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Info Statement of the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)

category international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release author Monday December 08, 2008 14:14author by Kostas - Communist Organization of Greece / Kommounistiki Organosi Elladas (KOE)author email aristera at tellas dot comauthor address Newspaper "Left!" * Isaia Salonon 6 * 11475 Athens, Greeceauthor phone +30 210 6441745

The Communist Organization of Greece (KOE) salutes the dozens of thousands of youth and people who continue, for the third consecutive day, the resolute and combative demonstrations against the government and the police murder. At this moment (morning of Monday 8 December) thousands of school pupils are demonstrating in front of the Athens Police General Headquarters, as well as in many neighborhoods of Athens and all over Greece. This afternoon the Coalition of Radical Left (SYRIZA) and other left organizations call for big popular demonstrations in the centre of Athens and in many other cities. Even the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), which until now made nothing and did not participate in any protest, now feels the pressure and the anger of the youth and of the popular masses and calls for a (separate, as always…) meeting in Athens.

The demonstrators all over Greece express a spontaneous and at the same time popular political demand: the condemnation of the government of K. Karamanlis. The anger and the protests of the masses are fully justified. The police murder cannot go unpunished. The attempt of the government to change the subject and to focus on the “destructions of public and private property” cannot cover the guilt of this government. The government is guilty, because it arms the killer cops and there is always not any punishment for their crimes. The government is guilty because it transformed the city of Athens in a huge gas chamber and tried to smash the demonstration attacking the people with chemicals and torturing the arrested demonstrators.

The government bears the full political responsibility. It failed everywhere: in economy, in education, in labor, in democratic rights. The sooner this criminal government falls, the better for the people and the society! The fake “resignations” of the Interior Minister and of the Public Order Vice-minister cannot calm the genuine social anger. Even more, as these “resignations” were not accepted by the Prime-minister, this fact proves the full political responsibility of the Prime-minister and of his government as a whole.

The revolt does not end. It just starts. We call upon the youth and the people: Everyone in today’s demonstrations all over Greece! Let’s declare the strike in schools and let’s occupy the universities. Let’s transform the general workers’ strike of this Wednesday in a popular uprising against the criminal government, in a People’s Court that will condemn the corrupted and murderous government. Let’s make the political responsibles pay dearly for their continuous crimes!

Everyone in the streets! Everyone in the streets! Everyone in the streets!

Down with this government that sells-out Greece, attacks the popular masses and murders the youth! The people’s struggle shall be victorious!

Athens, 8 December 2008.
Communist Organization of Greece / Kommounistiki Organosi Elladas (KOE)
International Relations Department
laokratia@yahoo.com * aristera@tellas.com

Related Link: http://www.koel.gr

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author by Kostas - Communist Organization of Greece / Kommounistiki Organosi Elpublication date Tue Dec 09, 2008 15:06author address author phone

The state terror cannot stop the fully justified and generalized protest

(a) Monday 8 December

Yesterday was a day of protests all over the country. The secondary education pupils gathered in their schools and then headed to the centre of the cities in their dozens of thousands. They demonstrated their anger in front of the Athens Police General Headquarters. They threw eggs and stones to the Special Forces in front of the Parliament. They reversed police cars in Pireaus. They attacked police stations all over Greece. The whole day the youth and the masses made clear their anger against the government of murderers. The government answered by unleashing a huge wave of state terror. Dozens of people were arrested and wounded by the Special Forces. In many cases the cops kept beating and torturing barbarously 14 and 15 year old boys and girls after arresting them. But this only increased the masses’ wrath.

Yesterday afternoon in Athens took place one of the bigger and most combative demonstrations of the last years, called by the Left parties and organizations: 40.000 people got to the streets. Younger and older, students and working people marched in the centre of the city for hours, shouting slogans against the murderers’ government. The demonstrators bravely resisted the repeated attacks of the Special Forces, which unleashed tons of chemicals, gas bombs etc. against the people in a (failed) attempt to break the march. For the second consecutive day the repressive forces attacked directly the massive block of the Communist Organization of Greece, throwing chemicals right in the middle of it; but they failed to break the block, which regrouped rapidly and continued the march.

