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Griekenland: staat tegen fascisme?

dimitriswright — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 11:26:20 +0000

Op 18 september vielen enkele tientallen neo-nazi’s Pavlos Fyssas aan, een anti-fascistische hiphop-artiest. Giorgos Roupakias, lid en plaatselijk organisator van de Gouden Dageraad, stak hem neer. De politie stond erbij en keek ernaar, een agente greep pas in toen de rapper al op de grond lag dood te gaan. Het was een duidelijk voorbeeld van fascistische moorddadigheid en van medeplichtigheid van staatswege. Tien dagen later echter hield de politie de leider van de Gouden Dageraad aan, waarmee een serieuze operatie van staatswege tegen deze fascistische organisatie vaart kreeg. Opeens leek er van een breuk tussen staat en fascisme sprake, en vreugdekreten waren ook ter linkerzijde niet van de lucht. De vreugde is nogal misplaatst. De breuk is weliswaar gedeeltelijk een feit, maar vormt daarmee nog geen reden voor anti-fascistische vreugdevuren.

De moord op Fyssas was de zoveelste gewelddaad, bedreven tegen linkse en radicale mensen, maar vooral tegen migranten. Racisten brachten in mei 2011 een Bangladeshi om, in augustus vorig jaar een Irakees, en in de winter 2012-2013 een Somaliër. Het aantal door racistisch geweld gewonde migranten loopt in de honderden. Na de moord op Fyssas kondigde het gezag aan dat de onderzoeken naar dit soort gewelddaden versneld zouden plaatsvinden, maar slechts in drieëntwintig zaken. Aanvallen op linkse en radicale actievoerders zijn eveneens frequent, en vaak staan neo-nazi’s daarbij zij aan zij met de oproerpolitie. De afgelopen jaren is fascistische straatterreur bijna net zo gangbaar geworden als de staatsterreur van de oproerpolitie wiens bondgenoot de nazi-knokploegen vaak openlijk waren.

Het is een symptoom van de gegroeide kracht van fascistische organisatie en activiteit in Griekenland, en van de steun die dit fascisme vanuit de staat kreeg. Nu de autoriteiten de dood van Fyssas aangegrepen hebben om de Gouden Dageraad aan te pakken, lezen we van politiefunctionarissen die met de Gouden Dageraad samenwerkten en nu worden uitgerangeerd. Maar de band tussen staat, regering en fascisme gaat veel dieper, en betreft ook bepaald niet alleen de Gouden Dageraad die, na actief te zijn ondersteund, nu stevig door de staat wordt gekortwiekt. Over de achtergronden van dat kortwieken is op Libcom een prachtig stuk te lezen: “Greece: When the state turns antifa”, waar ik hieronder flink gebruik van heb gemaakt.

Tradities

Fascistische politiek – de cocktail van extreem nationalisme, gewelddadig en openlijk racisme, agressie tegen alles dat links en radicaal is, het hooghouden van de meest reactionaire tradities op allerlei fronten, in dienst van het streven naar de vestiging van een autoritair bewind – heeft ook in Griekenland oude wortels. Er was het rechtse bewind van Metaxas in de jaren dertig. Er was de burgeroorlog tegen communistische partizanen in de jaren veertig, met haar erfenis van fanatiek anti-communisme waarachter afkeer van elk links en radicaal streven schuil ging. Er was het kolonelsbewind, de militaire dictatuur waarmee rechts en uiterst rechts van 1967 tot 1974 elk verzet van links en van onderop probeerden te breken.

Er was een veelheid van kleine en iets minder kleine groepjes die de jaren erna fascistische politiek propageerden, vochten tegen radicale actievoerders, griezelige blaadjes vol schreven met openlijke nazi-taal en Hitler-verering. Een van die blaadjes heette De Gouden Dageraad, en werd gemaakt onder leiding van Michaloliakos. Rond dat blad vormde zich onder zijn leiding de gelijknamige organisatie. Die begon zich in de jaren negentig te profileren toen nationalistische Grieken zich boos maakten over de naam van een zojuist onafhankelijk geworden deelrepubliek van Joegoslavië: Macedonië. Dat kon niet door de chauvinistische beugel, want het refereerde in hun ogen naar Griekse gloriedagen van Alexander de Grote en impliceerde volgens hen bovendien een claim op stukken Griekenland.

Kracht

In latere jaren schoof de Gouden Dageraad iets van haar openlijke nazi-symboliek naar achter, ging vooral koketteren met het Grieks-orthodoxe geloof, en bekwaamde zich in demagogie en aanvallen tegen migranten en tegen radicalen, vaak vrijwel hand in hand met de oproerpolitie die er een aanvulling van haar eigen menskracht in onderkende. Toen de economische catastrofe toesloeg en de Griekse staat aan het bezuinigen sloeg met de hete adem van EU en IMF in haar nek, kreeg extreem-rechts extra kansen. De wanhoop, de sociale ellende, dreef mensen in actie en naar links én naar rechts. In actie via stakingen, vakbondsprotest en straatgevechten tegen de politie. Naar parlementair links, met de snelle groei van de partij Syriza. Maar ook naar rechts, aanvankelijk naar de parlementair-rechtse, PVV-achtige groepering LAOS. Die ging echter rond 2011 meeregeren met bezuinigingscoalities, waarna de kiezers prompt weer wegliepen. Gouden Dageraad bleef buiten de regering en begon kiezers te vergaren die rechts waren, maar tegelijk tegen het opgelegde bezuinigingsbeleid zoals verwoord in het zogeheten Memorandum, de overeenkomst tussen Griekenland en internationale instellingen over bezuinigingen in ruil voor kredieten. Links waren Syriza en de stalinistische KKE tegen dat memorandum; rechts was de Gouden Dageraad de enige anti-Memorandum-partij, en dat legde haar geen windeieren. In de zomer van 2012 vergaarde ze achttien parlementszetels.

De kracht van Gouden Dageraad groeide niet alleen door informele samenwerking met de politie. Ook de woede over de bezuinigingen was op zich niet voldoende, die dreef mensen immers allerlei kanten op. Diverse aspecten van het regeringsbeleid versterkten echter het fascisme en de Gouden Dageraad. Er was om te beginnen het nationalisme waarmee de regering de bezuinigingen presenteerde: ze waren nodig ‘om het vaderland te redden’, en meer van dat fraais. Nationalisme vergiftigde aldus de atmosfeer, en daar sponnen nazi’s garen bij. Er was tegelijk ook het nationalisme waarmee het protest tegen het Memorandum doortrokken raakte, want de regering presenteerde Griekenland tegelijk ook als slachtoffer van internationale financiële en politieke druk. Arme Grieken tegen het boze buitenland, vooral tegen het boze Duitsland, dat werd het frame dat veel mensen hanteerden die kwaad waren over de bezuinigingspolitiek. Dat de Griekse regering en ondernemersklasse zelf actief en overtuigd meewerkten aan bezuinigingsbeleid, verdween uit het zicht. Zo kregen mensen de ruimte die de schuld van de crisis niet bij de Griekse heersers en de staat legden, maar bij een buitenlands complot. Fascisten stonden vooraan om die ruimte te benutten. De strijd tussen pro- en anti-Memorandumpolitiek versmalde zo in hoge mate tot een strijd tussen verschillende invullingen van nationalistische politiek.

