![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/12/19/1.jpg\")
Text from a chapter of Armed Joy, as it appeared on a CrimethInc. flier more than twenty years ago.
\nOn December 6, 2023, Alfredo Maria Bonanno passed away after more than half a century of anarchist activity. In his memory, we present the following short video, Let’s Be Done with Waiting, dramatizing the final section of one of his best-known works, Armed Joy.
\n\nLet’s Be Done with Waiting. Sound on to hear the voiceover.
\nWe hope that this will help to introduce Bonanno’s work to a new generation of anarchists. When some of us read Armed Joy in the 1990s, it opened new vistas before us, proposing the refusal of work and the pursuit of joyous revolt as revolutionary measures in the struggle against all forms of domination and despair. Some of the material that later appeared in Days of War, Nights of Love emerged in the process of our efforts to extrapolate what those proposals could mean in our own lives.
\n\nBelow, we offer a short overview of Bonanno’s life and works.
\n\nOn January 26-27, the Ex-Worker Podcast will be hosting a film festival in Tijuana, Mexico at the first International Gathering of Anarchist and Anti-Authoritarian Practices against Borders at which to present this film and others like it. Feel free to submit your work.
\n\n Text from a chapter of Armed Joy, as it appeared on a CrimethInc. flier more than twenty years ago.
\nAlfredo Bonanno was born on March 4, 1937 and passed away on December 6, 2023. He was 86 years old.
\n\nBonanno began his academic career by studying economics; in the mid-1950s, he began to study existentialist philosophy. In Turin, he contributed to the Corriere di Sicilia, an Italian periodical originally founded by the revolutionary Republican Giuseppe Garibaldi. Bonanno later gathered these essays in the collection Essays on Existentialism. He obtained his degree in philosophy with a thesis on the work of Max Stirner.
\n\nIn the 1960s, he read Hegel and became more actively involved in the anarchist movement. According to one obituary, he worked for almost eleven years for the Banco di Sicilia and then for another seven as a manager at a pharmaceutical company, in the ophthalmology sector.
\n\nLater, he described how the political upheavals of the late 1960s drove him to shift course:
\n\n\n\n\nA great explosion of vitality and beauty occurred starting from the May 1968 uprising in France. In fact, even a person like me, who worked as an industrial manager in those years, was so shocked by that extraordinary event that I was quickly forced to abandon my job and see reality differently… At the time, I was over thirty years old and therefore I felt with greater difficulty the wind of diversity that was blowing everywhere.
\n
He didn’t dwell on this decision in his later writing, but it must have informed his arguments that the rejection of work is an essential aspect of revolt.
\n\nIn December 1969, police commissioner Luigi Calabresi and two other police officers were involved in the murder of the anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli during an interrogation. Bonanno had met Pinelli. He attended Pinelli’s funeral and later wrote poignantly about the experience:
\n\n\n\n\nIf such an event happens, if you are there too, along with many others like you, who you know are living through the same traumatic experience, and you see them, big men with calloused hands, kids trying to be cool, mature women who remember the war years, their murdered sons, young people who see the love that they conceal like a sign of the purity of the world almost dirtied by so much arrogance, and you see them, all with tears in their eyes, impotent but with tensed muscles, if such an event happens with you in it, it is no longer just any event, a fact like so many others (millions of people die, killed barbarously, and are taken hurriedly to the cemetery), but that event has a different charge, it carries with it a tension that will not leave you be, it wakes you up in the night in a sweat and, sitting on the bed, you ask yourself what you are doing in bed, and if perhaps it is not you who is dead and turning in the grave, while it is precisely Pinelli who is alive.
\n
In May 1972, police commissioner Luigi Calabresi was shot and killed outside his home.
\n\nIn October 1972, the Italian police arrested Bonanno and charged him with subversive action on account of articles published in the journal Sinistra Libertaria. He was convicted and incarcerated in Catania prison.
\n\nBeginning in 1975, he edited the publication Anarchismo.
\n\nIn 1977, he was arrested again, this time for writing Armed Joy, which presented a framework for understanding the refusal of work, the repudiation of calcified organizational structures, and the participation in insurrectionary rebellion as interrelated measures following from the rejection of the logic of capitalism.
\n\n\n\n\nThe search for joy is therefore an act of will, a firm refusal of the fixed conditions of capital and its values. The first of these refusals is that of work as a value. The search for joy can only come about through the search for play.
\n\nThe joy of the revolutionary act is contagious. It spreads like a spot of oil. Play becomes meaningful when it acts on reality.
\n\nHurry to play. Hurry to arm yourself.
\n\n-Alfredo Bonanno, Armed Joy
\n
In 1978, he faced charges for reprinting The Religious Menace, written by Johann Most in 1880, and at the same time drew the wrath of noted existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre for provocatively publishing a work by the nineteenth-century anarchist Joseph Déjacques under Sartre’s name. On November 30, 1979, Bonanno was finally sentenced to 18 months in prison for authoring Armed Joy.
\n\nIn March 1980, prosecutors used the testimony of an informant to accuse Bonnano of participating in Azione Rivoluzionaria, an underground armed group active during the pitched social struggles in Italy during the late 1970s. The authorities used this opportunity to carry out a crackdown on Anarchismo and some of Bonanno’s other associates, including Jean Weir and others involved with the British publishing project Bratach Dubh. They were released a few months later and cleared of charges in April 1981.
\n\nIn the early 1980s, Bonanno and his comrades participated in the struggle against a military base that was to house nuclear weapons in Comiso, Sicily. The decentralized and autonomous organizational structure of this movement served as a reference point for Bonanno’s advocacy of informal organization and what he called “autonomous base nuclei.”
\n\nIn 1988, during the anti-militarist congress in the town of Forli, Bonnano and his comrades were expelled from the congress by adherents of the anarcho-syndicalist tendency within the Italian Anarchist Federation—a conflict that precipitated further such conflicts.
\n\nArrested in February 1989 during a robbery at a jewelery shop, Bonanno spent two years in prison. As he recounted while under house arrest seventeen years later,
\n\n\n\n\nAs soon as the inmates learned of my degree in philosophy, they immediately asked me if I could give them some lessons. It can be said that there was no prison, among the dozens where I served my many sentences, where I did not receive this request. Even though I also have a degree in economics, no one has ever asked me to give economics lessons.
\n
On June 19, 1997, the police carried out raids on anarchist social centers and homes all around Italy, arresting Bonanno and many other anarchists. This was part of a government effort to fabricate an invented clandestine anarchist group, the “Insurrectional Anarchist Revolutionary Organization,” as a means of repression.
\n\nUndaunted, in July 1999, Bonanno testified as a witness for anarchist Nikos Maziotis, who was accused of placing a bomb at the ministry of industry and development in Greece. In 2001, anarchists participated in fierce unrest in Genoa in defiance of police efforts to protect the G8 summit.
\n\nThe attempt to fabricate a conspiracy in which to implicate Bonanno and many other anarchists culminated in the Marini trial, which was later recognized as a farcical miscarriage of judicial procedure. Initially, however, Bonanno was sentenced to six years in prison on the grounds that he was the “ideological leader” of the invented organization.
\n\nThree months after the end of the Marini trial, the Italian authorities tried again, with operation “Cervantes,” carrying out dozens of raids and searches in houses and squats around the country. Once again, the arrestees were charged with “subversive organization with terrorist intentions,” this time accused of participating in the Federazione Anarchica Informale, an anonymous group that had claimed responsibility for a series of attacks.
\n\nIn May 2005, the police carried out well over a hundred raids on houses and squats, arresting 22 people on a variety of charges including “constitution and participation in a subversive organization with terrorist intentions.” Throughout these tumultuous times, Bonanno continued to advocate for informal organization and for attacking the infrastructure of capitalism and the state.
\n\nIn October 2009, at the age of 72, he was arrested on charges of participating in a bank robbery in Greece that almost netted 46,900 euros.
\n\nIn December 2013, Bonanno spoke at the Jornadas Informales Anárquicas in Mexico City and in Argentina. He attempted to enter Chile, but was rejected on account of his police record.
\n\nAs often occurs, Bonanno’s proposals possessed nuances and depths that were not always reflected in the ways that his adherents interpreted them. Although we published a critique of the ways that people in the United States mixed his ideas together with those of The Invisible Committee and other groups, his writings are worth reading on their own merits.
\n\nFor example, while Bonanno came to be associated with a doctrinaire rejection of formal organization in favor of informal, affinity-based structures, he wrote eloquently in 1998 about his own experience of meaningful collectivity:
\n\n\n\n\nThe essential thing, that exceptionally important strength that comes out of many people who feel the same emotional sensations, prompted by very similar feelings (none identical, for heaven’s sake, I know well), they feel attracted to each other to constitute a homogeneous whole that does not need written or spoken agreements or contracts to constitute itself. Suddenly, this collective force emerges and is there, tangible, I can touch it, I can hear its voice, I can let myself be taken by its suggestions, direct my gaze where it tells me to look, see with its eyes made of a thousand pupils what my poor shortsighted eyes cannot see, remember what my poor mind alone cannot remember.
\n
Although dozens of his essays are available in English, a tremendous amount of his work—including monographs on early Christianity and Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra—has yet to be translated. You can order a collection of some of his better-known works in English from Detritus books.
\n\nHis last wish was for his ashes to be scattered in the Ionian Sea of his Sicilian birthplace, Catania.
\n\n\n\n\nIt is not our intention to write an obituary, that dreadful word that reminds us of the inescapable mission that our dead often silently leave to us and which we have always failed to accomplish… We don’t want to remember, we want to live.
\n\n[…] This is our way to secure a memory, our way of respecting a will that sought to escape the limits that enclose humanity and its all-too-human vicissitudes of fortune, a revolutionary will that sought to transform the world.
\n\n-Alfredo Bonanno, Love and Death
\n
On July 5, 2023, the Greek government evicted a Kurdish refugee camp in Lavrio, Greece. The camp had existed for many decades, serving as an important center of organizing in southeastern Europe. The Turkish government’s war on Kurdish people, the Greek government’s war on autonomous spaces, and the European Union’s war on migrants all intersected in this operation. In the following analysis, Beja Protner shows the connections between the various forms of systematic oppression involved here. For more information about ways to support movements for Kurdish liberation, you could consult Rise Up 4 Rojava and the Emergency Committee For Rojava.
\n\nOn July 5, 2023, between 3 and 6 am, Greek state forces raided and violently evicted the self-organized Kurdish refugee camp in Lavrio, Greece. Located about 60 kilometers from Athens, the camp had been home to political refugees from Turkey and Kurdistan for decades. Without notice, more than 250 police officers, riot police (MAT), and heavily armed special police forces (EKAM) sent by the Ministry of Asylum and Migration evicted the residents of the camp—less than 60 people, a third of whom were young children. The refugees were forcefully transferred to the Oinofyta Refugee Camp, located in an abandoned factory in a deserted area far from any kind of urban settlement.
\n\nThe eviction, which Greek officials called a “humanitarian intervention,” looked to the Kurdish and left-wing political refugees from Turkey and Kurdistan more like the sort of dawn raids that had forced many of them to flee from their homelands and seek refuge in Greece in the first place. The Greek forces broke the gate of the camp, stormed into people’s homes, pointed laser-sighted rifles at the people—including families and children—and dragged them outside.
\n\n“Even in Turkey [the state forces] don’t use that much technology in house raids,” commented Welat, a young political refugee from North Kurdistan (Turkey), who had lived in the Lavrio camp for five years after escaping persecution in Turkey. As Leyla, who had lived in the camp with her husband and three small children recounted, the residents were given only half an hour to collect their essential belongings before police forces occupied the camp and forbade entry. Some of those who resisted the eviction were violently restrained with their hands handcuffed behind their backs. Leyla tried to calm down her daughter by telling her it was toy guns being pointed at them. “But the child knew what they were, from back in Turkey,” Leyla said. “My children have seen many things that they never deserved.”
\n\nAll 57 residents, including eight woman and nineteen children, were detained and transferred to the Oinofyta refugee camp, located in an abandoned factory far from any kind of urban settlement.
\n\n“Where are we? What is this place?” Layla asked when we met through the blue metal fence of the camp’s gate after the Greek guards denied me access to my friends. An elderly Kurdish refugee had just returned empty-handed from an hour-long search under the burning midday sun for a shop where he could purchase something to eat or drink. It was 2 pm, and the refugees had still not received any food since their forceful relocation at 6 am. “The children, hungry!” the elderly refugee tried to explain in a few Greek words to the security personnel sitting in a small cabin at the gate.
\n\nIn stark contrast with the autonomous, self-sufficient, and centrally-located Lavrio camp, Oinofyta is a prison guarded by government-appointed security officials who control the entries and exits. Even when people are permitted to go out of the camp, the surrounding area is largely deserted, isolating them and rendering them dependent on the state’s notoriously poor provision of basic necessities.
\n\n“Why did they do this to us?” asked Diana, a teenage girl from Northeast Syria (Rojava), as she held my hands through the blue fence.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/07/24/1.jpg\")
Oinofyta refugee camp, established in an abandoned factory in a deserted area, had been closed down on account of unlivable conditions. It was re-opened to accommodate the forcefully displaced residents of the Lavrio camp. After eight hours, a truck sent by the Greek state brought some food for them. Entry was denied to all visitors despite the objections of the refugees. Photo: Vedat Yeler, July 5, 2023.
\nThe lives of the Lavrio camp residents were turned upside down in a single day, depriving them of liberty and autonomy. On July 4, they were living in a free and safe self-organized political community that had existed for over 40 years. The next day, they were spatially and socially marginalized refugees, imprisoned and dependent on the state—while the state destroyed their homes in the historic buildings of Europe’s oldest refugee camp, closing a chapter in the history of the Kurdistan Freedom Movement in Greece. The destruction of the Lavrio camp is a historic moment at which European anti-refugee policies and the Greek right-wing crackdown on autonomous political spaces intersect with Greek and Turkish international relations and the war on Kurds, revealing their interconnections.
\n\nOver the past four years, the right-wing New Democracy (Νέα Δημοκρατία, ND) government in Greece has placed two priorities at the top of its agenda: waging war on migrants and destroying autonomous political spaces. Since New Democracy came to power under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in 2019, police have evicted and sealed dozens of political squats in urban centers. Many of those were hosting refugees and other migrants who had no other access to dignified housing in Greece.
\n\nSince 2015, Greece has served Europe as a “container” for unwanted migrants and refugees. According to the Dublin Regulation, asylum seekers are required to apply for protection in the first European Union country of their entry; alongside the closing of the internal EU borders in 2016, this clogged the asylum systems in the countries on the margins of the EU like Greece. The slow, incomprehensible, and constantly changing Greek asylum system has made the process of acquiring legal status into a living hell for countless people.
\n\nMost people have to wait for several years for their asylum interview, during which they have limited or no access to housing, financial assistance, healthcare, or education. During that time, their temporary documents continuously expire and they are forced to live as sans papiers [undocumented people] due to delays at the Asylum Service. This administratively induced legal precarity renders people vulnerable to “sweep” operations in central Athens, in which police kidnap people without valid residency documents and take them to prison-like camps and detention centers where the living conditions are abominable.
\n\nThe migration and asylum policies of the New Democracy government constitute a war on migrants. Doing the dirty work of European anti-migration racist hysteria as the “shield of Europe,” the Greek-Turkish land and sea border has become the site of illegal pushbacks—an unofficial but systematic strategy of returning incoming migrants to Turkey without any possibility of applying for asylum. This includes those fleeing from political persecution of the Turkish state.
\n\nThe Greek police, Frontex, border guards, coast guards, collaborating gangs, and local vigilantes carry out such pushbacks every day on a massive scale, violating a number of international laws and conventions. In addition to violating the right to apply for asylum, they consistently inflict police brutality, enforced disappearance, torture, sexual abuse, and unofficial detention in overcrowded cells with no access to food, water, or toilets. In the Evros region of northeastern Greece, in addition to carrying out pushbacks near the border, they have also kidnapped people from the streets or from camps in areas as far inland as Thessaloniki. After being subjected to multiple forms of mistreatment and humiliation by masked border guards and collaborating gangs, migrants have been brought to the Evros river, forced into rubber dinghies at gunpoint, and transferred across the border to Turkey. In some cases, people have been abandoned on small river islets without food, water, or medicine, exposed to the elements.
\n\nIn the Aegean and Ionian Sea, the Hellenic Coast Guard and Frontex have been responsible for countless pushbacks and deaths. Boats in distress are routinely refused rescue and left to sink or towed towards Turkey. In some cases, the coast guard has deliberately damaged the engines of boats before leaving them adrift in the open sea near the Turkish waters. In other cases, people have been abandoned at sea in rescue boats without engines. The Greek government seeks to legitimize these actions with a discourse about “security,” playing on racist anti-immigration sentiments in Greece and across Europe. Consequently, the Evros river and the Aegean Sea have become open graves for those fleeing from wars, persecution, economic devastation, and climate catastrophe.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/07/24/2.jpg\")
Political refugees from Kurdistan and Turkey in Greece, together with local and international activists, protest pushbacks and violence on the Greek/EU borders at the Ministry of Migration and Asylum in Athens. Photo: Vedat Yeler, June 8, 2022.
\nIn the context of the criminalization of migrants and migration, Greek refugee camps have become high-security prisons. While the living conditions in these places are notoriously horrific, they are also spatially and socially isolated, far from any urban centers. Most of the camps near urban centers that afforded residents some access to employment (even if precarious and exploitative), healthcare facilities, and education for children have been forcefully evicted. In the isolated camps like Oinofyta to which refugees are forcefully transferred, they are rendered dependent on the state’s inadequate provision of basic necessities.
\n\nThe border and camp policies of the Greek state both follow a genocidal logic of “cleansing” that resembles the processes involved in the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, and similar events in several ways. These include the idea of getting rid of an unwanted population by any means available; gradually escalating discourses and practices of dehumanization, which become normalized; the “banality of evil,”1 apparent in the attitudes of police and border officers, bureaucrats, and camp employees; and finally, the choice of the vast majority of citizens to accept these practices so as not to see migrants around them or in their country. In effect, many citizens of Greece and other countries within the European Union have adopted the basically genocidal idea that these people should not be here, that they should be prevented from being here or made to disappear by any means. At the same time, these citizens refuse to acknowledge the means being used and the things being done to people subjected to a regime of annihilation.
\n\nThe Kurdish refugee camp of Lavrio was one of the last places that resisted this system of incarceration and annihilation with the values and practices of “free life together”(hevjiyana azad/özgür eş yaşam) arising from the Kurdistan Freedom Movement. In Lavrio, revolutionary refugees from Kurdistan and Turkey lived for decades in the center of the coastal town alongside locals and tourists. In contrast to the state-run prison camps, the Lavrio camp has been entirely self-managed since the withdrawal of the state seven years ago, surviving with the support and donations of local and foreign charities, NGOs, solidarity groups, and philanthropists. International and local activists, researchers, journalists, and photographers frequently visited the camp and were warmly welcomed as guests.
\n\nThe Lavrio camp was a lived utopia, a world-to-be put into practice. Life in the camp was organized according to the principles of Democratic Confederalism, a system of self-organization into communes, committees, and assemblies, described by the leader of the Kurdistan Freedom Movement Abdullah Öcalan as a way of collectively creating a peaceful, safe, and harmonious communal co-existence between humans and the environment as an alternative to the logic of the nation-state.2 Relations of gender equality, comradeship, mutual aid, respect, and care for other people, animals, and the environment characterized everyday life in the Lavrio camp. It was a place where individuals, youth, families, and children from Turkey and all four parts of Kurdistan (occupied by Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria) found safe haven and a home after escaping from war, political persecution, torture, imprisonment, and the threat of life. As many of the residents noted, it was “like Kurdistan,” a piece of homeland abroad; a Kurdistan that was free from violence and patriarchy, where Kurdish and left-wing political exiles could recover from traumatic experiences of violence, express their culture and politics freely, and rebuild their community. Many residents chose to continue living in the Lavrio camp after gaining asylum in Greece, in order to continue taking part in this project of “free life together” and because they felt safe in the camp and in the town of Lavrio.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/07/24/3.jpg\")
The Lavrio camp was a safe space for families. In the past years, the residents built a playground for children. Across four decades, thousands of children lived and grew up in the camp. Photo: Beja Protner, March 2023.
\nThe Lavrio camp was one of the oldest refugee camps in Europe. It was established in 1947 with the official name of “Lavrio Center of Temporary Stay for Foreign Asylum Seekers” in order to host refugees of Greek origin (“expatriates”) fleeing from the Soviet Union.3 According to a research report from 1950, the camp hosted about 300 people, including families and individuals of different nationalities from the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Albania, and Romania who fled persecution in their countries of origin. The needs of the refugees were addressed by the International Refugee Organization (IRO), the United Nations Mission in Greece, in collaboration with the Greek authorities. Over the following years, it was inhabited by asylum seekers from various countries, chiefly from the Balkans and the Middle East.3 Political refugees from Turkey became the most numerous residents of the camp in the 1980s after the military coup in Turkey on September 12, 1980, when Turkey came under the rule of a Sunni-nationalist military junta that tortured, imprisoned, killed, and forced into exile tens of thousands of Kurdish and left-wing people.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/07/24/4.jpg\")
For four decades, Lavrio refugee camp was a self-organized space of free life together, struggle, and solidarity. Photo: Beja Protner, March 2023.
\nWhile the Greek state was technically in charge of the camp, leading asylum procedures and providing food, medical care, and basic necessities, the revolutionary refugees organized themselves via communes and assemblies. A political community of exiles was built, based on the collective experience of self-organization of collective life in the political prisons of Turkey. The Lavrio camp was not only a space of refuge but also one of the most important spaces of political organizing in exile in Europe.
\n\nIt was also a space of international solidarity and comradeship. Since the 1980s, various Greek left-wing organizations, unions, and solidarity groups have visited the camp and publicly asserted the revolutionary refugees’ right to asylum, political work, employment, healthcare, and better living conditions. The refugees also built connections with Greek left-wing parties and organizations, and engaged with the wider population by producing and distributing leaflets and magazines in Greek explaining the situation of political oppression in Turkey and calling for a wider Turkish-Greek solidarity.
\n\nIn the 1990s, large numbers of Kurdish refugees, especially families, arrived in the Lavrio camp due to the political violence in North Kurdistan (in Turkey). In the context of the growing popularity and mobilization of the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Kurdistan in the 1990s, the Turkish state’s attacks in Kurdistan increasingly targeted civilians, with campaigns by the Turkish army and paramilitary organizations that included mass murder, enforced disappearances, torture, and mass imprisonment. It was during this period that the camp acquired its Kurdish-majority character and became centered around the PKK-led Kurdistan Freedom Movement. Thanks to the solidarity between the Kurdish and Turkish refugees and Greek left-wing groups, the refugees regularly organized cultural events across Greece, which were widely attended by locals. They also participated in local festivals, sharing music, food, and informative materials.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/07/24/5.jpg\")
In the Lavrio camp, every aspect of daily life was organized according to Democratic Confederalism and the principles of “free life together.” The residents kept the spaces clean and tidy and decorated them with revolutionary symbols. Each room was a commune within which money and basic necessities were shared, and the cleaning and cooking responsibilities were distributed fairly among comrades. Photo: Beja Protner, January 2023.
\nAfter the civil war in Syria (2011), the Islamic State attack on Kurdish regions in Syria (2014) and genocide against Yazidi Kurds in Sinjar, Iraq (2014), and Turkey’s invasions of Kurdish-majority areas in North Syria (starting in 2018), large numbers of displaced Kurdish refugee families from Syria found refuge in the Lavrio camp. In 2016, owing to political pressure from Turkey, the Greek government wanted to close down the camp, but hundreds of residents resisted. Subsequently, the Greek state withdrew all services and abandoned the camp at the peak of humanitarian need. From then on, the camp was entirely autonomous. The residents collectively organized and shared responsibilities for cleaning, cooking, basic medical assistance, repairs, and distributing the donations such as food, cleaning and hygiene products, and clothes that were provided by the various charities, NGOs, philanthropists, and solidarity groups that frequently visited the camp.
