Silent protest over desecration of Jewish site

Dozens of people held a silent protest against anti-Semitism at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University Monday following the desecration last week of a monument marking the site of a former Jewish cemetery. In a statement, university authorities said, "The desecration and unprecedented destruction of the monument is an affront to [university] asylum law, academic dignity and democracy." The vandalism, which occurred ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday, was also condemned by Athens Archbishop Ieronymos. A prosecutor has ordered a preliminary inquiry into the incident.