Tegelijk droeg de regering ook zeer actief en zeer crimineel bij tot de versterking van racisme. Grootschalige razzia’s waarin politiemachten migranten aanhielden om papieren te controleren, de opsluiting van duizenden migranten in detentiecentra die feitelijk concentratiekampen vormden, alledaags politiegeweld tegen migranten dat nauwelijks te onderscheiden was van nazi-geweld… het droeg bij aan de hatelijke, racistische sfeer die door fascisten als legitimatie, als steun in de rug werd ervaren en benut. Tevens voerde de staat een hard gevecht met linkse en radicale krachten die zich zowel tegen de sociale afbraakpolitiek, de politierepressie, het staatsracisme, als de fascistische acties richtten. Autoriteiten behandelden radicale sociale bewegingen vrijwel openlijk als binnenlandse vijand. Dat gaf fascisten extra legitimatie en zelfvertrouwen om hetzelfde te doen, maar daarbij af en toe nog een gewelddadig stapje verder te gaan. Tegenover migranten én tegenover krakers, anarchisten, stakende arbeiders, anti-fascisten en andere radicale en linkse actievoerenden waren staat en neo-nazi’s vaak twee handen op één buik.

Uiteenlopen

Er waren echter twee punten waarin de wegen van de gevestigde macht en die van de Gouden Dageraad uiteen begonnen te lopen. De gevestigde macht drukte het Memorandum, en de bijbehorende bezuinigingen en privatiseringen, door. De Gouden Dageraad was tegen dat memorandum. De reden was puur nationalistisch: met het Memorandum werd de soevereiniteit uit Griekenland weggehaald en naar internationale machten overgeheveld. Tegen bezuinigingen op zichzelf had de Gouden Dageraad geen bezwaar, en het voedsel uitdelen op straat was dan ook slechts symboliek. Toch maakte de groei van een rechtse stroming tegen het Memorandum de speelruimte van de regering om door te drukken, wel kleiner. De Gouden Dageraad was toch een stoorzendertje aan het worden.

Dat gold ook op het tweede, wellicht meer fundamentele punt: de macht op straat versus de macht in de staat. Rechtse politici vonden het best dat de Gouden Dageraad een handje meehielp tegen links. Als pitbulls tegen links was die club nuttig – maar alstublieft wel goed aangelijnd. Regering en staatsmacht wilden wel de regie in eigen handen houden. Politieagenten die Gouden Dageraad tips gaven, beschermden en indirect aanstuurden was één ding. Maar agenten van wie loyaliteit aan de Gouden Dageraad voorrang kreeg boven gehoorzaamheid aan de regering werden een ander verhaal. Knokploegen die de politie aanvulden was één ding. De beginnetjes van een fascistische gewapende organisatie die de gevestigde staatsmacht ondermijnde en door fascistische staatsmacht dreigde te vervangen was nog iets anders. De Gouden Dageraad werd wel erg sterk, terwijl de regering slechts een gammele coalitie was. De regering had reden om zich bedreigd te voelen door de rechtse rivalen van de Gouden Dageraad. Daar wortelt de breuk die werd voltrokken na de moord op Fyssas.

Het is van fundamenteel belang om erop te wijzen dat, met het kortwieken van Michaloliakos’ fascisten, er aan fascistische invloed in de Griekse politiek bepaald geen einde komt. Fascisten en fascistische sympathieën zitten namelijk ook op andere plekken, boven alles in de conservatieve regeringspartij Nieuwe Democratie zelf. Die stelt zich al heel lang op als plaats waar fascistische straatvechters en neo-nazi’s een soort facelift kunnen krijgen, waarna ze iets minder openlijk een fascistische een nette carrière kunnen maken.

Carrière

Voorbeelden te over. Ik pluk ze, zoals meer gegevens, uit het genoemde stuk op Libcom. Premier Samaras zelf bijvoorbeeld: die was in zijn jonge jaren aanvoerder van een knokploeg, een jeugdorganisatie van de Nieuwe Democratie. Die knokploeg viel anarchisten, stakers en zelfs leden van de keurige sociaal-democratische PASOK – waarmee Samaras momenteel regeert! – aan. Makis Voridis, actief in fascistisch knokploeggeweld, ooit lid van EPEN, een partij van aanhangers van het kolonelsbewind, waar hij Michaloliakos als chef opvolgde, daarna actief in LAOS en voor die partij zelfs even minister. Toen LAOS uit de coalitie stapte, bleef Vorodis, werd door LAOS geroyeerd en sloot zich bij Nieuwe Democratie aan. Carrière boven alles, en voor Nieuwe Democratie was diens fascistische staat van dienst geen probleem. Dan is er nog Adonis Georgiadis. Ook hij zat ooit bij LAOS, en hij werd berucht als hetzerige tv-persoonlijkheid. Enkele van zijn uitspraken: “Illegale immigranten met ziektes zwerven rond in dezelfde straten als onze gezonde burgers”; “Illegale immigranten slachten Grieken af, verkrachten en plunderen ze. Extreme linksen steken Athene in brand en sommige mensen kritiseren de politie.” Deze en nog veel meer soortgelijke uitspraken deed de man in 2011 en 2012. Hij is dus geen LAOS-lid meer, maar maakt deel uit van Nieuwe Democratie. In de huidige regering is hij minister van Gezondheid!

Nee, de Nieuwe Democratie is geen fascistische partij zoals Gouden Dageraad dat is. Maar het is wel een plek waarbinnen halve en hele fascisten politiek actief zijn en hun stempel op de politiek helpen drukken. Het idee dat een door deze partij geleide regering met de recente aanval op Gouden Dageraad ook een breuk met fascistische politiek beoogt, is belachelijk. De regering wil de regie terug en heeft willen voorkomen dat de groei van Gouden Dageraad een zodanig onafhankelijke dynamiek zou krijgen, dat de centrale regeringsregie in gevaar begon te komen. De regering stond ook onder internationale druk om iets te doen tegen een vrijwel openlijk neo-nazistische partij, en had dan ook pr-redenen om in te grijpen. Maar de regering werd gedreven door nóg een angst.

Al geruime tijd voor de moord op Fyssas werd duidelijk dat Gouden Dageraad ergernis bij het centrale gezag wekte. Al in oktober 2012, bijna een jaar voor de moord, hief het parlement de onschendbaarheid op van drie parlementsleden van Gouden Dageraad wegens onderzoek naar criminele activiteiten. Het oppakken van koopstukken van de Gouden Dageraad, het afknijpen van geldstromen en het oprollen van hele stukken organisatie van de club, binnen twee weken na de moord, doet sowieso vermoeden dat autoriteiten de plannen voor het kortwieken van de organisatie al hadden klaarliggen. Dit was geen pure ad hoc-reactie.