\n\nIn the last years, especially following the Rojava Revolution in North and East Syria after 2012, the Kurdish movement has enjoyed increasing attention and support of the international(ist) community in Greece and elsewhere. Like the refugee camp in Maxmûr in Iraq in the Middle East,4 the Lavrio camp became a center of Democratic Confederalism in Europe, implementing the model of self-organization centering women’s self-liberation, grassroots democracy, and ecology practiced in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava). Sometimes seen as a miniature of Rojava, the Lavrio camp gained its international significance as a center for new transnational connections and a place of political education and practice built on more than 40 years of revolutionary struggle in Kurdistan and political organizing in exile.
\n\nFor four decades, the Lavrio camp was not only a space of refuge, but also a center of Kurdish and left-wing political organizing, international connections, comradeship, and intercultural encounter. Every year, the Lavrio camp hosted the celebrations of Newroz on March 21, the New Year for a number of West Asian peoples and the Kurdish holiday of resistance and renewal. The event was visited by a wide range of refugees, Greeks, and international youth, joining them—literally through govend, the traditional Kurdish circular dances—into a circle of mutual recognition and solidarity.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/07/24/6.jpg\")
A Newroz celebration on March 21, 2022. Every year, hundreds of Kurdish and Turkish political refugees in Greece, Greek locals, and international visitors joined the Newroz celebration in the Lavrio camp and danced around the bonfire. Photo: Beja Protner, March 2022.
\nJust like the eviction of dozens of self-organized squats across Greece, the New Democracy government’s decision to destroy the Lavrio camp constitutes an attempt to eliminate the transnational solidarity that the camp hosted and facilitated. At the same time, it was an attack on the revolutionary history that the camp contained. The camp’s buildings were almost a century old; every inch of them bore traces of the revolutionary determination, communal labor, and comradeship of the tens of thousands of people who had passed through the camp, grown up in it, participated in repairing it, and made it home for themselves and for their successors. With the destruction of the Lavrio camp, a part of this collective history is deliberately erased.
\n\nThe Kurdish refugee journalist Vedat Yeler has called the eviction and destruction of the Lavrio camp a “NATO gift to [Turkish autocrat Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan.” The eviction took place only a few days before the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on July 11 in Vilnius, Lithuania, where both Greece and Turkey were to be present. The two NATO members have wrangled over the Cyprus conflict and territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea for many decades. In mutual populist slander, Turkish politicians have been accusing Greece of harboring “terrorists” in the Lavrio camp and pressuring the Greek state to close it down for years. However, since the re-election of both Erdoğan’s Sunni-nationalist regime in Turkey and Mitsotakis’ New Democracy government in Greece in May and June, 2023, respectively, there has been a shift in bilateral relations between the two countries. During a visit in Cyprus a few days before the eviction, the Greek Foreign Minister expressed a commitment to improve relations with Turkey. The attack on Kurdish political refugees in Greece can be understood as an attempt to showcase these efforts before the NATO summit.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/07/24/7.jpg\")
After eviction, the Lavro camp was given over to the municipality of Lavrio, which immediately painted over the revolutionary political symbols that had decorated the camp for decades. This was a political gesture, sending the message that the revolutionary politics will not be tolerated under the New Democracy government. Photo: Beja Protner, 15 July, 2023.
\nThis is not the first time that the Kurds have been used as a tool in regional geopolitics and in the management of the relations within NATO. One previous occasion in which the Greek state played a crucial role was the February 15, 1999 international conspiracy that led to the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Kurdish movement had enjoyed public support from the Greek mainstream and left-wing politicians and public. When Öcalan was exiled from Syria, he sought refuge in Europe and was harbored by the Greek intelligence service. However, under pressure from the EU and NATO, he was refused refuge in Greece and transferred to the Greek embassy in Kenya, where he was handed over to Turkish intelligence. As a result, with Greece’s direct complicity, Öcalan was imprisoned for life on the Turkish island of İmralı in complete isolation.
\n\nIn 1999, Kurdish refugees and other revolutionary refugees in Greece joined thousands of local supporters in protesting what many older Greeks recall as one of the most shameful actions of the Greek state. Today, with the eviction of the Lavrio camp, the Kurdish movement has seen once again that they cannot trust any state, but must rely on the solidarity of people.
\n\nFor many years, NATO has backed Turkey’s political violence and war crimes in the Middle East. With the second biggest army in NATO, the Turkish state has been waging an unequal war against the PKK guerrillas in Kurdistan, committing acts of political violence and war crimes against the guerrillas, the local population, and the environment, including ecologically devastating fires and chemical weapon attacks. Turkey has also materially and logistically supported ISIS and other jihadist gangs in Syria and Iraq in their fight against the Kurds. Moreover, Turkey has shelled, invaded, and occupied a number of Kurdish-majority areas in North and East Syria, where it has employed jihadist mercenaries to terrorize and abuse the local populations, causing thousands to flee. As things stand today, geopolitically, a member of NATO can do all this without any meaningful reaction from international institutions.
\n\nRecently, relations between Turkey and other members of NATO have resulted once again in violence against Kurdish refugees and other political refugees from Turkey abroad. In 2022, when Finland and Sweden decided to join NATO in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Turkey targeted Kurdish refugees as a bargaining chip in negotiations. Turkey vetoed Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership and was only willing to agree to it on the condition that they hand over political refugees residing in their countries to be imprisoned (or worse) in Turkey. This trafficking in humans indeed took place, with Sweden extraditing a number of political exiles to Turkey.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/07/24/8.jpg\")
Political refugees from Kurdistan and Turkey regularly organize demonstrations in central Athens to protest political oppression in Turkey, the imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan, military invasions and assassinations of activists in Rojava (Syria) and Başûr (Iraq), the use of chemical weapons against the PKK guerrillas in the mountains of Kurdistan, and to condemn the silence of the European and international institutions in face of Turkey’s crimes. Photo source, 20 November, 2022.
\nThe European Union and NATO have continuously collaborated in the criminalization of the PKK and (pro-)Kurdish activists, adopting the “terrorism” discourse that Turkey uses to legitimize massacres, the use of chemical weapons, the mass persecution of political dissidents, journalists, and lawyers, and military invasions that have forced millions of people into exile. The discussions leading up to the NATO summit of July 11 have resulted in developments that further threaten the Kurdish political community at home and in exile. For example, Erdoğan met with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and agreed to forward Sweden’s accession protocol to the Grand National Assembly for ratification on the condition that NATO pledges to appoint a “special coordinator for counterterrorism” and that Sweden collaborates in addressing Turkey’s “security concerns” (in other words, the existence of politically organized Kurds) under a new bilateral Security Compact. This can only mean more persecution of Kurds in exile and more extraditions of political refugees who try to find safety in Europe.
\n\nIt is not clear whether Erdoğan and Mitsotakis discussed the Kurdish and Turkish political community in Greece at their meeting during the NATO summit on July 12. However, the eviction and destruction of the Lavrio camp sent the message that the Greek state is siding with Turkey in its century-long project of annihilating Kurds in Turkey and elsewhere.
\n\nWhen we consider the position of Kurds in NATO geopolitics alongside the European Union’s racist war on migrants, in both of which the Greek state sides with the oppressor, it becomes possible to see how the integrated systems that Öcalan and the Kurdish movement call the “forces of Capitalist Modernity”2 are waging a war against free life.
\n\nWhile the Turkish government continues to displace millions of people from Turkey and Kurdistan, many of whom seek asylum in Europe, the EU guards its borders with genocidal methods and discourses, pouring billions of euros into Turkey in order to block migration from the Global South. According to the so-called EU-Turkey Deal of 2016, the EU paid the Turkish state 3 billion euros in order to accommodate and contain migrants and refugees from the Global South who try to reach safety by traveling through Turkey. As a continuation of this deal, Greece has in 2021 declared Turkey a “safe country” for refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. However, people from these countries have no means to gain asylum in Turkey, due to its outdated asylum legislation. They have limited access to residence rights, housing, and legal employment, and are increasingly exposed to deportations and refoulement [the forcible return of refugees to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution], economic and sexual exploitation, and racist attacks and murders, legitimized and encouraged by racist anti-refugee discourse. Kurds from Turkey are familiar with these forms of systematic violence, which have been normalized through decades of discrimination against non-Turkish minorities.
\n\nGiven the lack of transparency in the corrupt Turkish state, it is difficult to say how much EU money has been used to accommodate the 10 million refugees there, most of whom live in deplorable living conditions. At the same time, Turkey has exponentially expanded its stockpiles of weapons and military, repression, and surveillance technologies. Surely, the EU “refugee money” has been used to intensify the war against the Kurds both at home and abroad, driving millions more to seek refuge in Europe and the rest of the Global North.
\n\nIn addition to money, the EU has also been supporting Turkey in its silence regarding the systematic mistreatment of refugees and political dissidents in Turkey, as well as Turkey’s political violence, sponsoring of jihadists, military interventions, and war crimes. Erdoğan has answered every tentative critique from EU officials with the threat of “releasing” refugees into Europe. Driven by systemic racist xenophobia, the EU remains complicit in face of Turkey’s violence against Kurds, left-wing revolutionaries, political dissidents, women and sexual minorities, and unwanted migrant and refugee populations, despite the fact that Turkey itself produces millions of refugees.
\n\nIn short: wherever the European “issue” with migrants and Turkey’s “issue” with Kurds intersect, people are killed, displaced, violently deterred, incarcerated, stripped of rights and, as a final act of dehumanization, used as tokens in blackmail, bargaining, and human trade between states.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/07/24/9.jpg\")
This mural picturing famous Kurdish and internationalist figures and martyrs of the Kurdistan freedom struggle covered the entrance into the Lavrio camp’s main building. In the star of the symbol of the PKK, the slogan in Kurdish says: “Our love for life is so great that we can sacrifice ourselves for it.” The Greek authorities painted over the mural after the eviction of the camp. Photo: Beja Protner, March 2023.
\nI undertook this essay to try to answer Diana’s question, “Why did they do this to us?” after she was evicted from her home with her family and the rest of the residents of the Lavrio camp. I have sought to show how NATO imperialism, the European war on migrants (including those fleeing from Turkey and Kurdistan), and Turkey’s war against Kurds and political dissidents have been intertwined in regional and global power relations. Those suffering oppression, political violence, and economic exploitation—and resisting them by seeking a freer life through migration, autonomous self-organization, and self-defense—are under attack at every step.
\n\nToday, the ruins of the Lavrio revolutionary refugee camp, which was a safe haven for political refugees and a cradle of internationalist solidarity for decades, attest to the violence of what the Kurdish Movement calls Capitalist Modernity—an integrated system in which life is devalued, exploited, and extinguished. In the face of such a massive force, which has impacted the residents of the Lavrio camp directly but threatens all of us, the only way to persist is by establishing international solidarity and a common struggle against all the borders and injustices of today’s world.
\n\nThose of us who hope to act in solidarity with Diana and with all who are oppressed and struggling must ask what are we going to do to defend the sort of “free life together” that we learned about in Lavrio. Without its inhabitants and their politics, it is just an old wrecked building. We must not let its ruins become an image of the future.
\n\nWe can do this by speaking out and taking action in response to systematic state violence, and by organizing with oppressed populations against the criminalization of those who seek freedom and better life, whether at home or in exile. Let us honor the history of the Lavrio camp by building alternative spaces of “free life together” that connect revolutionaries, migrants and refugees, locals, and all the oppressed. Let the legacy of the Lavrio camp live on in many new self-organized spaces of comradeship, internationalist solidarity, and struggle.
\n\nThe header image shows the self-organized camp for political refugees from Kurdistan and Turkey in Lavrio, Greece. Photo: Beja Protner, March 2023.
\n\nIn Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (1963), Hanna Arendt discussed the “banality of evil” in the Holocaust in regards to the case of the Nazi official Adolph Eichmann, who was responsible for transferring people to concentration camps. With the concept of “banality of evil,” Arendt argued that bureaucrats participating in atrocities are “normal people” working within an ordered system, disengaged from the consequences of their acts, rather than inherently evil sadists. ↩
\nÖcalan, Abdullah (2020). The Sociology of Freedom: Manifesto of the Democratic Civilization, Volume III. Oakland, CA: PM Press. ↩ ↩2
\nDirakis, Yannis (2019). “Claiming the right to the camp – An ethnography of the squatted Lavrio Center of Temporary Stay for Foreign Asylum Seekers” Unpublished master’s thesis. Maastricht: Maastricht University. ↩ ↩2
\nSee Dirik, Dilar (2022). “Mexmûr: From displacement to self- determination (Ch. 23).” In The Kurdish Women’s Movement: History, Theory, Practice. London: Pluto Press. ↩
\nOn February 6, 2023, two earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.7 hit southern Turkey and Northern and Western Syria, inflicting tremendous damage. The death tolls are currently estimated at over 48,400 in Turkey and 7200 in Syria. The following texts offer two different vantage points on the ways that the Turkish and Syrian governments not only failed to protect their subjects but used this catastrophe as an opportunity to consolidate power and target their adversaries via neglect, blockading, and even bombing.
\n\nThis story is familiar throughout the region. In Greece, on February 28, a northbound passenger train full of students returning from Greek carnival collided head-on with a southbound cargo freight train traveling on the same track, killing at least 57 people. Though the scale of these tragedies bears no comparison, both events underscored the ways that these regimes have accumulated resources for themselves rather than taking steps to preserve public safety. At the same time, both Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis have used these disasters as a pretext to seek to delay elections in hopes of holding on to power. There is no other pill to take, so swallow the one that made you ill.
\n\nAs our world lurches further into crisis, we are likely to see this story play out on a wider and wider stage. Natural disasters will not free us from oppressive state power; rather, authoritarian governments and natural disasters will function in concert with each other to immiserate us unless we develop interconnected ways of responding to both at the same time.
\n\nAgainst the opportunism and violence of the state, we are inspired by the international grassroots mobilization with which communities around the world have responded to the earthquake. This models the sort of horizontality and solidarity that will be necessary if we are to survive what is shaping up to be a century of cataclysms. But in order for our efforts to succeed, we have to understand both the earthquakes and the state as aspects of the same catastrophe and take action against both of them.
\n\nTowards that end, we present two analyses of the situation in Turkey and Syria: the first from supporters of the movements for liberation in the regions of Bakur and Rojava, the second from supporters of the revolution in western Syria.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/03/16/4.jpg\")
\nLess than a month into the disastrous earthquakes of February 6, 2023, it is obvious to all the peoples of Turkey that the Turkish state is a state of neglect. Neglect of proper measures for disaster control, of building codes and regulations, legal and administrative oversight; neglect of Syrian refugees, Kurds, Alevis, Christians, workers, children who remain buried under crumbled cement; neglect of emergency infrastructure; neglect of the right to live safely and with dignity. We call for accountability to all those who have pursued a fetish for profit at the expense of this deep suffering.
\n\nWe know that this is not a natural disaster, but a man-made one, and therefore a political one. For the last two decades, the peoples of Turkey were promised safe and earthquake-proof houses and effective emergency and disaster-prevention services. In the first 48 hours after the earthquakes, we were confronted with the vast emptiness of these promises. The state had promised a coordinated relief effort through the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency and the Red Crescent, but after years of putting money into private charities and corporations rather than public institutions, that help was nowhere to be found. In the years of bigoted civil war against the Kurdish population, the areas where the earthquake happened hosted two of the largest military bases in the country. Yet the military—the only organized force that could reach places which suddenly became inaccessible due to collapsed roads and infrastructure—was conspicuously absent in relief efforts. Less than a week after the earthquake, the Turkish military resumed airstrikes against Rojava and Êzidis in Sinjar.
\n\nAs we write this, thousands are drawing fragile breaths, fighting cold weather and hypothermia under the debris. They have learned the bitter lesson that the military is not there to protect, but to join in the coordinated ritual of killing the poor. The state, the contractors, the military, the capitalist class are all executioners.
\n\nWe have seen this all before. The state was conspicuously absent in the 1999 İzmit Earthquake as well. It had financially impoverished its citizens through years of IMF structural adjustment programs, weakened the civil society through military rule and neoliberal anti-unionism, and left them to fend for themselves. In the 2011 Wan Earthquakes, the already war-torn, impoverished, and displaced Kurdish population was abandoned under enormous blocks of concrete.
\n\nThe areas where the two earthquakes hit on February 6—the Western Euphrates Region of Northern Kurdistan, the large agricultural plains of Hatay, the Amik Valley, and Çukurova, Efrîn in Rojava, Aleppo in Syria—are marked with the wounds of endless wars. Cities like Adıyaman, Antep, Urfa, and Hatay are crowded with Syrian refugees living and working alongside Kurdish women and children in crumbling, ramshackle apartment blocks and illegal basement sweatshops.
\n\nAmed (Diyarbakır), the capital of Northern Kurdistan, has been under police and military blockade while the state’s puppet mayors and governors have siphoned away the wealth of the people for their own comfort and luxury; now hundreds lie buried under shoddy apartment blocks built by treacherous contractors. In Rojava and Syria, buildings and infrastructure which were already worn out by war, already the objects of fear and reprisal, once again became a burial ground. For the peoples of Mesopotamia, concrete blocks have never been homes, but living embodiments of fear. Neither life nor death: the surface of the earth has become a haunted purgatory.
\n\nDespite the vastness of this human tragedy, the state continues to flaunt its punishing bravado. Mouthpieces of government media hum, “There is no help, there needs to be help,” but censor citizens when they utter the same words. The state and its media are criminalizing citizens as agents of misinformation. They are invisibilizing the heroic solidarity and mutual aid efforts undertaken by the people. In mixed cities such as Gaziantep, the part of the police and the gendarmerie affiliated with the neo-fascist Grey Wolves are mobilized in the city, and the organization’s aid units are being situated at critical points, escalating tensions. The state is preventing Iraqi Kurdish emergency and aid workers from entering cities like Hatay solely because of their ethnicity. The police have beaten, detained, harassed, tortured, and killed citizens who were targeted by neofascist agitators as looters. Those who are at the top of the chain of responsibility are washing the blood off their hands by incriminating contractors. The poor and the dispossessed are getting devoured by the greedy machinery of the religious-capitalist-construction complex. In this concerted effort of collective gaslighting, a state, a regime, is casting its own people as enemies.
\n\nWe see a similar hypocrisy in mainstream Western media as well, which is projecting the destruction in Syria as a sad humanitarian crisis, onset by the bloody dictator Bashar al-Asad, while condemning the Syrian population to an even more merciless death through political sanctions. With its silence on both Erdoğan’s war on Rojava and his Islamist mercenaries’ theft of aid from the hands of the peoples of the land, it obscures who is culpable and accountable in this bloody catastrophe.
\n\nIt is clear that the months that unfold will be filled with political opportunism. We should expect rising xenophobia against Syrian refugees, attempts to deport Syrian Arabs back to Kurdish-populated areas as part of Erdoğan’s imperial social engineering, Bonapartist efforts to postpone the upcoming elections and thwart democratic accountability, and more attempts by the war criminal Bashar al-Asad to regain international legitimacy.
\n\nFor the peoples of Turkey, Kurdistan, and Syria, the rumblings of the state’s war machine and the quakes of the earth are the same. In the fight for collective liberation and justice, the first thing we should do is to name those who are accountable: the treacherous contractors and employers; the media, the state, and its military; the mainstream parliamentary opposition bloc, which has tempered itself to moderation, while lionizing the state and its ideological apparatus; the bourgeoisie, its crocodile tears and uninvolved gestures of charity; the neofascist militants who police and penalize survivors, refugees, and internally displaced persons in the name of “public order”; all who have sacrificed the safety and dignity of citizens for the sake of greed and a fetish for profit.
\n\nThe solidarity networks that have risen from the state’s ruins portend the possibility of a hopeful future. For us, the vast amount of aid and aid workers that have arrived in Turkey’s earthquake zones validates this hope. However, the peoples of Northwest Syria, who have been affected just as much by the earthquake, have not been able to receive a fraction of this support. The Kurdish Red Crescent [Heyva Sor] is working to help people in the earthquake-affected regions of Northwest Syria and Rojava.
\n\nTo support the Kurdish Red Crescent, send donations here. You can keep up with the the Bay Area Mesopotamia Solidarity Committee here.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/03/16/5.jpg\")
Photograph by Tolga Ildun/ZUMA Press.
\nThis is an abridged translation of a text by Hamza Esmili and Montassir Sakhi, courtesy of some of our comrades from the Syrian Cantina in Montreuil.
\n\nThe earthquakes that took place near the towns of Gaziantep and Ekinözü inflicted a catastrophe of rare magnitude. Both Turkey and neighboring Syria lament tens of thousands of dead, many more wounded, and considerable material devastation. Some cities, such as Antakya and Kahramanmaraş, were destroyed on a large scale. As for Syria, a country singularly devastated by a decade of government and Russian bombardments, more than five million people have lost their homes following the succession of earthquakes.
\n\nThe disaster occurred in one of the most high-conflict geographical areas in the world. Far from rendering a truce possible, it intensifies the polarizations throughout the region. In its own way, the tragedy offers a sort of sieve [frame] to reveal the issues that are at stake in the region. […]
\n\nUnsurprisingly, the Ba’ath state—the pan-Arab party that has governed Syria since 1963—is using the disaster to call for an end to its international ban, decreed following its ruthless repression of the popular uprising of 2011. The argument seems simple enough: this measure is necessary to ease the burden of the Syrians, removing the legal obstacles that hinder international solidarity in the midst of tragedy. Apart from this generous and humanitarian reason, any politicization of the event seems both unwelcome and irrelevant.
\n\nThis was an effective narrative. A few days after the earthquake, it was taken up in unison by the anti-imperialist left, throughout the full range of its national variants1; the European far right,2 historically supportive of the Assad dynasty3; the decolonial movement4; the remnants of Arab nationalism5; and many international organizations. As it has for a decade, the Syrian tragedy thus continues to serve as a screen for the projections—a psychoanalyst would say of the sublimations—of a variety of very different political forms.
\n\nEven if it is repeated over and over, the mystification that they all make remains deceptive. Whether euphemistic—”The sanctions must be lifted for humanitarian reasons”—or explicit—”They were inappropriate from the start”—the support for Bashar al-Assad expressed during this catastrophe is based on a lack of knowledge of the Syrian historical situation and a long series of lies that his supporters have spread in public discourse in the course of promoting the normalization of the Ba’ath regime. At the same time, the reality is that the areas liberated from the regime’s grasp—which were severely affected by the earthquake—are completely deprived of international aid and ignored by the proxies of the Syrian regime. This shows that those who called for the end of sanctions as soon as the earthquake occurred were hardly guided by humanitarian motives.
\n\nIt is therefore necessary to trace the thread of the reasoning that seems to lead from the catastrophe to the demand for the return of Bashar al-Assad’s regime to the ranks of the respectable nations.6 Likewise, this means questioning the possibilities of humanitarian aid at the time of the earthquake, which cannot be untied from the political fabric that it strengthens.