More and more people are coming in the demonstrations prepared to face the repression, “armed” with masks and liquids that limit the chemicals’ effects. Similar was the situation (massive participation, combative spirit, huge repression) in the other demonstrations all over Greece. The government and the mainstream Media are vainly trying to focus on the “destruction of public and private property” and divert the attention from the murder and the popular will to bring down this government.

(b) Tuesday 9 December

Today is the day of the funeral of the murdered boy, Alexis Grigoropoulos. It will take place this afternoon. Before that, in midday, will start in the centre of Athens the new demonstration called by the secondary education pupils and the teachers. The protests and marches continue all over the country. In the neighborhoods we are in the streets, calling the people to participate actively in the General Strike that will take place tomorrow, Wednesday 10 December.

The Communist Organization of Greece and the Coalition of Radical Left condemned the sold-out “leaders” of the trade-unions, who decided to change the place of tomorrow’s central meeting in order not to make a demonstration. This attempt to break the unity and the combativity of the movement, undertaken by the “liberal” and “socialist” central leaderships, will fail. We are calling upon the youth and the working people to gather in the initially fixed place and to march towards the Parliament. The sold-out bureaucrats will not be able to gather even themselves.

(c) The character of the protest, our orientation

The people are for the fourth consecutive day in the streets. They are punishing this criminal government, the government of the bankers, of the big business, of the reactionary church, of the corruption and of the state terror. The youth are punishing this criminal government that kills their future and privatizes the education. The working masses are punishing this government that generates poverty and unemployment, sells-out the national richness and provocatively offers billions to the bankers and the big business.

The Communist Organization of Greece says: It is not enough that the Left participates in the protest. The Left must lead the people! Now it is not time for hesitation and “institutional” politics. We must transform the generalized anger and the combative spirit into a popular revolt. It is time that the popular outcry “Down with this government of thieves and murderers” becomes a sea that will drown the criminal government of K. Karamanlis.

For this reason, each and every member and sympathizer of KOE all over Greece goes over the top in order to bring even broader masses to the streets and to punish the government. We are organizing and supporting the strike in schools, in universities, in working places, in neighborhoods. We unite our action in order to chase away the government of the rich and of the murderers. We work to transform the General Strike into a Popular Condemnation of the murder, of the poverty and of the corruption.

Everyone to the streets! Everyone to the struggle! We shall prevail!

Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)
Athens, 9 December 2008

PS: We are obliged to condemn the shameful position of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), which takes “equal distances” between the government and the “rioters” and dares to accuse the Coalition of Radical Left and the Communist Organization of Greece that we “cover the provocateurs”. They should be ashamed by the fact that Ms. Petralia, Employment Minister of the criminal government of K. Karamanlis, yesterday evening congratulated them for their “responsible” attitude… One more time, the “big revolutionary words” go hand-in-hand with the “realistic responsibility” and, again, they tend their helpful hand to the government of K. Karamanlis.

author by Sean - Friend of the KKE - Communist Party of Greecepublication date Tue Dec 09, 2008 17:16author address author phone

The following statement has been issued by the International Section of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) the largest left organisation in Greece which has 22 members of the Greek Parliament and has been central in organising protests in Greece but has opposed the reactionary violent manifestations which will be used as an excuse for anti-democratic and repressive measures by the Greek government.

Dear comrades

Some information about the developments in Greece:

Activities of KKE and KNE

Since the first moment KKE and KNE spoke out condemning the murder of the 15-year-old boy by the police, and highlighting the huge political responsibilities of ND's government and noting that the anti-democratic and authoritarian measures and attitudes, the state repression, are the natural supplement of a policy that delivers blow after blow to the labour and social rights of the workers and the youth.

