Greece's Kristallnacht - The Right rears its ugly head with a vengeance

Reports from Athens and international IMC's:

Greece: Anarchists march in solidarity with immigrants

Wednesday, July 08 2009

Contributed by: Collin Sick

Anarchists from Greece marched in solidarity with repressed immigrants and clashed with cops and fascists while setting streets and ATMs on fire.

Recently the Greek state and its neonazi thugs seek to intensify their attacks on poor immigrants. Anarchists (most of them are of the anarchist-communist variety, those who read Bakunin and Kropotkin) and antiauthoritarians (a label that includes anyone fighting against state oppresion, not necessarily an anarchist) from Greece called for a march in Athens on 7 July 2009 at 19.00 o'clock, against what they call a "modern apartheid" (refering to the recent attempts by fascists in the Saint Pandeleimonas district, where immigrants many stay, to disallow immigrants from entering into communal spaces such as playing grounds or parks, but also to the cop operations in central Athens "clearing" the city of unwanted immigrants en masse with no regard for their human rights). It worths mentioning that the Greek press and television has taken extreme xenophobic views recently, fully supporting the government's attempt to drive people's attention away from the economic crisis. There are also alarming government plans for all unwanted immigrants to be arrested and held at concentration camps for years.

The call to march was publicised on many places, including the Athens Indymedia (athens.indymedia.org) website, which operates from occupied computing equipment in the Athens Polytechnic university (NTUA), and the government and OTE (the major ex-public Greek telecom company) are desperately trying to locate and shut down. Anarchists in Greece also publicise their news and calls with wall posters, graffiti messages, anonymous blogs, through gatherings at occupied buildings or university campuses, and pirate radio stations (some of them operating from university campuses or near them). It is for these reasons that the Greek state seeks to end the anonymity of blogs and put cops inside university campuses, which are one of the few places in Greece still free of cops (the other one being the Exarchia district in Athens downtown which is traditionally controlled by anarchists and any cops there are attacked with molotov cocktails, even though it is only a few hundred metres away from the high-society bourgouoise district of Kolonaki and the police headquarters in Alexandras Avenue).

The march began at 20.00 o'clock in Omonoia Square, downtown Athens, the capital city of Greece.

Hundreds of counter-information flyers were distributed and a speech was made. The march (as shown in the photos) had about 2500 comrades, and this made the cops to keep themselves at safe distance.

During the march various texts were distributed, anarchist graffiti was drawn, security cameras were destroyed, as well as bank ATMs. The march proceeded towards Saint Pandeleimonas (a neighbourhood in Athens were lots of immigrants stay, who have recently came under attack by fascists) and when the head of the march was about to enter the district the cops immediately fired tear gas and shock grenades, with the comrades replying with stones and flare bombs.

The march had good defence and moved towards ASOEE (a public university in Athens specializing in economics; comrades in Greece take advantage of a sanctuary's law, called asylum, that disallows the cops to enter university premises). There was somewhat of a chaos there for a while, as some comrades where entering the university campus while others were leaving to go fight the cops in the nearby Patision street. The whole Patision street was in fire.

Barricades built with trashbins set on fire were keeping the cops away and after the usual (for Greece) violent fighting between anarchist comrades and the cops (and the huge amount of chemicals released by them) the cops came under a well-organized attack that forced them to take cover in the 3rd September street, while the whole Patision street was again set on fire.

Many immigrants were participating in the march and they attacked Delta guards (Deltades) in Victoria Square (Deltades are stupid thugs the state uses as light-cops until real cops can arrive): when comrades informed the immigrants that real cops were coming to Victoria Square (so that those with no passports could leave in time to avoid arrest and forced repatriation), the immigrants, disregarding their own individual self-interest, attacked the Deltades thugs, who took cover at the nearby OTE bulding (OTE is the Greek National Telecommunications Company, recently privatized and sold to German T-Telekom).

After the march, the Saint Pandeleimonas district was full of immigrants and clear of fascist scum or cops. The fascists supported the cops in their attempt to drive the march out of Saint Pandeleimonas.

A fascist accidentaly set himself on fire while trying to use the anarchists' weapons against them, a sport the fascists aren't good at.

The anarchists carried multilingual banners in Greek, English, French, Arabic, Albanian, and other languages known to the immigrants. A banner held by comrades carrying black and red flags, both men and women, read: "war against bosses - solidarity to immigrants".