\n\nClearly, the Syrian regime has an interest in getting its international ban lifted. This ban is the consequence of the systematic repression it carried out against the uprising of 2011. At the time of the Arab revolutions, the Ba’ath state responded with a frighteningly explicit credo: “Assad, or we burn the country” (الأسد أو نحرق البلد). The wave of protest did not weaken, however: it quickly led to the formation of liberated zones (مناطق محررة), from which the regime withdrew before starting the constant bombardment, in particular by the use of barrel bombs.7 Within the liberated zones, which covered almost half of the country in 2013, central authority was not reestablished. Consequently, the revolutionary order was composite: beyond the popular slogan “One, one, one, the Syrian people are one” (واحد واحد واحد، الشعب السوري واحد), which affirms the existence of collective agreements more sacred than the sectarian abyss into which Bashar’s regime precipitated the country, the liberated zones were discontinuous both territorially and politically. Their reality was determined by the localized collectives that composed them. However, the existential aspiration for collective solidarity and justice in the face of an extraordinarily violent regime8 remained permanent in Homs, Hama, Deraa, Aleppo, Idlib, and Eastern Ghouta—some of the chief liberated zones of the country. This unanimity around the imperative to unmake the regime is represented by the constitution of the Free Army. Mirroring the decentralized nature of the revolution, it was formed by the heterogeneous alliance of mutinous soldiers and officers and brigades located in the various liberated zones. […]
\n\nInitially failing—it was on the verge of collapse in 2013—Bashar al-Assad’s regime nonetheless gave the policy of destroying the country a new meaning as it called on the military support of foreign states. As early as 2012, militias linked to Iran were fighting in Syria, including Lebanese and Iraqi Hezbollah and Hazara Afghans forcibly recruited into the paramilitary structure of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. Then Russia committed its air force and troops to supporting the Syrian regime. Enabled by a succession of massacres regarding which future historians will have to decide whether they were indeed genocidal—for example, the blockade and subsequent famine of the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk,9 the chemical attack on Eastern Ghouta,10 or the policy of intensive bombardments of the liberated zones,11 in particular hospitals—the regime has continuously regained control of the country since 2014. At the same time, the regions that are brought back under the authority of the regime were violently punished; their populations face purges and renewed authoritarianism from the Ba’ath and its Russian sponsor.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/03/16/3.jpg\")
Immediately after the earthquake, the al-Assad regime resumed bombing parts of Syria that remain beyond its control.
\nIn parallel with the military successes of the Russian imperial regime—whose intervention has become more and more colonial12—the Assad regime gradually renewed its diplomatic relations with many countries: Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, India, Bangladesh, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Jordan, Hamas,13 and so on. […]
\n\nFaced with the Russian-Syrian expansion, which runs parallel to the normalization of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on the international playing field, however, there remain the liberated areas of the Idlib region and the northwest of the country, in addition to the territories under the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.1415 But the argument of state sovereignty comes into full play: international relations can only bind states together. This is the logical meaning of the readmission of the Ba’ath State into the company of the other respected nations: regardless of the fact that it is permanently weakened and administers less than a third of the original Syrian population, the regime of Bashar al-Assad remains the only legitimate interlocutor for the supporters of state sovereignty at all costs, whether anti-imperialist or conservative.
\n\nThis is the context in which the earthquake occurred. In Syria, it affected both the areas under government control and others that remained liberated. As soon as the catastrophe occurred, it enabled Bashar al-Assad’s regime to demand an end to the sanctions decreed against it following the repression of the popular uprising of 2011. In turn, anti-imperialist critics decried the “embargo” supposedly imposed on Syria. Regardless of the fact that this measure—which Syrian revolutionaries had demanded to stop the Russian bombing—was never actually granted, this verbiage makes it possible to evoke the sanctions decreed against neighboring Iraq throughout the 1990s—adhering to a well-known pattern of anti-imperialist discourse, according to which one historical situation necessarily justifies another.
\n\nThey particularly focus on the Caesar Act16 adopted by the US administration in 2019. Never mind that it explicitly excluded humanitarian aid from its spectrum of restrictions—the earthquake allows the Ba’ath state and its supporters to see that as the original cause of the country’s destruction, rather than the relentless war the regime waged on its own people and the predatory economy implemented by Ba’ath dignitaries. Bashar al-Assad’s regime is notorious for plundering humanitarian aid, and yet his dignitaries and supporters assert in unison that the return of his sovereignty is a precondition for receiving international assistance. Any rescue operation, whether in the government zone or in the liberated areas, must therefore be conducted under the strict authority of the Ba’ath State.
\n\nBeyond their sovereignist position, the supporters of the Syrian regime—whether anti-imperialist, decolonial, white nationalist, or Arab—hardly answer the pressing question that their policy inevitably raises: how is it possible to channel aid through a regime as singularly violent towards its own people as that of Assad? The question is especially important in view of the well-known plundering of international aid that the Ba’ath state has engaged in over the past decade. Any resources sent to Assad will be systematically diverted from their purpose to strengthen the regime’s authority and expand its control at the expense of the remaining liberated areas.
\n\nBut the narrative works. Dozens of convoys of humanitarian aid are pouring into government zones, dispatched by the European Union, the United Nations, and many other countries. The United Nations Secretary General greeted Bashar al-Assad; his counterpart from the World Health Organization went to Aleppo himself under the benevolent gaze of Ba’ath dignitaries. Contrary to the anti-imperialist narrative, which is based on the geopolitical division of the world into rival blocs, the list of those sending humanitarian aid to the Russian-Syrian regime is genuinely non-denominational. No ideological or strategic divisions can be seen.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/03/16/2.jpg\")
The consequences of the earthquake in Idlib.
\nWhile Bashar al-Assad’s regime and his international supporters are already showing their satisfaction over his return to international legitimacy, thanks to the earthquake, the liberated zones—which are among the closest to the epicenter—remain completely deprived of aid. Six million people are concentrated there, having been displaced after the Ba’ath State and its Russian guardians recaptured the other liberated areas. The overpopulation of this last region remaining outside the control of Bashar al-Assad’s regime is directly linked to the latter’s reconquest of the rest of the country. In Jindires, for example, in the northwest of Aleppo, 230 Syrians died in the earthquake who had relocated there from the Damascus region.
\n\nNearly a week after the earthquake, however, no food aid convoy was able to enter the liberated zone. The Syrian regime’s refusal to open border crossings to this area17 and the Russian state’s refusal to open the crossing points controlled by the Turkish state effectively prevented any emergency humanitarian deployment there during the first week, when it would have been crucial to finding survivors under the rubble. The agreement of Bashar al-Assad’s regime to open border crossings—which international dignitaries mysteriously celebrated—was only granted after the tragedy was complete. […]
\n\nThe denial of solidarity in face of disaster builds on the massacre conducted over the past decade by the Ba’ath state and its Russian guardians, and on the internal and external displacement that it caused. Symbolically speaking, it is not surprising that the buildings that were already damaged by the bombs of the Russian and al-Assad governments were the ones that collapsed most easily when the earthquake struck, even in areas relatively far from the epicenter.
\n\nFacing the cynicism of the Russian-Syrian regime and its international supporters, how do we imagine solidarity in a time of catastrophe? The Ba’ath’s exterminatory policy is also its stumbling block. As it has violated every norm, every form of collective morality in Syrian society, no return to the previous historical situation is conceivable—neither in the liberated areas nor in those that the Bashar al-Assad regime and the Russian colonial power have reconquered.
\n\nConversely, solidarity within Syrian society, largely autonomous of the Ba’ath state, has saved lives. By underscoring the importance of defending the collective and its members, the Syrian response to the earthquake shows the irreversible distance that separates society from Bashar al-Assad’s regime. […]
\n\nContrary to the anti-imperialist narrative, it is necessary to recall tirelessly the historical context that this earthquake takes place in. Beyond historical revisionism, the supporters of Bashar al-Assad cannot offer an answer to the paradox of why we should set him up as the guarantor of the humanitarian response to the catastrophe when his regime is responsible for one of the worst wars of extermination a state has waged against its own people in our time.
\n\nMehad (Ex UOSSM)
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2023/03/16/1.jpg\")
\n Jean-Luc Mélenchon in France, Die Linke in Germany, and the Workers’ Party of Belgium are united in favor of lifting the sanctions. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nSOS Chrétiens d’Orient, which acts as a bridge between all the varieties of the French right and the regime of Bashar al-Assad, immediately began its advocacy as soon as the regime came into being. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nThe Ba’ath regime has thus welcomed many prominent Nazis. One of them—Alois Brunner, former commander of the Drancy camp [a detention camp for Jews who were later deported to the death camps during the German occupation of France during World War II]—played a major role in the structuring of the Syrian secret service alongside Hafez al-Assad. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nSee, for example, the editorial of the Decolonial HQ (France). [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nSee the open letter signed by a number of Marxist and pan-Arab organizations. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nThe French state is also following this trend towards normalizing the al-Assad regime. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nWeakened, the Syrian regime took recourse to dropping barrel bombs without remote guidance on the liberated zones. This particularly lethal bomb is filled with TNT, potassium, and scrap metal. The explosion disperses both lethal gases and micro-shells likely to cause many injuries. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nCatherine Coquio (and others), Syria, the Burnt Country (1970-2021). The Black Book of Assad, Paris, Seuil, 2021. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nKnowing the link between the “anti-imperialist” position and the façade of solidarity with the Palestinians, the denial of this crime is particularly striking. See Amnesty International’s 2014 report. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nThe chemical weapons massacre in Eastern Ghouta left more than 2000 dead. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nAleppo, for example, was completely wrecked by Russian bombing. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nAs the regime Syria became a puppet state, Russia granted itself large concessions within the country, within the historic stronghold of the Assad family of Latakia and Tartous. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nIn 2022, Hamas renewed its ties with the regime of Bashar al-Assad after having severed them in 2011. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nThese territories were conquered through the fight against the Islamic State, a counter-revolutionary organization largely spared by Bashar al-Assad and his Russian sponsors. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nThe original version of this text reads “the territories under administration of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in the east of the country”—a tendentious phrasing, since that party, the PKK, is technically distinct from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. ↩
\nEnacted by the United States government in 2019—which is to say, long after the outbreak of the revolution and the ruin of the country by the al-Assad regime—the Caesar Act imposed a series of restrictions on the import and export for the Syrian state. The name is derived from the “Caeser photos,” the images of several thousand Syrian detainees tortured to death in the Saednaya jails. Bashar al-Assad’s anti-imperialist supporters never mention what gave the sanctions their name. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nThe regime of Bashar al-Assad only agreed to the delivery of international aid to the liberated areas more than a week after the earthquake, when the chances of finding survivors had dropped to almost zero. [Footnote from the original text.] ↩
\nIn Greece, the right-wing New Democracy government came to power in summer 2019, initiating a campaign of repression targeting refugees and the anarchist movement. The following spring, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Greece, enabling New Democracy to clamp down yet further. Yet anarchists have shown considerable resilience, shifting to the offensive over the past two months.
\n\nAs we have documented, in Greece, the authorities have strategically used the lockdown to persecute refugees and suppress social movements. As we wrote last April,
\n\n\n\n\n“No lockdown that divests from hospitals to expand police and military budgets is truly aimed at protecting people’s health. Such a lockdown can only be an experiment in authoritarianism.”
\n
The last time we wrote from Athens, everything was covered with soot from raging wild fires. Since then, the state has attacked striking firefighters who demonstrated outside the Ministry of the Climate Crisis in Athens. One person lost a finger, as police threw flash grenades indiscriminately and sprayed the firefighters with a water cannon with no apparent sense of irony. The firefighters’ supposed hero status did not protect them after the fires had been extinguished; the state reserves unconditional support only for the police and military.
\n\nCasualties from COVID-19 in Greece have been among the highest in the world, proportionately speaking, but the government keeps expanding police and military budgeting at the expense of the country’s medical infrastructure. In the course of our years of reporting, we anticipated that the state would modernize the apparatus of repression this way, but it is especially telling that it has taken place in the midst of the pandemic. As cited in a previous report, a group of fourteen anarchists are on the receiving end of this process as the state demands their DNA in what appears to be a fishing expedition.
\n\nFleeing immigrants and refugees have been attempting to take new routes into Greece. Tragic drownings have become a regular occurrence, a calculated consequence of Greek border control measures in the Aegean Sea. Corruption continues in the state apparatus while average income remains stagnant relative to unprecedented inflation.
\n\nYet despite everything, the anarchist movement has emerged intact from a year and a half of lockdowns, repression, and uncertainty. After the imposed isolation and silence, we have come out swinging.
\n\nOn October 23, Greek police chased and murdered a 20-year-old man named Nikos Sabanis in Athens. Nikos and two other Roma youth are alleged to have stolen a car, taken it for a joyride, and refused to stop at a police checkpoint. Several officers decided to engage in a high-speed pursuit, announcing over their radios that their targets were Roma youth.
\n\nThe Roma are a historically marginalized community across Europe. In Greece, they live in slums outside Athens and in similar encampments elsewhere across the country. Systematically marginalized in Greek society, they face constant police harassment.
\n\nDespite the fact that the officers were ordered to stop pursuing the car due to potential danger to traffic, they chased the three youth down, eventually shooting into the car 38 times and killing Nikos. Video footage emerged of the shooting; at the same time, the cops whom claimed to have been rammed and injured admitted to have no injuries at all.
\n\nThe murder sparked demonstrations across Greece and a mobilization involving Roma communities across the country. Roma youth attacked police with stones and built massive burning barricades on major highways. The police responsible for the killing will likely face no repercussions; fascists applauded them for the murder at their initial prosecutorial hearing over the use of deadly force.
\n\nIn the United States, police kill an average of at least three people every day, but police killings are not as common in Greece. However, in New Democracy’s new “law and order” Greece, the authorities are aiming to emulate the United States model more and more. The numbers of bullets shot and the probable full dismissal of charges against the seven officers involved will set a precedent entitling police to commit murder in Greece at the rate that they do in places like the United States and Brazil without fear of punishment. While we don’t believe justice can arise from any state court, the absence of “qualified immunity” for officers in Greece had previously served as a deterrent, discouraging police to kill as they wished.
\n\nUnfortunately, due to the racism against Roma people that is endemic in Greek media outlets, the case only appeared in headlines for a short time. The response to the murder almost exclusively involved anarchist groups and Roma communities.
\n\nThe demonstrations of November 17 commemorate the day in 1973 when the military junta invaded the grounds of the Polytechnio (the architectural school) in the neighborhood of Exarchia, killing at least 23 people who were occupying the grounds or otherwise resisting the dictatorship. The asylum laws that used to apply to universities in Greece, limiting the power of police to enter them, derived from this event. As in Chile, where university asylum laws were introduced in response to the mass torture and murder of students during Pinochet’s coup, Greece maintained these asylum laws until the far-right New Democracy party came to power in 2019.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/12/29/3.jpg\")
A banner during the occupation of the Polytechnic in Exarchia ahead of the demonstrations of November 17, reading “The riots don’t fit in the museums. 1, 2, 3, many Polytechnics.”
\nNew laws increasing the punishment for possessing Molotov cocktails conveniently came into effect shortly before November 17. While this has always been a punishable crime, Greek police and courts did not previously single out Molotov cocktails the way that they do the United States, where those who employ them can spend many years in prison—as in the case of Eric King. Ahead of November 17, the new law set a minimum sentence of three years for any individual possessing a Molotov cocktail. Depending on the circumstances, the penalty can reach up to ten years.
\n\nNonetheless, demonstrations took place across the country on November 17 after having been suppressed by lockdowns in 2020.
\n\nPolice forces were scattered across universities everywhere, anticipating that people might attempt to carry out occupations. Despite this, in the days ahead of the 17th, people re-occupied the GINI building of the original Polytechnic in Exarchia, which has served as a meeting space for anarchist organizing and assemblies for many years. The combination of the lockdown with the abolition of university asylum had enabled the university and the state to seize this space from the movement, but people re-occupied the building and used it as a space to host revolutionary events in the lead-up to the 17th.
\n\nOn November 17, huge demonstrations took place, with the demonstration in Athens drawing many thousands of people. Hundreds upon hundreds of riot police surrounded the anarchist bloc, marching on both sides of the gigantic bloc in a kettling strategy.
\n\nThat night, clashes took place across Greece. Amazingly, small groups attempted to fight police near the historic Polytechnic university in Exarchia, despite the state deploying over 6000 police in the center of the city. Police carried out at least ten arrests in Athens.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/igdworldwide/status/1461265850233614336\n\n\n
That night, clashes also occurred in Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki. As the main march in Thessaloniki reached its conclusion, many of those commemorating this historical day confronted the police with projectiles and Molotov cocktails.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/csynnefo/status/1461642264648818692\n\n\n
Small clashes also took place in smaller cities in the country such as Patras.
\n\nThe demonstrations of December 6 commemorate the day that 15-year-old anarchist Alexandros Grigoropoulos was murdered by police in the neighborhood of Exarchia. This senseless killing sparked a historic insurrection.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/12/29/1.jpg\")
Police in Athens were mobilized to protect this Christmas tree all day long on December 6.
\nThis year, December 6 saw the movement waking up from the imposed isolation of the lockdown, during which the state used the virus as an excuse to suppress any assembly of any kind. A gigantic march took place in Athens, with similar marches taking place across the country.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/savvaskarma/status/1467910780712636418\n\n\n
Amazingly, despite a massive police operation, the main march in Athens was able to enter Exarchia, where participants erected barricades and kept the police at a distance with stones and other projectiles. Police eventually overwhelmed the neighborhood, breaking into apartment buildings and snatching individuals at random.
\n\nPeople in Thessaloniki also organized a strong resistance against police forces. Likewise, people in Volos, Patras, and various towns and cities across the country held marches and small clashes broke out in some of these towns as well.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/igdworldwide/status/1468239618004946950\n\n\n
On November 27, during the build-up to December 6, some people attacked the Acropolis Police station in Athens with a flurry of Molotov cocktails. The communiqué also claims another attack against Dimitris Bougioukos, an accused rapist and human trafficker cop. This clandestine action served to inspire courage ahead of the December 6 demonstrations, targeting a police station in the tourist capital of the city of Athens just weeks after the new law further penalizing Molotov cocktails came into effect.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/12/29/4.jpg\")
Graffiti from morning of December 6 left by the student march, reading “G. Floyd, N. Sampanis, from Perama to America, the cops kill.”
\nThe police force in Athens is considerably more numerous and better equipped than the police in Thessaloniki and Patras, where strong clashes also took place on those days. As a result, the clashes in those cities arguably went further. All the same, it was impressive that people continue to escalate resistance in Athens despite facing a Goliath of a police operation.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/Ree8s/status/1468188955174703116\n\n\n
The courage and determination that people showed across the country on November 17 and December 6 demonstrate the resilience of our movements. These two days honor the historical foundations of the contemporary anarchist movement in Greece and help to keep the flame alive. Despite the state’s authoritarian opportunism around the pandemic and the “law and order” policies of New Democracy, people honored these dates with courage and defiance.
\n\nDecember 6, 2021 in Thessaloniki, Greece.
\nAs a consequence of climate change, the pandemic, and war, the refugee crisis tragically continues. World headlines were directed at the nasty proxy war between Poland and Belarus, in which president Alexander Lukashenko used refugees as pawns on that border of the European Union, but refugees continue their desperate journeys here, as well, both by land and by sea. We have repeatedly reported on both the pogroms and the procedures of border control and immigrant detention with which grassroots racists and institutional structures target migrants in Greece, starting well before New Democracy came to power. These have involved shooting at or pushing back boats of refugees crossing from Turkey, setting up floating border walls, and a variety of other forms of persecution. Yet these efforts have only compelled refugees to attempt new, even more dangerous routes as they seek to cross the Aegean sea from Turkey.
\n\nOver 1600 people have drowned this year attempting to reach Europe from abroad. Thirty people drowned and many more have gone missing during Christmas week 2021 alone. Nothing that fascists or police could do to migrants could be worse than the situations they are fleeing, which are themselves largely the consequences of a European colonialism that continues to this day. Europe remains a racist fortress dedicated to excluding those on the receiving end of its projects of resource extraction, warmongering, and profiteering.
\n\nThe Omicron varient—known simply as “O” in Greece—is just arriving here as this goes to press. It’s difficult to imagine how much worse the pandemic could get in this country after what we have lived through.
\n\nDemonstrations against femicide and patriarchy continue in Greece. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated domestic violence and femicide, highlighting the longstanding pandemic of gendered violence in this country, which is interconnected with the traditions of the Orthodox church.
\n\nYet despite all the hardships of this past year—the lockdown, the apocalyptic wild fires, and a government that continues to double down on its efforts to repress refugees, anarchists, and other dissidents—we are still in the streets. Squats face imminent eviction, but people are occupying new squats as well. Cases of state repression we previously reported on continue, but people are showing solidarity here with a fierce resilience.
\n\nFor more information on the struggles of fall 2021 in Greece, we recommend this report from the Prosfygika squat.
\n\nWe encourage everyone to demonstrate outside prisons this New Year’s Eve to show solidarity with prisoners. We hope that 2022 will be another year of resilience despite the hardships we all face under capitalism. After last year’s lockdown, seeing proof that the movement here will never cease to exist inspires tremendous hope in us. Revolutionary solidarity to all those struggling against the state and capitalism!
\n\n-Anonymous Anarchist Voices
\nAthens, December 29, 2021
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/12/29/2.jpg\")
Graffiti from the morning of December 6 left by the student march, reading “The fire of December never goes out. The government kills—we don’t forget, we don’t forgive.”
\nThis update is part of a long-term effort to foster international awareness of and solidarity with the anarchist movement in Greece. The authors have provided consistent updates here for several years. While we are not formally affiliated with them, we recommend the Bad News Report and Radio Fragmata Greece for updates on movements in Greece and abroad. We also recommend athens.indymedia.org. The twitter accounts @exiledarizona, @igdworldwide, and @enough14 also consistently post in English about events in Greece.
\n\n" }, { "id": "https://crimethinc.com/2021/09/09/as-greece-burns-the-state-consolidates-power-the-wildfires-the-pandemic", "url": "https://crimethinc.com/2021/09/09/as-greece-burns-the-state-consolidates-power-the-wildfires-the-pandemic", "title": "As Greece Burns, the State Consolidates Power ", "summary": "The far-right New Democracy government has used the wildfires, like the pandemic, as a pretext to clamp down on refugees and social movements.", "image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/09/09/header.jpg", "banner_image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/09/09/header.jpg", "date_published": "2021-09-09T18:56:50Z", "date_modified": "2025-11-09T15:28:20Z", "tags": [ "Greece" ], "content_html": "In Greece, while the worst wildfires in decades raged out of control this summer, COVID-19 cases have spiked, driven by an economy reliant on tourism and an anti-vaccine movement similar to the one in the United States. Meanwhile, in its position as one of Europe’s immigration gatekeepers, the Greek government continues to pursue an authoritarian response to a humanitarian crisis. Yet ecological catastrophes may soon put many Greeks in the same situation that refugees entering Greece face today.
\n\nIn a variety of ways, the situation in Greece offers us a glimpse into a dystopian future in which increasingly authoritarian governments take advantage of ongoing disasters to consolidate power. To understand the future we are facing, we should compare the events in Greece with the consequences of the wildfires and Hurricane Ida in the United States.
\n\nIn that spirit, we offer this report from Greece, the latest in a series of reports from the Greek context.
\n\nGreece has experienced an unprecedented wave of fires this August after an intense heat wave in June and July dried out the forests. For a month, from the countryside of Evia to the Peloponnese and the center of Athens, people woke up to smoke and soot in the air and television reports out of an apocalypse movie. By August 19, the area burned was already 450% larger than the average area burned annually over the last 12 years.
\n\nAt least two people have lost their lives in the fires, one of them a volunteer firefighter, Vasilis Filoras, who was struck by a falling utility pole. Volunteer firefighters make up at least 15% of Greece’s fire prevention force.
\n\nClimate change, rampant exploitation of water, and unsustainable land development have turned the mountains into a tinderbox. In 2018, under the Syriza administration, 103 people died as a consequence of the fires in the coastal town of Mati. The state claimed that a 65-year-old man was responsible for the fires starting the fires by burning wood on his land. There are also accusations about unmaintained power lines and arsons committed by opportunistic developers.
\n\nThis year’s disastrous situation has nonetheless represented a political victory for the right-wing New Democracy party, as fewer people have died this summer than under Syriza in 2018. All the same, some of the country’s forests have burned to the ground, thousands have lost their homes, many have been injured or will suffer long-term trauma and financial consequences, and countless animals, both wild and domestic, have died or suffered grievous injuries or loss of habitat.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/09/09/7.jpg\")
Sheep huddled together on the island of Evia, one of the areas worst hit by the fires this summer.