A KKE delegation went to central police headquarters in Athens on Sunday and lodged a protest over the death of the young boy, whose funeral will take place today at 3 pm.

Yesterday, December 8th, the KKE held a series of protests and demonstrations in the major cities of Greece against the state repression. In Athens the General Secretary of the CC pf KKE Aleka Papariga addressed a massive rally in the centre of the city. She noted that the events that led to the murder of the boy is an “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” by a policy that considers people as the enemy, by a policy that detests the strike, the demonstration, the struggle.

Also, the MPs of KKE submitted a parliamentary question to the government over the case.

At the same time the KKE has also called upon the trade unions and other mass organizations of the people and the youth to organize their own mass protest actions, stressing that the state repression and authoritarianism target first and foremost the labour and peoples’ movement.

Since morning of Monday December 8th, all faculties are closed upon initiative of KNE

The students’ coordination board of Athens has decided to close all schools from 8-10 of December and has called for a demonstration on 9 of December in Athens, while strong local students’ protests take place all over the country.

Also today December 9th, 24-hours strikes have been declared by the professors in the secondary schools and higher education, while the civil servants will hold work stoppage after 12 pm. The funeral of the murdered boy.

Higher Education Professors are staging a 24-hour strike on Tuesday indicating their bereavement to the loss of 15-year-old Alexis. Kindergarten a primary schools will remain open. However, the teachers' Federation is staging a strike. The funeral of the 15-year-old will take place at Faliron cemetery at 15:00

For Wednesday, December 10, the general strike that had been announced over the pensions, salaries, against lay-offs, for the right to education and healthcare, will be definitely linked to the events.

About the riots

At the same time KKE stressed that what is needed today is political condemnation of the government, of the whole net of mechanisms of intimidation and state repression, including the invisible ones. The reply to state autocracy is organised struggle within a mass movement in order to ensure the true causes were not covered up.

The continuous organized and co-ordinated riots that we witness parallel to the huge mobilizations and protests have little to do with spontaneous expression of anger and rage, and more and more take the form of open provocations against the growing wave of protest. In any case the way to react does not lie in retaliatory riots. On the contrary such events are quite accommodating for those that want to impose fear and intimidation to the people, who are trying to prevent the emergence of an organized and mighty mass movement that will be able to to sweep not only the ND and any other anti-peoples’ government, and pave the way for a real change at the level of the power in favour of the people. They will be used as an excuse for the further intensification of anti-democratic and repressive measures and attitudes.

The political context

The events found Greece in a moment when peoples’ unrest was growing, and the position of the ND government was already quite difficult. The recently announced “crisis measures” in favour of the monopolies, the demands of the industrialists for further reversal of labour and social rights – the even spoke of working week of 4 days!-, the state budget, the scandals, the rising toll of lay-offs have already built up dissatisfaction. At the same time centres of the establishment make concrete efforts in order to rejuvenate the system of the bi-partisan alteration that was loosing reliability before the eyes of the popular strata. In fact, at the last opinion polls PASOK appears to be on the lead. In the opinion of KKE the most urgent task is the stepping up of the mass, organized action of the labour and people’s movement. Only this can provide an adequate response to the anti-peoples policy and the repressive measures, can check and isolate maneuvers, provocations and plans to entrap the emerging radicalism, and at the same time pave the way for positive developments for the people.

Info by the International Section

Related Link: http://inter.kke.gr/
author by Darren Cpublication date Tue Dec 09, 2008 21:13author address author phone

Greece is in flames. Scores of thousands of youth are on the streets, bravely confronting the batons, shields and acrid tear gas of the hated riot police. From Athens and Thessaloniki to Patras, Crete and Corfu, protests against the police murder of a 15-year old school student have grown into a nationwide rebellion. Fanned by the flames of inequality and injustice as the economic crisis hits Greece hard, and with a general strike scheduled for Wednesday 10 December, the government could fall. Even Greece’s main opposition forces are calling for the government to resign. In short, Greece is in a pre-revolutionary crisis, potentially on the verge of a '1968' of its own.

http://www.fifthinternational.org/index.php?id=192,1469...0,1,0

author by Kostas - Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)publication date Fri Dec 12, 2008 19:02author address author phone

5th Statement of the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)

11 December 2008

We shall not yield to the criminal government!