Anti-fascisme

Beslissend echter voordat politie en politici de aanval op de Gouden Dageraad openden, was niet de moord op de anti-fascistische rapper op zichzelf. Het was de felle reactie op de moord die de autoriteiten tot optreden bewoog. Die felle reactie bestond uit omvangrijke en zeer strijdbare demonstraties tegen de Gouden Dageraad. Al op 18 september vochten betogers met oproerpolitie. Het hoogtepunt kwam op 25 september. Tussen de acht- en tienduizend betogers begonnen de demonstratie, hun aantal groeide tot vijftigduizend demonstranten. Betogers trokken op naar het hoofdkantoor van de fascistische partij. Dat werd verdedigd door, jawel, fascisten en oproerpolitie, nog altijd zij aan zij. Er volgden heftige botsingen met de oproerpolitie die grote hoeveelheden traangas inzette, terwijl actievoerders molotovcocktails wierpen. Dit was in Athene, maar ook in andere plaatsen demonstreerden anti-fascisten.

Het was deze uitbarsting van anti-fascistische strijd op de straten die de regering met een harde keus confronteerde. Die keus was: toelaten dat militante anti-fascistische strijd zowel de Gouden Dageraad versloeg als de politie aanviel – of zélf tegen de Gouden Dageraad optreden en daarmee voorkomen dat de anti-fascistische strijd nog verder aan kracht en dynamiek van onderop zou winnen. De regering koos voor het tweede. Ze begon met haar operaties tegen de Gouden Dageraad, haalde daarmee anti-fascistische acties veel wind uit de zeilen, en versterkte haar legitimatie als democratische overheid die tegen alle vormen van ‘extremisme’, links én rechts, optrad. De staat trad op tegen het fascisme van de straat, om te voorkomen dat het anti-fascisme van de straat het karwei zelf – en dan grondig – zou opknappen. Angst om de greep op de situatie verder te verliezen, dreef kennelijk de autoriteiten. Het doet een beetje denken aan de militaire staatsgreep van generaal Sissi in Egypte, afgelopen zomer. Die schoof president Morsi en diens Moslim Broederschap hardhandig opzij, toen duidelijk werd dat een hoogst opstandige bevolking al bezig was om het zelf te doen. Zo ontdeed Sissi zich van een rivaal, en versterkte tegelijk zijn eigen machtspositie tegenover demonstranten uit welke richting dan ook. Hetzelfde doet momenteel de Griekse staat door tegen de Gouden Dageraad op te treden, en tegelijk de anti-fascistische strijd ogenschijnlijk overbodig te maken.

Overwinning

Het is daarom heel verkeerd, onverantwoordelijk verkeerd, om hier te spreken van een “overwinning van de geweldige anti-fascistische beweging die de straat op ging na de moord”, zoals Socialisme.nu dat stelde in een stukje op 18 november. Er was en is een “geweldige anti-fascistische beweging”, jazeker. Het regeringsoptreden is daarop een reactie – een reactie die deze anti-fascistische beweging beoogt te verzwakken door haar eigen rol als democratisch scheidsrechter te beklemtonen. De winnaar is die regering zelf, de gevestigde staatsmacht – dezelfde staatsmacht die eerder samenwerkte met de Gouden Dageraad, en haar legitimatie en ideologische ruimte hielp verschaffen. “Het waren niet wij die de Gouden Dageraad om zeep hielpen; dat deed het systeem dat de Gouden Dageraad opkweekte”, zo stelde op 30 september een verklaring van Occupied London op de website From The Greek Streets droogjes en realistisch vast. Niet onze kant, maar hun kant heeft hier een overwinning geboekt. Hooguit heeft onze kant een situatie geforceerd waarin hun kant déze – en geen andere – weg koos om hun deels verloren gegane regie te herwinnen.

De aanval van hogerhand op de Gouden Dageraad is tegelijk een indirecte aanval op de zelfstandige rol die anti-fascisten tegenover Gouden Dageraad maar ook tegenover de staat zelf, proberen te spelen. Het versterkt de staat, en daarmee versterkt het onze dodelijke vijand. Aan het fascisme maakt het geen einde – hooguit aan de relatief grote zelfstandigheid die de Gouden Dageraad-variant ervan de laatste jaren ten toon spreidde. Fascisten die netjes onder de paraplu van Nieuwe Democratie en de politie willen werken, hebben van deze aanpak geen last, ex-Gouden Dageraad-mensen die zich bij hen willen voegen, op zoek naar een volgende rechtse career move, zijn daar waarschijnlijk eveneens welkom.

Anti-fascistische strijd verliest daarmee geen urgentie, maar verandert wel van vorm. Het herwinnen van kracht op straat is wezenlijk. Dat doe je echter niet door de regering op te roepen om nog meer Gouden Dageraad-mensen op te pakken, en die regering dus de kans te geven om zichzelf nog meer te bewijzen als anti-fascistische macht die het nimmer kan zijn. Dat doe je wel door die regering, haar politie, haar racistische beleid en haar bezuinigingspolitiek zélf met verdubbelde furie te blijven dwarsbomen. Dat doe je door anti-fascistische strijd uit te blijven bouwen tot iets meer, iets breders en vooral iets diepers: onverzoenlijke strijd tegen kapitaal en staat.

Peter Storm
Dit artikel verscheen eerder op de Ravotr-website.

Source: http://www.doorbraak.eu/griekenland-staat-tegen-fascisme/

The antifascist struggle will continue

dimitriswright — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 18:34:55 +0000

On Friday 1 November in Athens two Golden Dawn members were shot in cold blood. The attacks were done in a professional manner and there is no further evidence about the attackers or the motives. Nonetheless the attack is shocking by its cruelty and the death of two young men.

However, from the very first moment the government and the mainstream media try to link the attacks with the anti-fascist struggle in Greece by presenting this without evidence or indications as an act of extreme left terrorists. In this way, the government and the media try to counter-balance this act with the murder of antifascist Pavlos Fyssas by Golden Dawn members a month ago.

This act, from wherever it comes from, is hostile and alien to the massive antifascist movement that has developed in Greece the last period. The government and the government-driven mainstream media are taking advantage of these murders to terrorize the Greek people that want to rise up against the austerity measures
imposed to them by the government and the Troika. They try to enhance the government’s efforts to establish the unhistorical “two extremes theory” and present itself as the neutral stabilizer of the Greek society and to disorient the public opinion from the harsh economic reality.

We assure them that the movement will be neither intimidated nor terrified.

The antifascist struggle and the struggle against the government’s policies will continue.

REINFORM

Golden Dawn shootings: What we know so far

disorderisti — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 12:07:08 +0000

Read everything that has happened since Friday΄s murderous attack.

FOSPHOTOS / Panayiotis Tzamaros

The incident
Around 7 p.m. on Friday November 1, two persons riding a motorcycle pulled off on Irakleiou Boulevard, outside a local office of the Golden Dawn party, in Neo Irakleio, northern Athens. They were wearing helmets, according to witnesses. The person who was not driving, approached the entrance to the offices on foot and repeatedly shot two men who were there. Another man was wounded. The entrance is on a side street off Irakleiou Boulevard. The perpetrators of the attack, got back on their motorcycle and sped away. According to reports in the Greek press, the whole attack was over in seven seconds.The aftermath
Doctors at the St. Anna hospital where the two dead were taken, said that they had been shot in the head and the torso. Doctors at Athens General Hospital ‘Gennimatas’, said that the wounded man was hit in the abdominal area.

An amateur video released on Greek television, taken moments after the shooting, portrays the panic than ensued and the cries for help from bystanders.