\nIn comparing the death tolls, members of the far right have sought to portray themselves as concerned with the sanctity of human life. However, as we have noted previously, New Democracy has funneled money from hospitals and medical staff towards police and military budgets since they took power. Fire departments and land preservation funds have also suffered cuts. This administration has not prioritized the health of those it governs; it has made opportunistic use of the pandemic to concentrate resources on preserving the status quo at all costs. Its failure to contain these fires was not a matter of prioritizing lives, nor the result of a lack of funds; it was a matter of political will.
\n\nAt first, some media outlets strongly supported the state narrative. They blamed pyromaniacs and stoked racist, anti-immigrant sentiment with a headline about the arrest of an Afghani woman in an Athens park known as Pedeion tou Areos—nowhere near the fires. This was an attempt, in collaboration with police, to shift attention away from financially driven opportunistic arson, climate change, and unmaintained electrical infrastructure in order to scapegoat a foreign, mentally ill woman found with lighters in a park.
\n\nFascists jumped on this narrative, lumping in anarchists and communists as people likely to be responsible for the fires, in an ugly parallel to the far-right rumor mongering that took place in the Northwestern US in autumn 2020. While fascist groups organized in some regions “on watch” for these nonexistent anarchist and foreign arsonists, police mobilized to prevent many anarchist groups from conducting mutual aid campaigns to fight the fires and assist the affected. Additionally, refugee camps in mainland Greece suffered from heavy smoke and dual uncertainties, not knowing if they would be moved if the fires came closer—like one camp that was fully evacuated—while fearing that fascists might use the fires as an opportunity for arson attacks on refugee camps, as they have in the past.
\n\nEventually, as it became clear that the government had abandoned the middle class, media outlets were forced to shift their approach to reporting on the fires and their causes.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/09/09/1.jpg\")
Volunteer and impromptu firefighters have done what they can to halt the fires with little support from the state. This man on the island of Evia is doing the best he can equipped only with a piece of brush.
\nThe New Democracy government approached the fires with the same authoritarian approach it has tested in response to the pandemic. In mass evacuations, police forcefully moved individuals trying to fight the fires. Riot police stopped individuals from filming burning forests with no firefighters in sight and prevented volunteers from assisting. Police forced caravans of donated medical supplies to turn around, as any autonomous effort to alleviate suffering was considered a provocation. Police assaulted individuals protesting the devastation and government failure, enabled fascist attacks on journalists reporting on failure, and themselves did nothing to combat the crisis.
\n\nBy responding in this way to fires that would have been containable, New Democracy showed through its inaction that it is not interested in preventing harm, only in taking advantage of it.
\n\nWhile the state and the media were quick to scapegoat isolated individuals and marginalized communities, the true cause of the fires lies in structural forces.
\n\nOne of these is land development. Similar to patterns in the Brazilian Amazon, landowners and developers have been accused multiple times of burning vast swaths of forest to undermine environmental regulation laws or force development projects forward through ecocide. By August 10, 586 fires were burning throughout Greece. While we may never know how many of them were intentionally set, some of them may well have been spurred by the profit motive to build new homes, expand farmland, or generate new construction contracts.
\n\nAlthough Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged that the fires were the result of climate change in his August 9 apology for the government’s failure to address the situation, his government’s environmental record is abysmal. The use of fires to clear mountains of trees in order to pave way for wind turbines or other green capitalist projects has been an ongoing issue in Greece as well as other parts of the European Union, including Hungary and Italy. With the drop in tourism due to COVID-19, many green areas that used to be financially valuable on account of their beauty have lost value; for some people, this could be a motivation to burn and clear these areas in order to make room for more profitable ventures.
\n\nThe deregulation of the Greek energy sector that began in the 1980s may also have played a role in causing the fires. Similar to cases in California, electrical companies bear little legal liability for hazardous infrastructure. The poorly maintained electrical grid was made worse by a freak blizzard last winter that knocked down trees and damaged power lines, many of which were barely repaired due to cost-cutting moves by private industry; this dysfunctional grid poses tremendous incendiary risk to dry forests.
\n\nIndustrial capitalism is the driving force behind all the aforementioned structural factors, as it incentivizes people to extract as much profit as possible at any cost while supplying ever greater technical means of doing so. Even as the Greek state blames climate change for the fires, it continues to participate in an arms race with Turkey to compete for control of natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean Sea. The state and industry have proven that both human and ecological well-being rank at best as a minor consideration in their priorities.
\n\nThe idea that the resources that sustain humanity are chiefly the result of human innovation rather than the fruit of a healthy biosphere has inculcated a mindset in which people assume that everything in the world today can be replaced. The few who benefit from the current state of affairs are prepared to do everything in their power to preserve the idea that their authority can solve the problems it has generated. The Greek government has announced plans to compensate those affected by the fires and fund new reforestation projects and “eco-friendly” development in the ashes.
\n\nWildfires are spreading across the world. The fires in Greece, while minor compared to those in California or Siberia, shine a light on the broader challenges that we face globally. Both the causes of the fires and the responses we have seen to them indicate the ways that governments will likely continue to act as the climate catastrophe worsens.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/09/09/2.jpg\")
Smoke from Greek wildfires as seen from space, August 10, 2021.
\nWhile failing to defend the land under its control from wildfire, the Greek state has responded to the Taliban retaking control of Afghanistan by erecting 40 kilometers of new fencing and introducing an array of unspecified high-tech surveillance equipment on the Turkish border. At the same time, the European Union has given Turkey seven billion dollars to prevent refugees from fleeing to Europe. Politicians on both sides of the border are playing on xenophobic and nationalist narratives to appease and distract their frustrated base.
\n\nOn the island of Xios, the Greek police recently detained 25 refugees who had crossed the sea from Turkey—many of them Afghans fleeing the Taliban—and fined them 5000 euros each. This is the fine stipulated for tourists who come to the country without the proper PCR test or COVID-19 vaccine certificate, just one example of the use of anti-virus mandates to persecute immigrants, refugees, and other “undesirables.” The state only withdrew the fines after left corporate media outlets broke the story. Without press coverage, the refugees could have been stuck in a state of permanent debt within an already notoriously corrupt and bureaucratic system. Similar events may well have passed unreported.
\n\nAn art action involving a 3.5-meter-high puppet named “Little Amal” resembling a young Syrian refugee has begun an 8000-kilometer walk from Turkey to the UK in an attempt to bring awareness to the struggles of refugees. When this group arrived in Greece in early August, fascists in the city of Larissa met them with threats of violence and intimidation. The puppet was supposed to appear in the center of Athens at the beginning of September, but fascist groups made multiple threats of violence. The puppet finally made an appearance from the safety of a roof, but the participants canceled the walk and display due to concerns about potential violence.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/09/09/3.jpg\")
Little Amal and her entourage parade through the streets.
\nThis symbolic gesture offered a rallying point for the far right; in response, anti-fascists and anarchists urgently assembled in the center of Athens. A group of fascist hooligans with the support of other far-right individuals in the central Athens neighborhood of Metaxourgeio held a rally near the planned art event on the evening of Friday, September 3. Sympathetic police surrounded and defended the fascist youth.
\n\nOne organized anti-fascist march attempted to march towards the fascist gathering, but riot police immediately tear-gassed and attacked them—creating a situation in which anti-fascists and anarchists were scattered throughout the area. Small groups gathered and chanted until anti-fascists made another attempt to bring people together to confront the fascists. Once again, the police threw tear gas directly into the march, then chased, beat, and arrested many people at random. However, as a result, the puppeteers were able to make their point in an alternative way, and the strength and numbers of the anti-fascists who confronted the xenophobes showed that without the protection of the police, they would have been unable to impose their agenda.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/09/09/6.jpg\")
Athens, September 3: Police mobilized to defend fascists who gathered to oppose an expression of solidarity with refugees.
\nThe pandemic continues to ravage Greece, appearing everywhere except the headlines. The statistics continue to exceed previous peak infection rates. The hospitals remain underfunded while the far right, as in many Western countries, has adopted an insincere posture of rebellion against the health industry and state health measures. The same people who desire to see fascists and police attack immigrants have the audacity to portray themselves as partisans of personal liberty.
\n\nWhether through misguided belief in divine protection or concern about supposed Jewish conspiracies, the far right in Greece have set themselves against vaccination. As in the US, first-world access to the vaccine does not guarantee that Greece will have a widely vaccinated population.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/teacherdude/status/1420654343473205251\n\n\n
In their largest demonstration in July, participants in the anti-vaccine movement clashed with police as they sought to invade Exarchia to look for anti-fascists and anarchists. While these people deserve no sympathy, it is true that the regime has taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to consolidate power while people are at their most anxious and vulnerable. There is no way to predict if there will be another lockdown, and infection rates are high after summer, but come winter, tourist money will not be here to protect us from government mandates that exist to serve political power.
\n\nAs AirBnBs used by “Golden Visa” holders are losing steam due to the pandemic, locals are once again confronting debt and stress. COVID-19 has caused many to lose their jobs and rents are skyrocketing in some neighborhoods that used to be popular with tourists. Rent in Athens is far outpacing the average Greek income of 600 euros a month—for those who have a job at all. Many locals who cannot afford property taxes or rent await eviction.
\n\nEarlier this summer, residents of Exarchia kicked out surveyors who were sent to help plan an unwanted metro station and vandalized an AirBnB, helping to express the local opposition to gentrification.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/09/09/4.jpg\")
Graffiti in an Athens square.
\nIn our last report, we highlighted ongoing demonstrations against patriarchy. While rape, abuse, and femicide have long been components of Greek society arguably reinforced by the Orthodox Church, COVID-19 has both exacerbated this type of violence and shined a light on it.
\n\nDimitris Bougioukos, a Greek police officer, was arrested in July for trafficking a 19-year-old woman. Bougioukos kidnapped her and forced her to perform sexual acts, take cocaine, and sign a contract to perform for a pornographic company called Sirina entertainment. Multiple parties now face prosecution, including the woman’s father. Demonstrations in response to the arrest took place in South Athens, part of a growing movement against the deeply embedded Greek patriarchy.
\n\nAs we have described in previous reports, police operations in Greece are finally coming to resemble the techniques familiar in the United States. For example, the authorities recently demanded that a student arrested during the occupation of a university last year must provide a DNA sample. During the eviction of the occupation, the police seized bottles and tested them for DNA. One of the samples they claim to have found on the empty bottles was allegedly similar to blood found on some papers on the street of Exarchia in 2014 after Delta police were attacked with Molotov cocktails in the night. These allegations seem to be based on flimsy and circumstantial evidence. However, the willingness to pursue investigations targeting both confrontational and non-violent actions for many years after an event, utilizing a great deal of resources in a country that faces severe fiscal problems, represent a new approach to policing modeled on the so-called “quality of life” policing familiar from New York City.
\n\nAnarchist comrade Dimitris Chatzivasiliadis, whose ongoing persecution we detailed in our last report, was arrested on August 9 after an expropriation attempt at a bank. He had been on the run since 2019, sentenced in absentia to 16 years during the trial of Vangelis Stathopolous. Since his arrest, he has been transferred to isolation in Athens’ notorious Korydallos prison. Dimitris released a statement regarding his current imprisonment and the circumstances of his arrest. In previous statements while on the run, Dimitris discussed a police raid in 2019 and expressed solidarity with Michael Reinoehl and the broader struggle in the United States.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/Prosfygika/status/1426240029865693189\n\n\n
A banner hung in Athens in solidarity with Dimitris.
\n\nAs discussed in our February report, a huge movement exploded in response to the hunger strike of Dimitris Koufontinas. Dozens of individuals are still facing charges, fines, and other forms of ongoing repression as a consequence. A group is soliciting financial support.
\n\nIn addition, Tameio, which provides support to long-term prisoners, is soliciting funds continuously, especially following the lockdown and the lifting of the university asylum policy, both of which have rendered previous forms of fundraising almost impossible.
\n\nThe summer months have not eased our frustration; they have just shifted the focus of our anxieties from the pandemic to the climate. The state’s simultaneously authoritarian and neglectful response to the fires, the refugee crisis, and the pandemic showcases an approach to governing that may become more common around the world as conditions continue to deteriorate.
\n\nSeveral difficult trials lie ahead here. If universities open in the spring, the students will face armed police after decades during which the campuses were legally recognized as spaces of freedom. Thousands will be compensated for homes destroyed during these fires—at least until the headlines shift attention to some other subject. The pandemic and the economic crisis show no signs of abating.
\n\nNonetheless, direct action, mutual aid campaigns, and organizing efforts continue, along with actions in solidarity with struggles across the world. The future is unpredictable, but we’ll meet it on our feet.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/09/09/5.jpg\")
\nThis update is part of a long-term effort to foster international awareness of and solidarity with the anarchist movement in Greece. The authors have provided consistent updates here over the past few years. This report is no longer associated with the Bad News Report, but we encourage you to check out their podcast for updates on movements in Greece and abroad. We also recommend athens.indymedia.org. Abolition Media Worldwide also consistently posts in English about events in Greece.
\n\n" }, { "id": "https://crimethinc.com/2021/06/28/hot-summer-in-greece-the-lockdown-abates-the-struggle-continues", "url": "https://crimethinc.com/2021/06/28/hot-summer-in-greece-the-lockdown-abates-the-struggle-continues", "title": "Hot Summer in Greece : The Lockdown Abates—the Struggle Continues", "summary": "Our correspondents describe the state of the anarchist movement after the easing of the lockdown and review the court cases remaining from last year.", "image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/06/28/header.jpg", "banner_image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/06/28/header.jpg", "date_published": "2021-06-28T19:46:14Z", "date_modified": "2025-11-09T15:25:54Z", "tags": [ "Greece" ], "content_html": "In this update, our correspondents in Greece describe the state of the anarchist movement following the easing of the lockdown and review the court cases that remain from the last year of struggle.
\n\nThe transition out of the lockdown is surreal. Are we refreshed, relieved, or simply desensitized? We continue to face the same uncertainty that COVID-19 has imposed on humanity for the past year and a half.
\n\nSome measures remain in place, but the general feeling is that summer is here and we should cherish it while it lasts. Despite initial delays, the vaccine rollout is resolving itself as would be expected in the first-world European Union. In this situation, the Greek administration has abruptly opened everything despite consistently high infection rates, hospitalization numbers, and looming variants.
\n\nWhile some may be relieved that they no longer need permission from the state to leave home and that the curfew is now later and barely enforced, it’s hard not to feel that the past year of our lives has been used up in an authoritarian experiment having more to do with political consolidation then public health.
\n\nOn May 14, a day when over two thousand cases of COVID-19 were reported—triple the caseload of early January when lockdown was at its harshest—the authorities lifted the requirement to provide the state with a text message or written form to go outside. There was no beating around the bush: the lockdown ended so Greece could open up for tourist season. Last year, the tourist season also determined when Greece opened up; this likely was one of the most significant contributors to bringing more cases into the country. The authorities here have employed every opportunity to push policy and assert their power, especially when we were at our most vulnerable. Now it should be clear to all that it is not the health of the vulnerable that determines when a pandemic is considered over, but the demands of the business elite in the face of a persistent economic crisis.
\n\nWe have said again and again that a pandemic response that channels hospital and medical funding to the police and military is not aimed at protecting those who might fall victim to the virus, but rather at preserving the status quo at all costs, heedless of the consequences.
\n\nNone of this is surprising. It always feels degrading to watch AirBnB backpackers gazing at graffiti in Exarchia, or German and American tourists flocking to all the “best Greek restaurants” (all of which, mysteriously, are concentrated around the Acropolis), and to be told that it’s fortunate they are here, since otherwise we would still have to worry about being caught outside after curfew and receiving a fine of 300 euros—half the median Greek salary.
\n\nSo there is an element of relief, but we cannot forget the tragedies and repression we’ve reported on throughout the lockdown. The most egregious cases have gone unrecorded, in prisons and refugee camps.
\n\nSome squats evicted during lockdown have been re-occupied since the “re-opening,” such as Rosa Nera in Chania, Crete. The squat Empros in Pssirri, Athens, an autonomous theater, was briefly evicted but immediately re-occupied. A new squat has also opened in the center of Athens, despite the New Democracy pledge to eradicate them all by December 2020. “We dont die, we just multiply,” as the saying goes.
\n\nPeople have mobilized around the Rosa Nera squat in Chania, Crete.
\nIn June 2021, a walking tour through the Athenian neighborhood of Exarchia sponsored by the European Union and the city government was cancelled due to fear of anti-gentrification riots. We are meeting each other once again in the squares and in the streets with a little less weight on our shoulders.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/Agisilaos_K/status/1408871431916691456\n\n\n
Clashes broke out recently on Agrafa Mountain to block the construction of wind turbines that will destroy vital habitats; no one was sleeping during lockdown, only navigating restraints. Mutual aid efforts supporting refugees and prisoners remain indispensable. We all are re-discovering life after lockdown in our own ways. Isolation, defeat, and the general feeling of disempowerment that loomed throughout the lockdown had long-term effects on individuals and on the movement as a whole. For those who already struggled with mental illness, the last months were not helpful, to say the least.
\n\nClashes on Agrafa Mountain.
\nThis moment of relief won’t last. We are waking up to a changed Greece. The government has just passed a new anti-union and anti-labor bill to emulate the market in the United States, stripping workers of rights. Many policies and precedents introduced under the guise of the lockdown remain in place.
\n\nEven after the lockdown, we will never forget the things we have seen and experienced. We think of the woman ticketed for leaving a flower to remember the students murdered by the Junta at the polytechnic on November 17, 1973. We remember the flowers that riot police stole from an elderly woman and then smashed just meters away from the memorial for Alexandros Grigoropoulos on December 6. We bear in mind the reign of systematic terror that prisoners, refugees, and immigrants endured throughout the lockdown as police seized the opportunity to detain and punish whomever they did not welcome to Greece. We remember the bulldozers that hurried to the mountains and forests to destroy and develop them when the lockdown and the virus itself rendered resistance more difficult. We remember how the police beat anyone who dared to take to the streets—the war waged on Nea Smirni after the neighborhood stood up to police assaults—the girl in Nea Smirni who took on the police herself to courageously protect her friend, only to face threats of sexual assault and torture for hours following her interrogation. We are haunted by violent episodes in which the police hunted us without fear of judicial punishment, while we risked everything to prevent the lockdown from destroying everything we love.
\n\nWe remember the games that the authorities played with the life of Dimitris Koufontinas, and the symbolism that they sought to achieve in their response to his struggle. We remember how the homeless were fined, the parties of the rich, the scandals prioritized to distract us, the inconsistencies that would have been absurd if they weren’t so degrading. We remember the stranded migrant workers who still continue to struggle for their pay, the comrades who were kidnapped by police, the unprecedented punishments framed as a new era of “law and order.” We remember the million-euro Christmas lights no one could see because of the curfew. And while the lockdown is all but lifted now, we can’t help but recall the temporary re-openings for Christmas shopping and Easter.
\n\nThe lockdown also exacerbated rampant domestic violence and assaults on woman, excused by the apologists of the church and its followers. We are experiencing an interruption of patriarchal narratives in this country: a man who murdered his wife and dog cried on television that “immigrants” broke into his house, only for it to emerge afterwards that he was the perpetrator. All the same, he has received the benefit of the doubt from the orthodox state and its press.
\n\nShortly after this domestic femicide, a woman who took on a cleaning job was kidnapped, locked inside a house, and repeatedly raped. The police would not enter the building—it wasn’t a priority for them compared to raiding squats—so the man was able to flee. Afterwards, police confronted demonstrations about this incident and patriarchy as a whole. All the same, people are rushing to the streets, and the violence that plagued households during lockdown will not be accepted.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/Rvoluti69565853/status/1407681848289996800\n\n\n
We anticipate another failed tourist season. We anticipate that Greece will continue to hide its economic crisis by means of European Union funding. We anticipate the middle class receiving handouts at the expense of those deemed undesirable. We anticipate harsher repression attending the New Democracy campaign to “modernize” Greece.
\n\nDespite all these challenges, our movements remain strong. Solidarity actions supporting political prisoners and struggles here and elsewhere around the world still occur in the night and manifest in graffiti and banners across the country. Clandestine actions continue—as do demonstrations, despite their being essentially criminalized. Despite the rescinding of the university asylum policy, some universities are once again being used to host events, skill shares, and parties to fund projects and prisoners. We are here. We are coming out dazed, but we are very much here.
\n\nIn this report, we will focus on the cases of some of the many prisoners and defendants who are in no position to share in the relief of the end of the lockdown.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/06/28/1.jpg\")
A feminist demonstration protesting against rape and femicide in Greece.
\nThe bureaucrats who run the Greek prison system are intent on emulating the worst of America’s prison-industrial complex. Dozens upon dozens of people are facing fines and trials for courageously taking action during this last lockdown despite the state’s efforts to intimidate them. Many court cases drag on for years or continue to be postponed due to COVID-19; regardless of whether they are ever convicted, the defendants endure restrictive measures that seriously affect their lives. As in the Biden administration’s response to the Capitol riots in January, the Greek state is using last year’s verdict against Golden Dawn to maintain a façade of “judicial fairness,” enabling them to clamp down on anarchists, immigrants, and others the state deems undesirable. They hope to introduce a more draconian regime of repression behind the rhetoric of neoliberal modernity.
\n\nNonetheless, people continue to act in solidarity with immigrants and refugees and to organize noise demonstrations outside prisons. We will not be deterred.
\n\nWhile some of the fundraising drives described here have been completed, an urgent need for funds remains. Specifically, Tameio, which provides support to long-term prisoners, needs funds continuously, especially following the lockdown and the lifting of the university asylum policy.
\n\n\n\n\n“Solidarity is judged on my person with the heaviest accusations, because I helped an injured comrade. My prosecution and trial are based solely on political criteria, on the attitude of dignity and solidarity that I have consistently followed throughout my life. I have nothing to dispose of but my own life; I have nothing to defend despite the constant struggle against the murderous rage of the state and capital! If my practical solidarity is the crime for which I am convicted and imprisoned, I declare myself unrepentant!”
\n\n-Vangelis Stathopoulos
\n
In October 2019, there was an attempt to expropriate a state-owned gambling facility. The anarchist fugitive Dimitris\nChatzivasileiadis has claimed responsibility for this. Due to a tragic mistake during the attempt, a gun used in the robbery went off, and Chatzivasileiadis shot himself, according to his own account. Bleeding profusely and unable to go to a hospital, he turned to a long-lost friend who is now accused of helping him. The authorities carried out a campaign of “anti-terror” raids, and ultimately took this friend, Vangelis Stathopolous, into custody. He was held in pre-trial detention for over a year and a half.
\n\nOn account of these accusations, and of Stathopolous being a long-term anarchist known to the authorities, Stathopolous was sentenced in April to 19 years without the possibility of suspension. Chatzivasileiadis has been sentenced to sixteen years in absentia, and a third individual to ten years. While in the United States, “aiding and abetting” is defined broadly and judicial punishment has no bounds—especially in so called “anti-terror” cases—Greece historically has not inflicted punishments comparable to those in the United States.1 Spearheaded by the current administration, the Greek far right aim to replicate that judicial system here, especially when it comes to targeting their opponents.
\n\nThere is essentially no evidence that Stathopolous participated in the attempted expropriation beyond the fact that he helped his friend to deal with the ensuing medical emergency. He is being sentenced under the anti-terror law for allegedly being involved in the organization “Revolutionary Self-Defense,” a group that has been defunct for years.
\n\nSince the verdict, people have organized a passionate campaign of solidarity with Vangelis Stathopolous, defying the opportunistic state COVID-19 lockdown measures. Graffiti and banner campaigns have occurred across the country. Massive fundraising efforts have taken place; in one case, people took over a university campus to hold an event supporting him, despite the fact that the suspension of the university asylum policy makes this especially risky. A group signing themselves “Flame Diffusion Gang” took responsibility for burning a tax office near the site where the “anti-terror” raids took place. People are collecting donations to support Stathopolous via this firefund.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/06/28/2.jpg\")
“Freedom for V. Stathopolous.”
