Fascists attack squat in Athens with Minister of Public Order supervision

One more article on the issue at Fascists attack Villa Amalia squat in Athens, Greece

Some weeks ago we had posted the following (translating a newspaper article):

[M]arkoyannakis said the police faces two major challenges: illegal immigration and the action of anarchists. He added that the police will leave aside the issue of anarchists for now to tackle the illegal immigrants issue first.  For the latter, concentration camps are ready and waiting (source).  His plans for cleansing down town Athens from immigrants will be concluded in one month or so from now.

see this post: Public Order Ministry’s agenda translates into everyday anti-immigrant terror…

Markoyannakis directing police and "indignant citizens" on the spot

source: libcom.org article.

Submitted by taxikipali on Jul 10 2009

Nazi scum organised by the police in vigilante groups in Agios Panteleimonas attacked one of the oldest anarchist squats, Villa Amalias, 20 minutes after meeting with the Minister of Public Order.

On Thursday 9/7 the second mass protest march in a week took to the streets of Athens against State sponsored racism and police collaboration with fascist groups in the area of Agios Panteleimonas. The march which was organised by the left and numbered 5,000 protesters took to the Parliament.

Before the march protesters attacked a group of fascist parastate elements who have been trying to expand the apartheid imposed in Agios Panteleimonas to the near by Attiki square. After the successful ambush against the nazis, the Minister of Public Order, Mr Markoyannakis, infamous for his involvement in the huge Seimens scandal and for his pro-nazi views, visited Attiki square and then Agios Panteleimonas to hold common meeting with the fascist vigilante committee, led by Mr Pipikios, an officer of the Army renowned for his junta nostalgia and love for armed blackshirt formations. 20 minutes after the meeting of the State and parastate scum, a group of nazis left Agios Panteleimonas and attacked Villa Amalias, the 19 year old anarchist squat, with molotov cocktails and projectiles. Fascists had managed to set fire to the squat last year leading to extended damage to the historic building. This time the fascist attack was successfully repelled with fascists running for their lives behind police lines which came to their help.

The new incident of police-nazi cooperation brings the counterinsurgency strategy of the State into new perspective. It is the first time since the junta that a Minister meets with fascist combat groups. The policy of open State support of such murderous elements was commonplace even before the junta, under the government of K. Karamanlis (uncle of today’s PM) who actively supported EKOF, a prastate group designed to break up protest marches and terrorise the left.

Mr Markoyannakis first entered public office as a public persecutor of the colonels’ junta.

The bourgeois media have imposed an information black-out on the incident.

When the Minister met the Fascists (and OK’d them to attack an anarchist squat, it seems)

from “AFTER THE GREEK RIOTS” – occupied London blog

Christos Markoyannakis (pictured, centre) is a vice-minister for the Greek government. Mr Markoyanakis is head of the Vice-Ministry of Public Order – and he certainly does not lack the experience to fill the position. He launched his pubic sector career being appointed in the position of attorney general during the dictatorship (1967-1974). Old habits die hard: In the picture below, Mr Markoyanakis is chatting to the so-called “residents’ initiative” of the Ayios Panteleimonas neighbourhood in Athens. The front group for the neo-fascists of the Golden Dawn (Chrysi Augi), have imposed an Apartheid-style rule in the neighbourhood: Locking up the local playground “because it was used by migrants’ children” they chase away migrants from the area. Mr Markoyanakis visited yesterday (9 July) to offer his support to the “residents’ initiative”. Apparently one of the questions he was asked during this meeting was “how come he hasn’t yet evicted the Villa Amalias squat”. Villa Amalias is one of Athens’ longest-standing squats. Only minutes after Markoyanakis visited, a group of fascists tried to attack Villa Amalias with molotov cocktails. They were pushed back by anarchists defending the occupation. Even being backed up by the cops (Riot police and the newly-introduced “Delta” motorcycle force) the fascists failed in their attack.

To sum up: A junta-appointed attorney general and present government minister meets with a “residents’” group widely known to be a fascist front. Minutes after the meeting, fascists attempt to attack the local anarchist squat, backed by police force. Sometimes, the line between fascism and democracy is much, much thinner than we’d ever think.

