Application - Rock Camp 2014: Fill & Download for Free

I prefer nature unfiltered, touched only by itself.Please don’t misunderstand, I applaud how amazing places have been developed for accessibility’s sake and also to protect resources, like at Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park and Old Faithful Geyser in a Yellowstone.Jesse Lee O’Connor's answer to What are things to know before doing Angels Landing hike in Zion National park?Jesse Lee O’Connor's answer to Which U.S. states are safe for Yellowstone?I enjoy camping in developed yet beautiful settings.But the question was about my personal preference.I will visit headliner attractions as if checking them off on a list. In Paris I saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, le Tour Eiffel, the Arc de Triomphe. I was just 17; this was bucket list stuff. But my personal adventures on my morning run to a charming little park no tourists hear of to the northwest of La Défense or walking dark streets on the backside of Les Champs-Élysées made Paris much more personal. It’s true, the second example was not much of nature but I’m building to a point.In Venezia I saw the attractions the group toured like the Bridge of Sighs and I did the obligatory gondola ride and loved it. But, again, on my own and away from the tourist sites, I saw the real island in all its faded, decaying, tragic, historic and deeply moving glory. I don’t get to travel overseas much. Those two 1977 examples were probably once in a lifetime experiences but they influenced me to this day.Largely, they fueled my hunger for more.Now, in the parks you stay on the trails because you’re required to and to save nature from being trodden to death. This is good. But it is applicable to the crowded, famous, must-see places only. If you go to a slightly to greatly less famous place, you may see a geyser not so tall nor as regular than Old Faithful but you may experience unfettered nature. You may miss Morning Glory Pool but you may witness something few others have and most likely a pool not discolored by vandalism.I’m not encouraging you to leave the trail. Again, in the geyser basins it is not allowed. If you go behind some trees to relieve yourself at the Fountain Paint Pots Trailhead because the lines for the vault toilets were too long, you could get a citation from a park ranger.But.Look up on the cliffs at Zion at the rock climbers. The path to the base of the cliff wasn’t engineered by the park service, it was worn by use of other climbers. The first ones were officially off trail. Once you’re on the vertical rock, you are also off trail; on route, I hope, but essentially bushwhacking where there are no bushes. This is much the same as on 18 September, 1870, there were no safety boardwalks or handrails at Old Faithful on the day it was named. Likewise, no one hassled the Nimi'ipuu People under Chief Joseph on their way through the park, trying to escape the US Army who opened fire on a camp of non-combatants the week before in 1877, for doing in the woods what a bear is known for doing. Yes, of course, we have to have rules now or these precious places will be destroyed.But, again, it depends where you go. If you want to see Narcissus Geyser there is no trail at all. I admit, it’s not very famous and you can afford to miss it. But there is a principle here. It is legal to see it. These parks are ours to enjoy and to preserve. Except for a name marker flush to the ground, I could not tell anybody had been there before. I felt like Nathaniel Langford or Lt. Gustavus Doane in the Upper Geyser Basin 149 years ago. Of course, I had to watch my step, as they did, and to leave no trace of my passage.To visit the highest point in Yellowstone you’re going to have to leave the trail and relieve yourself in the woods, there’s no way around it! True, it’s not for everybody, but I was asked what I prefer.After seeing Lonesome Lake in the Cirque of the Towers in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, by trail, I decided to ascend a new peak; new to me it was.19 August, 2003It was no climb in the sense of exposure and hardware and I’m certain hundreds of people had done it before me, but there was no path to the top of Mitchell Peak. I felt like John Muir on one of his many unmarked first ascents. The further I got from the trail the more free I felt. Exertion boosted metabolism so I did what bears do, except, there were no trees in the alpine zone! So, I dug a “cat hole” as is proper, there in the open air. And, feeling like a natural animal, knowing there were no humans for at least several kilometers, I took everything off and proceeded that way to the summit. Call me crazy, but it was exhilarating. The sun on my body, the sounds and scents of nature were more vibrant. Oh, yes, I felt vulnerable but more virile and attuned as well. Everything seemed more consequential. I felt alive. It was not to be the last of my “naturism” adventures.Tingling, pulsatingOut on the edge of the reasonable vs the sublimeI was alone on a point seemingly suspended between the heavens and the earth belowBut I was not alone, I saw I was a part of the greater theatreI was naturalNaked man standing on top of a mountain peak overlooking the valley. Taken in Frenchman Coulee, Vantage, Washington, America.On many, many other off trail experiences, almost all of them more clothed, I sought and found truly wild nature. I did not seek danger or excitement necessarily but undeveloped authenticity in its