The leads
Police initially found twelve 9mm bullet casings at the crime scene. A thirteenth bullet casing was discovered Sunday. Ballistic tests, reportedly have shown that the weapon used is a Zastava 9mm pistol, which had not been previously used in a criminal or terrorist attack. Authorities found an abandoned motorcycle near the area, which conforms to witness accounts of the motorcycle used. At the time of writing it has not been established whether it was used in the attack. Police are also examining security camera footage, provided by Golden Dawn. Hellenic Counter Terrorism Agency has taken over the preliminary inquiry.

The victims
George Fountoulis, 27, worked in a cafe in Irakleion. Was not a longtime member of Golden Dawn. Would have security detail duties.

Emmanuel (Manolis or Manos) Kapelonis, 22, worked in his dad’s business, a firm active in the health care sector. Was not a longtime member of Golden Dawn. Would have security detail duties.

Wounded: Alexandros Gerontas, 29, in the Gennimatas hospital emergency care unit. Was a School of Agriculture graduate. Was not a longtime member of Golden Dawn. He has undergone extensive operations in the abdominal area and doctors removed his spleen. He is fighting for his life, slowly showing signs of recovery.

Kapelonis was buried in Artemida, Attica, earlier on Monday.
Fountoulis is to be buried at 3 p.m. on the same day, at the Paleo Irakleio cemetery, northern Athens.

George Fountoulis’s father Labros wrote in a statement that those attending the funeral should go as friends, not as members of Golden Dawn. He also said that no politician, from any party should attend, either. “We do not want blood…We do not want honour,” he wrote on Facebook, a direct allusion to the Golden Dawn slogan “Blood and Honour” which traces itself back to a Nazi slogan (Blut und Ehre).

Olga Vlahou, the mother of wounded man Alexandros Gerontas is a municipal counselor in Kifissia, and she was elected with a formation with ties to the Independent Greeks party. In an interview to Mega television she said: “Alexandros was the first to take the bullet and is fighting for his life”. She said her son had gone to the Golden Dawn offices to get Fountoulis’s CV, in order to help him find a job.

There is a Facebook community page dedicated to the two dead:
‘George Foundoulis, Manolis Kapelonis, Immortal Heroes’

The family of Emmanuel Kapelonis deactivated his account after his death.

Political reactions

Golden Dawn: “A motorcycle with two helmet-wearing terrorists stopped in front of the Golden Dawn office in Neo Irakleio, at the time when the offices were in operation and there were several people at the entrance. The passenger descended and executed in cold blood, from a distance of half a meter, two youths of 22 and 26. Before leaving, the terrorists shot the youths again, who were lying dead on the ground. They literally emptied their weapons on them. Another citizen was gravely injured by a bullet. It is a miracle that we are not mourning more victims. It was a blind hit and the criminals’ aim was to execute whomever was present at the Golden Dawn offices at the time.
Golden Dawn has requested police protection of its offices, as it has received threats, but the traitorous Samaras government refused!
The anti-Greek government of Samaras is guilty of the crime, that made the anti-terrorist squad put on a show in front of the cameras to hurt Golden Dawn, and left terrorists unchecked, to execute youths in cold blood.
The corrupt mainstream media are guilty for targeting a legal political party and Greek citizens.”

Nikos Dendias, minister for public order and citizens’ protection: “I express my anguish for the death of two young people. The law will be imposed on all. The country will not be allowed to become a place where scores are settled [violently], for whatever reason.”

Government spokesperson Simos Kedikoglou: “The murderers, whoever they are, will be dealt with unsparingly by our democracy, the justice system and a united Greek society. Let everyone know this.”

Coalition partner party, PASOK: “The heinous event that is the murder of two young people, imposes the unanimous and absolute condemnation of violence by the whole of Greek society. Democracy and legitimacy stand in opposition to violence, it is they which protect the country, together with the calm and unity of the Greek people.”

Main opposition SYRIZA: “Today’s killing creates a climate of destabilization and is taking [direct] aim at democracy. It must absolutely be condemned and isolated morally, ideologically and politically.”

Dimitris Papadimoulis, SYRIZA spokesperson: “Tonight’s killings were professionally executed, whoever was behind them. They have struck a blow against democracy and society. They encourage fascism rather than hurting it.”

Leader of Independent Greek party, Panos Kammenos: “Some are getting ready to lead the country into civil war. We call for unity, [common purpose] and national resistance against those who are conspiring against national sovereignty through discord.”

Greek Communist Party (KKE): “KKE condemns the murderous attack outside the offices of Golden Dawn in Neo Irakleio. This attack creates serious questions as to the motives and aims it serves.”

Democratic Left (DiMar): “Dimar condemns with outrage the murder of two young people outside Golden Dawn offices. Democracy and legitimacy will stand against such phenomena that want to impose the vicious circle of violence and blood.”

http://www.thepressproject.net/article/50202

Greek PM should explain his party’s links with fascism

disorderisti — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 18:56:20 +0000

The conservative government of Antonis Samaras claims to be cracking down on “extremism”. But what skeletons does the Prime Minister hide in his closet?

Video by Ross Domoney, Klara Jaya Brekke and Dimitris Dalakoglou for the City at a Time of Crisis research project. Illustration by Latuff.

The Greek Prime Minister, Mr Samaras, is currently visiting the USA. He arrived here in the immediate aftermath of the arrest of the leadership of Golden Dawn, the notorious Greek neo-Nazi party. But what skeletons does Mr Samaras have in his closet?

Mr Samaras’ speech on October 2 at the Peterson Institute in Washington, DC gives us a first answer to that question. There, the Prime Minister claimed that his government crushes extremism, he talked about the leadership of Golden Dawn which had been, at that time, driven to jail. However, later during the Q&A session he also added that his government was not quite done; that he would also deal with the other extreme, the one that talks of leaving the EU and NATO — directly implying the Left opposition.

His statements pose at least three issues. One, Mr Samaras makes clear that his government had accepted the illegal activity of Golden Dawn so far, or that it did not have the will to deal with it. Two, he admits that the government intervenes in the system of justice which supposedly is independent. Three, he promotes once again his plan to crush the Left opposition which disagrees with his government and which protests in public.

The incident that triggered the arrests of Golden Dawn’s most prominent members was the assassination of the antifascist musician Pavlos Fyssas in Nikaia, Athens. Fyssas was the first Greek to be killed by Golden Dawn since the group launched its violent campaign against migrants and — to a lesser extent — against antifascists in 2009. Less than 24 hours after Mr Samaras’ speech at the Peterson Institute, the majority of the arrested Golden Dawn members were released from detention, awaiting trial. On their way out from the court, they kicked and abused journalists under the eyes of the police.

The simplistic theory of the “two extremes” has been promoted by the Greek nexus of power ever since Mr Samaras came to office. On that very same day on September 16, 2012, two of the country’s largest newspapers (the pro-government To Vima and Kathimerini), published two texts by their key editors with very similar titles, making an identical argument. Even if this is a total coincidence, their argument was a dangerous legitimization of the far-right. In sum, the articles suggest that the emergence of Golden Dawn provides an “opportunity” for the state to eliminate the “two extremes” of Greek politics.

