The Pirate Party of Greece (PPGR), true to the Pirate Ideology’s principles, recognizes the need to clearly and unequivocally fight and condemn antisemitism. Antisemitism has been the basis for many centuries of brutal discrimination and murderous persecution against the Jews, which peaked with the Holocaust.
In our Statutes,[1] we explicitly and unequivocally declare our dedication to the protection of human rights for all, without exceptions and/or conditions – regardless of race, religion, origin, gender identity-expression etc., exactly as dictated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the UN General Assembly and by the European Convention on Human rights. Our stance is reaffirmed in our other fundamental texts: our Founding Declaration,[2] our Prinicples,[3] and the Rethymno Declaration.[4]
We incorporate our fight against antisemitism in our general fight against racism. If humankind must learn one thing from the Holocaust and all other genocides is that “Never Again” must mean “Never Again for Anyone”. To us, human rights are universal, inalienable, and cannot be subject to negotiations. Thus, we are not going to treat the fight against antisemitism as incompatible with, or as competitive to the fight for the rights of the Palestinian people – or any other people.
Furthermore, according to our party’s fundamental texts and the declarations and conventions on human rights we endorse and abide by, we reject the idea of any racially and/or religiously “pure” state as inherently racist, bigoted, and anti-democratic. As a country, we have had a very bitter experience with the fascist slogan «Ελλάς Ελλήνων Χριστιανών» (“Greece of and for Christian Greeks”) of the 1967-1974 Junta led by the Nazi collaborator Georgios Papadopoulos. We reject the idea that political critique of a state’s laws, policies, practicies, ideology, and official rhetoric may be stifled or censored as “racist” by nature. Speech can be racist depending on its content, its targeting, and the context in which it is uttered. Furthermore, to apply the “racist” label to the opposition to racist policies and actions weakens the struggle against racism and makes a mockery of it. Additionally, the Pirate Movement by nature rejects censorship, especially when it aims to protect governments that violate anyone’s basic human rights.
Consequently, we are led to the rejection of the working definition of antisemitism set forth by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), because it conflates Jewry with Israel as a state, and antisemitism with legitimate political criticism of the political, diplomatic, legal, and military actions of the state of Israel. In Greece, we have dealt with similar attitudes expressed by our own domestic far right, as it conflates Hellenism with the Greek government and labels “anti-hellenic” and “treasonous” every criticism of the government’s rhetoric, laws, and policies.
Consequently, the Governing Board of the PPGR proposed to the party members, and on 28 July put to a vote, with 2 August being the deadline, the adoption of the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA).[4] The JDA’s definition and guidelines, in contrast to the IHRA Definition, offer a clear, explicit, and concise framework that leaves no room for misinterpretation, substantially strengthens the fight against racism in general, and antisemitism in particular, and is compatible with the Pirate principles of free speech and critique, as it shields the right to legitimate political criticism of ideas, laws, policies, and practices. The proposal of the Governing Board was unanimously approved by PPGR members.
Thus, the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism is adopted as an official position of the PPGR and will be published shortly in the relevant section of our website and Wiki, in English and Greek. The Greek translation will be posted after its finalization.
[1] Κόμμα Πειρατών Ελλάδας (Pirate Party of Greece). Καταστατικό – Κόμμα Πειρατών Ελλάδας – Pirate party of Greece. [online] Available at: https://www.pirateparty.gr/katastatiko-2/.
[2] Κόμμα Πειρατών Ελλάδας – Pirate party of Greece. Ιδρυτική Διακήρυξη του Κόμματος Πειρατών Ελλάδας. [online] Available at: https://www.pirateparty.gr/idrytiki-diakiriksi/.
[3] Κόμμα Πειρατών Ελλάδας – Pirate party of Greece. (2012). Αρχές και Προτεραιότητες του Κόμματος Πειρατών Ελλάδας. [online] Available at: https://www.pirateparty.gr/arxes/.
[4] Κόμμα Πειρατών Ελλάδας – Pirate party of Greece. (2025). Η Διακήρυξη του Ρεθύμνου. [online] Available at: https://www.pirateparty.gr/rethymno-declaration-gr/.
[5] JDA. (2023). The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism | JDA. [online] Available at: https://jerusalemdeclaration.org.
NOTE: This text’s citations will be updated when we provide official translations of our ideological texts (references 1-4).
