Greece, Turkey and Israel -- Why All the Fuss?

Submitted by Peter (USA) (United States), Jan 19, 2009 at 17:36

Militarily speaking, what Dimitrios from Australia writes makes perfect sense. I just want to make two brief points regarding relations between Greece & Israel and Greece & Turkey....

As to Israel, why is Greece so pro-Palestinian? Why does it seem that so many Greeks in Greece dislike Jews? After all, Greeks and Jews everywhere else in the world -- especially the USA -- get along famously!! Even during the height of the Ottoman Empire, it was Greeks and Jews (and to a certain degree, Armenians) who largely controlled the commerce of Constantinople, and who lived right next to each other in perfect harmony. Basically, Greece recognized Israel's existence in the late 1940s, but, since then, Greece has acted like some bitter, third-world banana republic when it comes to Israel.

For example, why on earth does Greece view Israel with even more disdain than many Arab nations? Listen-up Greeks in Greece: Jews are not your enemy -- get over your idiotic conspiracy theories about Jews and how they "control America." Just because we Americans are not going to let a second holocaust occur on our watch, does not mean Jews "control" us.

With respect as to how we Greeks view Turks and relations between Greece and Turkey -- especially we Greeks living outside of Greece -- we first need to get a grip on what it means to be "Greek" in this modern day and age.

Although we may not like to hear it, the fact of the matter is that, culturally speaking, we are no different than Turks. We eat the same food, listen and dance to the same types of music, are family-oriented, secular in our everday public lives, and very hospitable and welcoming toward others (i.e., great hosts). Simply put, Greeks are the Christian version of Turks, and Turks are the Muslim version of Greeks. There has been a complete symbiosis (sp?) of cultures. Thus, why am I reading narratives on this website (and others) from Greeks and Turks who love to engage in hateful, ignorant and idiotic hypotheticals about who would win in a war between the two?

Newsflash to both groups: The rest of the world could care less if we destroyed each other beyond repair. Oh sure, the U.S. and Europe may have a sentimental favorite in Greece, but that is not because of anything modern Greece has done, but rather because of what Ancient Greece represents: The proto-type of the modern European. Also, modern Greeks are Christian and the Greek-American lobby, AHEPA, has done wonders in preventing the USA from cutting Greece off financially, when, quite frankly, the U.S. would have been justified in doing so. On a personal level, I have liked every single Turk I have ever met (about 12 people to date), and I know many other Greeks who feel as I do. Thus, let us please stop all of this stupid, ass-backwards nonsense.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".