According to the opinion of government officials, the antifascists comprised that hypothetical other “extreme”. So the minister of public order, Mr Dendias, as part of Mr Samaras’ government, attacked those who stand up to racism and fascism. In 2012, a political action called the antifascist motorcades began. These were big groups of people on motorbikes riding around the areas of Athens where most attacks against migrants were occurring, aiming to stop them, since police did little to help the victims. In September 2012, DELTA motorbike police attacked the antifascists, arresting, beating and later torturing them.

Allegedly DELTA and the riot police force (MAT) are the two police units with the closest links to Golden Dawn. On the day following the arrests, MAT attacked those who had gathered at Athens’ courthouse to express their solidarity to the antifascists, arresting even more of them. This series of arrests brought to a temporary halt an action that was aimed at stopping what were, by then, daily racist attacks in those parts of the city. From that time on, the lives of several immigrants — and now one local antifascist — have been claimed by neo-Nazis on the streets of the Athens.

A few months later, in December 2012 and January 2013, some of the most prominent social centers in Athens were evicted by police. These had been the physical and cognitive cornerstones of the city’s antifascist struggle. Additionally, they were located in those parts of the city center where Golden Dawn and other neo-Nazi groups systematically attack migrants. Soon after these evictions, similar raids occurred in such antifascist centers throughout the country.

Since Mr Samaras became Prime Minister the city has been subjected to the police operation “Xenios Zeus”. Since its inauguration in August 2012, the operation has seen the detention of over 80.000 migrants, the vast majority having broken no law according to police press releases. Eventually, most of the innocent migrants have been released with the exception of around 5.000 who were imprisoned, mostly due to lack of documents, in new detention centers built across the debt-ridden country.

Targeting a substantial proportion of the population of Greek cities simply due to their skin color marks the adoption of Golden Dawn’s agenda by Mr Samaras’ government. Golden Dawn claims that migrants are dangerous and Mr Samaras’ New Democracy (ND) has followed this logic, detaining innocent migrants in the thousands. In his pre-election campaign, Mr Samaras claimed that illegal migrants have become “the tyrants of society” and that Greeks subsequently have to “liberate our cities from illegal migrants”, once again repeating the Golden Dawn rhetoric.

Mr Samaras’ party in May 2013 made a gift to Golden Dawn by blocking the anti-racist bill, which would criminalize racism and the denial of the Holocaust. Golden Dawn on the other hand provided aid to Mr Samaras’ government on at least two debatable decisions since June 2012: first, when the government shut down overnight the Public Television, and second when it applied further tax exceptions to the Greek ship-owning companies.

Just one week before Fyssas’ assassination in Nikaia, Babis Papadimitriou, a renowned pro-ND journalist, suggested that we need to discuss a conservative coalition government with the participation of a “more serious” version of Golden Dawn. Simultaneously, prominent ND members, including Vyron Polydoras and Failos Kranidiotis, have expressed their positive feelings toward the neo-Nazis of Golden Dawn. This may come as little surprise to those familiar with Greek politics. By this point in time, the Greek government is at its furthest right position since the fall of the military dictatorship back in 1974. Note, among others, the inclusion of Adonis Georgiadis or Makis Voridis in the current parliamentary team of New Democracy — both are best described as ultra-right.

Clearly, the assassination of Pavlos Fyssas and the charges brought against the Golden Dawn leadership have dramatically altered the political atmosphere in Greece, indefinitely postponing, one would think, such collaboration. Mr Samaras might portray himself as a combatant against the extremism of Golden Dawn. But how, then, can he explain the very strong ideological and practical links between his own party’s rhetoric and policies, and those of the neo-Nazis?

Dimitris Dalakoglou is member of the crisis-scape.net research team and a member of Occupied London collective.

http://roarmag.org/2013/10/samaras-new-democracy-golden-dawn/

The left in Greece must rise up against Golden Dawn

dimitriswright — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 10:55:00 +0000

The only way to stop the fascists profiting from the breakdown of the Greek state is to offer a socialist alternative to capitalism.

Greece – and the rise of Golden Dawn – is an extreme parable of what has happened to many developed countries since the global crisis broke out in 2007. The policies of the Greek “rescue” – where the Greek people had no inkling what was afoot until the agreement was signed in 2010, leading to a tremendous spasm of anger – are instantly recognisable, if exceptionally severe. Wages, salaries and pensions have been cut; austerity has been imposed on the public sector; privatisation and liberalisation have been promoted. It did not take long for any hope of a change in approach following the collapse of Lehman Brothers to fade and for the forces of neoliberal economics, powerfully entrenched in ministries, international organisations, thinktanks and universities, to reassert themselves. By the middle of 2009 the familiar mix of favouring private capital, squeezing labour, attacking the welfare state and proclaiming the virtues of the market had prevailed.

The renewed neoliberal ascendancy has bred a sense of popular impotence in developed countries, rendered particularly dangerous by two features of the crisis. First, the root causes of the turmoil manifestly lie with private capital, particularly its financial component. In popular perception across the world, bankers are the main culprit, and rightly so. Second, and even more important, the crisis has not simply hit wage labour, which is the normal way of capitalism. Middle-class living conditions have also been ravaged as salaries and pensions fell, real estate took a hit, health systems suffered and education was disrupted.

This is the background to the rise of the extreme right in Europe, including fascism in Greece. As the economy collapsed and unemployment soared, the living conditions of working and middle class Greeks became unbearable. There are entire streets in Athens where no one holds a regular job, and many families rely on food handouts. Health and education are falling apart, while the state machinery is being dismantled. Helplessness has spread, together with a profound sense of national humiliation and loss of sovereignty in a country treated like a beggar by its EMU “partners”. There is despair at the corruption of politicians and the effrontery of the unchanged networks of power. There is also a widespread conviction that democracy is a sham, protecting those who are to blame and masking the rising authoritarianism of the state.

Golden Dawn thrived in these conditions. It spoke against the “rescue” and denounced foreign bankers; it blamed illegal immigrants for the breakdown of law and order and the disruption of normal life; it ridiculed democracy promising to cleanse corruption; it sought to restore national pride by using the symbols of nationalism; it penetrated the security forces, themselves under great pressure from spending cuts.

This is much more than a criminal organisation that terrorises the streets. It is a fascist party that has acquired genuine support by worshipping violence, glorying in primitive racism and reasserting national greatness. These views, of course, offer no way out to a devastated society, and certainly none in the interests of working people. But when the normal conditions of life have been destroyed, when everything looks uncertain and threatening, even the barbarous message of Golden Dawn can find resonance. The extreme right across Europe is perfectly aware of that.

It is wishful thinking to expect fascism to be defeated through police action, or by simply praising democracy. The extreme right will retreat only when the living conditions of the majority are no longer disrupted to serve the interests of private capital; when democracy is not constantly transgressed by an authoritarian state; when the threat to national sovereignty is lifted and national dignity is respected. In short, when the neoliberal ascendancy in Europe and elsewhere is decisively broken. For fascism has fed on the disasters of neoliberalism.

These conditions will not emerge without a mass popular movement in which the left is actively involved. Yet one of the most depressing features of the crisis has been the weakness of the left – organisationally, electorally and, above all, in the realm of ideas. The left has shown no self-belief, no burning desire to change the world. Even in Greece, where leftwing traditions remain very strong, the rise of Syrizahas been more by default than through its own merits. As for the rest, including the Communist party, they have distinguished themselves by endless revolutionary verbiage that barely hides their fear of responsibility and power. People are not fooled by mere words.

