364 days
The resurgence of the Macedonic debate was fully expected to offer a first-class chance for the expression of the most bigoted, racist, openly nationalist and fascist narratives combined with Nazi “innovation” and military-religious rearguard. However, even within these circumstances, the cesspit of the “White Tower” gathering did not manage to promote its criminal action- even in the conservative city of Thessaloniki- for more than 3 hours which was the total duration of the Sunday troupe. This was prevented by the brave initiative taken over by one and only one political group: the anarchists. Once again, it became apparent who the real inside enemy of the state, the capital, the parastatal gangs and the Nazi is. The Left Wing was either governing the police forces who advanced the Nazis throughout their attacks against squats, or was delivering pompous nationalist speeches denoting its positive disposition towards the idea of co-existence with the fascist mass of the White Tower gathering(LAE1) or simply disappeared in order not to provoke (KKE, ANTARSYA2, NAR3). Its immobility took the characteristics of a deathly rigidity. The anarchist gathering of January 18th (there were large speakers transmitting the anarchists’ announcements on the occasion), the motor demonstration of January 20th, 24 hours before the nationalist/fascist gathering, as well as the antifascist interventions and patrols in the streets of Thessaloniki throughout the week by anarchist collectives, made sure that the city will remain safe for the fighters and the antifascists, while the interventions managed to dissipate the uniform nationalist narrative in pubic. No one among us surrendered in front of the beast.
The White Tower
“Regardless of what they might think about themselves, (meaning those who attended the White Tower gathering) this gathering would become the rabbit for the fascist runner. This “pure patriotism” some invoke, is nothing else than the great yard of nationalism and fascism”
(From the announcement of the collective for social anarchism “Black & Red” on the Macedonic issue)
Much as the fascists may celebrate on the popular attendance to the Sunday gathering, truth is they were few. Not because this gathering lacked mass, but because in relation to (1) what nationalism and fascism want and (2) the given ideological and actual support by the pillars of the Greek state, they are still few. The possible “success” of nationalism is hidden behind this simple question: “Would you like, in a situation where the state, every government, the bosses and the powerful ones have ridiculed you, put you down and made you poor, to feel, even for a few hours, even falsely, strong- without having to stand up against the strong ones, without having to pay the price of imprisonment, beating, blackmailing and terror- cultivating this feeling that you can blackmail, hate and repress some others, who are even poorer and more desperate than you and who live on the other side of the borders?” While Greek society has been nurtured for years by religion to hate, by the state for hundreds of years to be obedient, by Mass Media, which, for decades, support the powerful ones, the “national plans” and the nationalist gangs, by Patriarchy, which, since always, ridicules human dignity, and by the Police, which, since its creation, fosters, covers, arms and protects your coward troops, fascists, you were few again. Thessaloniki knows very well your parastatal action, but even its dead stand as bright barricades against your lame gatherings. As for those who rushed to stand next to Nazis, they simply abeted, they helped actually the fascist vanguard, which used the gathering as a home base for its criminal actions under, of course, the general surveillance and support of the state, the government and the police. General Fragos4, from his stage, used the audience as useful idiots in order to build his career, Anthimos5 and his mutts were celebrating mass in order to fill even more their bellies, and the Nazis saw in this mass the German citizens of the 3rd Reich, who would obediently play clueless in front of the crematories they would build. The neo-Nazi washing machine worked on its fullest. This is how we have got to the point where Golden Dawn’s Nazi criminals are marching in front of the White Tower and are applauded by “patriots”.
On the other hand, as we have said before, SYRIZA/ANEL government will objectively make the fascist right wing stronger, both for petty political aims and because it will attempt to severely repress the movements, following the same, or an even worse, strategy as in the previous years, in order for it to stand, the longest possible, in power. Their politics is criminal. And this strategy goes right through the wastewater of the “Macedonic “issue.
The fascist attacks and the demonstration in Kamara
“Fascism is the only one that knows what it wants from this gathering. It aspires to organize young people in the lines of hatred, to obsess them with its bigoted, racist nonsense and unleash them against the poor, the weak ones, the refugees, the immigrants, the fighters, the antifascists and the anarchists.”
(From the announcement of “Mauro kai Kokkino” on the Macedonic issue)
The decision to be present in the antinationalist gathering on Sunday 21-1 in Kamara was the continuation of the week-through presence in the city. This particular gathering was one of the most important consignments in the history of the anarchist movement during the recent past years. But it was not just this. Apart from the fact that Kamara captured the public and fearless disposition that the anarchists stand- even on their own under the most challenging circumstances- against the fascist beast and the state’s terrorism, they do not lower their flags and they do not vanish from the streets, when the parastatal wolves march hand in hand with the police’s fully-uniformed assassins, it was also our outpost, so that the whole city is not submitted to the hands of the fascist gangs which were subserved by police’s repression forces, defending, at the same time, all our structures in the upper center of the city. Moreover, in order to eliminate misconceptions, Kamara and its safeguard would not have surrendered no matter how many fascist gangs would have attempted to attack it. The comrades who comprised its safeguard are very well aware of the fact that our name matters, and it is a name which has not been built on the narrative of nationalist myths, effortless bravados, NATOic plans, state tortures and ethnic(or other) cleansings, political parties’ maneuvers and stands, but through persecutions, imprisonments, struggle, solidarity, equality and the vision of an other world, that’s why it is our soul, we defend ANARCHY, to the last fortress, and this, to put it simply, meant that either the fascists would back off or we would now talk in terms of counting victims. There was no other way.