random natural purity. It is, again, not for everybody. But it is intensely satisfying. I am a creature of the forest glade and rocky prominence, of dancing creeks and sun-dappled meadows. Come with me.Cirque of the Towers Reflection | Wind River Range, WyomingIn closing I admit to surprise once when certain I was in a place no other human had been to find evidence I was mistaken. There are no human-made trails to Mt. Moran in the Tetons. There was no sign of human passage for an hours worth of slogging uphill through dense woods. Just when I said to my partner “I wonder if anybody has ever stood at this exact spot,“ I saw at my feet the tiny tweezers from a Swiss Army Knife!Victorinox Swiss Army Classic SD Pocket KnifeIt is good to be surprised, humbled and pleased at how wild, authentic nature completely swallows up the traces of our passing, in time.It is our destiny, naturally.21 August, 2014

“Romaniote” Jewish communities were present in Greece since 300 BC and were well accepted/integrated.Several Synagogues were found in Ancient Greece, including on the island of Delos famous for its sanctuary of Apollo. Below, the ruins of the ancient Synagogue of Rhodos:The perception however changed during the Byzantine Empire due to the Orthodox Church prejudice against non-believers such as Jews, pagan Hellens, Catholics and Muslims. Jews were particularly singled out as “murderers of the Christ”.“Burning of Judas” ritual of Greek Orthodox Easter:In newly independent Greece, Enlightenment supporters, like elsewhere in Europe, favoured the integration of Jews in society. Greece’s first head of government, Count I. Kapodistrias extended full citizenship rights to Greek Jews in 1830. This of course didn’t mean that all the Greeks agreed.The rise of “left wing movements” in the late 19th century saw it proponents assimilate wealthy Jews to capitalism and exploitation.Post WWII, the creation of the State of Israel fuelled antisemitism in Greece as conservatives took up the defence of embattled Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Patriarchate as well as that of the numerous Palestinian Orthodox community. In parallel, the Greek left stridently supported the Palestinian Liberation Organisation in its struggle against the State of Israel.1982, Andreas Papandreou receiving Yasser Arafat as a head of State in Athens:This extreme right and left antisemitic bedrock was greatly expanded in the aftermath of the 2011 “Greek crisis” which saw all sorts of extremism and conspirationism pervade multiple levels of Greek society.In ADL’s 2014 Global 100 survey of anti-Semitic attitudes, Greece occupied the unenviable position of having the highest score in the world (outside the Middle East). Among Greeks, 69% of the population agreed with a majority of anti-Semitic stereotypes tested. This was a 150% increase from year 2000 Eurobarometer poll where 24 percent of Greeks said they were bothered by the presence of people of another race, and 21 percent were bothered by those of another religion living in Greece.The period 2012–2016 was characterised by the rise of xenophobic Neo Nazi party Golden Dawn.The already high 2000 figures can be partially explained by the very high numbers (10% of the national population) of foreign migrants which arrived in Greece from Eastern Europe during the 1990s, mostly as illegal immigrants seeking employment. Increasing numbers of Middle Eastern, Asian and African illegal migrants were later added, putting a strain on employment and social services, further fuelling xenophobia.In conclusion, Greek statistics tend confirm, as it is the case with many other people, that xenophobia rises when the number of “foreigners” living off the country exceeds 10% of the “native population” and further increases in times of great economic duress.In deed, Eurostat data showed 22.2 percent of the population were “severely materially deprived” in 2015, from 6% in 2000.Anti-Semitism in Greece: Embedded in Society“An Interview with Moses Altsech, by Manfred Gerstenfeld. August 2004.Anti-Semitism in Greece occurs not only among extreme rightists and leftists. It is embedded in Greek mainstream society and manifests itself in religious contexts, education, politics and the media. Jews are often not perceived as true Greeks, although many families have lived there since the 15th century.A Eurobarometer survey in the year 2000 showed Greece to have the highest degree of xenophobia in the European Union.Greek mainstream media regularly uses the terms "genocide," "Holocaust" and the names of concentration camps drawing a parallel between Nazi Germany and Israel today. In this, Greece is more similar to Syria and Iran than to the Western world.As the Greek Jewish community is small and not very vocal, the international condemnations of Greek anti-Semitism by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Anti-Defamation League and others are especially important.Jews Not Perceived as True Greeks"Anti-Semitism occurs in Greece not only among extreme rightists and leftists, but is embedded in Greek mainstream society. It manifests itself in many ways: in a religious context, in education, in the application of the law, in the media, and through politically-motivated anti-Semitism in the major parties, as well."Greek-born Moses Altsech teaches at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, and has long researched anti-Semitism in his native country. He asserts that for the ordinary citizen, to be Greek means to