The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, which has caused reverberations around the world and has drawn political “battle lines” in various Western societies, continues to spill over in Greece as well. One well-known performer, the singer Glykeria, this week announced that she’s bowing out of a local concert, honoring the late composer Mikis Theodorakis, after facing criticism for her appearance in Israel.
The concert is due to take place at the end of June at the Panathinaiko stadium in downtown Athens, a pre-eminent all-marble and U-shaped outdoor stadium where the first modern Olympics of 1896 were held.
The backlash against the singer emanated mostly from social media, leftist political parties and some of her peers, yet it achieved successive media scrutiny. Glykeria is among the most popular Greek performers in Israel.
Glykeria is scheduled to appear at the Meridiano festival in southern Israel on June 17. A least a couple of Greek artists had cancelled their appearance there.
At the same time, another Greek pop performer, Nikos Vertis, has scheduled three live concerts in Jerusalem next month, all three sold out at the ticket booth. However, he’s avoided a backlash from the same quarters that pounced on Glykeria. Vertis, in fact, will share the stage with popular Israeli singer and composer Hanan Ben Ari for two of the three concerts.
Vertis, along with other Greek performers, has enjoyed significant success in Israel over the past few years.
The Gaza war notwithstanding, Greek-Israeli relations – between governments, in trade, travel and on the people-to-people level – have flourished over the past two decades.