The “unholy alliance” of “law and order” cannot stop the protest!

1. On Thursday 11 December 2008 dozens of thousands of youth got again out in the streets and demonstrated their rage, marching against the police stations all over Greece. In Athens only, 21 police stations have been besieged by the youth, who replied to the police attacks with stones, turned upside down many police vehicles and burned them. These are not “rioters with masks”, but school students who protest the murder of Alexis and the government policies, which kill their future. Thousands of people stand by their side: their parents, their teachers, the militants of the Left. In many cases, the people raise and stand in front of the Special Forces, protecting the youth, resisting the police attacks, even liberating from the hands of the police the arrested demonstrators.

2. Hundreds of schools, technical colleges and universities all over the country are already under occupation. The “Communist Party of Greece” (KKE), which now became openly the right hand of the criminal government, failed to stop the General Assemblies of students. The shameful and pitiful attempt of these “uncompromised communists” to forbid, during the morning of Thursday, the entrance of students in the universities, met with the anger of the youth and within hours they were obliged to retreat in panic. The youth decided to organize new central demonstrations all over Greece this Friday 12 December, rejecting the “responsible” attitude of KKE and of the “socialist” PASOK, who also made an official appeal “for calm and dignity (!), against occupations and uncontrolled demonstrations”.

3. In these critical moments, the “unholy alliance” of “law and order” takes shape, the composition of the two opposite camps gets clear. On the side of the “order” stand the big bourgeoisie and the government of Karamanlis, with their employees: the mainstream Media, the police, the gangs of “angry citizens who protect their property” (composed by extreme right-wing cadres of the government party and by neonazis). Hand in hand with them goes the supposed “opposition”: the “socialists” of PASOK and the “communists” of KKE, with their calls for “responsible attitude” and their open, calumniating attacks against the Radical Left. This “opposition” receives the congratulations of the government and of the establishment, who is only very happy to repeat again and again their accusations against the Coalition of Radical Left. Even the leader of the extreme right-wing party LAOS accused A. Alavanos, head of the Parliamentary Group of SYRIZA, that he “protects the rioters” adding: “It is not me who says that, Mr Alavanos. It is your kindred spirits from the KKE who affirm that”.

4. On the other side, the camp of the movement is composed by the revolted youth and by the forces of the Coalition of Radical Left and other left organizations, those of the extra-parliamentarian Left. The combativity of the youth and the work of the communist current within the Coalition, represented by the Communist Organization of Greece, have until now succeeded to keep this alliance within the protest and armed it with a correct demand: “This government must go!”. The position of our Organization is crystal-clear: We participate to the revolt with all our forces. We learn by the revolt and we try to develop it further and arm it with the necessary perspective.

5. The blocks of KOE in all the demonstrations were combative and did not retreat in front of the police attacks, which in many cases were targeted directly against us. KOE is in many cities the initiator of the struggle and its members play an active role in its organization. In Patra, the contribution of KOE in the uprising of the school students was decisive. In Kavala, the local organization of KOE leads the protest against the repression and the government – to the point that the mayor of this city accused KOE as “instigator of the riots”. All over Creta the organizations of KOE excelled, and especially in Heraklio, where our Organization plays a leading role in the occupation of the Prefecture’s building. The same goes for other cities all over Greece. Also, KOE has produced last Tuesday a 4-pages leaflet under the general slogan “It is right to rebel” and distributed it in dozens of thousands of copies in 35 cities. The Communist Organization of Greece will continue with all its forces to advance towards the escalation of the struggle, aiming at throwing down the government of criminals, the government of the rich, the government of anti-people policy and corruption.

author by Kostas - Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)publication date Tue Dec 16, 2008 15:11author address author phone

6th Statement of the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)

The revolt goes on!