be white, ethnic Greek and Greek Orthodox, even if this is not stated explicitly. "In view of the way most Greeks perceive their identity, they have difficulty understanding how someone who is not Christian can be truly Greek."For political reasons, the Turks in northeastern Greece are never mentioned as a Turkish minority, but as a Muslim one. There are few blacks in Greece, but even if they are born in the country and speak the language fluently, many people do not perceive them as Greek. My family has been in the country - like most Greek Jews - since the end of the fifteenth century, after their expulsion from Spain. We are still not considered true Greeks because of the mainstream perceptions of what it means to be Greek. It doesn't enter the average person's mind that someone can be fully Greek without being Orthodox. This exclusion is fuelled by both religious and educational elements which have given most Greek people an 'us versus them' mentality in relation to the Jews."A 2000 Eurobarometer survey showed that 38 percent of Greeks - the highest percentage in the European Union - were troubled by the presence of people of other nationalities living in their country. I think that when the survey was taken, the Greeks were referring to the Albanians, in particular. The popular notion was that crime became rampant because of the Albanian immigration - as if there had been none before. In that survey, 24 percent of Greeks said they were bothered by the presence of people of another race, and 21 percent were bothered by those of another religion living in Greece. These were among the highest percentages in EU countries.1 On 12 March 2004, Chrysi Avghi (Golden Dawn), the new weekly newspaper of the Neo-Nazi organization of that name, cited another survey indicating that the percentage of Greeks who view immigrants unfavorably is 89 percent.2"This xenophobia causes all minorities - religious or ethnic - to adopt defensive postures and to feel the constant need to reaffirm their patriotism and to prove that they are truly Greek. In a democracy this should not occur. Jews were never easily identified as such in Greece, except by their names; yet they were usually treated as foreign elements in society. The best way to explain this is that Jews and other minorities were only reluctantly tolerated in Greece. This means that Greeks were willing to put up with minorities rather than accept them."Attitudes toward Israel"Negative attitudes in Greece toward Israel are clear-cut and shared by the majority of the population. Not only in obscure anti-Semitic journals, but also in mainstream media, one sees many comparisons between Israel and the Nazis. These papers frequently claim that Israelis are engaging in genocide against the Palestinian people."References to Auschwitz, Mauthausen and Dachau are often made in cartoons depicting Israeli soldiers as Nazi soldiers. Government officials and politicians occasionally make similar remarks. Mainstream media callously and indiscriminately uses terms such as 'genocide,' and 'Holocaust' against Israel. In this, Greece is more similar to Syria and Iran than to the Western world."A typical example of such mainstream racism was the blatant referral to Israeli military actions as 'genocide' in March 2002 by the Socialist Speaker of Greek Parliament, Apostolos Kaklamanis. This attitude was supported by government spokesman Christos Protopapas, who said that Kaklamanis spoke 'with sensitivity and responsibility...expressing the sentiments of the Parliament and Greek people.'"3Anti-Americanism and Attacks on IsraelAltsech adds: "Anti-Israel feelings are also linked to anti-American ones. Anti-Americanism has been rampant in Greece for decades for a variety of reasons. The day after 9/11, the Ta Nea daily - which is reputed to have the largest circulation in Greece and is close to the then ruling Socialist Pasok party - printed a black-framed front page with a picture of the World Trade Center being hit by a plane with only a brief caption saying that this was a big tragedy. It then proceeded to ask what the world could fear from the American paranoid reaction, which would threaten world peace. Although the paper, like most Greeks, was sympathetic to Americans at that moment, its perception of the event was insane and distorted."Much anti-Americanism originates in residual sentiments from the days of the Greek civil war at the end of World War II, when American support of right-wing resistance fighters helped keep communist resistance groups from gaining control of the country. The military dictatorship, which overthrew the democratic Greek government and ruled Greece from 1967 until democracy was fully restored in 1974, was backed by the United States, although it did not instigate the coup. This led to additional resentment against the United States."Many Greeks also perceive that after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the Americans supported Turkey in many respects. Given that Turkey has been the archenemy of Greece since Byzantine times, all these combined perceptions have created a strong anti-American current in public opinion. The war in Kosovo inflamed anti-American sentiment, as Greeks alone stood by their Christian Orthodox Serb brethren against NATO's bombing to stop the Serb massacre of ethnic Albanians. With the recent war in Iraq, anti-American sentiment has become pan-European, but in Greece, it has long-standing roots."Very often, demonstrations take place in