By Prof Asher J Matathias

Dear brethren (even if for some I shall be the “other”),


For this extended Memorial Day holiday weekend, Anna and I are the house guests of our daughter Joy, her husband and their children at East Hampton, Long Island. Still, my interest (sometimes to the annoyance of my wife), remains the welfare of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York. Thus, it came as a pleasant surprise, expected, really, from someone of the stature and cumulative acumen of Bill Stathakos, to initiate a unity parley composed of previous Federation presidents, seven participated, 

to arrive at a resolution to the quandary the organization finds itself vis a vis a range of legal and procedural issues. Unfortunately, this visionary move was met with resistance, even contempt by the team of 

Tsekeridis / Galatoulas, if the Greek American News Agency’s reportage is to be believed. That’s too bad, and my heart is heavy with the premonition that more division, and ill feelings, are in the horizon, instead of the 

honorary president’s desire for collaboration, compassion, progress.


By the way, since I do not possess his electronic address, please relay to Bill Stathakos my highest esteem, and compliments for his moderation, wisdom and 

determination to persevere in his worthy agenda. Please know, that while the Federation leadership is moribund, the proverbial Rome burns … Among the burning, no pun,issues to be confronted individually and rganizationally remain,

1. The ongoing anti-Semitic outbursts in our native land, now my own synagogue in Volos, where Anna and I were married on August 29, 1970, under siege by vandals, defacing, and visibly, threatening the physical existence of Jews. The Federation has a moral duty to express itself forcibly on the matter, the way, in sorrow, it has not done so often previously.

2. The Federation must join people of good will across ethnic lines to request that the government of Greece recant the notorious vote it cast against the creation of Israel on November 29,1947 at the United Nations General Assembly. That misdirected ballot brought a pall in Greek-Jewish and Greek-Israeli-American relations. Action on those fronts will go a long way to advance the good name of Greece and Greeks, otherwise daily 

besmirched through the anti-Semitic utterances of well-known public figures, and most regularly, locally, by the persons operating the Internet radio station which has the audacity to be called www.Hellasfm.us.


Following such steps, I shall consider resuming my conspicuous role as champion of Greek-Jewish cooperation and collaboration; otherwise, the freeze that exists in my association with segments of the Greek Orthodox 

American community, especially as former member of the Argonauts, will continue. To do differently would be hypocritical to the lofty aims of tolerance and understanding, two concepts that have been trampled upon so emphatically by leaders who should know better than to stalk the embers of ethno-religious hatred. Perhaps, the expectation of close cooperation and collaboration was a mirage, after all, better deferred to the next generation. Be well, brothers and sisters, and do take the time to reflect on this Memorial Day, and, in the stirring words of Isareli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu closing his 

remarks at a historic joint session of Congress — only a distant dream for a 

Greek leader under present conditions — ” … May G-d always bless the United States of America.”


Sincerely, and with fraternal affection,