Via Kathimerini
Debate on religious symbols intensifies
The public debate about whether crucifixes and religious icons should be displayed in Greece’s classrooms is set to intensify after it was revealed yesterday that the country’s Ombudsman received several complaints about infringement of religious freedoms.
Four sets of parents have asked for religious symbols to be removed from their children’s [...]
From BBC News
The head of the Greek Orthodox Church has warned the country’s new socialist government that it faces a major battle over removing religious symbols from schools.
The European Court in Strasbourg has ordered Italy to take down crucifixes from its classrooms, and Greece’s justice minister has acknowledged that it may have to follow suit. [...]
Via Kathimerini
Justice Minister Haris Kastanidis admitted yesterday that Greece will have no choice but to remove religious icons from school classrooms and other public buildings if the European Court of Human Rights stands by a ruling it made earlier this month.
“If the European Court of Human Rights sticks to its original decision that religious symbols [...]
Via Malcolm Brabant, BBC News, Athens
The Greek Orthodox Church is urging Christians across Europe to unite in an appeal against a ban on crucifixes in classrooms in Italy.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled last week that the presence of crucifixes violated a child’s right to freedom of religion.
Greece’s Orthodox Church fears the [...]
Via the Balkan Travellers
Thousands of Muslims in Athens appealed for the construction of a mosque to Greece’s new government in the framework of the international congress dedicated to Muslim communities and their cultural identity.
The congress took place for the first time in the country, the national Ta Nea newspaper reported today.
Athens is the only European [...]
Via the Athens News
PAKISTANI immigrants in the western Athens suburb of Nea Ionia appear to have lost their fight to stop the closure of their unlicensed mosque.
Deputy Athens Prefect Haroula Kefalidou said it is only a matter of time before Muslims are evicted from the basement they converted into a mosque
I have been following the [...]
Via the Athens News
Pakistanis protest the possibility of their makeshift mosque losing its home in Nea Ionia, a suburb in western Athens
AN UNDERGROUND mosque with hundreds of worshippers in the western Athens suburb of Nea Ionia has encountered vehement opposition from residents and now risks being shuttered by city officials.
Manolis Triantafylos and his wife Anastasia [...]
Via the Athens News
THEY may need to hold their breath for another couple of years before the first facilities are built, but many wanting to be cremated upon death will at last be able to have their final wish carried out in this country after the Council of State approved a bill allowing cremation for [...]
Last week, I wrote about the fact that there is still no crematorium in Athens (the only European capital city without one), two years after permission was granted. Today I read in Kathimerini that the go ahead has also been given for a Muslim cemetery. It should be noted that it might be some time [...]
It is always heartwarming to hear about people who are working in their own way to initiate change for the better. A Greek Orthodox priest and a Muslim imam are working together to promote inter-faith solidarity. Father Timotheos Anthis and Imam Munir Mahmood are holding a series of public meeting around Athens where local residents [...]
Cremation became legal in Greece a year ago although there is still no crematorium. The Greek Orthodox church is now grappling with the issue of cremation for its followers. Yiannis Boutaris, best known for his wine label and a candidate in last years municipal elections has spoken out after he had to travel to Bulgaria [...]
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[Part Eleven of Twelve]
Bodies Visible and Invisible: The Erasure of the Jewish Cemetery in the Life of Modern Thessaloniki
LAQUEUR and HESSE
Throughout the 1920 and 1930’s reasonable relations remained possible. The negotiations between the Jewish Community, the municipal government, and indirectly the national government over the cemetery and over other matters remained civil [...]
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[Part Ten of Twelve]
Bodies Visible and Invisible: The Erasure of the Jewish Cemetery in the Life of Modern Thessaloniki
LAQUEUR and HESSE
The hard facts of demography were mirrored in culture and politics. Elementary education in Greek became compulsory, replacing for many Jews an education in French sponsored by the Alliance Israelite and [...]
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[Part Nine of Twelve]
Bodies Visible and Invisible: The Erasure of the Jewish Cemetery in the Life of Modern Thessaloniki
LAQUEUR and HESSE
The hard facts of demography were mirrored in culture and politics. Elementary education in Greek became compulsory, replacing for many Jews an education in French sponsored by the Alliance Israelite and [...]
Read this post first
[Part Eight of Twelve]
Bodies Visible and Invisible: The Erasure of the Jewish Cemetery in the Life of Modern Thessaloniki
LAQUEUR and HESSE
Matters stand differently in Thessaloniki. The physical destruction and more importantly the cultural erasure of the enormous Jewish cemetery is only in part the result of Nazi aggression and the Holocaust; it [...]
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