The youth keeps occupying the streets! On Friday 12 December a huge crowd of secondary education pupils, university students and teachers gathered in the centre of Athens and marched peacefully towards the Parliament. There, once more, the repressive forces attacked them with chemicals and arrested dozens of pupils of 13, 14 and 15 years old. In many cases the teachers, bystanders, even journalists got angry and tried to liberate the arrested kids, clashing with the police. Similar demonstrations took place all over Greece.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) as usual made separate demonstrations – in Athens they marched towards an… empty building that used to be a Ministry (!) and then headed towards the offices of the Coalition (!), where they shouted insults… The government ministers and the pro-government Media keep congratulating the KKE for its “responsible” stand. At the same time, on Friday the Minister of Education “warned” the leadership of the Coalition of Radical Left (SYRIZA) to “control this organization of your Coalition who talks of government of murderers and calls the youth to continue the riots”!

On Saturday 13 December the secondary education students gathered once more in front of the Parliament peacefully during the whole day, until dawn of Sunday. Then the police, exploiting the fact that there were no many people in the streets, attacked them. Incidents broke up for hours around the Polytechnic School. During the afternoon of Saturday thousands of people gathered spontaneously in the place where Alexis has been murdered, shouting slogans against the police and the government. The whole day dozens of demonstrations took place in the neighborhoods of Athens and in many cities all over Greece, organized by the Left (with the exception of KKE).

Hundreds of schools and universities are now under occupation, despite the efforts of PASOK and KKE to use calumniation and even violence to prevent the students entering the universities, gathering and mobilizing. On Monday 15 December a new protest is organized by the newly founded Coordination of Schools “Alexis Grigoropoulos” in front of the Athens’ Police Headquarters. Dozens of student and teachers unions call for a national popular demonstration in Athens on Thursday 18 December. The Communist Organization of Greece prepares new actions all over Greece from tomorrow until Thursday, calling the people to throw down this government.

The repression and the coordinated attacks against the revolt will fail!

It is right to rebel! All to the streets! We continue!

Kommounistiki Organosi Elladas
International Relations Department

author by Kostas - Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)publication date Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:47author address author phone

7th Statement of the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)

Occupied schools and faculties, the wave of protests mounts the pressure

On Monday 15 December thousands of secondary education pupils demonstrated for hours in front of the Athens’ Police General Headquarters their anger for the murder of Alexis and for the government’s attempts to “balance” it with the “destruction” provoked during the ongoing revolt. The youth offered flowers to the Special Forces; when the police “responded” with globs and then chemicals, the youth threw plastic water bottles and bags full of flour and paint against them.

Actually all over Greece 600 secondary education schools (350 in Athens) and 150 university faculties and technical colleges are under occupation, following resolutions of the Students’ General Assemblies. The students organize daily protests outside police stations and public buildings in dozens of cities, often with the participation of teachers, parents and of members of the Left organizations. They also block roads and highways, as well as train and tramway stations. New clashes broke out with the police on Tuesday 16 December when the Special Forces attacked a peaceful music and dance happening in the centre of Athens.

The government tries to terrorize the youth with fierce repression, including hundreds of arrested pupils, often physically abused during arrest and in police stations. Many of them are accused on the basis of the “anti-terrorist” legislation and thus threatened with heavy sentences without possibility of appeal. For this reason on Tuesday evening dozens of activists managed to enter the studios of the state television, while it was showing a speech of Prime-minister K. Karamanlis; for more than 1 minute the state TV showed the youth raising banners in favor of the immediate liberation of the arrested militants and students.

While we are writing these lines (morning of Wednesday 17 December) hundreds of students gather already in front of the Court of Justice in Athens, in solidarity with their arrested comrades. Also, a large group of precarious workers have now peacefully occupied the headquarters of the Labor Confederation, protesting the refusal of the trade-union bureaucrats to declare a General Strike for tomorrow (day of action and new central demonstrations called by the students and the teachers). Simultaneously, dozens of local actions are taking place in many neighborhoods and cities, with the participation of thousands of youth.