front of the American embassy from where the protesters walk to the Israeli embassy. In these demonstrations, comparisons of the Star of David with the swastika are rife.4 There is the strong popular notion that the Zionists and the Jews - the words are used interchangeably - are very powerful through the Jewish lobby in America. Often Jews and Zionists are mentioned as perpetrators of crime who operate through an international conspiracy."A Country with Selected Brethren"Greeks will regularly tell you that they back the Palestinians and are strongly anti-Israel out of solidarity with the oppressed and suffering Palestinians. However, in the mid-90s, when the Christian Orthodox Serbs were slaughtering the Bosnian Muslims and committing many war crimes, the great majority of Greeks supported the Serbs. There were major anti-NATO demonstrations and strong pro-Serb and anti-American political statements were common."Former Greek President Christos Sartzetakis once made the famous statement: 'Greeks are a nation without brethren.' Yet there are frequent references to 'our Palestinian brothers.' There is also proof that the Greek socialist government sympathized with Arab terrorist murderers of Jews."In a study on Greek anti-Semitism he published almost ten years ago under the pen name Daniel Perdurant, Altsech wrote that at the end of 1988 under Pasok rule "following a judicial investigation, the Athens Court of Appeals and the Greek Supreme Court decided that Abdel Osama Al-Zomar, an alleged Palestinian terrorist apprehended in Greece, should be extradited to Italy to face charges of bombing the synagogue of Rome in October 1982, injuring thirty-four people and killing a three-year-old child. Greek Justice Minister V. Rotis used his authority to overrule the court decisions, stating that Osama's acts were part of the 'Palestinian struggle for liberation of their homeland, and, therefore, cannot be considered acts of terrorism.'"5Altsech comments: "Rotis compared these deeds to the acts of terrorism as part of anti-Nazi resistance during World War II. Osama could choose a country to fly to and went to Libya. The Washington Post wrote that Greece had rolled out a red carpet for terrorists."In October 2003, Ta Nea interviewed the artist Alexandros Psychoulis, who was organizing an exhibition in Athens concerning the heroism of an Arab female suicide bomber who blew herself up in a Jerusalem supermarket in March 2003. The artist said 'that the title "Body Milk" brings together both female cosmetics and the human milk of an 18-year-old Palestinian girl bomber in an Israeli supermarket....A very beautiful girl, educated, in love...of an army of women in the women's space of the supermarket...the supermarket is a super female provider. If she blows herself up there, she is magnifying her existence and her act.' Ta Nea wrote that the pink lace embroidery montage displayed an Arab woman with a bomb belt, who was 'heroically obliterating an Israeli supermarket.'Violence and Threats"Until recently, violence had not been physically expressed against Jews. Earlier this year, however, Mordechai Frisis, the rabbi of Salonika, described having been the target of an attack at a train station. In the past, Jewish property has occasionally been damaged. In the 1980s, a Jewish-owned travel agency in Athens was bombed during closing hours, and so there were no victims. Also, a company that imported Israeli solar heaters was bombed."Altsech considers that although Greek Jews have substantial first-hand experience of anti-Semitism, the problem is not widely known beyond their country's borders. "Jews thrived in Greece for centuries. However, 65-67,000 of them were murdered by the Germans during the Holocaust; as high as 92 percent of the Jewish population according to some estimates. Because there are fewer than 5,000 Jews left in the country, Greek anti-Semitism received very little international attention until recently.This may be changing. After several earlier publications on the subject, in April 2004 the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) wrote to the newly elected Prime Minister, Kostas Karamanlis of the New Democrat party, that the Greek National Tourist Organization promoted the Easter ritual of 'burning [the effigy] of Judas' as a tourist attraction. Hundreds of local ceremonies carried out this ritual sometimes described as the 'Burning of the Jew.' One Greek town replaced this custom with an innovative 'Burning of the Nigger' ritual."The same letter also mentioned that Greece had dedicated the musical score of the 2004 Olympics to the leftist anti-Semitic composer, Mikis Theodorakis, who had also served as a cabinet minister in a New Democracy-led coalition government that briefly ousted Andreas Papandreou from power in the early 90s. Earlier this year, Theodorakis had publicly stated that the Jews are "the root of all evil."Altsech relates his personal experiences: "Occasionally threats and phone-calls are made to Jews, which have nothing to do with the situation in the Middle East. I was already receiving them when I was a student and had never published anything yet. In the apartment building where we lived in Athens, we had wooden paneling on the outside with the names of all the residents on it. One day in the late 1980s, someone carved with a knife 'Jews, you will die' next to our name. The late Joseph Lovinger, then Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (CJB) President, a concentration camp