A protest has been called in the port city of Heraklion, Crete, on Thursday against the arrival of the Israeli cruise ship Crown Iris. The demonstration is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. outside the port, where the vessel is expected to dock with around 1,600 passengers on board, many reported to be members of Israel’s armed forces.
The gathering is organized by the “Assembly of Solidarity with the Palestinian People,” with the participation of trade unions, local associations, and dockworkers. Organizers have designated the parking area of a nearby amusement park as the meeting point for participants.
A message of solidarity
According to the organizers, the purpose of the rally is to send a “loud message of condemnation” against what they describe as the genocide in Gaza and to express solidarity with the Palestinian people. Their statement declared: “The Crown Iris has no place in our city’s port,” while urging the local community to respond with a strong presence.
Dockworkers have been given a special call to join, with references made to earlier mobilizations in Piraeus, Greece’s main port, where activists staged blockades of Israeli vessels and disrupted cargo linked to military supplies.
Part of a wider campaign
Thursday’s action in Heraklion is part of a broader international protest network under the banner “No Harbour for Genocide,” which has organized similar demonstrations in other Greek cities, including Piraeus, Volos, Agios Nikolaos, Rhodes, and Syros.
Organizers in Crete argue that welcoming the Crown Iris amounts to supporting violence in Gaza, adding that “humanity, dignity, and freedom are values that must be defended.”