Israel's embassy in Athens is launching a new annual award tied to OXI Day, with the first recipient being a school in X...

Israel's embassy in Athens is launching a new annual award tied to OXI Day, with the first recipient being a school in Xanthi that lived through some of the darkest years of the Second World War. Ambassador Pninit Yanai announced the initiative today, on the 86th anniversary of Greece's defiance of the Axis ultimatum. Each year on October 28, the Israeli embassy will award a distinction and donate resources to a Greek educational institution, community, or social initiative that reflects the values of courage, freedom, and solidarity. The program is called "OXI: Honouring Courage, Inspiring the Next Generations." This year, working alongside Greece's Ministry of Education, the embassy is donating modern educational technology and equipment to the Model Ecclesiastical Gymnasium-Lyceum of Xanthi. The city of Xanthi suffered gravely during the occupation years, making the choice of first recipient a pointed one. Yanai framed October 28, 1940 as one of those rare moments in history when a single word changes a nation's fate. She said Greece said no to submission, no to threats, and no to abandoning its freedom, and that she feels deep admiration for that courage as the representative of a nation that was itself born out of a fight for the right to live free and safe. She described true friendship between nations as something measured not in agreements and diplomatic meetings alone, but in acts of memory, gratitude, and mutual responsibility. The goal, she said, is to turn appreciation for that historic defiance into what she called a resounding yes to the future of Greece's children. The initiative will run annually with Greek partners and Israeli donors. #OXIDay #Greece #Israel