Fascists attack Villa Amalia squat in Athens, Greece

source: Athens Indymedia Article.

Fascists attack Villa Amalia squat in Greece

by Comrade from the South of Athens

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

We do need your help in spreading and translating this news! Please do spread around and translate in more languages.

athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1056072

Youth left center attacked by fascists in Salonica before antifascist week across Greece

Source: libcom.org article submitted by the author taxikipali on July 5 2009.

photo: Athens Indymedia article

Sling, a youth center of the left in Salonica fell victim to a parastate-fascist attack in the run-up to a week of antifascist protest marches across Greece

In the early morning of Sunday 5/7 Sling, a youth left center in down town Salonica was attacked by a gas-arson mechanism planted by fascist-parastate elements in the run-up of the coming antifascist week that will see protest marches against the nazi onslaught against immigrants across the country. The attack, which failed to cause injuries and any serious damage, comes as a repetition of last years’ chain of gas-arson attacks against anarchist and left centers in Athens that left several political squats seriously burned. The attack took place in the same day that the official fascist party (LAOS) which holds a few seats in parliament announced its new policy of “patriotic attack”, promising 5-year employment of all unemployed people “of greek blood” in blackshirt paramilitary formations.

What follows is the communique of the Student Struggle Movements:

The Student Struggle Movements are denouncing to the greek people and youth the fascist attack on the morning of Sunday a little later than 3 am against the Youth Center “Sling” on Makriyannis street in down town Salonica with an arson mechanism. The Sling has been functioning only two months now with the the initiative of the Student Struggle Movements, a left struggling student collectivity, and has been set to the service of youth struggles against the system, its politics and “values” that it tries to impose on the youth. The attack is part of a strategy of tension of the capital and imperialism against the achievements of the people and its youth. It is especially part of a climate of terror and intensification of repression of the youth and the people
after the December explosion. Moreover it is part of a climate of xenophobia and racism that the imperialist EU and the parties of the big capital (New Democracy and PASOK) and their lackeys (LAOS) is trying to impose on the suffering workers of the country. The Student Struggle Movements, as part of the struggling youth and following its paradigm in the great struggles of the previous years, will not bow to this terror initiative. Along side the youth and the people we respond to the fascist attacks by intensifying our struggles –

STUDENT STRUGGLE MOVEMENTS

The fascist-parastate act comes as a lone strike after two days of relentless radical attacks against State targets: the Institute of Immigration Policy, the Information Department of the Ministry of Interior, the Center of Strategic Planning, the Army Officer’s Club, and several offices of the governing party were wholly or partially destroyed between Friday and Saturday. The intensification of so-called anarchist ‘diffused guerrilla’ (in opposition to the Marxist armed guerrilla) has publicly ridiculed the Law and Order bragging of the more and more ultra-right government which is under increasing pressure of resigning.

Call for the march of Tuesday, 7th of July at Thessaloniki – HANDS OFF IMMIGRANTS!

GREECE: IMMIGRANTS AND ANARCHISTS STRUGGLE AGAINST RACIST ATTACKS

This is a part of the Britain, RESISTANCE bulletin issue 114 July/August 2009 providing some context and links of the on-going anti-immigrant campaign with December’s revolt and the State’s “counter-revolt” since then.

clandestinenglish

GREECE: IMMIGRANTS AND ANARCHISTS STRUGGLE AGAINST RACIST ATTACKS

Throughout December, Greece was alive with working class dissent. Police stations burned,
luxury shops were ransacked, roads blockaded and the centre of Athens saw continuous
running battles with aggressive riot police (often in collaboration with neo-Nazi
paramilitary organisations).

An important factor that was to colour the December events was the sheer diversity of
those involved. Anger at the murder of 15-year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos by police was
shared across Greek society. This and the continuing attacks by the state on workers’
conditions in response to the economic crisis served to fan the flames of wider political
dissent across the country.

