The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Friday expressed concern over the appointment of Adonis Georgiadis as Greece’s newly appointed Minister of Health, due to a history of troubling remarks about Jews and his public promotion of an anti-Semitic book. According to reports, Mr. Georgiadis has said in the past that “all major banks belong to the Jews” and that “the Jewish Lobby” would determine the fate of Greece’s foreign debt. He has also extensively promoted the anti-Semitic diatribe, "The Jews, the whole truth" written by Konstantinos Plevris, a prominent author and self-proclaimed anti-Semite. “At a time when anti-Semitic speech and Holocaust denial continue to occur regularly in public and political discourse in Greece and as Golden Dawn’s leaders openly espouse anti-Semitism to stoke hatred and fear while their party is rising in popularity, the elevation of a politician who is also known to have promoted anti-Semitism is troubling,” said ADL National Director Abraham Foxman. “Our concern is heightened by the ongoing failure to enact a stringent anti-racism bill despite the government’s public commitment to do so.” In a letter to Prime Minster Antonis Samaras, ADL urged the Prime Minster to reconsider the appointment of Mr. Georgiadis and ensure that anti-racism legislation is enacted and enforced. The League has previously voiced concern about government appointments of individuals, including Georgiadis, who had made anti-Semitic remarks and urged the Greek government to resolve differences within its coalition and swiftly pass new anti-racism legislation. There has been a stark rise in anti-Semitism in Greece, due, in large part, to the emergence of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party, whose leader openly denies the Holocaust and displays copies of Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf at part headquarters.
