Israel on Wednesday launched an annual Hellenic Education & Community Award marking the anniversary of Greece’s refusal to allow Italian troops to enter the country during World War II.
The award, announced by the Israeli Embassy in Greece and titled ‘No — Honoring courage, inspiring the future generations’, will honor a Greek educational institution, community or social initiative that embodies the country’s shared values.
This year, Israel will provide modern educational technology and equipment to the Model Ecclesiastical High School of Xanti, a city in northeastern Greece in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace that suffered profoundly during World War II.
The honors mark Greece’s historic refusal of an ultimatum from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on Oct. 28, 1940, demanding that Italian troops be allowed to enter and occupy strategic sites across Greek territory.
Then Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas famously rejected the demand, replying in French: “Alors, c’est la guerre” (“Then, it is war”), which the Greek public and press soon popularized into the single, defiant word “Oxi” (No).
Italian forces invaded Greece from Albania shortly after the response, triggering the Greco-Italian War. Greek forces mounted a fierce defense and pushed the Italian army back into Albania, scoring the first major Allied land victory of World War II. Nazi Germany invaded Greece on April 6, 1941, to bail out its failing ally.
Greeks worldwide mark this historic act of resistance on Oct. 28 as Oxi Day.
“A historic NO” becomes a resounding “YES” to the future of Greece’s children,” the Israeli Embassy in Greece posted on X.
The initiative comes just weeks after an Israeli parliamentary group was launched in the Greek parliament, deepening the historic partnership among eastern Mediterranean allies.