But this time the streets were not only filled with the usual gang of hooded
insurrectionists. Factory workers, school students, university students, teachers, health
workers, the precariously employed of the so-called “seven hundred Euro generation”,
immigrants, agricultural labourers, the unemployed (and many more) all took to the streets
in outrage. Helena Smith of the Telegraph reported on the 14th December that, to her
horror, even “middle-class rioters are buying rocks”. It seemed that everyone was starting
to see the rotten state of the system.

Yet, the mainstream media inside Greece, and later the professor’s of Greek Universities,
would continue to tell two stories about the riots. The first, that it was just a mob of
hot-headed youth. This wasn’t political, these people were just bored and disillusioned.
All they needed was better jobs and better opportunities. The economy had failed them, we
know what’s best for them, oh the folly of youth etc. The second accusation betrayed a far
more vicious agenda and introduced a political scapegoat for the violence. That poor Greek
youths had been led astray by immigrants whose only aim was to loot and steal from native
Greeks.

In the media, distinctions were continuously made between the naïve and hot-blooded
actions of Greek youth and the criminal behaviour of immigrants and minorities. Such
accusations were also backed by a very real campaign of intimidation and violence against
immigrant communities by Fascist organisations.

In early May, for example, a rally called by fascist groups quickly turned violent.
Neo-nazis began randomly beating immigrants with iron bars with the police looking on.
Later, under the protection of the riot police, the neo-nazis attacked buildings where
immigrants find refuge with stones and flash and sound grenades.

Such anti-immigrant activity, however, was not limited to the streets. The European
elections saw the ascent of LAOS, the populist rightwing Popular Orthodox Alarm Party, to
4th position with 7% of the vote. This, combined with the governing party’s landslide
defeat, led the government to endorse the core of the extreme-right wing policies of LAOS.
The Minister of Public Order, Mr Makroyannakis, announced the launch of a mass pogrom of
immigrants in the centre of Athens. He pledged to “clean” immigrants from the city centre
and displace them in what he called “a ghetto” at the outskirts of Athens. The camp, which
will use the old NATO base of Aspropyrgos in the city’s heavily industrially polluted
rustbelt, is expected to hold more than 2,000 ‘illegal’ immigrants. The premises had been
proposed in the past as a temporary concentration camp for immigrants, addicts and
homeless people during the 2004 Olympic Games but the plan was abandoned after a huge
public outcry.

Immigrants and their allies are not taking these attacks lying down. Early March, after
all, saw protesters, in response to an attempted hand grenade attack on an immigrant
community, break into the offices of Neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn (Xrysi Avgi) and torch
them to the ground. On Friday 29 May immigrants and solidarity protesters also marched to
the Greek parliament despite a fascist counter-demo and media scaremongering. Tensions are
high, however, and attacks on immigrants are likely to escalate.

Early June saw anarchists in the area of Agios Panteleimonas move to unblock the entrance
of the local children’s playground which the fascists want to keep locked in an effort to
impose segregation between Greeks and immigrants, and “to preserve the blood purity of the
white race”. While unblocking the playground the anarchists were attacked by fascists who
were soon routed before the arrival of riot police forces.

During the clashes one policeman was injured and five protesters were arrested on criminal
charges. After the end of the clashes, a local Greek father, Mr Tasoulas, took his son to
play in the coveted playground. Soon they were surrounded by fascists who blocked the exit
of the playground and threatened to lynch the father calling him a traitor. After he
managed to hand the child to a sympathetic neighbour, the fascists beat the father in full
presence of the chief of the local police station.

Event by the Initiative of Immigrants, Refugees and People in Solidarity in Athens

[…] A video made by members of the initiative concerning the sinister events in the largest concentration camp of immigrants at Petrou Ralli and a text on  the anti-immigrant policy but also the lure and the difficulties of solidarity with immigrants are the infrastructure for a debate on these issues […]

An event by the Initiative of Immigrants, Refugees and People in Solidarity, on Tuesday at 20.00 at Lofos tou Strefi, Exarcheia, Athens.

http://filoxenoi.wordpress.com/

open discussion on collective responses to Aghios Panteleimonas events in Athens

source: Athens indymedia

Saturday June 13 2009, 19:00
Polytechnic School, Athens,  Ginis Building

open discussion on collective responses to Aghios Panteleimonas events

Organization: anarchists, antiauthoritarians, people in solidarity

Open discussion on the racist and repressive pogroms at Aghios Panteleimonas and the center of Athens and perspectives of organizing collective actions and a central march.

