Israeli passengers on the Crown Iris cruise ship, operated by the Israeli Mano Maritime shipping company, arrived at the island of Syros in Greece on Tuesday and were barred from leaving the ship due to a pro-Palestinian protest.

The 1,600 passengers have been stuck on the ship for hours, with the police refusing to allow them to disembark due to fears that the passengers will be harmed by the protesters.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke with his Greek counterpart, Giorgos Gerapetritis, and requested his intervention.

Itzik, a passenger on the ship, told Ynet that the security personnel on the ship told the passengers that they had encountered similar demonstrations in the past in Athens and other destinations. “The initial assessment of the security guards was that instead of getting off the ship at 12:30, there would be a delay of half an hour or an hour, but the Greek police decided to delay disembarkation from the ship and also sent a number of armed police officers in helmets who were deployed near the ship,” he said.

“There is no direct contact between the protesters and the passengers since the protesters were not allowed to enter the port area and the passengers were not allowed to go ashore. As of now, there is no concern, as the police are separating the passengers from the protesters. Some of the passengers are afraid to go ashore if the police allow us to leave the ship.”

Ship passenger Daniella, from Ra’anana, said: “There are about 200 protesters at the entrance to the port with Palestinian flags. They are not letting us off the ship and brought back those who did manage to get off. I understand that this is the first time the ship has docked here and the protesters knew we were coming and were waiting for us. Yesterday we docked in Rhodes without any problem at all.”

The Foreign Ministry stated that “The Israeli embassy in Greece is in contact with the authorities regarding the ship and is monitoring the issue. They are trying to ensure their safe disembarkation.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)