The Communist Organization of Greece campaigns intensively all over the country, calling the youth and the people to participate en masse in the combative mobilizations until we chase away this government. For this reason a new, second national leaflet of KOE is distributed again in dozens of thousands of copies in 35 cities. All the forces of the Coalition of Radical Left resist resolutely the coordinated calumniating attacks of the “block of law and order” composed by the extreme right-wing, the government, the mainstream Media, the “socialist” opposition and the KKE. The Radical Left supports the occupations and calls for General Strike and new popular demonstrations.

Down with this government of thieves and murderers!

Communist Organization of Greece / Kommounistiki Organosi Elladas (KOE)
International Relations Department

Email: laokratia@yahoo.com * aristera@tellas.com

author by Kostas - Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)publication date Fri Dec 19, 2008 16:22author address author phone

8th Statement of the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)

New huge protests, new murderous attack against the youth’s revolt

On Wednesday 17 December students of the secondary education and from the universities’ occupations blocked the buildings of the Athens’ Court of Justice in solidarity with the hundreds of arrested youth, demanding their immediate liberation. In the broader area of Athens the youth blocked main avenues and highways. The same day, the Coalition of Radical Left (SYRIZA) realized a coordinated nation-wide campaign in dozens of neighbourhoods and cities with local demonstrations and other actions, under the general slogan: “Billions for the banks – Bullets for the youth: Let’s throw them down!”. The anger of the youth and of broad popular masses mounts again, as the government and the “justice” are manipulating the evidence, leaking information that the cold blood murder of Alexis was not the result of a premeditated action of the policemen! The previous day, a large group of young activists from SYRIZA went to Acropolis and unfurled two giant banners, calling for Resistance and solidarity demonstrations.

Thursday 18 December was marked by two important events: (1) The huge demonstation of youth, teachers and left organizations in the centre of Athens, where dozens of thousands demonstrated once more against the government of K. Karamanlis. The march was once more brutally attacked by the Special Forces, and 8 demonstrators have been arrested. The combative resistance of the youth continued for hours. Equally large demonstrations took place in many cities all over the country, often marked by clashes with the police. (2) The news about the murderous attack against a group of pupils the previous night in Peristeri, a neighbourhood of Athens. There, an “unknown person” shot twice with a 38mm gun against a dozen of 16 year old pupils who were sitting near their school. The result was that one of the pupils was wounded, fortunately not fatally.

The reaction of the youth and of the Left was immediate. The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) tried to exploit the fact that the wounded is son of one of its cadres, but without (even now!) accusing the government for its anti-youth hysteria and the repeated attacks against the movement. The government tried to minimize the “deplorable incident”, while the police was claiming for hours that it was not a murderous attempt “because the first exams indicate that the gun used was an air popgun”. However the hospital where the wounded was brought for operation announced that the blind wound was provoked by a fire-arm. Later the police confirmed that the bullet came from a 38mm fire-arm.

Already early in the morning of Thursday the Coalition of Radical Left condemned this new murderous attack against the revolt of the youth, underlining that “irrespectively of who is the physical perpetrator of the attack, it is the government who armed him”. The local base group of KOE immediately produced and plastered all over the neighbourhood in hundreds of copies a poster calling for an immediate response of the neighbourhood’s residents, and took the initiative to call all the local organizations of the Left to co-organize a demonstration the same afternoon. The local members of KOE also distributed in thousands of copies a leaflet calling for immediate response of the people and for intensification of the struggle. The KKE refused and organized its own separate protest, with general slogans in favour of their party, but without anti-government demands. All the other left organizations, with the participation of 1.000 people, marched for hours in Peristeri’s roads, with slogans against the government of murderers and the attempt to terrorize the youth.