Clashes and arrests around the Aghios Panteleimonas neighborhood in Athens…

riot police protecting hrysi avgi

sources: athens indymedia article; indy.gr article.

clandestinenglish

Yesterday afternoon anarchists and people in solidarity unlocked the playground at Aghios Panteleimonas, which had been sealed so that not to be used by the children of immigrant residents. The site was unlocked and people went inside to reclaim the playground in a neighborhood terrified by the interventions of fascists and extreme right residents. Texts were leafleted and discussions were held with the residents of the area.

[The Golden Dawn is primarily responsible for the mobilisation of extreme-right wing elements in the neighborhood of Aghios Panteleimonas, forming lightly armed “self-defense” groups purging immigrants from the area’s central square and attacking houses, burning down shops and community places of worship (mosques are illegal in Athens), smashing up public events, and targeting even the church of the parish, the largest in the country, which fell victim to fascist arson attack for providing support and supper for immigrants – see this post about it]

A group of fascists, chanting the Greek national hymn, along with their resident collaborators attacked the comrades verbally while the latter were leaving the place. The group of thugs attempted to approach the solidarity gathering but were repulsed, to find then refuge behind the riot police squad which suffocated the site with gases. A parent with his child remained in the area, resisted the right-wing thugs and refused to leave. The police arrested him ostensibly to ” protect him from the fascists” and led him to the Aghios Panteleimon police station .

The comrades left the place in an organized manner, taking it to the street for a solidarity march. About 150 meters from the Aghios Panteleimonas square in a narrow street leading to Patision Avenue a second riot police squad attacked the march. There were clashes with the riot squad and and the rest police forces which tried to encircle the lines of protestors. The latter entered then the ASOEE university building on Patision Aveue and the collisions ended.

Five protestors (apart from the parent) were arrested and were today to be brought to the Public Attorney- this will happen on Friday. Yesterday night people in solidarity were gathered outside the Police Headquarters in Athens were the arrestees were detained, and protested against the police provisionally refusing to allow them to see a lawyer.  The riot police assaulted those gathered in solidarity in front of the Athens courts today as well.

What follows is a view published in Uk indymedia.

Apartheid in the centre of Athens !!

It is unacceptable what is happening in St. Panteleimon play ground in the Centre of Athens. Not only is the most racist and xenophobic mood developed to the residents who often outraged by the degradation of their region, attack immigrants while they themselves are victims of neo-fascists organizations like Hrysi Avgi in fish cloudy water, but the fact that the official state acts against the law. The members of Hrysi Avgi with some local residents LOCKED a play ground for Children in the area , because the majority of the children there are immigrants !! During an attempt by anti racist organisations to reopen the Playground that was iligally locked, the police came to protect and help in fact the Neo NAZI organisation Hrysi Avgi..

Homepage: http://garizo.blogspot.com/2009/06/apartheid-in-centre-of-athens.html

Call of the Initiative of Refugees, Immigrants and People in Solidarity for the 29th of May protest march

source

 

The tearing of the Koran on Wednesday, 20^th of May, is the peak of the iceberg that has been growing for years:

With the humiliating treatment of the immigrants by the racist mechanisms of the state,

With their miserable and inhuman living and working conditions,

With the continuous pogroms of the police against them on streets and squares,

With the humiliations and the murders in the queue of Petrou Ralli,

With the land workers in Manolada,

With the thousands of drowned in the waters of Aegean and the thousands of squeezed in the immigrant concentration camps.

With the trample of the Koran on Wednesday, 20the of May, this iceberg has turned into a volcano.

The immigrants have come out on the streets, like they have done before in other western cities, have clashed with the oppression forces of the democracy, have claimed their trampled dignity.

We stand next to them, in solidarity with every struggle they give for dignity and emancipation.

Beyond any religious and national divisions,

Solidarity with the immigrants! 

Initiative of immigrants, refugees and people in solidarity

URGENT support needed for the Ukrainian and Russian Anti-fascists!

