Dozens of Israeli passengers aboard a Mano Maritime cruise ship were stranded Tuesday for roughly two hours off the coast of the Greek island of Syros, after anti-Israel demonstrators staged a protest at the local port. As a precaution, the company chose not to allow passengers to disembark and ultimately diverted the ship to Limassol, Cyprus.
"There's a small pro-Palestinian protest, and the ship decided not to let anyone off as a safety measure," one passenger told Israel Hayom. Mano Maritime said in a statement, "The ship arrived at Syros, encountered a demonstration by pro-Palestinian supporters, and passengers were stuck on board without permission to disembark."
One passenger recounted that after docking, tourists began disembarking and boarding buses for excursions when they were suddenly stopped and told that no one would be allowed off due to the protest. "We don't know anything, are we sailing back? Are we waiting?" she said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar spoke with his Greek counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis and requested his intervention to resolve the situation. The Foreign Ministry, via Israel's embassy in Greece, is also monitoring the incident.
According to local media, several dozen protesters gathered at the port to demonstrate against what they called "genocide in Gaza." Last week, activists at the Port of Piraeus attempted to block the unloading of military equipment allegedly en route to Israel.
Tuesday's protest at docks 2 and 3 of the port was led by the ENEDEP container workers' union, with backing from anarchists and members of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Union chairman Markos Bekris declared that workers would refuse to unload any cargo linked to military operations. "We won't allow the port to become a logistical hub for the transport of weapons. Our goal is to physically block the unloading," Bekris said.
