A series of pro-Palestinian protests targeting an Israeli cruise ship around Greece have irritated a conservative government walking a diplomatic tightrope with Middle Eastern powers during the Gaza war.

At the crack of dawn on Thursday at the port of Piraeus outside Athens, dozens of riot police armed with truncheons, tear gas and shields sealed up a cruise terminal from hundreds of demonstrators.

Their ire was directed at the "Crown Iris", a hulking Israeli tourist ship that has attracted protests at each of its stops in the country since last month.

Tourism is a pillar of the Greek economy, but pro-Palestinian activists say the visitors "whitewash" Israel's devastating war in Gaza that was sparked by the unprecedented 2023 Hamas attack.

According to the All Workers Militant Front (PAME), a communist-affiliated union that called the rally, the Crown Iris was carrying Israeli soldiers.

"We cannot tolerate people who have contributed to the genocide of the Palestinian people moving amongst us," protester Yorgos Michailidis told AFP in Piraeus.

"We want people everywhere to see that we don't only........

© Al Monitor