\nOn May 24, 2021, in the notorious Domokos prison, a prison Mafia gang attacked anarchist fighter Giannis Dimitrakis for refusing to submit to their authority. He survived this assault on his life, but it left him in critical condition. Nonetheless, Dimitrakis continues to refuse to cooperate with this prison gang and remains strong.
\n\nDomokos is the same prison that holds Dimitris Koufontinas following his hunger strike. At the Korydallos prison in Athens, anarchists have historically received more respect than in other prisons, diminishing the risk of gang attacks; it is also easier for their families to visit them there, as Athens is more accessible. However, as the authorities intentionally transfer more anarchist and revolutionary political prisoners across the country, Korydallos is also becoming less safe, as the prison mafias gain more power via informal collaboration with the state.
\n\nDomokos prison is the highest-security prison in Greece; as its location is difficult to access, being transferred there makes visitation more difficult for prisoners’ families and friends. Above all, the state is intent on facilitating violence against anarchists and political prisoners by prison gangs, many of which have fascist leanings, cooperative relationships with the guards, and little sympathy for the sort of causes a political prisoner would be incarcerated for. Some comparisons can be drawn to the case of Eric King in the United States, in that King’s transfer was a deliberate attempt to isolate him from supporters and tear up what roots he had been able to put down in prison, exposing him to attacks from fascists and guards. This falls in line with the strategy of Sofia Nikolaou, the “general secretary of anti-crime policy” who regulates prisons.
\n\nWe have noted this case in prior reports: four people were arrested on conspiracy charges based on the 187a anti-terrorist law. The state, claiming that these four individuals are part of a terrorist organization known as “comrades,” has attempted to charge them with every political action that has ever been claimed with a communiqué signed “comrades”—54 actions in all. Of course, a wide range of people have claimed clandestine actions under the name “comrades” for years and years. Though this case seems unlikely to result in a conviction, it’s obvious that the state is using this conspiracy charge to harass and financially drain people that they consider to be a political threat.
\n\nThe defendants were arrested in an anti-terror operation conducted on March 8 and 9, 2020. After being detained for a week, they were released under harsh conditions. Despite neither having gone to trial nor being accused of specific crimes, the four defendants have to pay exorbitant legal fees and report their whereabouts to the police every ten days; they are forbidden to associate with each other or with “political people,” to leave the country, and to enter the neighborhood of Exarchia or participate in any “political events.” Their bank accounts are blocked, as well.
\n\nOne of the four has been forced to return to his hometown despite living in Athens for years. His permit to drive a motorcycle has also been rescinded. The intention of the authorities is clearly to use conspiracy charges and the anti-terror law to terrorize people, regardless of evidence or conviction.
\n\nYou can read more about their case and how to support them here.
\n\nEight people currently face felony charges for an action against the dean of the economics school, who was responsible for evicting a local social center and the squat Vancouver. A campaign to support the humiliated dean mobilized New Democracy supporters who were shocked to see a high-ranking professional humiliated by being compelled to wear a sign that said “solidarity to the squats.” They offered a reward of a hundred thousand euros for information on who might be responsible—a considerable sum, especially in the midst of an economic crisis.
\n\nThe police rounded up people on the basis of little evidence apart from claims that the arrestees have connections to the movement. The defendants appear to have been chosen on the basis of association and reputation, another precedent in the fabrication of “conspiracy” or “criminal organization.” This case is ongoing; you can read more about the defendants and how to support them here.
\n\nVarious individuals face charges from the uprising that took place against police brutality in March in the neighborhood of Nea Smirni in Athens, explored in detail here. The police responded by beating and arresting individuals at random in the neighborhood, including a woman that they also tortured and threatened with rape. Officers conducted an anti-terror operation targeting a social center to capture one individual, despite lacking evidence.
\n\nOne person with scarcely any connection to the anarchist movement remains in prison to this day over this incident, despite evidence contradicting the case against him. He is an Iraqi-born Greek citizen known as “The Indian” in the hooligan scene and mainstream press, a hooligan of the Olympiacos football club. Police raided his home and attempted to charge him on the basis of the testimony of an estranged relative who has a feud with him. Police are also claiming his possession of a track suit as evidence—when every hooligan all the world over owns a track suit. Xenophobic corporate press have demonized him for being born in Iraq.
\n\nAn exculpatory video has surfaced showing the defendant playing basketball at the time that the riot was taking place. However, the judicial council has claimed that this video of him elsewhere at the time of the alleged crime is not enough; consequently, the authorities continue to hold him in pretrial detention. We are unfamiliar with the defendant’s views on the events that took place and with his politics, if he has any. His case highlights the way that police and judges in Greece can target people without proper judicial proceedings, especially when the case involves an attack against one of their own.
\n\nGiannis Michailidis, who escaped from prison, was captured along with two more people, Konstantina Athanasopoulou and Dimitra Valavani. Police claim to have found weapons and fake documents in the vehicle with him. Michailidis claims full responsibility for any crimes being prosecuted in the case against his two co-defendants. Athanasopoulou and Valavani, the two women allegedly present at the time of his recapture, are facing conspiracy and anti-terror charges.
\n\nDimitra Valavani has given multiple statements detailing assault by police forces, specifically in the matter of providing her DNA. While Michailidis claims full responsibility for the weapons that the police found and his own escape from prison, the state is once again seeking to fabricate a “criminal organization.” Michailidis and his co-defendants refuse to cooperate. They have repeatedly demonstrated remarkable strength, under the circumstances, conducting a hunger strike with Dimitris Koufontinas.
\n\nPostponed repeatedly, the first stage of the trial finally took place in June. The judicial proceedings will likely stretch out over the coming months.
\n\nSolidarity is indispensable. Though we face unprecedented escalation, we will prevail—as the saying goes, “Our solidarity is stronger than any prison cell.”
\n\nThis update is part of a long-term effort to foster international awareness of and solidarity with the anarchist movement in Greece. The authors have provided consistent updates here over the past few years. However, this report is no longer associated with the Bad News Report in Greece, though we encourage you to follow the podcast for updates on movements in Greece and abroad.
\n\nWe also recommend athens.indymedia.org. Abolition Media Worldwide consistently posts in English about events in Greece. Act for Freedom Now recently had its servers stolen by the Dutch government but is back online.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/emdouk/status/1407448258486673408\n\n\n
In the United States, political prisoners from the 1960s and ’70s are still serving sentences. In some cases, political prisoners are held in solitary confinement for decades and decades. ↩
\nIt is the beginning of April and the mental impact of the lockdown has become even more surreal as the seasons change. The acts of resistance over the past few weeks have been both beautiful and terrifying. Meanwhile, the government continues to restrict our freedoms while opening Greece to tourists and business—in spite of infection rates averaging between 3000 and 4000 cases of COVID-19 a day, putting Greece third to last in the EU in terms of managing the crisis. In the following report, we describe the conclusion of the hunger strike of Dimitris Koufontinas, the clashes of March 9, and more.
\n\nThis report is brought to you by anarchists on the ground in Greece. You can read our previous reports from Greece starting here. A full list of resources on struggles in Greece is included at the end.
\n\nWe are happy to report that Dimitris Koufontinas, a November 17 political prisoner of the Greek state, is still alive after surviving a 65-day hunger strike. The state has repeatedly rejected his demands to be moved back to the prison where he has spent the majority of his sentence, closer to his family, despite Dimitris’ potentially fatal hunger strike. He ended his hunger strike following pressure from his family and certain political groups, acknowledging that he had exhausted every legal option available. Though he will face permanent health consequences, he inspired many to take to the streets or to the night.
\n\nKoufontinas did not achieve his demands, though all he was asking for was his supposed legal rights. This was unlikely all along, especially under this administration, which is directly descended from the same authoritarian dynasty Koufontinas fought against. We celebrate his act of defiance and the catalyzing effect it has had for other rebels. In our last report, we explained our political differences with Koufontinas, who has never been an anarchist; at the same time, it is important to express solidarity with him as a struggling political prisoner.
\n\nEvery day for weeks, small groups of courageous people took the streets in support of Koufontinas; despite their small numbers, they faced the kind of police brutality—water cannons included—usually reserved for riots. The protests grew in size as it became increasingly obvious that the state was prepared to let Koufontinas die. The tensions arising from both the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s opportunism in using it to accelerate their repressive agenda contributed to setting the stage for this moment. But this last stand by a well-known political prisoner was what forced thousands of people to overcome their fear and come out of lockdown.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1368111955043627009\n\n\n
Demonstrations took place every day. An ungovernable force emerged; both sides knew that if the police pushed things too far, it would cause an explosion. If one day saw smaller numbers, the police would take the opportunity to attack, only to see numbers multiply the following day. Nighttime actions expanded alongside the daily demonstrations. Over five hundred attacks occurred, targeting municipal buildings, police stations, right-wing media outlets, and even the personal cars of police at their homes. With police focused on the central demonstrations and unsure where people might strike next, the attacks became so frequent that private security were hired to guard the homes of prominent politicians and businessmen.
\n\nAnarchists, autonomists, students, anti-fascists, lawyers, extra-parliamentary and even parliamentary left groups marched side by side against the effort of the New Democracy government to mark the end of an era with the death of Koufontinas. They wanted to set the precedent that those who step out of line in the struggle against authoritarian institutions will die in prison, along with their dreams and the movements they represent. Yet the administration did not expect such a passion to manifest. The media was struggling to cover the clandestine actions without referencing the hunger strike that motivated these courageous acts. They tried to argue that the demonstrations were spreading COVID-19 while concealing the reason people were in the streets. Still, thousands took to the streets of Athens behind a banner reading “I was born on the 17th of November.”
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/04/07/6.jpg\")
A demonstration in solidarity with Dimitris Koufontinas.
\nIn Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, and elsewhere around the country, people mobilized despite the risk of arrest, fines, and detention. Protestors communicated that they were willing to risk their health and safety rather than forfeit their freedom. The massive demonstrations communicated that we do not mourn the relatives of the current junta, that we will not permit the ruling class or its media to present them as victims. Most importantly, they showed that those suffering and struggling against domination and exploitation behind bars will not be forgotten, that “the passion for freedom is stronger than their prison cells.” Despite the isolation of lockdown, there are many of us, and we are ready to ride the next wave of revolutionary tension against the state and capitalism together.
\n\nAs a consequence of the hunger strike, Koufontinas’s kidneys nearly failed; he was forced to receive dialysis. This being his fifth and longest hunger strike to date, he suffered significant deterioration of his health that will have long-term effects. It is a remarkable and inspiring feat that he survived for so long on nothing more then a vitamin serum and his own integrity and motivation.
\n\nKoufontinas’s demands were absolutely within his legal rights. We do not recognize the state’s so-called justice system, nor expect anything just from it. After the media and state apparatus were forced to respond to domestic and foreign political pressure, they needed to claim that Koufontinas had not followed the appropriate protocol to present his demands, claiming that it was absurd he would turn to a hunger strike. “If we give into his demands, we will have to do the same for rapists who will starve themselves the next time they want something,” said Sofia Nicholau, the Trump-loving Greek Minister of Prisons, once the hunger strike became a scandal she could no longer ignore.
\n\nKoufontinas’s lawyers went public after Nicholau’s statement, announcing that they had already pursued the legal route multiple times, and that they would return to the courts to contest the state’s refusal to honor Koufontinas’s rights. His lawyers attempted to appeal the decision of his new transfer, as well as to make the case that returning him to the prison of Korydallos in Athens would protect his health and calm the situation. The lawyers updated the public throughout the appeals, given the feeling that there could be a looming civil war if Koufontinas died. All the judicial avenues that the government claimed the lawyers had not tried, the state had actually rejected, pushing Koufontinas closer and closer to death. Fortunately, Koufontinas is a revolutionary, not a martyr. He was informed of the achievements of his strike; once the deceptions of the courts and the administration were exposed in regards to his supposed rights, he chose to stop his hunger strike.
\n\nThe forms of state repression that political movements have faced in Greece have varied throughout the years, but they have only become comparable to those in countries like the United States since the New Democracy government assumed power. The Greek state is hurrying to modernize its tactics via a permanent offensive against political opponents that includes technological advances, so-called “quality of life” policing, and intensifying investigations and punishment through the creation of new anti-terror laws. New Democracy is communicating that nothing will stop them from enforcing this new status quo. This is a wake-up call to revolutionary movements here: we must adapt and grow accordingly, to ensure that this repression cannot crush the possibility of resistance.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1370083252954931206\n\n\n
The demonstration against police violence on March 9 created a new situation nationwide, enabling us to breathe more freely on the streets and in the squares of Athens. We understand these events in the context of the resurgence of resistance sparked by Koufontinas’s hunger strike, the constant student demonstrations, and the relentless police repression, but they deserve recounting in detail.
\n\nThe demonstrations in the center of Athens in solidarity with Koufontinas were unrelenting, growing day by day, as we believed that his death was drawing closer. The movement was already putting its foot out the door, testing the waters to discover what was possible amid the lockdown; it was time to start wading through. Protesters showed up despite the risks; society at large was also tired of this continuing authoritarian experiment. While ICUs filled and infection rates soared, it became clear that there was no logic to the controls that police were forcing on us, despite media attempts to scare us all into unquestioning acceptance. What happened on March 9 in Nea Smirni was undoubtedly a product of the broader tensions simmering across the country, and it illustrated what it means for a revolt to generalize beyond the typical protester demographics.
\n\nThe weekend before March 9, police conducted checks on families in a popular square to see if they had sent the proper SMS to the state telephone service or could provide paperwork showing they had the right to be outside in accordance with COVID-19 mandates. Officers harassed one family, writing a 300-euro ticket simply for sitting in the square. Then the police brutalized a man who spoke up against this; fortunately, someone caught this on video. Eventually, they arrested him and continued their abuse off camera. At first, the police claimed that they captured the man after 30 people had attacked them. The media pushed this narrative, but it turned out to be a blatant fabrication. The original video went viral, undermining the narrative that the media had spread.
\n\nPolice have taken advantage of the excuse of the lockdown to perpetrate this sort of violence constantly in Athens and across the country. In diverse neighborhoods such as Kipseli, as well as areas like Exarchia that are deemed anti-cop zones, police harass people of color, immigrants, and refugees without fear that anyone will speak up for their rights or courts consider their pleas. Without dismissing the brutality and authoritarianism of the officers, it is likely that the video of this beating and the reports of police harassment received mainstream media coverage because Nea Smirni is a middle-class, predominately white Greek neighborhood. What was caught on camera was considered evidence of police wrongdoing only because the victims were the sort of people that the police exist to protect. Therefore, the media—which had ignored demonstrations in the thousands and instances of brutality condemned by the likes of Amnesty International—had no choice but to publish the images of this man being beaten and police without masks screaming in the faces of families for violating lockdown.
\n\nLeftists, community organizers, and anarchists called for a demonstration against the police in the main square of Nea Smirini, where the video was filmed. This demonstration was distinguished from those in Propylea and Syntagma in the city center by the participation of massive numbers of people from the neighborhood. It is estimated that ten thousand people were in the square for this march, with formal organizations accounting for only part of that number. Anarchists were present and ready to fight, but so were grandparents, teenagers, and children from the neighborhood who were sickened by the assault.
\n\nThe police were on the defensive, as the violence in the viral video could not be denied, and the eyes that were opened through watching it could easily wander to countless other accounts of brutality, repression, and torture. Many joined the demonstration assuming that the police would keep their distance, especially as left and right media outlets hinted at signs of a repeat of 2008 if the police didn’t show restraint. In a calculated display of tolerance, MAT and Delta police used for crowd control were stationed near the demonstration, but in a defensive position at the nearby police station and mobile command posts. We assumed that the police wouldn’t fuck around and find out, and the gigantic demonstration would be just that: a demonstration.
\n\nThe police did not expect such a huge number of locals who do not normally attend demonstrations. They also did not anticipate the unprecedented collaboration between hooligan clubs such as AEK, Atromitos, Panionios, and Olympiacos, all of which informally united against the police and joined the demonstration. The animosity against the police was enough to rally those who typically cannot even sit near each other without stabbing one another. The hooligans brought an exciting and spontaneous strength to the gathering in Nea Smirni; alongside anarchists and anti-fascists, they reshaped the expectations of the demonstration.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/04/07/4.jpg\")
Graffiti on the AEK club in Exarchia, beside the memorial to Alexandros Grigoropoulos.
\nWhile police kept their distance, local residents, anarchists, and hooligans took the march to the local police station. They clashed with riot police and tear gas, then attempted to move towards the local mayor’s office, at which point the police began charging the crowd on motorbikes. The march broke up into roving groups of angry residents, hooligans, anarchists, and anti-fascists. Blocs of individuals carrying sticks, rocks, flares, Molotov cocktails, and whatever else they could find took over the streets. Many small battles went unreported, from families throwing rocks at the local police station to police throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators—but one revolutionary moment was caught on video.
\n\nA team of Delta police were using their motorbikes to charge rioters at a nearby highway entrance to Nea Smirni. Hundreds fled, yet one individual could be seen running forward—that one spark that can start the proverbial prairie fire. This courageous individual ran towards the Delta police and grabbed one officer from his motorbike, throwing him to the ground. Instantly, dozens more rushed courageously toward the police. The other Delta police abandoned their colleague and fled. This is not surprising, as their bond is produced by a paycheck while our connections are inspired by the passion for freedom. The officer was beaten, but the assailants consciously spared his life. Though the police tried to keep distance on March 9, they had reaped what they sowed via innumerable harassments and assaults.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/815_1979/status/1369591964182732806\n\n\n
\nhttps://twitter.com/s_txvd/status/1369359007580880907\n\n\n
People retreated, despite the police abandoning their own. Police across the city responded with a wave of terror targeting Nea Smirni. Video footage of the announcement on their radios showed police rallying and screaming “We will kill them all,” though some TV channels adjusted this to “they will kill him” to protect public image.
\n\nThe police arrested people at random that night. They beat teenagers mercilessly and raided people’s homes and stores, treating everyone in the neighborhood as a target. One teenage girl who couldn’t bear to watch her friend being beaten by Delta police tried to intervene, only to be beaten and threatened with rape. Videos filmed throughout the night appeared online, showing the nature of the police, while many arrests took place that night and over the following days. An “anti-terror” task force arrested a participant in the activist collective Masovka outside a social center; you can view an interview with a member of this collective about his arrest and torture here.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/partizanGreece/status/1369381093745561601\n\n\n
\nhttps://twitter.com/amfetamini/status/1369349989399474178\n\n\n
Police have arrested several people from hooligan clubs in alleged connection with the beating of the Delta cop, notably including an Iraqi-born hooligan from the team of Olympiacos. This arrest was carried out solely based on the testimony of a troubled relative of the arrestee, and apparent video evidence that this individual was at work at the time in an entirely different region has since become public. Yet despite multiple sources of evidence that this person wasn’t even in the area at the time of the event, he remains in prison—and likely will until the police find someone else to blame.
\n\nThe prime minister went on television to mourn the injured Delta cop, pleading for unity while dismissing the police brutality that had provoked the demonstration. Right-wing press attempted to cast police as victims in order to excuse the behavior of the police, implying that one officer down is worse then an entire society living in constant fear. Nonetheless, demonstrations took place in neighborhoods across the country as people everywhere came together against the police. It wasn’t possible to create a media narrative depicting isolated events, as even suburbs saw the kind of demonstrations that are usually typical only of anarchist groups in the center of Athens.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/04/07/1.jpg\")
\nRepression continues to this day. However, with the exception of a few rebellious neighborhoods like Exarchia, immigrant neighborhoods, refugee camps, and prisons, the police have been forced to take a step back—undoubtedly as a result of people uniting against them.
\n\nHooligans provided considerable strength to the March 9 demonstration. It was not simply anarchists in the videos we saw that day, though they were a significant force in the streets. Likewise, this was not an isolated event; hooligans have contributed to various revolutionary moments in Greece, especially the uprising of December 2008. Personally, we have some criticisms of the culture associated with hooliganism. We are critical of the psychology of micro-nationalism that lies at its foundation, and the associated misogyny and sexism. Especially in Greece, the relationship between mafia, business elites, and hooligan clubs is obvious. Yet we should not dismiss hooligans out of hand. This milieu, originally born of poverty, which has despised the police from the beginning, deserves our consideration.
\n\nIn Greece, athletics are accessible to all from an early age—much more so than punk rock or hip hop, for example, which provide many people an introduction to politics here. Unlike in the United States, where youth culture has been depoliticized, professional sports and hooligan clubs play a major part in Greek society and many people’s politicization, for better and for worse. You cannot walk around the cities or even the countryside in Greece without seeing hooligan graffiti—including anti-fascist, anarchist, or fascist and nationalist graffiti alongside club tags. Many young people find identity and community in hooligan and sports clubs from an early age, and subsequently discover politics and conscious contempt for certain institutions through this experience.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/04/07/3.jpg\")
\nFor example, AEK, a mainstream sports team on par with the US NBA or NFL, has a larger presence of anti-fascist fans, while teams such as Olympiacos tend to draw more fascist fans. There are fascists and anti-fascists in both clubs, but the point remains that hooliganism is a gateway to politics for many, despite all its flaws. When you think about the school shootings in the USA involving alienated youth who are unable to find community or any outlet for frustration, it may be that hooliganism or fan clubs represent a healthier outlet for existential dread. Throughout history, sports have been used to perpetuate spectatorship and protect the status quo; again, for better and worse, hooliganism has sometimes challenged this. In any case, on March 9 in Nea Smirni, these clubs shared the joy of solidarity and revenge with anarchists and other residents.
\n\nGrappling with the potential and flaws of hooliganism as a presence alongside the anarchist movement in Greece, we are reminded of the words of Alfredo Bonanno:
\n\n\n\n\n“It is never possible to balance liberatory violence with the conditions of struggle. The process of liberation is excessive by nature. In the direction of overabundance or in that of deficiency.”
\n
Hoping to suppress a tradition of university asylum nearly fifty years old, the government continues push police onto campuses. This is taking place alongside efforts to privatize education, destroy movement infrastructure, and modernize the country according to a neoliberal paradigm. Yet students and other young people continue to take to the streets, expressing that police will never be welcome on campuses or in schools. As of now, the schools remain closed, so it remains a hypothetical fight, but the stakes will be concrete very soon.
\n\nCat-and-mouse occupations continue at universities across the country. Students will occupy a building, lose it in a police raid, then occupy another building the following day. The university headquarters in Thessaloniki has become a sort of autonomous zone, having been raided and reoccupied multiple times. It remains resilient, in the spirit of the student struggles from which it emerged, demonstrating how communities can remain safer without the police. It has been used as a community resource center, providing free classes, skill shares, and various other mutual aid efforts.
\n\nStudent demonstrations across the country continue despite COVID-19, and are expected to intensify as lockdown is eased and the state’s new campus policies are put to the test as schools re-open.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/chris_avramidis/status/1369018074205130755\n\n\n
It is degrading to witness the state’s desperate attempt to reopen ahead of the upcoming tourist season despite record infection rates. All these months of living in purgatory, with our “freedoms” measured according to the state’s capitalist definition of survival, are coming to an end so they can open up the country like a zoo.
\n\nThe failure of their policies is obvious, whether in the contradictions of government mandates or the tragedy unfolding in Greek hospitals. The state has been put on the defensive. Yet the government continues to gaslight the population, arguing that the failure of these measures is the fault of citizens who did not follow them correctly.
\n\nWatching the authorities preparing to force the re-opening of retail and tourist attractions when infection rates are at their highest ever, one must ask if they are trying to push the peak higher in order to set a plateau that is more welcoming to tourists. This is just speculation, but it makes more sense than anything being spouted in parliament.