Some of the graffiti created during the march included: "death to fascists" on a bank's window and signed with the anarchists' circled-A symbol; "don't touch the Efetio" on the OTE building (telecom company) walls (the Efetio at the Sokratous Street is a big occupied courts building in Athens downtown where lots of immigrants live rent-free and was recently attacked by neonazi thugs and cops, with the government eyeing to re-take it by force); "cops - TV - neonazis, all the bastards work together" on a shop's security walls and signed with the anarchist circled-A symbol; "immigrants, my siblings, all of us together, black flag we rise to any authority" on a wall and signed with the circled-A; and a big circled-A symbol painted on a bank's advertisement immediately under the advert's words: "we are besides you".

A block of EEK members (EEK or Workers' Revolutionary Party is a Greek Trotskyist political party with about 6,000 votes) was also seen marching in the streets near the anarchists but not really intermingling with them. Anarchists in Greece generally boycott the elections, but a few antiauthoritarians sometimes do vote for small leftist parties. But even the bigger political parties on the left of the political spectrum, such as the Syriza coalition, try to persuade antiauthoritarians that they support their views, because they want to capture for their interests the dynamism of the anarchist and antiauthoritarian scene, which is particularly powerful and influential in Greece, especially amongst the youth. While antiauthoritarians in Greece sometimes do support particular parties, anarchists keep true to Kropotkin and other classical anarchists' call for revolution without representatives. The fact that leftist parties carry on trying to win votes from antiauthoritarians and the anarchist-influenced youth reveals the strong influence of anarchism in contemporary youth culture in Greece, and also explains why the Greek government is so desperate to upgrade its repression and surveillance apparatus (it recently asked the Scotland Yard for help and plans to introduce DNA databases and ban anonymous mobile phones).

A march also took place in Thessaloniki in northern Greece (the second biggest city of the country). Bank ATMs were also set on fire there.

Fire engines were seen driving out of downtown Athens by 21.30-22.00 o'clock after their attempts to put down the fires and the revolutionary spirit with them. But no matter how many fires they put down, they and the whole state apparatus won't succeed to put down the coming revolution, because that's what the people want.

Eleni

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/07/434041.html


Fascists attack Villa Amalia squat in Greece

Fascists under the cover of cops attacked the oldest anarchist squat in Greece with molotov cocktails and beaten a youth. Our comrades successfully driven away the fascists. The squat, Villa Amalia, suffered no damage.


From Wikipedia: "Villa Amalia is one of the first anarchist squats in Athens, Greece. It was first occupied in 1990. It is located in the corner of Acharnon and Cheyden streets, near "Victoria" square. Many punk, rock, hardcore and generally underground events take place at Villa Amalia. The police have evicted the squatters three times, but Villa Amalia has always re-occupied later on."

Many comrades consider it the oldest anarchist squat in Greece and a symbol for the local anarchist movement. In Greek it is called Villa Amalias (Βίλλα Αμαλίας).

During the night of 9 July 2009 at 23:50, a gang of about 30 neonazi fascists supported by cops (both MAT, the Greek riot police, and Deltas) attacked the Villa Amalia squat in central Athens with molotov cocktails. The anarchists successfully defended their social centre against the fascists and driven them away, but not before they severely beat a youth nearby who needed an ambulance (still unclear whether he is a comrade).

The attack must have been pre-arranged by the cops and the fascists; after all their collaboration is well-known in Greece and is becoming more and more official (with dignitaries paying visits to the fascists). We cannot explain in any other way the fact that, according to still unconfirmed information, comrades who were on the nearby Liosion street at 21:00 spotted about 70 cops (of the Deltas team, not riot police). If true, then we must assume that they were the same cops who, together with riot police, were seen protecting the fascists during their attack against the anarchist squat.

The fascists, who must haven been members of the Golden Dawn neonazi association, approached the squat first, keeping themselves at a distance of about 50 metres, and shortly afterwards Delta cops appeared. MAT riot cops quickly came when more anarchists gathered in solidarity to defend their squat, Villa Amalia.

The fascists threw two molotov cocktails, the traditional people's street weapon, against the symbolic Villa Amalia squat, but they failed to damage it due to their lack of skill in molotov throwing. The anarchists successfully driven out the fascists towards the Acharnon street, but the fascists then took cover behind a group of Delta cops, who together with the MAT riot police protected the fascists.

The fascists then severely beat a youth outside the squat, but it is still unclear whether he is a comrade. He had to be taken away by an ambulance, due to the hatred released on his body by the neonazis.

By 24:10 all the fascists were driven away by anarchists, of both genders, who were determined to selflessly defend their freedom and the oldest anarchist squat of Greece with a history of two decades. By 24:20 the surrounding streets were still infected with cops (Deltas and 2 or 3 MAT riot police squadrons who were seen talking with the fascists). Lots of comrades were gathered outside the squat to protect it in case the cops decided to raid it, but the cops preferred to back down and leave, knowing how dangerous people fighting for their freedom can be.

