After World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder demanded that Greece outlaw the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party that has 18 seats in Parliament, the extremists called for a boycott of cosmetics made by his company Estee Lauder.
In a statement on the website of Golden Dawn’s New York branch, the party stated that it was taking the action and said, because of a “hostile attack on Greek sovereignty, freedom, and interests, Lauder’s cosmetics monopoly Estee Lauder must be boycotted.”
Lauder, within the framework of a ceremony on March 17 to remember the destruction of the historic Jewish community in Thessaloniki by the Nazis, urged Greece to become tougher against Golden Dawn, in another call by Jewish and international groups for the government to crack down. The party has also been accused of attacks on immigrants, which it denies.
“An institution that is not Greek and does nothing to contribute to Greek well-being is demanding (Greek Prime Minister Antonis) Samaras ban the third-largest party, which enjoys up to 18 percent of the electorates’ support, all in the name of liberal democracy nonetheless,” Golden Dawn declared in a statement.
It added that, “The World Jewish Congress claims to speak on behalf of Greece’s 5,000 Jews, why does Samaras care more about the opinions of 5,000 over 1 million Greeks, if Greece is truly a democracy?”
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