survivor, told me that he received such threatening phone-calls regularly and just hung up."The Jewish community has usually tried to keep a low profile. When I was studying anti-Semitism in Greece, Lovinger told me: 'Don't dig into these matters. Don't rock the boat. There is no anti-Semitism in Greece.' I said, 'Mr. Lovinger, look at the evidence in your own files; the newspaper articles, the swastikas and graffiti, the stickers that I got off the streets saying 'Out with the Foreigners' and 'Zionism is Our Misfortune.' He shrugged it off, saying that 'Anti-Semitism is when one chases you down the street with a stick to crack your skull open. You keep a low profile and you'll never get that.' I thought that it sounded like the reaction of the Jews in Germany in the early thirties. I don't think the attitude has changed enough, if at all."Anti-Semitism in the Media"Major dailies often follow a two-faced approach to Jews. Socialist newspapers, such as Avriani, Ta Nea or Ethnos, among others, have often made anti-Semitic remarks, published blatantly anti-Semitic letters from readers and, from time to time, printed editorials against anti-Semitism and xenophobia."Some more extreme media is overtly anti-Semitic. This includes a television channel Tele-Asty which has a program which often includes extreme anti-Semitic remarks about both Jews and Zionists under the pretense of defending Greek Orthodoxy and the nation. For some newspapers with small circulations, promoting anti-Semitism is a major activity. The weekly Stochos is a primary example, as is Chrysi Avghi."In Greece, one does not have to buy newspapers to read their anti-Semitic remarks. Many kiosks hang such newspapers with pegs from a wire all day while weeklies hang there for the entire week. One can thus read the front page regardless of whether or not one actually purchases the paper. Sometimes this page is blatantly anti-Semitic. Stochos has even serialized The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Consequently, one no longer has to buy the book, which is not terribly hard to find in Greek bookstores in the first place."Multiple Desecrations"Violence against Jews is also expressed through the frequent desecration of synagogues, cemeteries and monuments, including Holocaust Memorials. So are street signs like that of the Street of the Jewish Martyrs in Salonika. Swastikas and anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian slogans have been painted on such memorials, while headstones in cemeteries have been broken."In December 1999, there were graffiti on the walls of the synagogue in Chalkis. In April 2000, the Holocaust Memorial in Salonika to the 50,000 Jewish inhabitants deported and murdered during the Nazi era was desecrated. On the same day, swastikas were drawn on the walls of the Monastirioton Synagogue in the city.9On 25 May 2000, fifty tombstones in the Athens Jewish cemetery, as well as the building used for burial services, were desecrated. At the same time, anti-Semitic slogans, such as "Juden Raus" and SS symbols, appeared on the Holocaust Memorial in Athens. On the previous day, swastikas and slogans such as "Death to the Jews" had been scrawled on the walls of the houses of the late actress and Greek Minister of Culture, Melina Mercouri, and her husband, the Jewish film director Jules Dassin.10In May 2001, a Molotov cocktail was thrown outside the Larissa Synagogue. The Jewish cemetery in Trikala was desecrated that year for the fifth time since 1993. Also, the Jewish cemetery of Xanthe and the Holocaust monument in Kastoria were daubed with swastikas.11On 15 April 2002 - one day after a Holocaust Memorial service at the monument - the Holocaust Memorial in Salonika was again desecrated with red paint to suggest bloodshed. On the same day, the Jewish cemetery at Ioannina was desecrated.12In July 2002, parts of the Holocaust Memorial in Rhodes were irreversibly destroyed. It had only been officially unveiled a few weeks earlier on 23 June. The Jewish community had reported that the harassment of the workers during the construction of the monument necessitated 24-hour police protection. The Ioannina synagogue was daubed with neo-Nazi symbols and slogans in August 2003. In October of that year, the cemetery in that town was again desecrated.13 In both 2002 and 2004, the Holocaust Memorial in the northern Greek city of Drama was daubed with anti-Semitic slogans.14Says Altsech: "In Greece, one finds a great deal of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli graffiti and posters plastered in the street. Major newspapers publish anti-Semitic letters from readers. On 15 May 2002, the pro-Socialist daily, Eleftherotypia, published one saying: 'Jews today are lucky that no one intends to deprive them of the right to be called human beings, when they aren't...it's a proven fact that Jews are untrustworthy and fickle. They infiltrate societies, first playing the poor soul to generate pity and then, when the time comes, they'll grab you by the throat.'15"At the same time regular Holocaust Memorial ceremonies do take place in the presence of political personalities. The government always sends a high-ranking official, usually the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs. The Greek Orthodox Church also sends a senior clergyman. It is a fairly standard observance, which the Jewish community organizes. Here, again, one finds the two-faced character of Greek society."Pasok's Anti-SemitismAltsech comments further on the