To confront the extreme right the left needs to demonstrate in practice that the ascendancy of neoliberalism is not inevitable. For that, however, it must offer a realistic anti-capitalist programme that takes steps in the direction of socialism. Such a programme ought to reconsider immigration and its place in contemporary capitalism. It should also avoid treating supranational bodies, such as the EU and the EMU, as inherently progressive, while rethinking the connection between the nation state and democracy. We now know that sovereign power can be a bulwark against anti-democratic transnational pressures. Above all, the left needs to believe in itself, its ideas and its vision to overthrow capitalism. Perhaps the Greek left can beat such a path for the rest of Europe. Time is getting short.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/08/greece-left-golden-dawn

Greece’s Golden Dawn: ‘Don’t say a word or I’ll burn you alive’

dimitriswright — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 21:10:16 +0000

A fortnight ago, Golden Dawn was feeling smug. Greece’s neo-Nazi party was riding high in the opinion polls at about 15%, double what it got in last year’s election.

Its support was soaring among a nation buckling under its worst financial crisis in living memory. It had opened new offices, lectures it hosted presenting the party’s view of Greek history were proving popular, its 18 MPs appeared untouchable.

But Pavlos Fyssas changed all that. A left-wing hip hop musician and activist, he had spent the evening watching football on TV in a bar near Athens. As he left, he was set upon by a group. The man arrested for stabbing him to death confessed to being an active supporter of Golden Dawn.

The murder prompted a national outcry. Tens of thousands took to the streets, demanding that the violent neo-Nazis be reined in.

And then, in a weekend morning raid, the government sprang into action. Some 22 members were arrested, six of them MPs, including the party leader Nikos Mihaloliakos. They were charged with belonging to a criminal group, with counts including murder, assault and money-laundering.

‘Offer of violence’

Police say they found evidence linking the killer of Pavlos Fyssas to the Golden Dawn leadership. In the homes of MPs arrested, they said they uncovered photos of Adolf Hitler and swastika flags. Witness testimony told of a “Fuehrer-like” party structure, commanding hit squads that drove through Athens attacking migrants.

Whistleblowers are now under police protection. But we traced a former supporter who offered us a rare insight into how the party functions.

She attended Golden Dawn meetings looking for support, after being harassed by a man.

“Inside, I saw clubs and shields,” she tells me. “Everyone stood to attention when the leader came in. They talked of beating up gay and dark-skinned people.”

She lights a cigarette and holds back the tears.

“A party member came to visit me,” she says. “He made me an offer: he could break someone’s arm and leg for 300 euros [£250]. Set a car on fire for 1,000 euros. Put someone in hospital for a month for 1,500 euros.

“I didn’t want any of it, so I broke off communication. Later he came back and told us not to say a word or he’d burn us alive.”

Police collusion?

So why, when the party’s vigilante nature was well known, did the authorities not act sooner?

Greece’s Racist Violence Reporting Network found that in 2012, there were 154 cases of racist attacks and, so far this year, 104. Two immigrants were murdered. Almost every incident is attributed to Golden Dawn.

One theory for the failure to act against this is the alleged collusion of the police. In last year’s election, figures from some areas of Athens suggested that one in every two police officers voted for Golden Dawn.

Several high-ranking members of the force have been suspended in the recent clampdown on the party, with others resigning.

Footage filmed by the website info-war.gr showed men in plain clothes standing close to riot squads policing an anti-fascist demonstration two weeks ago, hurling rocks at the left-wing activists. At least one of the men has been identified as a Golden Dawn member.

We met a Pakistani immigrant stabbed three times by suspected Golden Dawn supporters. A year on, the scars are still there – one just millimetres from his heart. On his stomach is a lump of scar tissue from the second wound, which has never healed.

But, he says, the police did nothing, launching no investigation and never contacting him beyond a first conversation.

“It’s because I’m a foreigner”, he says. “The police never act with us. If it were a Greek who got stabbed, they’d hunt the aggressor immediately. Now I’m terrified to go outside.

“I want to leave Greece for somewhere safer, like England.”

But the government has defended itself against charges of dragging its feet. The Minister for Public Order, Nikos Dendias, says the murder of Pavlos Fyssas was the first time that a clear chain of command could be drawn to the highest echelons of Golden Dawn.

“Any citizen or head of a political party could report Golden Dawn to the supreme court to have it classified as a criminal organisation,” he tells me.

“The fact that nobody did until now shows there was not enough proof.”

I put it to him that he had appeased Golden Dawn for the last year so as to push through the government’s crackdown on illegal immigration. And that it had taken the killing of a white Greek citizen for authorities to spring into action.

“I totally reject that,” he says. “Criminal files have been opened in all the cases until now. But to claim that a criminal organisation was created, you have to have very clear evidence. When that came, we acted. And we took a huge political risk.”

Beginning of end?

It is a risk that appears to be paying off. For the first time since the election, Golden Dawn has dropped significantly in the opinion polls – down to about 6%. Daily revelations about weapons found in suspects’ homes should, the government hopes, turn the public mood against the party.

But its acting spokesman, Artemios Mathaiopoulos, remains defiant. “We are a political movement that has no relation to crime”, he tells me outside police headquarters. “We have no involvement in the killing of Pavlos Fyssas.”

I put it to him that police found Golden Dawn clothing and other items in the assailant’s home.

“You can buy a T-shirt for 10 euros and you can stab anyone you like. So does it mean Golden Dawn is responsible for your actions?”

Is this the beginning of the end of his party, I ask?

“It’s the beginning of the end of the government”, he proudly replies.

But Greece’s neo-Nazi party is in chaos. Decapitated of its leadership, on the back foot and facing a barrage of damaging disclosures, it is hard to see Golden Dawn being able to fight back.

That said, it still has a significant support base among Greeks exhausted by the financial crisis, revolted by the political mainstream and seeing salvation in ultra-nationalism.

The government can crush the party structure, but removing its ideology and bringing its supporters back from the extreme will be the real challenge.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24363776

Let’s get done with the system that breeds fascism – An interview with Dimitris Kousouris

dimitriswright — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 08:51:53 +0000

Dimitris Kousouris is one of the first political victims of Golden Dawn attacks. On June 16^th, 1998, in a café outside the courts of Athens, he was attacked brutally by a group of Golden Dawn members. He had to go through a difficult brain surgery and he barely escaped death. The attackers were identified by Kousouris and his friends. The main perpetrator was back then nr 2 in the leadership of Golden Dawn, Antonis Androutsopoulos. Although the media had reported the possible places where he was hiding, he was only arrested 7 years later. Although the court found him guilty and sentenced him to long imprironment, he only stayed in prison until 2010. Dimitris Kousouris is currently a lecturer of history at the University of Crete.

In this interview, D. Kousouris points out that a general ideological denouncement of fascism is not enough to address the needs of the long-term unemployed and those ones who cannot make ends meet. What he regards as most important is the setting up of solidarity networks in order to counteract the extreme right.