At 24:30 about 30-40 Delta cops were spotted leaving the region towards the Patisia district.

The fascists with their molotov cocktails apparently not only wanted to damage the squat but also to injure comrades, but they failed miserably to do either. Their only 'success' was that they managed to hide behind the cops and leave. But in their panic, they left behind lots of traces. They had a rucksack full of molotov cocktails and smoke bombs, but they only managed to throw two molotovs and two smoke bombs, the latter two thrown at the pedestrian strip opposite the squat. As the anarchists moved to defend their squat, the fascists threw their rucksack on the street in their panic as they were running to hide behind the cops.

At 2:00 the a popular news network, as is usual with all capitalist spoonfed news outlets, said that an incident took place in central Athens and spread the propaganda that the cops are searching for the perpetrator of the molotov-throwing incident. But as every reader of Indymedia IMC knows, the cops' real job is to protect the fascists during their attacks.

It is interesting to note that while the left feels paralyzed in Greece, the anarchist movement wins the hearts of more and more dissatisfied people and seems to be the only social movement capable of revolutionary groundbreaking social change.

As a final note, we should say that the anarchist movement is very old, but now that the capitalist class implements its globalization project and social democracy and communism have failed, we should expect more popular support for anarchism worldwide. Perhaps the society envisaged by Kropotkin, Bakunin, and even more ancient thinkers will soon come true.

Inside the Villa Amalia squat there is a banner on a wall containing a verse written by an Ancient Greek philosopher:

in Ancient Greek: "Ούτε γαρ άρχειν, ούτε άρχεσθαι εθέλω" - Ηρόδοτος

in Modern Greek: "Ούτε να κυβερνώ θέλω, ούτε να με κυβερνούν" - Ηροδότου ιστοριών 3:83

translation in English: "I want neither to rule nor to be ruled" - Herodotus Histories 3:83

More information in Greek:
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1056072

The Villa Amalia squat's blog: http://villa-amalias.blogspot.com/

Article (in Greek) and photos from the squat:
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=70592

Wikipedia article on Villa Amalia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Amalia_(Athens)


A strange night in Greece

11 July 2009, Athens, Greece: Comrades (and the media) report three important incidents:

First, someone fired a gun against the cops (no injuries).

Second, someone from his car fired gunshoots against immigrants, injuring three. They were taken to a hospital by an ambulance.

Third, fascists set multiple floors of a building occupied by homeless immigrants (the Efetio) on fire.

All these happened in the centre of Athens. Comrades are sure that the perpetrators of these attacks were fascists, including the gunshoot against the cops.

This is fascism. Will the people answer back?

Updates in Greek:

http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1056822

http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1056767

http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1056843

http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1056612

http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1056743


Patras’ Crystal Night (refugee camp set on fire, flattened, evicted)
by 'after the greek riots'

In the early hours of Sunday, July 12 the refugee settlement adjacent to the port of Patras was “mysteriously” set on fire during a police operation. According to eye-witness reports, the police cordoned off the area surrounding the settlement at about 5 a.m. Four greek citizens in solidarity who were near the settlement were immediately detained. Moments later the cops started ID’ing and arresting the refugees inside the camp. At the same time, a fire “mysteriously” started from one end of the settlement - while the police were present in the settlement. The fire burnt for a few hours, destroying a large part of the settlement. The houses not burnt were demolished later.

The smoke of the fire makes it evidently clear: The greek state is resorting to totalitarian, fascist practices as a last resort to cover up the lack of whatever legitimacy it previously enjoyed - and to desperately grip control of the situation. Through the flames, we can see: The state’s “social peace” is war; the tranquility and quiet safeguarded by the ”ordinary people just doing their job”, is death.


Police continues operations against immigrants - Patras’ Immigration Camp Demolished and Burned down

Sunday July 12, 2009

The immigration camp in the city of Patras, southern Greece was demolished Sunday 12/7 and the immigrants were transferred to reception centres. In the meantime, fire broke out and soon spread. Firefighters rushed to the site and contained the fire before spreading to nearby buildings. Dozens of shanties were burnt down, but there were no injuries. Police brought 15 minors and 44 adults who lacked documents to the police station for questioning.

Enforcement forces (over 15 crates, and thousands of police officers, special forces, security forces from Athens, Thessalonica, Corinth, Agrinion) once excluded - banned the movement of a large section of the city by imposing a system of unprecedented police arrests made, and burned down the camp.

We condemn the continuous operations against immigrants.

The Political Committee of the "Movement for the Reorganisation of the Communist Party of Greece 1918-55"