political scene: "In the past, anti-Israeli attitudes were more-or-less specific to Pasok and the smaller left-wing parties. In the early 1980s, Andreas Papandreou, Pasok's leader and Greece's Prime Minister, was fiercely anti-American. At that time, he was already publicly calling the Israelis Nazis."There were anti-Semitic texts in state-issued schoolbooks; anti-Semitic or anti-Israeli articles - nobody saw the difference - appeared in magazines. In July 1982, after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Yannis Loulis, who wrote for the daily Mesimvrini, accused the pro-Socialist press of supporting anti-Semitism. Eleftherotypia referred to 'Israeli Nazis,' Ta Nea called the Israelis 'worthy descendants of Hitler', and Ethnos ran a front page headline declaring that the Israelis had surpassed the Nazis, a motif one frequently finds in Arab countries.16"Papandreou's words led to an extreme state of insecurity among the Greek Jews and to an outcry against his statement. The next year, in an attempt to repair the damage, he declared that 'Greek Jews are an integral part of the Greek people and the government is determined to take whatever measures necessary to deal with anti-Semitic incidents.'17"That same year, however, Pasok MP, Ioannis Koutsoyannis, inundated the Greek Parliament with a flood of anti-Semitic remarks, praising the book Zionist Conspiracies, written by a notorious Greek anti-Semite, and blaming 'the Jews, the Masons, the CIA and [former Israeli Defense Minister] Moshe Dayan' for preparing and coordinating the April 1967 military coup that took place in Greece.18 These remarks were made in the presence of the Prime Minister, and the speaker was heartily applauded by his Socialist colleagues."An Athens Mayor's Prejudice"In 1986, a regular session of the Athens City Council received national - and international - attention because of comments made by the Socialist mayor, Dimitris Beis. At one point during the session, there was some noise and confusion, which the mayor described as 'havra' - an insulting term which equates noise and tumult with Jews praying in unison in the synagogue. The mayor defended his remarks, and mocked those who protested."An article in Apoghevmatini noted that at the time when Jews were being blamed for everything from forest fires to the Chernobyl meltdown, the mayor could expose his prejudice openly without concern about losing votes from a few Jewish citizens.19 New York Mayor, Ed Koch, referred to Beis' comments in his New York Post article about Greek anti-Semitism.20"In 2002, Theodoros Pangalos, a former Pasok foreign minister and EU commissioner led a protest march to the Israeli embassy. Because it was the Saturday of Passover, the embassy was closed. Pangalos then suggested that since the embassy was in Greece, it should respect the customs of its host country, and that not receiving the protest on the Sabbath of Passover was an insult to Greece.After Pasok's electoral defeat to New Democracy in 2004, the outgoing Prime Minister Simitis, accused of not having handed power over to his successor, George Papandreou, early enough to give his party a better chance at victory, was referred to as "the Jew Simitis" in a derogatory front page article of the pro-Pasok daily Avriani on 11 March.New Democracy"Under Pasok, Greece only recognized Israel de facto. In 1990, more than forty years after Israel became independent, Israel was recognized de jure, by the conservative New Democracy Mitsotakis government, which had come to power a year before. In recent years, some members of the New Democracy Party - which had been in opposition for a long time - have moved further to the right and have begun to publicly and unashamedly express and condone anti-Semitic views."One of these was MP George Karatzaferis. He was expelled from the party only because he made derogatory remarks, insinuating a homosexual relationship between Karamanlis, then leader of New Democracy in opposition, and his press secretary. Had Karatzaferis remained in the party until it came to power, he would have probably been given a prominent ministerial position. Karatzaferis now runs his own small right wing party, Laos. His party narrowly missed inclusion in the Greek Parliament in the 2004 election. In the June 2004 elections for the European parliament, the party, however, gained one seat."The New Democrats did not want to expel Karatzaferis despite his anti-Semitic remarks. Their party was gaining strength, slowly but steadily, and was looking for all possible support in order to come to power. It narrowly lost the previous parliamentary elections in 2000. Karatzaferis' many anti-Semitic comments in media he controlled, were not so relevant to them. In Greece, there is no political benefit in standing up for the 5,000 Jews. Nobody cares about them. Nor is there a public outcry against racist politicians, anti-Semitism or xenophobia."Some New Democracy members of Parliament in 2000, along with several members of the Union of Retired Army Officers, participated in a celebration with Chrysi Avghi, which uses red, white and black swastika-like runic symbols.Also in 2000, on 6 September, New Democracy MP Yakoumatos, speaking before Parliament, referred to the opposition Pasok MPs as "Judases, with [Prime Minister Costas] Simitis as the First High Priest of Judaism.""New Democracy won the Parliamentary election of 2004, and is now in government. Some of its prominent members have openly expressed anti-Semitic