\n\nWhile the state pushes to reopen up for tourists, medical workers are demonstrating outside hospitals and the Ministry of Health, demanding PPE, ICU facility expansion, and the addressing of other basic needs related to this medical crisis. Members of the MAT riot squad—which, like the rest of Greek law enforcement, has enjoyed heightened salaries and budgets at the expense of hospitals and their staff—brutally attacked a recent demonstration by medical workers.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/velocity2121/status/1376899506235707394\n\n\n
In contrast to the United States, there is little effort to recognize essential workers as “heroes” here. In the US, efforts to celebrate delivery workers, grocery workers, and medical workers seem to be part of a capitalist strategy to create a war narrative, awarding “hero” status to certain workers while keeping their salaries low. In Greece, there are efforts to glorify the police and military during COVID-19, and their budgets have been increased—despite their serving no tangible role in addressing the pandemic. Meanwhile, delivery workers, grocery workers, medical workers, and other essential laborers are considered fortunate to have a job at all during this time. They face harassment, violence, and the wrath of the state if they demand anything more then the privilege of employment.
\n\nNo lockdown that divests from hospitals to expand police and military budgets is truly aimed at protecting people’s health. Such a lockdown can only be an experiment in authoritarianism. Following the generalized revolt in March, police have passively stepped back from enforcing the lockdown. Everyone has witnessed how the government has taken advantage of the virus to push new policies and restructure everyday life. While many people recognize the disastrous impact that a spike in COVID-19 can have on hospitals and the vulnerable, most have simply become jaded.
\n\nOf course, police still run rampant in Exarchia and chase people of color to impose lockdown fines and detentions, but most people simply don’t care anymore and act accordingly. What other reaction is possible when German tourists are landing in Crete for holidays while those who live here are forbidden to travel more then two kilometers from their homes?
\n\nTo put it simply, the government has failed. It blames those it rules over for its failures, but its entire existence is rationalized by the notion that it can protect us from ourselves and from unprecedented events. Yet it has not protected us—it has failed to protect us. This is further proof that the state is a mere nuisance, if not a scourge—that it exists only to preserve a status quo that benefits a privileged class at everyone else’s expense.
\n\nSince New Democracy came to power, the Greek state has been doubling down on repressing anarchist militants. However, despite fear, our movement remains strong and resilient, with a firm and broad solidarity. Fines, arrests, detentions, lengthy trials, and fabricated anti-terror cases are unrelenting, yet the movement continues.
\n\nThe situation in Greek prisons continues to deteriorate, due both to COVID-19 and to the Minister of Prisons Sofia Nikolaou using additional funding to inflate staff salaries rather than securing the safety of prisoners. While many court cases are ongoing, we want to highlight a few in particular.
\n\nErrol, an anarchist born in France who was captured on December 6, was held in an immigrant detention facility and deported to France without trial, contrary to his legal rights in the European Union. He was able to make his way back to Greece, amazingly. Errol’s case represents an unprecedented move by the Greek state. Regardless, Errol was arrested again following an anti-racist rally in Athens and placed back in the immigrant detention facility known as Petrou Ralli. He was released following his detainment on March 29 and given 30 days to leave the country or face further legal proceedings. His courage in spite of the Greek state’s attempts to get rid of him is inspiring.
\n\nMeanwhile, the trial of anarchist comrade Vangelis Stathopoulos, accused for participation in the “Revolutionary Self-Defense Organization,” has resumed. The appeal court has also re-opened for the guerrilla organization “Revolutionary Struggle.”
\n\nThe trial of the anarchist comrade Dimitra Valavani has been postponed. Police violently took her DNA sample through intense intimidation and what has been described as torture, as cited in this statement.
\n\nWe hope that as the lockdown is eased and the seasons change, people do not become forgetful or complacent. We hope that we will remember the woman ticketed for setting a flower at a memorial for students killed at the Polytechnic in Exarchia on November 17, or the memorial flowers for Alexis Grigoropolous that a police officer destroyed on December 6, or the threats of rape and murder that police routinely address to us. We hope that people will remember how, during the lockdown, the police have turned a blind eye to open heroin trafficking and the brothels in which women were forced to work during the pandemic while attacking any expression of dissent. These are among the most egregious examples, but the widespread physical torture and brutality inflicted upon countless students, anarchists, and residents who chose to stand up to the police these last months must not be forgotten.
\n\nMany are preparing for this summer as if it is our last meal. We know from these last weeks that all this time, something has been growing—in our hearts and minds, in our courage and commitment. We have grown with many beyond our movements in a society in which COVID-19 has forcibly revealed the true nature of the state and capitalism. In a place where government management is more confusing and Kafkaesque than most places in the world, not even nationalism can blind people to the fact that the current regime has exploited this pandemic.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1378684885125230594\n\n\n
As we conclude this month’s report, a new squat has opened in Athens while an autonomous zone in the headquarters of the University of Thessaloniki continues to gain traction with the occupation of the Theater and Science department buildings. At the same time, assaults on refugee communities continue, the COVID-19 death toll is soaring, and police and fascists openly collaborated to attack a squatted social center in Thessaloniki on the 200th anniversary of Greece’s independence from Turkey.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1375164308481527816\n\n\n
These last weeks have inspired us, despite all the hurt that inevitably comes with witnessing the atrocities that compel us to resist. Solidarity to those struggling against the state and capitalism everywhere.
\n\nWe recommend athens.indymedia.org. Abolition media worldwide also consistently posts in English about events in Greece. Act for Free recently had its servers stolen by the Dutch state but is back online here now.
\n\nMany face significant charges, financial hardship due to fines amid unemployment, and serious bodily harm resulting from the events described in this report. Fighting repression with solidarity is a long-term process; we invite you to publicize and donate to the fund below as an expression of solidarity.
\n\nOngoing solidarity fund for persecuted and imprisoned revolutionaries in Greece.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/04/07/5.jpg\")
\nWe are writing from the same lockdown conditions here in Athens that we have reported on for months. Despite stringent measures—or perhaps because of the ways that the government has combined these with policies to promote tourism and consumption despite the pandemic—infection rates continue to soar. Hospitals have reached 89 percent ICU capacity accommodating COVID-19 cases.
\n\nOne ICU bed not used for COVID-19 is occupied by Dimitris Koufontinas, a long-term prisoner from the November 17 group. Over a month ago, we reported that he was on hunger strike, demanding better conditions and to be moved to Korydallos prison in Athens in order to be closer to his family and friends. He has been on hunger strike ever since.
\n\nOn February 22, Koufontinas asked the doctors to remove the IV providing him hydration in order to escalate his hunger strike to include water. This could make him the first political prisoner to die of a hunger strike in Europe since Bobby Sands (and several other members of the Irish Republican Army) in 1981. On February 23, the prosecutor’s office approved the forced feeding of Dimitris against his will.
\n\nMeanwhile, the New Democracy government continues to use the pandemic to implement far-right policies and target opponents. Behind the genteel manners with which they seek to present themselves as the new political center, the ghost of the military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974 has come back to haunt the country. Those who rule Greece today are directly descended—some by blood as well as through political lineage—from the Greeks who cooperated with the Nazis to deport the Jews from Thessaloniki and to fight the partisans of Peloponnesus and Pelion. They are the modern-day counterparts of those who collaborated with the US military against the communist guerrillas, using napalm to destroy the forests of Northern Greece.1
\n\nNew Democracy was the first political party to follow the 1970s Junta. They have been in power many times. The party that preceded them in power this time, Syriza, dramatically betrayed the hopes invested in it. As a consequence, New Democracy won majority control of parliament, placing Greek society entirely at the mercy of a single party. Their campaign hinged on promising their right wing base that they would take revenge against the left, anarchists, revolutionary groups, prisoners, refugees, and other targets of reactionary hatred. When they came to power, they inaugurated a new era of policing and repression involving new technology, anti-terror laws, US-style judicial punishment, so-called “quality of life” policing and investigations, and an unprecedented increase in police state and military funding. This left many in shock.
\n\nRemarkably, however, despite facing all of these challenges, the movement is remaining vibrant and visible. People are continuing to struggle against the odds. Facing this post-modern junta, we extend our love to everyone else around the world who is confronting the same neoliberal restructuring and fascist violence.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/02/25/1.jpg\")
“Once the military colonels—now it’s the bankers—down with the junta.”
\nDimitris Koufontinas is simply demanding to be moved back to the basement of Korydallos Prison in Athens, where he spent 16 years. He wishes to be closer to his family and legal team. His demand is completely within his legal rights (4760/2020, article 3).
\n\nKoufontinas is an accused member of the Revolutionary Organization 17 November (N17), an armed group that employed urban guerrilla tactics between 1975 and 2002. N17 emerged in response to the killings carried out by the Junta, taking its name from the date November 17, 1973, when state forces stormed the gate of the Polytechnic University in the neighborhood of Exarchia with a tank and murdered 24 people, including three teenagers and a five-year-old child. When the group disbanded, Koufontinas voluntarily turned himself in and received a life sentence.
\n\nWhile the history books and the descendants of their political adversaries2 deem them terrorists, N17 had quite a bit of popular support in Greece throughout their existence. For example, many people welcomed the killing of Evangelos Mallios, a policeman who specialized in torture under the junta, following the fall of the military dictatorship.
\n\nIt is true that Koufontinas is responsible for the deaths of multiple people, including industrialists, domestic and foreign military personnel, fascists, and police. But these deaths took place in the midst of a pitched struggle in which many people were killed on both sides, in which the state employed the vast majority of violent force. Many more people are suffering and dying today as a consequence of the xenophobic policies of the current regime than ever died at the hands of Koufontinas. New Democracy aims to set a precedent by letting him die while refusing to grant his legal rights—a precedent that will surely be extended to others, whether they share his politics or not. For these reasons, while there is much to say about ethics, strategy, and tactics, the most urgent matter is to identify the implications of what the government is doing and mobilize international solidarity.
\n\nThe Greek government aims to let Koufontinas die rather than honoring the rights that they are legally obliged to grant him. They are doing this, in part, to settle a personal score, as a relative of the Prime Minister was killed by N17. They also intend to send a message that the era of armed resistance in Greece is over, and Koufontinas will be its last face. On February 23, Sofia Nikolaou, the Minister of Prisons—who has used new funds from the state to inflate the salaries of corrections officers rather than providing protective equipment for prisoners, despite COVID-19 running rampant in Greek prisons—stated that Koufontinas is victimizing himself, that the true victims are those he murdered. This indicates that the decision to deny Koufontinas his rights is a calculated symbolic act intended to convey that all political prisoners can expect the same treatment—provided that they are adversaries of the reigning party. One of the first things that the New Democracy government did upon taking office was to release the police officer who killed Alexis Grigoropolous, expressing tacit approval of his murder of a 15-year-old anarchist.
\n\nIt is no secret that the New Democracy government is enjoying this moment. Essentially, they are torturing a man who has nothing left to sacrifice but his life, hoping that he will do so. The media likely see his death as a opportunity to shift headlines away from an ally of New Democracy who has been arrested amid charges of pedophilia, and from the failures of the state’s COVID-19 management. Facebook has also taken down posts with hashtags referring to Koufontinas.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1364123565411467264\n\n\n
Police have repeatedly attacked demonstrations in solidarity with Koufontinas using extreme force. Last week, when protesters occupied the ministry of health in solidarity with Koufontinas, police arrested almost every single participant—the few who managed to escape did so at great risk to themselves. Yesterday, a small crowd carrying a banner was shot with a water cannon at point blank range within minutes simply for gathering and beginning to chant.
\n\nBut only time will tell what the long-term effects of this moment will be. Despite the curfew, solidarity actions have occurred nightly, including arson attacks on police facilities and paint actions targeting the offices of right-wing journalists.
\n\nBehind bars, several political prisoners are engaging in a hunger strike in solidarity. The courage demonstrated by those refusing to let his death go ignored expresses to other participants in social struggles that no matter what the authorities do, no one will be forgotten. For this, we want to humbly recognize and note our respect for everyone who has taken action.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/lolosmarios/status/1364639177158119426\n\n\n
In recent years, Koufontinas has expressed more interest in the anarchist movement as his counterparts on the left distanced themselves from him. Had anarchism been the dominant political perspective of his generation, the N17 group, which practiced illegalism and refused to depend on the state’s theater of parliamentary democracy, might have adopted a different political position. The previously incarcerated political prisoner and Black Liberationist fighter turned anarchist Ojore Lutalo said, “Any movement that fails to support its political internees is a sham movement.” Regardless of the political perspective of Koufontinas, those who maintain their integrity behind bars deserve solidarity.
\n\nKoufontinas is 63 years old. There is little hope that he will survive even if the government grants his demand, as he already suffers from long-term effects from previous hunger strikes throughout his imprisonment. He can expect no mercy from this system—and indeed, this extends to all of us. Solidarity is our only hope in such situations. This is why, regardless of how his hunger strike ends, his will to fight against the odds must live on in our own struggles.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1362363223694016518\n\n\n
We conclude with a poem by Giannis Ritsos, a communist guerrilla who fought against the Nazis, against the US-backed right-wing government in the Greek civil war, and against the Junta of the 1970s, who was repeatedly imprisoned as well. When Koufontinas began his thirst strike, he had this poem published on his official page.
\n\nPlease cherish my memory - he said. I walked for a thousand
\nmiles on end without bread and without water, along rocks and through
\nthorns I walked, to fetch you bread, water, and roses.
\nI was always faithful to beauty. With a fair mind I gave out
\nall my fortune. I did not keep my lot. I am poor. With a tiny lily from
\nthe fields I brightened our harshest nights. Please cherish my memory.
\nAnd forgive this last sorrow of mine:
\nI would like - once again - to reap a ripe ear of corn with the
\nslender sickle moon. To stand at the threshold, to stare away
\nand to chew with my front teeth the wheat
\nadmiring and blessing this world that I leave behind,
\nadmiring also Him who climbs up the hill in the
\ngolden rain of a sinking sun. There is a purple square patch in his
\nleft sleeve. It is not easy to see. It was this, more than anything else,
\nthat I wanted to show you.
\nAnd probably, more than anything else, it would be worth
\nremembering me for this.
\nhttps://twitter.com/anarxikoikav46/status/1364547716945235972\n\n\n
In Greece, as in Chile, a law designating universities as zones of asylum that police were prohibited from entering came about as a result of military assaults on campuses. The New Democracy regime has abolished the asylum law, allowing police onto campuses without concern for the violence that police have historically inflicted in universities. This decision has provoked massive student demonstrations across the country. In addition, the new policy introduces additional privatization measures targeting educational institutions for the sake of paying back debts to the European Union and “modernizing” Greece according to the visions of the wealthy elite who wish to emulate Northern Europe or what they imagine “America” to be.
\n\nThe bill arrived in parliament around the same time that the government was forced to abandon an attempt at censoring music lyrics—legislation similar to the Spanish law that justified the arrest of Pablo Hasél, which ignited riots in Barcelona last week. Due to backlash from liberals and street opposition from a strong hip-hop community, the law was not passed—but it foreshadows broader repression policies to come.
\n\nAll of this is taking place as universities remain closed while the regime attempts to shape a post-pandemic Greece. Street demonstrations and student attempts to occupy schools have been met with ruthless brutality. Students and demonstrators have been beaten and arrested at random. Many end up in underfunded hospitals; in some cases, police have not arrested the victims of their attacks solely out of concern that they might die of their wounds, leaving the arresting officers responsible.
\n\nDespite all this violence and the risk of fines and imprisonment for assembly during the lockdown, students and their supporters continue to assemble and show force. Police and media claim these demonstrations are helping to spread the virus, but many participants attempt to socially distance and all wear masks. Such a claim seems hypocritical at best when public transportation remains overcrowded, it is hard for many people to access hand sanitizer or personal protective equipment, and hospital budgets have been repeatedly slashed. Worse, police are starting to use American-style kettling tactics to trap demonstrators together in a small space, dramatically increasing the risk of spreading the virus. Videos of police brutality illustrate the repression that the movement is already experiencing; they also indicate what youth can anticipate on campuses when they reopen.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1360043572863631362\n\n\n
It is important to emphasize that the university asylum policy was introduced in response to the military junta attacking and murdering so many people at universities in the 1970s. The years of university autonomy represented a beautiful manifestation of youth self-determination in this country. In addition to the fact that our movements have found refuge in the universities for assembly and fundraising, the period of university autonomy was remarkable because it showed how much more peaceful these campuses can be without police presence.
\n\nThe huge festivals that often took place at universities during the years of asylum, and the fact that the universities functioned well without police compared to many campuses in the United States, provide evidence that police are simply unnecessary. In the United States, where there are police forces just for universities, there are nonetheless countless cases of rape, mass shootings, and other tragedies. Bad things can happen in Greece, too, even without police around. But imagine weekly parties on university campuses, involving five thousand or more people, with absolutely no supervision by authorities, without any of the catastrophes we often read about in the United States. Just as the DARE program and the promotion of sexual abstinence in the United States arguably contributed to rebellious drug use and unsafe sexual practices, it could be that those perceived to be keeping the peace are actually instigating what they allegedly are there to protect against.
\n\nMany of the young people here have never taken freedom for granted. Regardless of this administration’s desires, it will be years before police are normalized on Greek campuses—if they ever are. We humbly express our respect for the courage that students have demonstrated in the streets, our hope that those who have been brutalized may heal, and our solidarity with those facing significant charges and fines for participating in the unrest. May this struggle continue, and may the police experience the animosity they deserve when they set foot on the campuses when they reopen.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/02/25/2.jpg\")
\nClimate chaos is creating difficult conditions for refugees contained in camps across the country. A surreal once-in-a-lifetime blizzard recently hammered Greece, another blow intensifying the horrific living conditions that so many refugees awaiting asylum in this country face. At the same time, xenophobic policies threaten migrants and even those supporting them. For example, a law created to discourage support for refugees that we mentioned in a report last summer led to the firing of a comrade for a charge of alleged riot in 2010.
\n\nThis is just one of many laws intended to deter solidarity efforts, terrorize refugees who are already desperate, and intensify the bureaucracy that the new regime is subjecting refugees and migrants to across the country. The refugee crisis is only expected to intensify in the post-pandemic economic crisis.
\n\nOur past reports from Greece are listed in full here. You can also find continuous updates at athens.indymedia.org, as well as @exiledarizona, Abolition media worldwide, Act for Freedom Now, and Enough is Enough. You can donate to an ongoing solidarity fund for persecuted and imprisoned revolutionaries in Greece here.
\n\nThe US military experimented with napalm in Greece during the civil war of 1946-49, using it to burn out anti-fascist and communist guerrillas who rejected the US-backed right-wing government that came to power after the Second World War. ↩
\nThe fact that the current prime minister is related to a person that N17 killed over thirty years ago is indicative of the long-term dynasty continues to hold power at the core of the Greek state. While the junta officially fell almost 50 years ago, its legacies continue. ↩
\nAt this time, we are reminded of our comrades through banners and graffiti, through brief encounters under the guise of getting exercise between curfews, and through the courageous actions of those who turn to the night to act as the day becomes too dangerous.
\n\nThe anarchist movement in Greece is among the largest in the world, proportionate to the population. However, we are now experiencing unprecedented repression as a result of the pandemic and resulting political opportunism. We remain stagnated in lockdown, overwhelmed by the reign of the right and its defenders. Ecocide, social control, new crackdowns on universities, and general repression of those excluded from or deemed enemies of the Greek state continue to expand in the shadow of COVID-19.
\n\nWe will highlight a few recent incidents of concern relating to the solidarity efforts essential for the global anarchist movement. We sometimes struggle to write these updates, not wishing to simply present a monthly bulletin on depression from Greece. We write from a perspective that many people here share, best summarized by this comment that captures the theme of so many interactions here: “Some days good, some days bad. Just feel stuck, and not even sure what I’m waiting for.”
\n\nDuring this enforced pause in our lives, those who hold power are rushing through policies and automation disguised as pandemic response. This is part of a broader effort to gentrify Greek society.
\n\nBut don’t doubt for a moment that there is a broader tension growing here—whenever the state is forced to ease lockdown, people will awaken, broke and tired, and anger will be everywhere!
\n\nThis is expanded from a contribution to the Bad News report. You can read our reports from May, June, July, August, September, October, and December.
\n\nRefugees and migrants still awaiting asylum and papers now face an ever more dangerous situation as COVID-19 threatens them and the notorious Greek bureaucracy keeps them in the cold, both metaphorically and literally, in refugee camps across the country. The situation has not changed since our prior report; if anything, it has worsened through the winter.
\n\nThis is an ongoing tragedy. Greece is testing the limits regarding how low the European Union standards for refugees and immigrants can be pushed. The inevitable looming influx of refugees fleeing the ripple effects of lockdowns around the world will end up in these deteriorating conditions. Additionally, the xenophobic programs in which Greek nationalists have been attacking refugees and anyone who supports them will likely be expanded via informal collaboration with nationalists in other countries likely to be future destinations for refugees such as Malta, Spain, and Italy.
\n\nThe government spent a million euros on Christmas decorations, while people are given peanuts to wait out the lockdown. The Greek state’s failures and opportunism during the pandemic have even caught the attention of mainstream press, with Bloomberg placing Greece 50th out of 53 countries with a GDP of over 200 billion dollars in terms of COVID-19 management.
\n\nThis ranking for COVID-19 “resilience” is determined by weighing the extent of lockdown measures against the infection rate, economic consequences, and quality of life. For comparison, while the US clearly represents an extreme situation regarding death rates, the rates are aligned with the Trump administration’s refusal of any type of national lockdown or mask mandate. By contrast, Greece is experiencing one of the most stringent lockdowns in the Western world, yet the infection rate remains high compared to countries taking similar measures. Rampant double standards and circumstantial suspension of the measures point to the conclusion that the Greek government is exclusively concerned with pushing self-interested policies rather then mitigating medical and humanitarian crises.
\n\nFor example, the government is permitting churches to remain open to appease its far-right base, lifted restrictions for people to purchase products leading up to Christmas, and is now going all-in to collaborate with biased media to blame ordinary people for the spike in infection rates.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/01/19/2.jpg\")
Police tolerating crowds outside waiting for McDonalds.
\nThe lockdowns have also been militarized, especially in the poorer regions to the west of Athens and in the treatment of Roma communities across the country. Soldiers in armored vehicles enforce intensive lockdowns in these regions characterized by poverty, migrant labor, and Roma populations. It is no coincidence that the rebellious neighborhood of Exarchia and Roma communities outside the center of Athens are targeted with especially strict lockdowns, while in wealthy suburbs and neighborhoods like Athens’ Colonaki, groups gather outside coffee shops, people move freely without fear of being detained, and upscale business owners use a loophole intended for essential workers to make papers that permit their friends to hang out with them in bars and restaurants that are open for take away. It is truly dystopian when a boss’s signature is the next best justification for being out after curfew to a dog that needs walking.
\n\nPolice gather in groups without masks; they stop nighttime medical and delivery workers out of sheer boredom, fingering their papers, searching them, spreading the virus in the name of prevention. If this isn’t enough entertainment, they turn to abusing homeless people. Even Politico, a corporate media source, has begun to cover the police abuse and political opportunism New Democracy has introduced during the pandemic.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/01/19/3.jpg\")
Graffiti in memory of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a fifteen-year-old Greek anarchist comrade who was murdered by police in the neighborhood of Exarchia.
\nOn December 6, 2008, in Athens, Greece, police murdered 15-year-old anarchist Alexandros Grigoropoulos in the neighborhood of Exarchia. In response, anarchists, young people, and other rebels from targeted populations rose in revolt, organizing countrywide riots and occupations that lasted for weeks. It has been an important anniversary ever since.
\n\nMuch like the 17th of November, December 6, 2020 saw an assault on our movements under the excuse of pandemic precautions. Police set up a perimeter around the neighborhood of Exarchia the day of the 6th, and an additional interior perimeter of extra security was set up directly around the memorial to Alexis Grigoropolous, blatantly disrespecting his memory. Police responded to elderly supporters’ peaceful attempts to leave flowers at the memorial with threats of violence; in one instance caught on video, a MAT officer is seen taking flowers and smashing them before dropping them on the street. Every attempt to march was attacked. Greek police made over a hundred arrests throughout the day. Despite this, in defiance of the draconian measures enforced by the state, people courageously participated in marches and demonstrations to recognize the memory of Alexis and the insurrection that followed his murder in December 2008.
