, alongside issues like unemployment, corruption, and injustice, is worth denouncing. The government’s opportunistic realpolitik motives have not dimmed the spirit of solidarity.
Greece has a nuanced history with Israel and Palestine. For much of the Cold War, Greece was under the control of a military junta. After the dictatorship ended, Turkey invaded Cyprus. Left in a politically vulnerable state, Greece established friendly relations with countries including Libya, Iraq, and Syria for much-needed support. Further, Greece sided with pro-Arab, and especially pro-Palestine, interests throughout the 1980s. Then-prime minister Andreas Papandreou was a staunch supporter of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), stating at the 1982 European Economic Community Summit that “it is unconscionable for a politically responsible Europe to accuse the Palestinians of being terrorists. The Palestinians are fighting to reclaim their lost homeland.”
This recognition of the Palestinian struggle, which can be compared to the long Greek fight for independence, embodied a shared opposition to the colonial legacies thrust upon them. Papandreou once stated his support for Palestine was because of Greece’s own “long and difficult” history. “We have a soft spot in our heart for any people struggling for self-determination … and a homeland,” he explained. After the military junta ended in Greece, the nation’s leaders and its people could easily sympathize with analogous movements.
Beyond politics, Greek-Palestinian ties grew deeper than a strategic alliance. In the 1980s, significant Palestinian poetry and literature appeared in Greece due to Palestinian migration. As a result, the word “intifada” made its way into Greek vocabulary, untranslated. “Intifada” comes from Levantine Arabic, meaning to “be shaken,” and eventually described the Palestinian Intifada uprisings. Palestinian students originally used “intifada” to talk about their demonstrations to avoid descriptors with violent connotations. The integration of “intifada” into the Greek lexicon is a relic of optimistic international relations. If protectionist nationalism is forgotten, maybe we can finally move towards global justice—when our observations of oppression may enrich one another. This linguistic fusion showed how strength lies not only in numbers, but also in the wisdom that comes with diverging perspectives.
At the turn of the century, however, geopolitics quickly changed the landscape. As Turkey’s relationship with Israel worsened and Greece dealt with an economic crisis, a Greek-Israeli partnership became more beneficial. It offered both better military defense and closer proximity to lucrative U.S. trade markets, both of which the vulnerable nation needed. Since the 2010s, Greek air and naval forces have shared training grounds with the IDF, united by their mutual distrust of Turkey. Additionally, there are strong ties between Greece, Israel, and Cyprus in the energy sector. Just this March, Mitsotakis held meetings with Netanyahu to discuss further military cooperation. When has the enemy of an enemy not been a friend, after all?
Nevertheless, Greek-Palestinian camaraderie presents an intriguing opportunity. This relationship is the exploration of a potential anti-imperialist future—beyond exploitative hierarchy, nationalist identity politics, or perpetual violence. Perhaps, it even represents the confrontation of neo-imperialist and colonial forces affecting both countries. Further collaboration is necessary for these ends. Anti-imperialist initiatives have historically been rooted in ‘translocality’—a fluid, horizontal connectivity across nations. Transnational solidarity is essential for taking down colonial rule. Greek solidarity with Palestinians, therefore, is a glimmer of hope. The national policy has not yet numbed the people into apathy.
The Palestinian people’s courage and love for an ancestral land of olive trees are all reminders of the Greeks’ own liberation. In the rocky year of 2025, the idea of history repeating itself may cause cynicism, but we must not forget that as long as conflict has lived, so has the struggle for justice; so has the power of the people. Human nature is one of duality. With waves of great oppression come currents of great defiance. This motif is easy to spot even in ancient Greek history. The Athenian Revolution of 508 B.C., arguably, made Athens into the remarkable city-state it was. After all, that uprising against the aristocracy forged the famed cradle of democracy. Although there is a tinge of imperial Byzantine grandeur in Greek nationalism, and democracy in the classical era was far from perfect, the conflict between people and power has always been central.
Democracy itself, especially as a romanticized idea, is key. There is a unique nostalgia that fuels Greek political engagement. Unlike many forms of postcolonial nationalism, which often appear as a reactionary response to (often Western) powers, Greece is different. What unifies Greece is a renowned antiquity that laid the foundations for modern Western civilization. Archeologist Yannis Hamilakis calls this flavor of patriotism “Western Hellenism.” The pride of this nation is the origins of art, theatre, science, and politics that many appreciate today. Thus, when ‘democratic’ countries oppose pro-liberation movements, they betray the nation that gave them the systems they idolize. They betray Greece.
Perhaps this is also why Greeks remain a model of direct action. Other countries may technically be democratic, but many lack accessible ways for citizens to challenge authority, whether through elections or demonstrations. Greece’s relatively small population and frequency of strikes mean direct action is quite effective. In Greece, general strikes and demonstrations are almost part of everyday life, so much so that travel advisors warn tourists about the potential disruptions in public transport and infrastructure. Direct action is considered a standard way of engaging in politics directly. Therefore, the pro-Palestine demonstrations in Greece are certainly a more optimistic case compared to ones in the United States. American protests have been largely suppressed, especially on college campuses. Institutions of higher education and civil rights advocacy, like Columbia University itself in the late 1960s, are once again plagued by police raids and administrative crackdowns.
Under Netanyahu’s leadership, the ongoing violence in Gaza points to more danger in the pipeline. Palestinians are displaced, starved, humiliated, and massacred. Israelis are forcibly conscripted, and many of the hostages Netanyahu was supposed to bring home have died during the ceaseless conflict, with several bodies still left in Gaza. 67,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7th, some even targeted while receiving humanitarian aid. Yet despite the horror of it all, there is still cause for hope.
Even when things seem bleak, an unwavering belief in your autonomy is the first step towards progress. I hope this Piraeus port protest inspires anyone demanding righteousness! Real change may seem complicated, but it is possible through relentless effort and attention to detail. It can sprout from anywhere. Perhaps the word “intifada” stuck in the Greek nation’s lexicon because it reminded them of their own young freedom fighters. It was, notably, the Athens Polytechnic student uprising that marked the military junta’s demise. Resistance, likewise, is always a harbinger of victory. The epic of disobedient Greeks continues.
Theo Svistunov is a Greek-Russian sophomore student majoring in international studies at CIS University (Endicott). He is deeply interested in multiculturalism, history, and politics.
CIS University is not responsible for the content of this article. The opinions and considerations expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of CIS University.