Israeli cruise ship tourists targeted with ‘rocks and metal bars’ at port

"There was a small demonstration there, no more than 20 to 25 people. The police came and dispersed them, and all the travellers exited normally. They went on their bus tours. And the port is currently open for entry and exit," Yuval Peleg, spokesman for Mano Maritime, told JNS.

"They say people who left came back. What I'm saying is that as soon as the police arrived and dispersed them, everyone disembarked normally. Everything is open and everything is fine," he added.

While acknowledging that tourists leaving an Israeli-owned cruise line makes for an easy target for protesters, who do not have to guess as to the nationality of those coming off the ship, Peleg said that at the end of the day such protests were sporadic.

"They were in Rhodes yesterday. It was quiet. They were in Rhodes last week, and other places. It was also quiet," Peleg said, noting that the sad truth is that Israelis have been targeted throughout Europe.

"You can fly overnight to London, go to a square somewhere, and be attacked by some pro-Palestinian. Also in Italy. It's the same everywhere," he said.

Greece is determined to crack down on actions targeting Israeli tourists, particularly after a dramatic incident on July 22 when pro-Palestinian protesters prevented them from disembarking at the Greek island of Syros.

Local police there failed to contain roughly 150 protesters, leading the ship to divert to the Cypriot city of Limassol.

Greece’s Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis promised that anyone who tried to prevent a foreign national from legally entering the country would "face prosecution, arrest and then criminal proceedings under the anti-racism law.”

The event rose to the level of an international incident. Israel’s foreign minister called his counterpart to intervene. The ambassadors of Israel and Greece became directly involved.

The citizens of Syros themselves were deeply upset by the hostile reception the Israelis received, which they said was the work of outside elements.

Martakis Notis, a marketing and tourism consultant helping Syros manage the crisis, told JNS: “Everybody in Syros is sad because the image broadcast by the demonstrators didn’t represent the island, which is civilized and welcoming to people from all over the world.”

Notis said that he could only hope Mano would not remove the island from its itineraries.