\n\nA police officer mockingly destroying flowers left by mourners at the memorial for Alexis Grigoropoulos, the child murdered by police in 2008.
\nShortly before December 6, a group attempted to hold a banner in memory of Alexis in front of the parliament building in Athens, only to be attacked by delta police and tear gas. On the day of the 6th, another small group attempted to hold a banner and chant in Exarchia. Police attacked them as well, throwing a flash-bang canister directly inside a building at some of them, which is extremely dangerous. Small marches faced similar responses across the country from Crete to Northern Greece as the state sought to suppress this defiant tradition. Still, autonomous marches took place outside the center of Athens and throughout Greece while banner drops and graffiti across the country asserted our passion for freedom.
\n\nA group—allegedly involving eighty people—attacked a police station in Colonos, Athens on December 6, sending a few officers to the hospital for minor injuries. Police arrested one individual, who faces felony charges; fortunately, she has been released pending trial. The following day, at the memorial of Alexis in Athens, about 100 people held banners, chanted, and laid flowers and candles. Riot police attacked the march shortly after it began, dispersing people throughout Exarchia, but leaving a group of about 40 stuck inside a building surrounded on all sides by police. Fortunately—likely fearing reprisals for the brutality they had inflicted the previous day, and because nearby press were watching—the police allowed the group to leave unmolested.
\n\nDespite the brutality and repression on the 6th, they were unable to drown our voices, nor suppress the memory of Alexis. Our passion for freedom is more sincere than the mercenary mentality of those who serve the state and the ruling class. Every expression of celebration and rebellion, however big or small, was an act of courage at a time when simply leaving home involves risk. It was a hard and sad day in many ways, but no matter how intense the state’s repression grows, we will never forfeit our revolutionary convictions, never forget those who have been murdered or imprisoned, never forgive those responsible. Alexis lives on in our hearts and actions.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/01/19/4.jpg\")
The memorial to Alexis, deserted in December thanks to targeted police repression taking advantage of the lockdown.
\nOn December 6, a comrade from France known as Errol was also arrested. He had already been arrested repeatedly at various actions; however, this time, he was taken to the Petroralli detention facility as an immigrant, even though he is a citizen in the European Union. Initiating deportation proceedings against an anarchist like this is an unprecedented act—regardless of whether we care about the law, it is noteworthy that it is illegal according to EU policy. A few days later, without trial or notice, Errol was deported to France. Solidarity efforts, actions, and graffiti continue across the country, but the lengths to which the Greek state will go to send a message to non-Greeks in the movement is alarming.
\n\nFrom a statement by the solidarity assembly with anarchist comrade Errol:
\n\n\n\n\nThe arrest of Errol signifies a new repressive escalation from the state, demonstrating that prosecution for misdemeanors can lead to the imprisonment and the deportation of political subjects. The state of paralysis and decimation of the social resistance must break and the struggle for the cessation of the prosecution of our comrade is another step towards this direction.
\n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/01/19/5.jpg\")
Graffiti reading “Get your hands off of the anarchist Errol.”
\nEight people currently face felony charges for an action against the dean of the economics school, the one responsible for evicting a local social center and the squat Vancouver. A campaign to support the humiliated dean mobilized New Democracy supporters who were shocked to see a white man humiliated by being compelled to wear a sign that said “solidarity to the squats.” They offered a reward of a hundred thousand euros for information on who might be responsible—a considerable figure, especially in the midst of an economic crisis. The police have rounded up people at random, with very little evidence apart from claiming that they have connections to the movement. Regardless, the charges are very significant and a long-term support and anti-repression campaign is likely to follow. Please refer to this link for ways to donate, support, learn about the case, and show solidarity.
\n\nPrisoners remain defiant across the country amid continued degraded hygiene and conditions that leave many at risk of contracting COVID-19. The Ministry of Prisons continues to invest resources in everything relating to prison except the health of the prisoners themselves.
\n\nLong-term political prisoner Dimitris Koufontinas of the November 17th group has been on hunger strike, demanding better conditions and to be moved to Korydallos prison in Athens in order to be closer to his family and friends. As of January 16, 2021, in parallel with a broader support campaign from the prisoner solidarity movement, Nikos Maziotis of the group Revolutionary Struggle and Giannis Dimitrakis have declared a hunger strike in solidarity with Dimitris until his demands are met. Polykarpos Georgiadis and Vaggelis Stathopoylos joined them on January 18, 2021. Hunger strikes are becoming more frequent in Greek prisons as conditions worsen due to COVID-19.
\n\nPolice raided a student dorm building the movement has been using as assembling is not only illegal, but logistically more and more complicated amid the lockdown and the eviction of squats. This isn’t the first time police have raided a dormitory, but this time they used drones and various other technology in the raid that have not been seen before. They flew drones from window to window of the student housing, demanding that the residents evacuate the building. Even corporate press described the police as experimenting with their new toys.
\n\nStudents and teachers have already attempted to demonstrate against the deployment of new police forces on campuses, only to be kettled and threatened with arrest for assembly and lockdown violations. The kettling of hundreds of people in the name of preventing virus transmission is yet another absurd example of the Orwellian situation here.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2021/01/19/1.jpg\")
Police tolerating crowds on Ermou Street, the part of Athens most comparable to Times Square in New York City. Such crowds are only tolerated when they are engaging in consumerism.
\nNew Year’s Eve typically sees massive noise demonstrations at prisons across Greece, but these were rescheduled due to curfew and inevitable fines and repression, since the neighborhoods and regions where prisons are located are generally inhospitable to anarchists and anti-fascists. However, just minutes before the new year, an explosion caused significant damage to the police headquarters building in the Kipseli region of Athens.
\n\nHappy new fear from Greece!
\n\nPlease take a moment to donate to the ongoing solidarity fund for persecuted and imprisoned revolutionaries in Greece.
\n\n" }, { "id": "https://crimethinc.com/2020/12/01/greece-new-democracy-and-pandemic-opportunism-the-lockdown-resumes", "url": "https://crimethinc.com/2020/12/01/greece-new-democracy-and-pandemic-opportunism-the-lockdown-resumes", "title": "Greece: New Democracy and Pandemic Opportunism : The Lockdown Resumes", "summary": "Greece's New Democracy administration is exploiting the pandemic to crack down on immigrants and anarchists and to destroy traditions of resistance.", "image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/header.jpg", "banner_image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/header.jpg", "date_published": "2020-12-01T19:59:07Z", "date_modified": "2025-11-09T15:19:05Z", "tags": [ "repression", "Greece", "insurrection", "borders", "Athens", "Exarchia", "Riot", "COVID-19" ], "content_html": "The New Democracy administration continues to exploit the pandemic to take action against immigrants and anarchists, implementing an updated form of strategies that have not been seen since the Junta of the late 1960s and early ’70s. Our movement against the state and capital is more indispensable than ever, as the Greek state rushes to modernize the machinery via which it represses political opponents under the guise of law, order, and anti-virus mandates.
\n\nThis is expanded from a contribution to the Bad News report. You can also read our reports from May, June, July, August, September, and October.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/2.jpg\")
Cats against cops.
\nGreece is currently in a full lockdown. This includes no freedom of movement. To maintain such a lockdown without also expanding medical and financial support for those affected is an exercise in sheer authoritarianism.
\n\nThere are only six recognized justifications for leaving the house: to shop at pharmacies and supermarkets, to exercise (as defined and allowed by police) or walk a dog, to go to work, to attend funerals, to visit a doctor or hospital, or to help a person in need. The latter usually only applies to Greeks helping their grandparents; police have ticketed many people who were trying to give needed supplies to homeless people or people in refugee or Roma camps. You have to text the state to receive permission to go outside and show the SMS confirmation to police if they stop you. These SMS requests to the state provide data and surveillance opportunities to state agencies. Violations can result in a 300 euro fine or other charges. The police most often stop people of color or establish checkpoints in less affluent neighborhoods.
\n\nA curfew is also mandated between 9 pm and 5 am, during which the only permitted activities are going to work, walking a dog, or going to the hospital.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/1.jpg\")
Many people in Greece are homeless in the midst of the lockdown.
\nThough lockdown is nationally mandated, it is enforced differently in different neighborhoods. Exarchia, for example, is under intense surveillance with almost no one in the street, while wealthy suburbs see little supervision. In the United States, the right condemns safety measures and lockdowns as a liberal conspiracy to sabotage the economy; if they recognized the political opportunities that the pandemic has handed right-wing administrations across Europe, they might change their narrative.
\n\nThe first lock down in March and April took place when cases were averaging around 150 to 200 per day; today, the numbers fluctuate between 2000 and 2500 per day, with ICU beds filling rapidly. The blame for the infection rates rests on the business elite who demanded open borders for tourism in August, despite the obvious danger. Although there was 90% less tourism than in previous years, these policies permitted a few wealthy tourists to spread the virus throughout the mainland and islands of Greece. The New Democracy regime continues to slash hospital and medical staff budgets, redirecting the funds to decorative urban renewal projects, police and prison staff, and an increased military budget. They prioritize adding fountains and potted plants to neighborhoods over addressing rampant homelessness and drug addiction. They have failed to adjust public transportation to allow for social distancing, so subways and buses remain packed with people, likely spreading the virus. This disproportionately affects those who cannot afford to travel to work by car. While failing to provide funding for protection, the government blames individuals for the alarming infection rates.
\n\nAs in many other countries, elite scientists propose further lockdowns, taking everything into consideration except the plight of those already living precariously under capitalism. A lockdown without parallel support for the poor only offers protection for the wealthy elite, disregarding poverty as an excusable consequence of the preexisting social order.
\n\nWith everything closed, furloughed workers are paid even less than what was already too little to survive. “Essential” delivery workers, teachers, and grocery store workers receive no increase in pay or free protective equipment. Some wish their work was deemed “nonessential” so they could be paid a small unemployment salary rather than risking their health for so little money.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/4.jpg\")
Homelessness has worsened in Greece as the New Democracy government has attempted to reinvent the country as a glamorous, heavily policed tourist destination in the midst of a pandemic.
\nHomeless people continue to face fines, arrest, and displacement. The state is using the virus as an excuse to prevent assemblies of any kind. Police recently attacked and beat people inside a social center in Patras for gathering food to distribute to those in need. Mutual aid efforts continue, despite the constant threats, arrests, and fines imposed by police; the simple act of helping those in need outside of the context of the church is now treated the way that much more controversial or confrontational actions were before. Many in Greece, especially the residents of Exarchia who witness the harshest enforcement of the lockdown in an urban environment, refer to the virus as a “Junta holiday.”
\n\nDoctors have mobilized to call for more investment in protective equipment and medical solutions to the pandemic, but they are ignored or repressed. Essential workers have faced fines for not having the correct paperwork while outside risking their safety to deliver essential services. People have organized small demonstrations against this sort of political opportunism, but police have responded by kettling them, further endangering the demonstrators with regard to virus transmission as well as police violence.
\n\nNew Democracy and its European counterparts are implementing a lockdown that is designed to “save Christmas” for New Democracy’s right-wing base. In this strategy, a lockdown will be implemented to the fullest extent until retail stores open for those who have money to spend on Christmas shopping. The plan doesn’t go much further than this; except for this temporary period of consumption, the lockdown is expected to continue after the holiday. Formal announcements about this plan came as the state spent thousands of euros to temporarily project an image of Jesus Christ onto the parliament building for “Armed Forces Day,” an expression of New Democracy’s determination to reinvent Greece as an authoritarian Christian state.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/VassilisTsarnas/status/1330285516147859458\n\n\n
On November 17, 1973, the Greek junta murdered dozens of students engaged in an uprising at the Polytechnic in Exarchia; Greek anarchists demonstrate against the state on each anniversary. Last November 17, police surrounded an anarchist bloc and created a perimeter around the neighborhood of Exarchia in Athens; this year, we anticipated intense repression even before the pandemic offered the state additional opportunities to suppress protest.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/5.jpg\")
Every year, people place wreaths at the gates of the Polytechnic in mourning for the people who were killed. This year, because of the police state, they lay outside the gates in disarray.
\nA few days before this year’s November 17 anniversary, in the midst of the national lockdown, anarchists courageously coordinated occupations at various universities in Greece, notably the Polytechnic universities in Exarchia and Zografou in Athens. These courageous occupations occurred at a time of unprecedented repression, when the government had just implemented new policies; those who engaged in them chose to take action in spite of the intimidation of the state. They held on to the universities through a full night, concluding with a police raid on the universities and the arrests of all the occupiers. The police attacked nearby support demonstrations and imposed heavy fines on arrestees, with the fines totaling 23,000 euros at the Exarchia Polytechnic alone. In the face of repression, the occupations demonstrated the persistent will and passion that form the foundation of our movements. Though the authoritarian left seek to claim ownership of the November 17 anniversary in Greece, they sat by meekly, pleading for permits while failing to express solidarity with those occupying the universities.
\n\nYou can view video footage from the occupation of the Polytechnic in Exarchia on November 17, 2020 here.
\n\nAfter these occupations, the Greek state banned all gatherings of more than four people, even for purpose of exercise, until November 18. At the same time, the prime minister had the audacity to go to the Polytechnic to “pay his respects” to the students who died. At that time, the university was surrounded on every side by police prepared to stamp out any demonstration of dissent.
\n\nPerhaps the most vivid exemplar of the day occurred when an older woman passed the Polytechnic while the prime minister was making his appearance there. While out on a permitted exercise walk, she placed a flower outside the gates—a longstanding practice mourning the memories of the students lost. She was detained and fined while the prime minister enjoyed his photo op.
\n\nThe KKE, the authoritarian left Communist Party of Greece, did attempt an unpermitted demonstration after the state denied multiple requests for a permit. When the KKE first took the streets, one subset of the group was able to march in a socially-distanced fashion to the US embassy. However, a subsequent KKE attempt to gather was met with significant repression. While the KKE did face an army of police and flurry of tear gas and violence, they were still treated with some reserve, as they hold seats in parliament—a reserve that is never extended to anarchists.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/Souidos/status/1328783195702235136\n\n\n
Anarchists in Athens attempted to assemble on November 17, but the police responded with extreme violence. Small gatherings did happen in the Athenian neighborhoods of Peristeri, Vyronas, Pangrati, Kipseli, Kaisariani, Petralona, and more, but police overwhelmed the city center. Graffiti and banners for the day appeared across the city, however. People attempted to gather in Patras, Ionannina, Volos, Kavala, Karditsa, Larissa, Corfu, Thessaloniki and likely many other places across the country. Police responded with arrests, fines, and in almost every case, intense violence.
\n\nGreek police believe they are fighting a war, and they behave accordingly. They take pride in defending the ruling order by means of violence, without fear of consequences from the state. They represent the culture of the Junta that they wish to implement again. November 17 is just as important to them as it is to leftists and anarchists, but for the opposite reason. They would love to spill the blood of more students if they get the chance; while no one was murdered this year, quite a bit of blood was spilled.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/kagouriki/status/1328693397486526473\n\n\n
Corporate media reported likely revenge attacks that went formally unclaimed on the night of the 17th. Molotov cocktails were thrown at a police checkpoint in the Athens neighborhood of Petralona. A group of ten people also attacked a police station in Thessaloniki with Molotov cocktails.
\n\nThe anarchist group Maskova attacked a municipal building on the 17th. An excerpt from their communiqué reads as follows:
\n\n\n\n\n…as it circulates very well in the last days: “MAT everywhere, ICU nowhere.”
\n\nIt is clear that at the moment, New Democracy is experimenting and trying to bring the milieu of struggle to its knees on the pretext of the pandemic… They renounce state responsibility by putting the blame on young people and individuals, showing sheer hypocrisy in their repressive behavior and violence in the streets. Defying the ridiculous ban on rallies, comrades attempted to take the streets all over Greece with the sole purpose of showing that their mockery must end. People are waking up more and more and the anger is growing. Anger at our rulers and the murderers of our dreams. Time for them to stop deciding our future.
\n\nTherefore, we decided to attack the town hall of Ilio, a minimal but symbolic attack in response to the senseless violence we experienced as a movement on November 17, reminding the worms of the state that our resistance does not die. This action is a sign of solidarity with our comrade Costas Gournas (who they are trying so hard to place baseless accusations against, such as finding flags, masks, and some everyday tools in his possession), with those arrested on November 17, and with everyone around the world engaged in the struggle for a better tomorrow without rulers and oppression.
\n\nNo matter how much you drown us in chemicals, no matter how much you beat us, no matter how many court cases you put in our files, we will be there every time we can, with new ways of resistance and struggle.
\n\nSolidarity to Costas Gournas and all those arrested on November 17.
\n\nWhether it is MAT or DIAS, Kalashnikov blasts on security forces.
\n\n-Masovka Anarchist Collectivity
\n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/8.jpg\")
Graffiti reading “MAT (riot police) everywhere, ICU (intensive care units) nowhere.”
\nAfter November 17, soccer hooligans in Athens demonstrated against police brutality, highlighting the disgust so many people feel in response to the behavior of the police.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/9.jpg\")
A spontaneous march against police repression after November 17.
\nWhile funding has been directed towards prisons at the expense of hospitals, very little has gone to protecting prisoners from COVID-19, but rather almost entirely to expanding staff and improving their pay. Two prisoners in Greece are officially known to have died from the virus. More may have died—but, due to the policies of the prison administration in Greece, the true number will likely remain unknown even as cases surge inside prisons. As in the case of refugee camps, state administrators have acted as if prisons are not spaces where people must be kept safe. Some prisoners have gone on strike in the agricultural fields where they are forced to labor while others have collectively refused to cooperate with prison guards until basic social distancing and hygiene policies are introduced.
\n\nIn addition, some prisoners organized a strike to demand better protection at the Diavata prison in Greece, where there has been a known virus outbreak and death. Their demands were made public; these help to shine a light on the situation prisoners face across Greece at this time:
\n\n\n\n\nDiavata Prisoner Initiative
\n\nWe demand:
\n\n\n
\n\n- Social distancing in response to prison congestion.
\n- Releasing prisoners with six months sentence remaining.
\n- Early release due to suspension of sentences for elderly people and also for elderly people with pre-existing issues.
\n- Immediate release of those guilty of minor crimes.
\n- Reduction of suspension limits to 2/5 of the penalty payment with beneficial wages for imprisonment or 1/3 actual detention time as in previous congestion provisions and 1/5 of the sentence with beneficial wages for imprisonment throughout the health crisis.
\n- Staff must arrive one hour ahead of time to be subjected to a regular rapid test before each shift.
\n- Releasing prisoners serving pre-trial detention when their trial has been postponed for more then six months.
\n- No detention for slight offenses, including those imposed on drug addicts.
\n- Providing sufficient health protection (antiseptic, masks, rubber gloves) for all prisoners.
\n- Meticulous checks and quarantine measures for any forced detention.
\n- Meticulous disinfection of all materials entering prisons.
\nUnless all of the above measures are carried out, if the conditions of our detention do not change, we Diavatian prisoners will strike.
\n
Anarchist prisoner Kostas Sakkas began a hunger and thirst strike in mid-November, demanding to be able to continue his studies and simply to be treated as a human being. He exemplifies strength and courage in the face of constant prison staff harassment; they have moved him from prison to prison in their attempts to break his will and damage his psychological well-being.
\n\nWhile the state has done little to improve the hygiene of Greek prisons amid the pandemic, reports from the Prisoner Solidarity Network suggest that in some prisons, such as the Larissa prison, they are now banning most books from entering the prison on the pretext that they could contain the virus. This is a flagrant and ridiculous attack on prisoners’ educational opportunities and quality of life.
\n\nA new website has been created to collect donations for the legal support of four individuals facing felony charges under the Greek anti-terror law 187A. The individuals are charged for 54 separate actions; the authorities are claiming that all of these actions are connected, on the flimsy ground that the alleged communiqués claiming the actions all happened to use the term “comrades.” You can read information on their case and how to support them here.
\n\nAn appeals hearing continued on November 11 in the case against Revolutionary Struggle member Pola Roupa, who allegedly coordinated an escape via helicopter from the Korydallos prison in Athens. The initial decision by the court mandated that Pola Roupa serve 120 years in prison and Nikos Maziotis (another member of Revolutionary Struggle) serve 37 years.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/6.jpg\")
Anger against police remains widespread.
\nPolice evicted the anarchist squat Zaimi in Exarchia this month. Fortunately, there was no one inside, so no arrests took place during the eviction. But the loss of this beautiful building is another assault on our infrastructure, as it served as an important center for anarchist organizing over the past several years.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/3.jpg\")
The streets of Greece are deserted due to the lockdown and the police state.
\nAs reported in recent updates, apps such as Wolt and Efood are taking over the delivery sector of Greece. These apps follow the example set by Uber and Airbnb, functioning as the sort of invisible nonhuman bosses that will likely become more widespread in an increasingly automated and dystopian future. Meanwhile, lockdown measures have drastically increased delivery demand. We include an anonymous excerpt describing the labor conditions these companies impose:
\n\n\n\n\nAs the pandemic suddenly highlights the true value of the lower class, and what was once “unskilled labor” is now “essential” to the functioning of this society, we want to expose one company that is reaping the profits while relentlessly exploiting their workers. WOLT, the Finnish start-up delivery app has taken Greece by storm. This company, which is like Uber for food, is now everywhere in Athens, profiting off of the workers putting themselves at risk, and generally benefitting from the additional need for delivery during the lockdown. If you choose to use this application, we want to mention a few elements of the company.
\n\nThey hire workers as freelancers, or some creative name for independent contractors, meaning that they are not responsible for the safety or well-being of those who ride for them. Additionally, when you begin working for them, they make you work for free for the first 100 euros worth of labor without being paid, in order to pay for the uniform and equipment that you are required to wear. Essentially, they are selling you products by force. And despite them forcing workers to buy their own uniforms and equipment, no new virus protocols have been implemented. You must wear a mask when picking up or dropping off deliveries, but sanitizer and masks are not provided to workers, nor is any increase in pay provided due to the extraordinary circumstances. Couriers who make very little money to begin with must also pay for credit to call customers if the customers do not provide full information. This is a frequent issue, as the typically affluent customers rarely understand the service experience.
\n\nOn top of all this, it is likely that WOLT is over-hiring during the pandemic to meet the temporary increase in demand. What this means in the long run is that when the lockdown measures ease, many workers will be laid off—or the company’s algorithm will have more workers than deliveries, forcing couriers to quit on their own when there is no work for them. Since workers are independent contractors, or “partners” in their corporate language, they have no safety net or reliable expectation of income.
\n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/7.jpg\")
\nThe state continues to weaponize the lockdown and the virus against immigrants. The refugee camp of Moria has been replaced with an even more dangerous and unsafe encampment. Though they would never admit it for fear of losing EU funding, the Greek government is deliberately using the lockdown, the winter, and the virus to permit the suffering and deaths of asylum seekers. This is part of a broader xenophobic strategy. Even Vice doesn’t mince words when describing the situation.
\n\nRefugees continue to organize desperate demonstrations; some of these go unreported as the Greek state continues to employ strategies of containment and isolation. You can view a map of refugee camps across Greece here.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/LysChadefaux/status/1332380558031269888\n\n\n
In late November, Spain, Malta, Italy, and Greece proposed new migration policies to EU parliament leaders. They claim that these proposals are intended to spread the “burden” of asylum seekers, but the true intention is to curtail or eliminate the asylum process in order to implement xenophobic immigration policies across the continent. Most of these countries are already suppressing asylum seeking via informal measures; now they are pressuring the European Union to drop any pretense of humanitarian policies.