An interview to Georgos Laoutaris for the weekly newspaper PRIN

15 years ago, when the Golden Dawn tried to kill you it was marginal organization, while now it is part of the political establishment. Wouldn’t you expect that its presence in the parliament would push this party to more lawful actions?

By no means. Legitimating political ideas in the broad public never resulted in mitigating its initial features. In Greece after the elections in 2012 there has been a widespread view that people would realize the violent face of the Golden Dawn and would stay away from it. This view was at least naive. As the capitalist crisis continues to affect a huge part of Greek society leading it to pauperization and impoverishment, the conditions on which fascism can grow continue to exist.

Do you believe that the murder of Pavlos Fyssas had a political motive?

It was a political assassination that had been announced by the Golden Dawn in the working-class districts of Piraeus. It was just a matter of time for this to happen. The immediate reaction of the government proves that they knew about it and they were prepared to act accordingly.

Do you believe that the imprisonment of members of Golden Dawn will be a step towards the solution of the problem?

Obviously this would change the rules of the game. However it is an illusion to believe that this would solve the problem. Even if the Golden Dawn was outlawed or if they applied the anti-terrorist law or if they just used the penal code to send some of its members to prison, the problem would be still there. The murder of Pavlos Fyssas, a working-class offspring that was engaged in the cause of social emancipation reveals the size of the damage that has been inflicted the last years. In this transitional period,where the historical defeat of the labour movement (as known till now) seems to be completed, it was inevitable that the dismantled social structure and public space of the poor neighbourhoods where unemployment and poverty dominate the lives of young and old would become the scenery where bouncers, snitches and all kinds of gangs take over. The infringement of parliamentarianism its very representatives, the abrupt narrowing of democratic legitimacy by the abolition of basic social rights, the longstanding deep roots of the extreme right in the state apparatus in combination with the reactionary and racist shift of the government and the media as well as the collapse of the two major parties of the political establishment enabled Golden Dawn to be the one that provides political coverage and ideological identity to these gangs organizing them around the rich and turning them against the remaining cells of organization and struggle of the working people. The political elites are certainly aware of the transitory nature of these political identieties that are formed in the current conditions. It is obvious that after the assassination of Pavlos Fyssas the government is trying to regain control and initiative and send a message to all directions: to the right, to the left, inside and outside the country.

Is the increased influence of the Golden Dawn a coincidental phenomenon or is it here to stay?

This will depend on each one of us and all of us together. The Golden Dawn is one of the many faces of fascism, the most repulsive we have seen after the dictatorship. In any case, in the coming period, there is going to be an attempt of approaching its electorate. The aim is gaining control over the legal or illegal paramilitary branch of the dominant power coalition. Therefore, Golden Down may disappear but not fascism itself as long as the circle of illegitimacy grows within which the domestic and international elites are trying to establish their dominance at the expense of the working people

During the last period books, articles and documentaries have shed light on the Nazi references of Golden Dawn. How do you interpret the fact that this evidence is not convincing?

Building an ideology based on the political struggle is an aspect of bourgeois politics which is rather convenient for the journalists of the so called “constitutional range” but has also created many illusions within the Left. How can someone thatonly uses a general ideological denouncement, address the needs of the unemployed, the ones who are hungry and eat at the common meals of the church, the ones who sleep in the cold and the dark, and the young people who do not have any hopes for their future? The denouncement of Nazism is essential. However, as demonstrated in the last years, it is an illusion to be considered adequate. It is also known that applying the same methods over and over again and expect different results is an indicationof insanity or stupidity. Reading through history, fascism was born as a mass counterrevolutionary movement bred by the defeat of the labour movement in the inter-war period and was reborn as the “dark side” of neoliberalism after the retreat of the labour movement that followed the crisis of the 1970s.Two decades after the triumph of neo-liberal parliamentarism, the crisis has dramatically narrowed the possibilities for preserving and managing the status quo with purely parliamentary means in Europe, the U.S., China or Egypt. Fascism as a power optionbounces back in its European cradle: Greece, Hungary, Norway, France and elsewhere. The goal of fascism is again the defeat and finally the elimination of the labour movement. Therefore the crucial factor for the character of the fight and the outcome of the struggle – now as then – is the status and the level of organization of the working class. The historical bet of our time is who will prevail: the long-lasting darkness of the authoritarian domination of global capital or the rebirth and strengthening of the labour movement that will stand against fascism but also against the forces of capitalism which breed and sustain it.

How do you think the Left should react?

The different forces of the Left chose very often a defensive attitude by trying to preserve the limited political space that is available to them or the traditional good-old avoidance of action by referring to some abstract plan of labour emancipation that stands far away from the actual movement of the social subjects of the same plan. But if we really want to discuss how to eliminate fascism, it is high time we organize solidarity and resistance of the vast majority of the working people and the unemployed.

Who fits in the antifascist front?

If we agree that fascism is an extreme and authoritarian version of capitalism as well as an alliance between the capitalists and the middle class aiming at the preservation of the dominant ownership relationships, then we can first clarify the class characteristics of the anti-fascist front. Many fit to this antifascist front as the majority of the working people fit to the front. Based on that, the organization of the antifascist struggle is the responsibility of all those who think and act against capitalist barbarism. It is the responsibility of grass-root local initiatives and assemblies, the numerous online or printed alternative media, several initiatives of popular self-organization and collaborative economy, students’ unions in high schools and higher education institutions, trade unions and political clubs that are either politically independent or related to SYRIZA, the Communist Party, or ANTARSYA or anarcho-syndicalism. On the other hand, fascism is both the nazi storm troopers and the emergency regime where the governments rules beyond and popular control and the repression forces act uncontrolled against the people’s movement and abolish at will any constitutional freedom Therefore, the anti-fascist front excludes by definition that consent, support or manage this reality.

If the source of the crisis is government policy, do you think a left government would be the solution?

Using fear as domination method, the political establishment attempts to stabilize the political system by forcing the left and the right extreme to restrain themselves within the parties of the so-called ‘constitutional range’. The polarization and tension strategy that is followed by the elite aims at convincing the public opinion that a left government would be an improvement compared to the repressive Samaras-government to the extent that it will try to confront the fascist elements in the state, the police and the army and to renegotiate the country’s position in the EU and the Eurozone. This assumption is flawed since the dominance of the pro-austerity forces of the old political system makes it extremely doubtful for the Left to achieve a majority in the Parliament. Even if the Left manages to form such a majority, it would be almost impossible to control a state apparatus that is deeply penetrated by the ‘praetorians’ of the ‘old’ regime. Finally, as repeatedly proven throughout modern Greek history, whenever the Left failed to take advantage of the cracking of elite’s power and abandoned the prospect of toppling capitalism and proceeding with a plan for social emancipation in favor of achieving democratic legitimacy (such as in 1944¹, 1965² and 1974³), it was driven to political and literal extermination, entrapment within the political system and marginalization.

1 In December 1944, the resistance forces of the Communist Party (ELAS) signed the Varkiza-agreement with the British and handed over their weapons. The result was a wave of repression against the left including murders, arrests and exiles for thousands of people.

2 In July 1965, the elected Papandreou government was toppled by a Royal Coup (known also as Iouliana). The people took the streets but the left missed the chance.