views in the past, and even Prime Minister-elect Kostas Karamanlis warmly received Theodorakis, whose name has been mentioned by analysts as the ruling party's likely nominee for the Presidency of the Republic of Greece."The Chania Synagogue CaseIn 1999 the reconstructed synagogue of Chania on the island of Crete was reopened. The president of the region, George Katsanevakis, a member of the small left-wing Synaspismos party, wrote a letter to the CJB in which he said that the precondition for the creation and operation of places of worship is the existence of a fair number of faithful, which does not exist in this specific case.Katsanevakis wondered: "Since, unfortunately, no Jews remain in Chania, to whom will the operation and ceremonies of the synagogue be directed? To the memorial that is empty of faithful, to the slow-thinking tourists, or to a congregation transferred from elsewhere?"The region's president added another double-faced remark to his xenophobic letter: "Of course, we reject as unsubstantiated the rumours circulating in Crete about an invasion of Zionist capital, whose objective is to upset our national conscience and identity."22The Greek Orthodox ChurchOne of the 1200 forged IDs with christian alias, here provided by Athens religious and police authorities to Eva Alhanati (alias in the ID as Evangelia Alexiou) , a Greek Jewish woman who lived in Athens during axis powers occupation.Several former prominent Church leaders are still heroic figures for Greek Jews due to their efforts to save them during the Holocaust, most notably Archbishop Damaskinos and the Metropolitan of Zakynthos.In the more recent past, however, several Metropolitans have engaged in blatantly hateful anti-Semitic propaganda. The Church's official position has been that Metropolitans are autonomous, and although the Church does not condone anti-Semitism in its ranks, it does not have the jurisdiction to suppress it either.In 2001, the weekly To Vima published comments by Archbishop Christodoulos, who blamed the Jews for being behind government's decision to abide by European Union rules opposed to stating one's religion on the new state identity cards, which have a standard format for EU member countries.As early as 1993, both the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice criticized Greece for forcing the inscription of the holder's religion on his/her identity card. The Archbishop's comments are indicative of the casual attitude the Church holds with respect to anti-Semitic sentiment even at its highest echelons.Those Who Speak OutAltsech comments that there are some who do speak out. The first of these is Panayotis Dimitras of the Helsinki Monitor, who has long researched and publicized issues relating to civil rights, including racism and anti-Semitism. Another is Nikos Dimou, a prominent Greek author, journalist and thinker. He has written many articles containing facts nobody is willing to publicly mention and confirm in Greece. He has courageously criticized the Church and Greek society, and has drawn attention to their anti-Semitism and xenophobia. It is important to recognize his courage and that of the few others like him."Most Greeks do not accept the concept of constructive criticism. The prevailing attitude is that all foreign critique is anti-Greek. As the Jewish community is small and not very vocal, the international condemnations of Greek anti-Semitism by the SWC, Anti-Defamation League and others are thus especially important."I am not sure international condemnation will change anything within Greece, but it will get the attention of Greek politicians who speak with two tongues, one for domestic and one for foreign use. They do not want to be embarrassed internationally about the country's anti-Semitism. They may then do what they can to make editors a bit more discreet about printing blatant anti-Semitic articles, which are often condoned by parties and politicians. That is why increasing international public indignation about Greek anti-Semitism is important."More on the subject:Georges Gritsis's answer to During WW2, the Germans rounded up all the Jews of Greece and transported them 3000 km to Auschwitz to be murdered. How did that make any logistical sense?Georges Gritsis's answer to Did the military junta in Greece support Israel? Or was it against Israel?History of the Jews in Greece - Wikipedia

I don't know a lot about that area, but here are some links to projects and reports:Disclaimer: Though I find the whole political situation in that areas very sad for everyone , I do not know the situation well enough for informed opinions.My interest here is just that everyone have water and food security.It seems extremely difficult to implement permaculture systems even outside of an area of conflict, though perhaps necessity will make some types of permaculture systems the most viable.A hungry Gaza finds sustenance in urban farmsUrban aquaponic farms like Abu Ahmed’s — where herbs and vegetables are grown without soil, in tubs filled with rocks and water from connected fish tanks — have the potential to curb food insecurity in the cramped Gaza Strip.The United Nations says almost half Gaza’s 1.7 million people lack secure access to food.But instead of soil and chemical fertilizers, Abu Ahmed uses the nutrient-rich water from fish pools, helping both to save scarce water resources and produce high-quality protein.