AJC Condemns Fatal Attack at Golden Dawn Athens Office

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Nov 02, 2013, 09:11 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC condemned the killing of two members of the Golden Dawn Party, and the wounding of a third, in a drive-by shooting outside the party's office in northern Athens last night.

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"In a democratic society, taking the law into your own hands is to be categorically rejected," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. 'As much as we steadfastly oppose the Golden Dawn's vile neo-Nazi ideology and inflammatory tactics, we are dismayed by those who, for whatever reason, would commit acts of murder and attempted murder."

A Greek government spokesman pledged that the killers would be caught, while all the major Greek political parties spoke out strongly against the attack. The Minister of Public Order, Nikos Dendias, declared that "We will not let the country be turned into a battleground for settling scores of any kind," even as the Golden Dawn, in a statement after the shooting, blamed him and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, and their "anti-Greek government," for the assault.

AJC has visited Greece frequently, stays in close touch with Greek leaders, cooperates with Greek-American organizations, and has an association agreement with the Jewish Community of Greece. On more than one occasion, Golden Dawn has publicly assailed AJC in the form of incendiary language and anti-Semitic imagery.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee