Editing Mikis Theodorakis (section)

==Political views==
===Israel and Jews===
Theodorakis opposed Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. He criticised Greek Prime Minister [[George Papandreou]] for establishing closer relations with Israeli prime minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]], who was guilty, he said, of "war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza."<ref name="Antizio">{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=208291 |title='Zorba the Greek' composer: I'm anti-Semitic |website=Jpost.com |date=15 February 2011 |access-date=13 February 2012}}</ref> Theodorakis was a vocal critic of Zionism, and referred to himself as an "anti-Zionist."<ref name="Antizionist">{{cite web|url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2011/02/10/%E2%80%98zorba%E2%80%99-composer-declares-himself-an-anti-semite|title='Zorba' Composer Declares Himself an Anti-Semite|author=A. Makris|website=Greece.greekreporter.com|date=10 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Zorba' composer declares himself an anti-Semite|url=http://www.jta.org/2011/02/09/news-opinion/world/zorba-composer-declares-himself-an-anti-semite|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|date=9 February 2011|quote=Oddly, during the television interview he said that "I'm an anti-Semite but I love Jews."}}</ref><ref name="Wistrich2012">{{cite book|author=Robert S. Wistrich|title=From Ambivalence to Betrayal: The Left, the Jews, and Israel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yBvt4Fwc5XoC&pg=PA16|date=1 June 2012|publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]]|isbn=978-0-8032-4083-4|page=16}}</ref><ref name="Rynhold2015">{{cite book|author=Jonathan Rynhold|title=The Arab-Israeli Conflict in American Political Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ogZEBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA26|date=23 February 2015|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-1-107-09442-0|page=26}}</ref> In 2003, he stated, "Everything that happens today in the world has to do with the Zionists ... American Jews are behind the world economic crisis that has hit Greece as well." He was accused of saying that "this small nation (Israel) is the root of evil".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Droumpouki |first1=Anna Maria |title=Shaping Holocaust memory in Greece: memorials and their public history |journal=National Identities |date=2016 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=199–216 |doi=10.1080/14608944.2015.1027760|bibcode=2016NatId..18..199D |s2cid=144999147 }}</ref> Theodorakis later clarified his comments, stating in a letter to the Central Council of Jews in Greece that what he had said was: "Unfortunately the state of Israel supports the United States and their foreign policy, which is the root of the Evil and, therefore, it is close to the root of the Evil.”<ref name=resp>{{Cite web |date=10 May 2011 |title=Mikis Theodorakis' response to Central Jewish Council of Greece |url=https://newpost.gr/eidiseis/mikis-theodorakis-response-to-central-jewish-council-of-greece/ |website=Newpost |access-date=14 April 2024 |archive-date=26 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726154147/https://newpost.gr/eidiseis/mikis-theodorakis-response-to-central-jewish-council-of-greece/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He was also accused of having admitted his anti-Semitism during an interview on Greek TV on 8 February 2011. His controversial statement on television had been: “I should clarify that I am anti-Semite. Essentially, I love the Jewish people, I love the Jews, I have lived long with them but as much as I hate anti-Semitism, I hate Zionism even more so”, being "I am anti-Semite" an obvious slip of the tongue for "anti-Zionist".<ref name=resp/> In 2013, he condemned [[Golden Dawn (Greece)|Golden Dawn]] for [[Holocaust denial]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Congress |first1=World Jewish |title=World Jewish Congress |url=https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/mikis-theodorakis-holocaust-denial-by-greek-extremists-is-a-disgrace?print=true |access-date=31 May 2021 |date=24 June 2013 |language=en}}</ref>

===Views of the United States===
Theodorakis was a long-time critic of the United States foreign policy. During the invasion of Iraq, he called Americans "detestable, ruthless cowards and murderers of the people of the world". He said he would consider anyone who interacted with "these barbarians", for whatever reason, as his enemy.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/07/world/a-nation-at-war-protest-anti-americanism-in-greece-is-reinvigorated-by-war.html? A Nation at War: Protest; Anti-Americanism in Greece Is Reinvigorated by War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229113401/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/07/world/a-nation-at-war-protest-anti-americanism-in-greece-is-reinvigorated-by-war.html |date=29 December 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 7 April 2003</ref> Theodorakis greatly opposed the [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia]]  during the [[Yugoslav Wars]]. He participated in a charity concert protesting the bombing in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV5caDKNeIU | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218104032/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV5caDKNeIU| archive-date=18 December 2015 | url-status=dead|title= Mikis Theodorakis – About the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia 16-6-2013 |publisher=[[YouTube]] |date=16 June 2013 |access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref>

===2010–2011: Non-political movement===
On 1 December 2010, Mikis Theodorakis founded "Spitha: People's Independent Movement", a non-political movement which calls people to gather and express their political ideas. The main goal of "Spitha" is to help Greece stay clear of its economic crisis.<ref>{{cite web|author=gravity.gr – interactive web|url=http://www.mikis-theodorakis-kinisi-anexartiton-politon.gr/|title=Κίνηση Ανεξάρτητων Πολιτών – Επίσημη ιστοσελίδα|website=Mikis-theodorakis-kinisi-anexartiton-politon.gr|access-date=13 February 2012|archive-date=27 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227104944/http://www.mikis-theodorakis-kinisi-anexartiton-politon.gr/|url-status=live}}</ref> On 31 May 2011, Theodorakis gave a speech attended by approximately 10,000 people in the center of Athens, criticising the Greek government for the loan debt it has taken from the [[International Monetary Fund]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vzsUAD6y0s|title=Η ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΜΙΚΗ ΘΕΟΔΩΡΑΚΗ ΣΤΑ ΠΡΟΠΥΛΑΙΑ 31-5-2011|publisher=[[YouTube]]|date=31 May 2011|access-date=13 February 2012|archive-date=24 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724205616/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vzsUAD6y0s|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Positions on Macedonia===
In 1997 Mikis Theodorakis stated on the [[Macedonia naming dispute|Macedonian issue]] that "The name does not matter so much, as long as the peoples live in peace". Later, in an interview, he stressed "In fact, this country is being pushed towards improving relations with Greece. So why shouldn't it be possible for our relations to prosper at all levels and whatever comes up? The Customs Union, confederation, etc. are just conditions. In any case, I think that the name issue will be overcome when the relations between the two peoples reach such a point that the name will not matter at all".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.news247.gr/afieromata/otan-o-mikis-theodorakis-edine-synaylia-filias-sta-skopia.6574600.html|title=Όταν ο Μίκης Θεοδωράκης έδινε συναυλία φιλίας στα Σκόπια|website=News247.gr|date=5 February 2018|first=Christos|last=Demetis}}</ref>

Theodorakis was one of the main speakers at the Rally for Macedonia in Athens, which took place on 4 February 2018. In his speech, he stated that "Macedonia is one, was, is and will always be Greek."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.protothema.gr/politics/article/757529/mikis-gia-ti-makedonia-adelfia-mou-ellines-ratsistes-traboukoi/|title=Μίκης: Δεν θα δώσουμε ποτέ το όνομα Μακεδονία – Μας κυβερνούν εθνομηδενιστές|publisher=[[Proto Thema]]|date=4 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.gr/entry/omilia-mike-theodorake-mas-kevernoen-ethnomedenistes-me-kanenan-tropo-o-oros-makedonia-sto-neo-onoma-tes-pydm_gr_5a77053de4b0905433b4f6d0|title=«Ομιλία Μίκη Θεοδωράκη: Μας κυβερνούν εθνομηδενιστές. Με κανέναν τρόπο ο όρος Μακεδονία στο νέο όνομα της ΠΓΔΜ».|publisher=[[Huffington Post]]|date=4 February 2018}}</ref> The statements garnered support from parties in parliament, while even [[Golden Dawn (Greece)|Golden Dawn]] MPs welcomed Mikis Theodorakis' shift on the name of Macedonia. Members of [[Syriza|SYRIZA]] and [[Yiannis Boutaris]] commented negatively on Theodorakis' statements. Also, the day before the rally, a group of anarchists threw paint at the entrance of his house and then wrote threatening messages, such as: "Your story starts from the mountain and ends in the national swamp of [[Syntagma Square]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kathimerini.gr/946801/article/epikairothta/ellada/epi8esh-me-mpogies-kai-syn8hmata-sto-spiti-toy-mikh-8eodwrakh|title=Επίθεση με μπογιές και συνθήματα στο σπίτι του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη|publisher=[[Kathimerini]]|date=3 February 2018|access-date=7 September 2021|archive-date=24 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624074858/http://www.kathimerini.gr/946801/article/epikairothta/ellada/epi8esh-me-mpogies-kai-syn8hmata-sto-spiti-toy-mikh-8eodwrakh|url-status=live}}</ref>