On our side, in this demonstration, about which pride is our only feeling, were our comrades from Libertatia squat, which paid the severest price in this struggle against fascism. This struggle has never ceased and its road is paved with blood, innocent murders, concentration camps, wars, violence, extermination wards, shattered societies and immeasurable material damages. The building where Libertatia squat was once housed comes to add to this long account. The matter with nationalism is the fact that in order for its criminal nature to be understood, the consequences of its criminal action must be constantly captured.
Libertatia was not set on fire due to some irresponsibility, inertia or indifference. Quite the opposite. Our comrades showed the greatest sense of responsibility in front of the history of struggles against fascism, took over a very crucial responsibility, not to abandon the city, they put into political practice the fact that “fascism comes first thing for me, then for everybody “. Whoever takes this kind of decisions, does not lose, cannot be defeated by the attack to a building. On the other hand, whoever fails to comprehend this simple reality, it would be better to remain silent, because we must, in no way, today, that we must give the most powerful and most convincing answer, let vulgarity diffuse into the body of the movement.
Libertatia was the target of two attacks. The first one was by the body of the gathering organized by the circle “Ideapolis” and several accompanying fascists(Ieros Lohos, AME, C18 e.t.c), who attempted to set the squat on fire, and the second one by a body of similar composition along with a part of fascist PAOK supporters. They were the same 70 people who tried to make their way to Kamara. The existence of an organized core of PAOK supporters who identify with and act together with neo-Nazi criminals is a phenomenon which degrades the social history of the union, of Touba6 which, for decades, was the real homeland of the persecuted and the popular struggling spirit of the people who supported historically the union.
State- Parastate: Ultimate identification
The police was supervising all 3 attacks which took place, one at the Free Social Space “Scholeio”(Ε.Κ.Χ. Σχολείο), and two at Libertatia. It covered thoroughly the perpetrators, and no one was held accountable despite the fact that, by that moment, a whole building had been set on fire. And even if someone totally naive believes that this is not a coordinated plan by the state, the government and the parastatal forces, reality will come to disprove them. The following day, during the demonstration for solidarity to Libertatia, Greek Police finds the forces it needs so as to protect the union of “Makedones”7, while the demonstration had not even had the intention to go there.
It is merely used as an excuse, so that riot police can prohibit the demonstration from moving along the high roads of the east side of the city. They deployed police vans and riot police troops, who attacked the demonstration fiercely, with the excuse of a skirmish, arresting five people on the spot. That same night, the police, tightly cooperating with the district attorney authorities upgraded the indictment in order to impose the ironic accusation of arson (felony) to the arrested of a demonstration
which had denounced the arson of an entire building. The people who gathered the next day out of the court of Thessaloniki in solidarity with the five arrested comrades, were not even allowed to enter the building. The five people were held in custody from Monday (22-1), when they got arrested, to Friday(26-1), by which time the district attorney along with the inquisitor had been discussing even the possibility of detention. The course of the events is more eloquent than ever before. The government’s plan is to attack the social movement and put the anarchist fighters in a situation of constant exemption, while at the same time, it aims at terrorizing people in order to empty the streets from demonstrations. Because the fascist rally may have ended, but our struggle for social revolution never ceases. In this struggle, our allies are the 2.500 people who stood on our side on Monday, and whoever else responds to our calls the following days, so that we can altogether build a mound against this nationalistic fever pitch, the fascist threat and the state’s terrorism, as well as put forward in our best means our actual solidarity to Libertatia.
FASCISM SHALL NOT PASS
STATE AUTHORITARIANISM AND VIOLENCE SHALL BE OPPOSED
Collective for Social Anarchism “Black & Red” – Member of the Anarchist Political Organisation- Federation of collectives [Greece]
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1 LAE (Laiki Enotita: Popular Unity): A Greek left-wing political party founded in August 21st 2015 as a parliamentary group after the independence of 25 parliamentarians from SYRIZA. Its president is Panagiotis Lafazanis and the formal ideology of the party is supposed to be framed within reformist socialism, euroscepticism, and radicalism.
2 ANTARSYA(Antikapitalistiki Aristeri Sinergasia gia tin Anatropi: Anticapitalist Left Wing Αssosiation for the Overturn): It is a Greek political scheme founded in March 22nd 2009, which is part of the Left Wing and has an anticapitalist/communist profile.It incorporates various left wing organisations and independent individuals from all over Greece, and is supposed to be active in the labour movement, and present into Universities via component subgroups.
3 NAR(Neo Aristero Reuma: New left trend): Greek political left wing organisation.It was founded in 1989 and since 2009 is a component of ANTARSYA. It ensued from the dissolution of KKE (Communist Party) and KNE(Youths’ Communist Party) in 1989.
4 Fragoulis Fragos: Retired military officer. One of the lecturers in the nationalist gathering of January 21st in Thessaloniki and coordinator of the same gathering in February 4th in Athens. He was the leader of Greek military forces till some years before.
5 Anthimos: Metropolitan of Thessaloniki
6 The poor neighborhood in Thessaloniki which is the seat of the team.
7 A league of PAOK funs with nationalistic perspectives.