This is a libcom article reproduction.

Clandestinenglish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

URGENT support needed for the Ukrainian and Russian Anti-fascists!

Submitted by Eastern Barbarian on May 22 2009

international call

Recent months have seen unprecendent levels of repression against
anti-fascists in Ukraine and Russia. Anti-fascists have been both framed
up and punished for defending themselves against Nazis. In Ukraine,
President proclaimed Antifa to be “extremists” and ordered
the law enforcement agencies “to scrutinize political motives” behind
the death of Nazi activist Maksim Chayka, who died in Odessa after an
attempt to attack 5 anti-fascists with his 15 friends. Referring to
Nazis as “patriots”, Yuschenko showed his sympathy with them. Soon
Ukrainian secret service SBU, controlled by president, announced that a
pro-Russian party was behind the death of Chayka. Obviously, this
incident is used by various political forces for internal political
struggle. 22nd of April, anti-fascist from Kiev was kidnapped, beaten up
and transferred to Odessa, but eventually released. SBU is also
claiming, that suspected killer of Chayka is hiding in Russia, and has
demanded his extraction to Ukraine. Even if that is the case, it is
unlikely that he will face a fair and unpartial court after
interventions of the president.

Meanwhile Russia, a country hinted by Yuschenko do be behind Antifa in
Ukraine, is also repressing anti-fascists with a vigor. 21st of April,
Moscow anti-fascist Aleksey “Shkobar” Olesinov was given one year
sentence for a fight in a bar in August 2008 which did not even took
place. 8th of May in St. Petersburg, anti-fascist Aleksey Bychin was
sentenced to 5 years in prison, for a fight with two Nazis (of whom
another was a police officer) in June 2008. 14th of May in Kazan,
anti-fascist Artur Valeev was given 4 year prison sentence for
inflicting minor wounds to Nazis who attacked him and his friend in
November 2008. In Izhevsk, police cooperates regularly with Nazis to
fabricate criminal cases against anti-fascists, during year up to 80
anti-fascists have been arrested for different cases and currently there
are at least two serious felony cases with 6 defendants going on. In
Vladivostok, court proceedings are going on against Yura M., who
accidentally killed one of the two Nazis who assaulted him in November
2008. And at last, Artyom Lokutov, anarchist artist from Novosibirsk was
planted drugs 15th of May, in a blatant attack against alternative
culture in the city as a whole.

Most of the provocations and repressions against Antifa in Russia are
organised by CPE, “Center of Counteraction against Extremism”, a new
police department founded in New Year to replace old UBOP,
“Administration of Struggle against Organised Crime”. Already before the
rebranding, UBOP was notorious for provocations and even murder of
political activists, so change of name was just final confirmation that
authorities are rather fighting political opposition than mafia.

But whatever they say, Antifa is not sponsored by powers of the “West”,
or “East”, we may only count on grassroot support around the world. In
face of increasing repression, and where a number of victims of fascist
violence is mounting (in Russia only, during first 4 months of 2009 at
least 23 people were killed and 98 wounded in racist attacks),
Anti-fascists are standing firm in front of attacks of both the state
and racist groups. Today, international solidarity for anti-fascists of
Ukraine and Russia is more necessary than ever!

Anti-fascists from Moscow, Kiev and all around the world

What to do?

Make an action, big or small, targeted against Ukrainian and Russian
authorities in your city 24th or 25th of May. If you do not have
embassies or consulates in your city, you may target any Ukrainian or
Russian major business, most proper target being the Gazprom
corporation, which is pretty much the same as the Russian state. List of
Gazprom subsidiaries is available for example here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Gazprom%27s_subsidiaries

If you make an action, please report back to abc-msk AT riseup DOT net!

For more information on recent repression:

http://antifa-action.org.ua/
http://avtonom.org/abc (site currently down at times due to server upgrade)
http://www.myspace.com/abcmsc

A call to action in London 24th of May:
http://www.ainfos.ca/en/ainfos22644.html
This text in Russian: http://avtonom.org/index.php?nid=2526

 

Read more about the situtation in Ukraine at Read more about the situtation in Ukraine at http://crossingborder.livejournal.com/