“One of the major reasons this is an applicable method in Gaza is the effectiveness with water use,” said Chris Somerville, an agronomist and urban agriculture consultant with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Gaza. “When you are talking about aquaponic or hydroponic or any form of soilless agriculture, you’re using less than 20 percent of the amount of water.”Palestinian farmers use permaculture to challenge occupationWith the help of funding from Europe, the US and Australia, the Centre had managed to store and grow over 300 native plant varieties and had on its two-hectare site run courses for agricultural engineers from across the Middle East on permaculture techniques such as composting, irrigation, grey water recycling and using organic pesticides. It also offered local women training in computer and English-language skills....However, she notes that “Permaculture ideas are very much about how to live ‘off the grid.’ You have to think, how will I get water? So if you harvest rainwater you remove a level of dependency. And how do I handle waste? If you’re on a short water budget and there’s no sewage collection it makes sense to have a compost toilet. And then there are sustainable ways of generating electricity. That’s the next step, we haven’t got there yet but we’d really like to work with getting funding to get people solar panels and things like that so they can have electricity at their sites.”Permaculture In PalestineIsrael's land confiscation was coupled with water resources confiscation. Currently, the Israeli settlers consume 4 times the Palestinian's consumption. 20% of the Palestinian villages do not have drinking water or water networks, while almost each settlement has a swimming pool.Although agriculture was and still is the major contributor to the Palestinian economy, there was a significant decline in its contribution: from 36% in the 1970's to about 20% in the 1990's. This was mainly due to land and water confiscation which limited the expansion of agricultural land, uprooting of thousands of fruit-producing trees and immigration of the Palestinian farmers towards the Israeli labour market.Permaculture Design Course in Marda Village, Palestine (Sept 25 – 10 Oct, 2014)Page on theecologist.orgCan British activists solve Middle Eastern water conflicts using permaculture?since 1967 Israel has controlled all water resources in the West Bank, and a number of respected organisations, including the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, Amnesty International and now Human Rights Watch, have catalogued Israel’s allegedly illegal allocation and disproportionate use of West Bank water resources. The latter’s latest report on Israeli settlements notes: ‘Average Israeli per capita consumption of water—including water consumption by settlers—is 4.3 times that of Palestinians in the occupied territories (including Gaza), according to the World Health Organization. In the Jordan Valley, an estimated 9,000 settlers in Israeli agricultural settlements use one-quarter the total amount of water consumed by the entire Palestinian population of the West Bank, some 2.5 million people.’Grey and her colleagues are thus attempting to introduce new techniques – and to reintroduce traditional methods – that empower the local population, making them more self-reliant through sustainably increasing food and water security. With already-acute water shortages and Israel’s refusal to allow the construction of adequate sewage infrastructure – there is just one sewage treatment plant for the entire West Bank population, processing just 10 per cent of all sewage, with the rest entering the ecosystem untreated – Grey advocates more widespread use of waterless toilets.‘Environmentally, if you know the situation, you can’t justify having a flush toilet unless you don’t have the space to build a composting toilet. It’s also [myopic] with respect to wasting 30 litres of drinking water a day – that’s about 40 per cent of each household’s daily drinking water, flushed down the loo.’on Huffington Post: Permaculture as Necessity, Not Choice, in PalestineThe green fields of vegetable and fruit crops in Israel are fed from water aquifers and the Jordan river as settlement colonies across the West Bank are deliberately placed on top of the most fertile land and the biggest underground water tables. On the other hand, Palestinian farms, villages, towns and refugee camps (all of which are restricted from accessing the same water tables and the Jordan river) must then rely on rainwater-catching tubs on top of roofs and beside homes — an meager source of water especially in the burning-hot summer months. According to a report published by the World Bank on Tuesday, the average Israeli receives access to four times as much water as the average Palestinian. Additionally, the World Bank says that the uneven allocation now results in a “near catastrophe” for the Palestinian Authority’s current water system. “Palestinians have access to only one-fifth of the mountain aquifer supply, while Israel pumps out the rest, reaching its allocated quota without due authorization from the joint water committee set up in the Oslo accords. (Haaretz, April 20th)”...“However,” Harrison continues, “Palestine could lead the world in arid-zone agriculture. Already, 80% of the farming is rain-fed. But it’s predicted that, because of global climate change, rainfall in this area will decrease 20% by 2050. We should be prepared for it…With permaculture techniques, there are crops that you can grow, there are things you can do.”