The movement prepares a solidarity concert in the centre of Athens tomorrow, Friday 19 December. 750 schools and 180 universities and technical colleges are now under occupation. New protests are under preparation all over Greece, while the government and the mainstream Media hope that the 2-weeks long school and university Christmas holidays (starting tomorrow Friday) will diminish the movement’s combativity. Answering to that, the new youth slogan-warning to the government is “Merry Christmas in the streets”!

author by Kostas - Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)publication date Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:51author address author phone

Merry Christmas in the streets!

9th Statement of the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE)

22 December 2008

On Friday 19 December the Coordination Councils of occupied schools and faculties organized in the centre of Athens a big concert of support to the rebellious youth, with the participation of many music groups and singers. During hours thousands of people followed the concert, with slogans against the government and the state terror. In Peristeri (the suburb of Athens where the new murderous attempt against the youth took place during the night of 17 December – see 8th Statement) a new march took place with the massive participation of secondary education pupils, teachers and parents.

On Saturday 20 December hundreds of activists “visited” the new Christmas tree in front of the Parliament (the previous one was burned a week ago) and threw many sacks full of garbage on it. The Special Forces attacked the protesters and proceeded to new arrests; the bystanders booed the police and liberated some of the arrested. The Athens’ Christmas tree is now guarded round the time by hundreds of Special Forces and the people of Athens are laughing at the attempt of the government and of the mayor to “recreate the Christmas atmosphere in the centre of the city” – under the protection of the fully armed Special Forces guarding the tree!

On Sunday 21 December many demonstrations took place in neighbourhoods of Athens (Kessariani, Ilio, etc.) and other cities, organized by the forces of the Radical Left, most of them targeting the local police stations. The evening took place in the Parliament the discussion for the national budget. However, the discussion unavoidably focused on the revolt of the youth. The block of “law and order” once more made its appearance: apart the usual government attacks against the youth and the Coalition of Radical Left (SYRIZA), in this exercised excelled again the extreme right-wing, the “socialist” PASOK and the “communist” KKE. The head of the extreme right-wing party LAOS, Georgios Karatzaferis, congratulated once more KKE for its “responsible attitude and exemplary organization”. The general secretary of KKE, Aleka Papariga, declared that “this is not a revolt; in an authentic popular revolt the masses will not smash even one glass” and once more tried to identify SYRIZA with the “provocateurs”. A leading cadre of PASOK, Theodoros Pagkalos, accused SYRIZA for “leading the phenomena of riots and political vagrancy”.

The head of the Parliamentary Group of the Coalition of Radical Left, Alekos Alavanos, in his combative speech declared: “When a frontal confrontation takes place, each political and social force must choose its camp: either with the system or against it. Today, the government party, the party of LAOS, and KKE are claiming that there is no revolt of the youth, and that all this is a conspiracy organized outside Greece. They remind us of the civil war and the post-civil war years, when the right wing was accusing the communists of been Moscow’s spies. Today, they accuse us even of been common criminals and human traffickers [see statement of KOE about KKE]. They remind us of the Sixties, when the right wing was accusing the girls of the left youth that they were prostitutes trying to attract the decent youth. Today, we heard the general secretary of KKE using the same terms with Ms Bakoyianni, Minister of Foreign Affairs. We heard Mr Karatzaferis congratulating KKE, accusing us of petting the rioters and proposing a new draconian law against the youth. All these are examples of how much the government of Mr Karamanlis is worried. That’s why the government party gets into this alliance with LAOS and KKE. They are all afraid of the near future, of the day when all the working people will rise next to the youth. We, the Coalition of the Radical Left, are warning them: They will not manage to make us retreat. We will not retreat even by one millimetre. We will not sign any declaration of loyalty to the system!”

On Monday 22 December the mobilizations continued on local level, while the Coordinations of university students unions and secondary education pupils prepare a new central demonstration in Athens, on Tuesday 23 December. In Peristeri, groups of young workers and students occupied the town hall, asking for the immediate liberation of the arrested and for the exemplary punishment of the murderers and of all the police members who attack the people.


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