3 This refers to the movement that followed the fall of the junta in July 1974.

Translated by ReINFORM

The arrest of Golden Dawn’s leader will do little to counter institutional racism

dimitriswright — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 09:05:28 +0000

The authorities in Greece have long been aware of this neo-Nazi group. So why are they only now taking action?

Imagine an Athenian who went on an overseas trip for a couple of weeks and returned to the city on 28 September. The traveller left beforePavlos Fyssas’s assassination, and the awakening of media and government to the neo-Nazi threat, leading to the arrest of Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos and some of its MPs and supporters.

The initial reaction of the traveller to the crackdown would be jubilation mixed with surprise: the change in the authorities’ attitude following Fyssas’s murder was dramatic. And yet, the same authorities have had detailed information about the party’s criminal activities for years. Racist violence is experienced daily and has been widely reported by international media, national and international NGOs and the EU commissioner for human rights. Indeed, racist violence had become normalised for many. Legal and political authorities were unwilling to take action; Greece’s anti-racist law was never applied (an improved version was recently rejected in parliament); and perpetrators of racist attacks were offered impunity.

Less than a year ago, Nikos Dendias, the minister of public order, insisted that no link existed between the police and Golden Dawn, and threatened the Guardian with a libel suit when it reported that policemen tortured anti-fascists. Yet in the wake of Fyssas’s assassination, Dendias was forced to launch an inquiry into such links. Several senior officers were sacked or suspended. A day after the assassination, 32 legal cases were filed against Golden Dawn including violent, even lethal incidents.

Our Athenian would be puzzled by the obvious questions: why did the authorities not step in earlier? Why are they stepping in now? Could it be because a Greek has been murdered?

Golden Dawn should have been designated a criminal gang and legally confronted a long time ago. This course of action would have been automatic in most European countries. After the murder, European politicians indicated their displeasure, with several suggesting that unless Greece confronts the neo-Nazis it should not assume the EU’s rotating presidency in January.

But perhaps the main motive in the government’s fluctuating response has been political calculation: until very recently senior rightwing politicians and commentators suggested that the rightwing New Democracy (ND) party should consider entering a coalition government with the neo-Nazis, if they became more “moderate”. The government presented the left and anti-fascist movement as one of the two pro-violence “extremes”, even though they resisted Nazism all those years.

This historically ignorant and morally perverse “theory of two extremes” was meant to instil fear and turn people away from the leftist organisations and grassroots movements resisting neo-Nazi attacks and supporting their victims. The ND/Pasok coalition government now hopes that the exposure of Golden Dawn criminality will attract its voters to their natural home.

And so, the feeling is bittersweet: even if delayed, the heavily publicised arrest of the Golden Dawn leadership will be a relief to many. To the city’s migrants, who may find it easier to walk the Athenian streets, to homosexuals, leftists, to all anti-fascists to everyone resenting Golden Dawn’s shameless entry into everyday life and in the country’s politics.

Every dark-skinned person had to take precautions in Athens. Evil walked the streets.

Little has changed at the institutional level, however. The application of the criminal law to thugs will not change the widespread racism fuelled by the New Democracy-Pasok coalition government. It was Andreas Loverdos, a prominent Pasok member at the time, who likened Golden Dawn to a “Greek Hezbollah” because they are “active in the big issues” and “create trust”.

It was Vyron Polydoras, a former New Democracy minister, who urged a coalition with them. And it was prime minister Samaras himself who declared, in March 2012: “Our cities have been occupied by illegal migrants; we will take them back.” Sticking to its word, this government launched the ironically named hospitable Xenios Zeus operation, rounding up dark-skinned people and detaining undocumented immigrants in camps euphemistically named “holding centres”.

The same government repealed the reform of the 2010 Greek citizenship law, the first to offer second-generation migrants a potential entitlement to citizenship. The government and authorities criminalised HIV patients and drug addicts; persecuted and illegally detained anarchists and anti-fascists; slashed salaries and pensions; saw youth unemployment rocket to over 60%; shut down hospitals; and pushed universities to the point of collapse. This is the great paradox of dismantling Golden Dawn: the same government which threatens democracy and indulges fascism gives itself democratic credentials for its supposed curbing of extremism.

Golden Dawn is both a political party and a gang – and outlawing political parties often proves problematic and ineffective. The law can prohibit, but it cannot eliminate, fascist ideas; these must be confronted politically instead. For ordinary people, the struggle against Golden Dawn is not limited to the welcome though theatrical arrest of its leadership. Anti-fascism is a political struggle about the kind of life we want to live. It is fought daily by citizens, activists, civil society groups and migrant communities. It is a battle for democracy, solidarity and social justice. It cannot be won unless the systemic injustice of austerity is defeated.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/29/arrest-golden-dawn-racism-greece

Greek police arrest Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos

dimitriswright — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 09:57:12 +0000

Leader and senior members of far-right party held on charges of founding a criminal organisation.

Greek police have arrested the leader and other senior members of the far-right Golden Dawn party on charges of founding a criminal organisation.

Police announced the arrests of 16 Golden Dawn members, including party head Nikolaos Michaloliakos, spokesman Ilias Kassidiaris and two other politicians.

The arrests included a local Golden Dawn leader in an Athens suburb. The rest were ordinary members. It is the first time since 1974 that a party head and sitting MPs have been arrested.

Police officials said an operation by the counter-terrorism unit was still ongoing late on Saturday morning, and that about 35 arrest warrants for Golden Dawn members had been issued.

The arrested MPs will retain their parliamentary seats unless they are convicted of a crime. Golden Dawn holds 18 of the Greek parliament’s 300 seats, after winning nearly 7% of the vote in general elections last year.

Police are investigating the party for links with the killing of an anti-fascist rapper by a self-proclaimed Golden Dawn supporter. The stabbing to death of Pavlos Fyssas on 17 September sparked violent protests in Athens.

Kassidiaris is infamous for hitting a woman live on television for which he escaped prosecution.

Golden Dawn – Greece‘s third most popular party, according to opinion polls – has denied any links to the rapper’s killing and Michaloliakos has warned it may pull its members of parliament from parliament if the crackdown does not stop.

The party expressed outrage at the arrests in a text message to journalists on Saturday. “We call upon everyone to support our moral and just struggle against the corrupt system! Everyone come to our offices!” it said.

A later text message called for supporters to head to police headquarters “with calm and order”. A small group of about 30 people initially gathered, standing on the sidewalk across the street from the building.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/28/greek-police-golden-dawn-leader-nikolaos-michaloliakos

Gouden Dageraad: hoe invloedrijk zijn ze?

dimitriswright — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 10:35:14 +0000

18 zetels hebben ze in het Griekse parlement en met omstreden media-optredens blijven ze in de aandacht. Χρυσή Αυγή, oftewel de Gouden Dageraad-partij, is tot ver buiten de Griekse landsgrenzen niet onopgemerkt gebleven.

De extreemrechtse partij, die vaak zelfs als nazistisch wordt aangeduid, werd in 1993 opgericht door Nikolaos Michaloliakos, die in de Griekse media soms wordt aangeduid als de “Führer”. De partij is de laatste tijd meer en meer in het nieuws, maar hoe invloedrijk is de partij?

Watch the video report of the Dutch TV here http://www.eenvandaag.nl/buitenland/45485/gouden_dageraad_hoe_invloedrijk_zijn_ze_