\n\nThe war continues on the universities, following the New Democracy regime’s decision to cancel the asylum policy on school campuses. A new campus environment more in line with the “law and order” vision of New Democracy awaits the country after the lockdown.
\n\nAnonymous individuals attacked the offices of the dean of the Economics School, who collaborated with police to evict the squat Vancouver and a social center located in the university. They forced him to wear a sign saying “freedom for the squats” around his neck. While this man has leveraged police brutality to pursue vendettas against the anarchist movement, Greek politicians were shocked to see a frightened white man in a suit humiliated by anarchists. Even as the economic depression intensifies, the state has offered a reward of fully 100,000 euros for information on those who conducted this action, fearing that other privileged people might also experience grassroots revenge.
\n\nTwo communiqués appeared claiming the action. One reads, in part,
\n\n\n\n\nThis practice of presenting the human face of power frightened and depressed, detached from the usual glamour and prestige of his office, was aimed not only at intimidating him, but also at his peers. This action follows the logic that “to strike fear into one is to hit a hundred.” That is because it shows that the threat of resistance from below, the threat of revolutionary justice, is not something vague and abstract, but something that takes on flesh and blood and can be personified in the face of a panicked man from the powerful class. In addition, it demonstrates to the people of our class, those who suffer and are tormented by the oppression and exploitation inflicted by the powerful, that those who hold power are also ordinary people. They may look fearless and arrogant costumed in their uniforms, in their expensive motorcades accompanied by thugs and cops, in their offices where they put signatures that validate the suffering, humiliation, and pain of the people from the social base, but they still remain people. And they can be made afraid.
\n
A general strike of all transportation workers took place across the country on November 26. Various work forces and individuals also engaged in independent strikes. Small courageous gatherings took place despite the lockdown measures; some people were able to march in Athens despite the police bringing in anti-riot vehicles the night before. Police intervention was minimal compared to recent events in Athens; likely, the state was trying to keep tensions from boiling over as a consequence of the atrocities police had committed in public view on November 17. While the main march took place in Athens without incident, police attacked and arrested participants in a motorcycle parade organized by an autonomous delivery worker union. Likewise, in other cities such as Ioaninna, police attacked and arrested people marching to assert the general strike.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/savvaskarma/status/1331872518886617088\n\n\n
All the acts that manifested the general strike took place in defiance of draconian circumstances. Every march, however big or small, every person striking and potentially losing a day’s pay at a time of serious precarity, every banner hung, every spray-painted slogan—all of these deserve respect.
\n\nIt is hard to write this report this month. What is certain is our collective rage. Even if riots did not take place in Exarchia on the night of the 17th, we are living in a new era of repression, and it is important to stress that the actions and occupations that took place despite these circumstances demonstrate a revolutionary courage that persists in spite of efforts to crush our spirits.
\n\nThough people are living in increasing fear of further economic hardship, state violence, and the pandemic itself, the government won’t be able exploit the virus to implement political repression indefinitely. And what we lack in equipment and funding, we make up for in passion and solidarity.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/12/01/10.jpg\")
The gates of the Polytechnic.
\nIn the United States, liberal opposition to Donald Trump’s bid for reelection crystalized around his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with millions charging that his government has not done enough to contain the spread of the virus. Yet in Europe, where governments have taken a more hands-on approach, their efforts have also provoked popular unrest, as the vast majority of their interventions have focused on expanding the power of the police, not extending resources to those struggling to survive the virus and the economic crisis. On the eve of a Biden presidency, we should revisit the question of whether we can trust any government to prioritize human life over capitalism and how we can respond when the government uses the pretext of protecting our lives to intensify social control.
\n\nSouthern Europe saw widespread unrest in Serbia last July in response to uneven preventative measures and the introduction of a new curfew. Riots erupted in Naples on October 23 in response to a new wave of COVID-19 infections and government-ordered lockdowns. These spread throughout Italy, inspiring similar unrest in Spain and in Slovenia as well on November 5.
\n\nWhile in the United States, demonstrations calling for the re-opening of the economy have simply been a vehicle for the far right, conspiracy theorists, and science deniers to advance the capitalist agenda, the story in Europe is more complicated. Like the Gilets Jaunes movement in France, most of the protests across southern Europe involve a contradictory mix of apolitical angry poor people, fascists, leftists, and anarchists—some competing to determine the shape of future protest movements, others simply reacting to the violence of the virus, the economy, and the police without any long-term strategy or aspirations.
\n\nIn the United States, where more than 250,000 people have died as a consequence of the government’s ghoulishly cynical policies, it has been simple enough to frame a dichotomy between self-organization, protest, and life on the one hand and government, capitalism, and death on the other. In Europe, this has been much more complicated, as centrist governments seek to present a different dichotomy, juxtaposing austerity, obedience, and life to unruliness, protest, and death—associating freedom with irresponsibility even as they render life almost impossible for the poor and set precedents to legitimize far-reaching and invasive new forms of state control. This presents thorny questions that may soon confront people in the United States as well.
\n\nIn the following collection, anarchists positioned around the Mediterranean—in Spain, southern and northern Italy, Slovenia, and Greece—report on how government policies responding to the pandemic have impacted their communities and describe how people have responded.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/11/12/2.jpg\")
November 5, Ljubljana.
\nDue to the saturation of the tourist economy, Spain was one of the first European countries in which COVID-19 spread out of control. The Spanish state’s response to the pandemic, beginning in mid-March, was characterized by centralized control measures and strong state intervention, including a strict lockdown that confined people to their houses. The lockdown was rigorously enforced; police gave out hundreds of thousands of large fines and conducted thousands of arrests. The number of infections dropped quickly—but not before thirty thousand people had died, largely due to crowded housing and the poor quality of the Spanish public health system, which has been gutted by years of austerity measures.
\n\nSpain, as a post-fascist state, presents a stark contrast to the US. In the US, the federal government was largely hands-off; the state response to the pandemic was a sort of necropolitical intervention of structural neglect, killing huge numbers of poor and racialized people. In Spain, the government took the pandemic as an opportunity to increase centralized power. For at least a month, Spain was a police state in the standard sense of the term: you couldn’t even go outdoors unless you had permission papers, were walking a dog close to home, or buying groceries.
\n\nThe Spanish government’s approach to the pandemic changed dramatically in May and June, after the death toll in the US surged past 100,000 fatalities. US policies lowered the bar for other countries, desensitizing the public to massive death counts and redefining what constituted an acceptable public health response. In Spain, with the left in government and the right focusing their ire against confinement, there was little possibility for a mainstream conversation around prioritizing healthcare, as the Socialists had been complicit in the austerity measures and the current governing coalition of Socialists plus Podemos had not made much space in their agenda for healthcare.
\n\nConsequently, in May and June, the government began promoting a rapid, premature, and almost total “reopening,” with one of the only preventive measures kept in place being the mask requirement. One of the chief reasons for this was an urgent desire to restart the economy in time for the peak months of Spain’s now year-round tourist season. Tourism constitutes a higher proportion of the Spanish GDP (12%) than in almost any other country in the European Union—nearly five times what it is in the US.
\n\nIn August, after the death rate had dropped almost to zero, infections began to rise again, subsequently exacerbated by the return to school. We’re now in the midst of a full-blown second wave with some of the highest transmission rates in the world. Deaths are still low, but in some places, the intensive care units in the hospitals are nearly overwhelmed.
\n\nMadrid was the epicenter of the second wave. Before the central government stepped in, the city’s right-wing government deployed a selective lockdown targeting poorer neighborhoods; as in the first lockdown, the military was sent into the streets to help with enforcement. This sets an ominous precedent for selectively enforced measures targeting the public on the basis of class.
\n\nIn late October, the central government declared a state of emergency extendable through May 2021, with nightly curfews, strict limitations on gatherings, bar and restaurant closures, and, in some regions, the prohibition of travel between municipalities, either on weekends or throughout the week.
\n\nAt the same time, social assistance measures have been weak. Employers can use the pandemic as an excuse to release workers with the government picking up the tab for unemployment benefits, but the government did not provide the resources to manage the surge in unemployment claims—so many of the people who have been laid off have waited months without seeing a penny. Meanwhile, employers have used this program to fire people engaged in workplace organizing.
\n\nThe right has mobilized to blame migrant farmworkers for virus outbreaks, and there have been cases of farmworkers’ encampments being set on fire. Apartment evictions have continued unabated, with hundreds occurring every month in some of the major cities.
\n\nThe state of emergency and the evictions have been a flash point for some small riots at the end of October in Barcelona, Madrid, Burgos, and some other cities, with some major stores being looted. The far right was present at some of these protests and may have organized some of them, leading to the undying debate about whether to take the streets whenever we have reason to do so and do our best to kick out the far right, or surrender the streets to the far right because they got there first.
\n\nOver all, social peace still reigns, but there is a lot of pent up anger and desperation just below the surface.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/11/12/1.jpg\")
November 5, Ljubljana.
\n\n\n\n“No, we did not become ‘Agambenians’ overnight,1 we still believe, even more so given what has happened, that this is not a simple flu, that the first task we have to face is to take care of ourselves and others so that the infection does not spread… It is time to reaffirm that health itself is a social issue and that rebellion is the symptom that shows the need for change.
\n\n \n
On October 23, 2020, demonstrations erupted in Naples in response to expected economic closures and partial lockdowns threatened in light of rising COVID-19 cases, as well as a curfew.
\n\nAccording to Noi Non Abbiamo Patria, the demonstrations followed earlier anti-lockdown actions in a small suburb to the north of the city. Since then, the country has instituted national curfews and closures on a tiered scale that makes little sense; these are more expansive in scope than the curfews from last spring.
\n\nOn October 23, the composition of the people in the streets was heterogeneous, to say the least. As in other recent eruptions of anti-neoliberal energy, such as the “yellow vests” in France,2 this has enabled the corporate media and government to defame those in the streets. It is telling that in the countries in which Euro-Communism crashed and burned—or rather capitulated to statist power and hierarchy—vast numbers of political subjects and workers not necessarily beholden to any party ideology are pigeonholed by elites and the media.
\n\nFollowing this intense night of rioting and clashes with police, further unrest spread to many cities across Italy. In most cases, as in Florence, the composition of demonstrators was again heterogeneous. All over the country, fascists are trying to seize this moment to increase their visibility. In Rome and Catania (two historic fascist battlegrounds), fascists violently occupied piazzas but were forced out by a diverse array of anti-fascists including radical leftists (most numerously from the national party Potere al Popolo), anarchists, communists, and the community members of the piazzas, such as shop- and café-owners. These piazzas, typically central, have become key stages of conflict in this current moment of revolt against the government. While fascists enter the fray to promote “hooliganism” or to make themselves more visible, the vast majority of demonstrators on the streets that night and since are protesting austerity, neoliberalism, and statist violence.
\n\nGiven the complicated nature of the events and the successes that fascists have experienced dominating media coverage, we seek to issue a communiqué on the situation to alert people in other parts of the world on what may likely develop elsewhere as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens and the pandemic-brand “state of exception” austerity continues. In many cases, this will be fertile territory for the right wing to capitalize on crumbling liberal systems. As we saw in Italy in the past, political violence and surveillance, austerity, and intra-European “colonization” create an opportune terrain for fascists to acquire territory and supporters—as illustrated by the rise of Casa Pound and Forza Nuova.3
\n\nOur intention with this report is twofold. First, we aim to show that the historical, material conditions of rampant austerity and violently repressed revolutionary activity are the catalysts for the unrest that has erupted in this moment. Second, we argue that we must not allow fascists to continue gaining institutional legitimacy and popular support as they endeavor to use the lockdown protests to their advantage. On the latter point, we emphasize that the greater part of the demonstrators in the streets are the so-called “qualunquista” (“undecided” or rather not-yet radicalized proletarians). This is the result of a historical emptying of meaning of terms such as “communist” and “socialist,” following decades of the institutional left’s conciliations to ruling power structures. This also follows nearly two decades of rapid “proletarianization” of many workers, intensifying since the 2008 economic crisis, especially in the south of Italy, where a vast undercommons4 of surplus labor seethes behind the veneer of tourist-friendly façades.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/11/12/5.jpg\")
\nAfter grueling months during which coffins filled the streets of various cities in the north last spring, the summer in Italy was less obviously violent—epidemiologically, if not economically. Closures were all but lifted; clubs were open, restaurants too. The number of cases was low—but there was little foreign tourism, a devastating reality for some cities that have been turned into outdoor theme parks by neoliberal administrations over the past few decades.
\n\nNo social infrastructure was set in place over the summer to protect people from the virus and its devastating social and economic consequences. Contact tracing was scarce and inefficient; the healthcare system did not receive the economic and logistical support politicians had promised. Schools were not sufficiently prepared to reopen, yet they remained partially open for in-person classes.
\n\nThe regional and national administration invested resources only to maintain tourist economies: people were offered holiday bonuses to go on vacation. But when September arrived, no one was prepared to face the risks of an anticipated second wave of COVID-19. By mid-October, the number of cases had risen again. The health crisis overwhelmed the system and the authorities announced the closure of economic activities. In less than two weeks, people were ordered to confine themselves again. The domestic space was turned into a care facility/hospital with family members required to take care of their sick relatives without health guidelines or protection. The social space became a space of contagion. Only work was authorized.
\n\nNow people face a choice between work-consume-and-silently-die at home or die-of-COVID-19-repression-and-starvation outside. Poverty rates are skyrocketing. Some of the most vulnerable of the social groups impacted by the economic crisis ignited by the pandemic include undocumented workers, people with disabilities, migrants, single mothers (since the incarcerated male population has skyrocketed over the past decade), and families that have lost their income. These are the people who are now joining the protests across Italy demanding the redistribution of wealth.
\n\nToday, as we edit this communiqué, Italy is recording higher infection numbers than in the spring. On November 5, Italy reported 445 new deaths, the highest since April 23, while people are preparing for a new wave of protests despite the regional lockdowns and nationwide curfew.
\n\nFollowing the demonstrations, corporate media and the political establishment quickly moved to delegitimize those out on the streets in the eyes of the public, labeling them fascists, criminals, or even, in the case of Naples, members of the Camorra mafia.
\n\nThis is similar to how politicians and liberal media spread myths in the so-called United States about “outside agitators” during the rebellion following the police murder of George Floyd, using this to escalate violence against protestors. This is now continuing into the post-election moment, as pundits spread nonsense and police in various cities stage police riots and mass arrests, while the press spreads fear about “Antifa.” All of this is calculated to sow divisions and distrust.
\n\nRather than reducing the demonstrators in Italy to party or ideological affiliation, an interview in Dinamo Press describes their central concern in Naples on October 23 thus:
\n\n\n\n\n“Many who came down to the streets last night blamed the national and local administration for the state of things. Rather than saying “the virus doesn’t exist,” many said: “What the fuck did you do this summer” … Many never saw the money they were promised. Napoli has its epidemiological memory: last spring, even hustlers disappeared from the streets. But now people are exhausted, the pandemic in Naples hit in a fragile context, both in economic and social terms. Furthermore, the second wave was announced, but they did not prepare our healthcare system, they did not put social security measures into place, and now we all seem taken by surprise.
\n
While local and national officials continue to engage in debates about social versus economic health, framing the two as opposed to one another, speaking about the need for “sacrifice” on behalf of the workers who have nothing left to give, it is obvious that economic and health safety must be engaged together. To quote those writing in Infoaut once more:
\n\n\n\n\n[W]e know very well that it is we who are at the bottom, who pay the most in this crisis, which is caused by the globalized economy, privatizations, environmental destruction and the transformation of health into a commodity. But caring for ourselves and for others means not ignoring those who have lost their jobs in this crisis and those who are in danger of losing their homes and loved ones with a selfish gesture. It means fighting alongside them, because as long as the management of the crisis is solely in the hands of politicians, as long as the only ones with a strong voice are the corporations, we will be the ones who will count the dead and the sick in our ranks, whether it is COVID or hunger.
\n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/11/12/6.jpg\")
\nIn Rome, in three different instances during the week of October 26, fascists congregated in two different piazzas, Piazza del Popolo and in Campo de Fiori. They were small in numbers but extremely violent. The police engaged them, arresting some. In Catania (Sicily) and more visibly in Florence, fascists tried to infiltrate the piazza but it is hard to say how much of the crowd they comprised. In Naples, this is not a question: fascists were not the dominant force, nor even a visible presence.
\n\nIt would be impossible to overstate how central the piazza is to Italian civic (and thus political) life. Each piazza in each neighborhood acts as a buffer between private and public life; in cities like Naples, the piazza still functions to erode both of those distinctions to a certain degree. As Walter Benjamin already picked up on long ago, in Naples, “just as the living room reappears on the street, with chairs, stove, and altar, so, only much more loudly, the street migrates into the living room.” In recent weeks, as restrictions struck small businesses, which are predominantly staffed in most southern cities by undocumented workers or unsalaried workers paid under the table, two key elements of the piazza came into play: their composition (including workers, residents, and those who spend time there), and their specific histories. Undocumented workers, “flex” workers, clerks, bartenders, small retailers, small business owners, migrants, unions, militants from the left and right came out into the street to fight for social protections.
\n\nIn Naples, the demonstrations have continued to involve diverse participants: precarious youth (some marching with Extinction Rebellion banners), undocumented workers, Potere al Popolo organizers, women (who marched against gender discrimination in the workplace), families, migrants, and retailers. The pressure on the local administration is high.
\n\nIn Rome, on Saturday, October 31, a movement of various left forces appeared in the streets: autonomous militants, migrants, Kurdish immigrants, young people. The police presence was very high, but the demonstrators did not escalate violence—in what seems like an attempt to offset what many would expect would be further de-legitimization in the media. Despite the suffocating provocation of militarized police and media propaganda, the action in Rome showed an ability to remain fluid: to use insurrectionary energy at one moment and restraint at another. We do not write this to decry “peaceful protest,” nor to call for it, but rather to insist that which tactics to employ is always a contextual question that must be decided in the moment by the demonstrators involved.
\n\nFor better or for worse, media coverage of the October 31 demonstration was minimal at best the next morning.
\n\nFurther protests, gatherings, and actions are planned for the next few weeks as lockdowns spread across the peninsula. It is hard to predict what will happen, but one thing is clear: given the speed of events, what happens will not be determined (only) by organized political institutions, nor along strict ideological lines. It will continue to be heterogeneous and autonomous, with all the advantages and disadvantages those entail.
\n\nThe need to contain the spread of the virus—which, like all capitalist crises, will continue to disproportionately affect and brutalize an already vulnerable undercommons—must be reconciled and engaged simultaneously with class struggle. Those in power will continue to demonize those taking to the streets while also denying them adequate healthcare or forms of survival. This situation in Naples—as in Italy, and in the rest of the world—is complicated and dynamic. Struggles will continue and intensify as winter approaches; it will be vital to continue thinking about these demonstrations through the lens of anti-capitalist struggle, even if not all the participants are explicitly anti-capitalist or anti-statist. This is why we have issued this short note, to provide context to dispel the myth that those in the streets are purely “negationists” (the term used to describe COVID-19 skeptics in Italy), rather than those fighting for their lives and livelihoods.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/11/12/7.jpg\")
Naples.
\nNaples, October 23. A scream, a revolt, a turning point: a night of clashes violating the curfew, proclaiming that the unconditional acceptance of anti-COVID closures is over. This has echoed in every other major Italian city over the past weeks, sometimes looking like a single episode, sometimes more like a mark of things to come.
\n\nThe chief anti-COVID measures that the state put in place in spring were coercive: the lockdown, movement limitations, charges, monetary fines, increased power for the police to detain people, and the like. The population accepted all this as a collective effort for the benefit of all, as hard as it all was. The only exception was a week of violent revolts that shook the prisons of the whole country in March, during which 14 detainees died under unclear circumstances. After the first proper attempt at expropriation in Sicily, in fact, the government allocated bonuses to support workers and activities closed due to the lockdown, and people just waited for it all to end. But this emergency approach could only be palliative.
\n\nNo structural intervention has been implemented to address the pandemic; every bonus has been funded via debt. Both the Recovery Fund from the European Union and large deficit spending are temporary solutions which will be unbearable in the long run within the capitalist system. The objective, as elsewhere, is clearly saving the socio-economic organism rather than saving lives. A paradigm of sacrifice.
\n\nAs the second COVID-19 wave is hitting hard in Italy, it’s becoming clear that it won’t be possible to save both lives and the economy. A massive crisis is knocking at the door: the only thing possible for the government is to delay its effects with a mixture of emergency support measures and fake “soft” lockdowns, since they don’t have a real solution. What results is a political strategy of blowing to push a storm cloud away: naïve or desperate.
\n\nThis explains why people have lost their faith in the measures of the state, forced to choose between saving their health and providing for their material basic needs. It is becoming clear that it’s not possible to safeguard both under these conditions.
\n\nInitiated in Naples by small shop owners, spontaneous eruptions of anger against the curfew have taken a different form in each city, with remarkable similarities in the north. In Milan and Turin on October 26 and in Florence on October 30, there were ambiguous calls to break the curfew, a strong non-ideological presence in the streets, and demonstrations of mixed composition. In Turin, some youngsters looted a couple of luxury shops; the broken window at Gucci became iconic. In Milan, most of the arrestees were minors. In Florence, a wall demanded “give us a future” in capital letters. In all of these cities, the unrest generated hours of clashes with the police, who are instinctively understood as the chief target.
\n\nA lot has been said about the youth of the suburbs,5 unprecedented key players in those nights of rage. These young gangs have been the most energetic and brazen opponents of the police, but there were plenty of comrades, groups of ultras [i.e., hooligans], and probably fascists, too, though they had no active role as a group and were implicitly marginalized by the genuine multi-ethnic composition of the new generations in the streets. When the right wing held their gatherings, these youth gangs simply avoided them, isolating them. Here in the north, shop owners and stakeholders of the economic sectors that are impacted by the curfew haven’t been so influential.
\n\nIn northern cities, it seems we’ve experienced a foretaste of the crisis to come, but these outbursts have remained episodes without a follow-up. This could be due to the widespread de-ideologization of the people, or to disorganization and the lack of deep and continuous relations between social movements and the suburbs, or to the massive preventive police crackdown on the following calls to demonstrate.
\n\nYet these calls still proliferate, and we don’t know where they come from, we can’t foresee how each and every one is going to end up. It is instructive that classic militant calls to amass in the streets do not have a wide appeal at the moment; they sometimes are merely self-referential and self-conservative.
\n\nSome people believe that the present context offers an opportunity for fascists to gain momentum, focusing on this threat to the risk of excess. Looking through another lens, considering the situation from the perspective of possibility, we could also argue that the current scenario offers a fertile ground: people are reacting against the economic debates, they value human relations more after months of abstinence, they show a keen interest in using public space as a political arena. Social movements should step out of their comfort zones to face the strange challenges of these times, offering expertise instead of fixed solutions.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/11/12/8.jpg\")
The famous broken Gucci window in Turin.
\nThe Slovenian government officially acknowledged the pandemic on March 12, 2020, establishing the legal basis for the first phase of lockdown. One day later, the new far-right government was sworn in. One of their first actions was to introduce authoritarian measures aimed at controlling the population, disguised as efforts to control COVID-19. These included restrictions on movement between municipalities, a ban on protesting, the prohibition of gatherings outside immediate family units, and expanded powers for the police.
\n\nThe anarchist and anti-authoritarian movement responded swiftly. Affinity group actions broke out all around the capital city of Ljubljana. This momentum culminated on April 24, when the first demonstrations took place. At the time, most of the northern hemisphere was deep in lockdown; Ljubljana was one of the first places to see massive demonstrations during the COVID-19 era. Six turbulent months of weekly protests and actions followed—the longest continuous anti-authoritarian mobilization in the history of Slovenia.
\n\nSince April 24, protests have occurred every week, along with several weekly actions addressing a variety of different themes including environmental struggles, precarious cultural work, and the pro-choice movement. At first, these demonstrations took the form of mass bicycle rides; as the police became more prepared to respond to those, the demonstrations assumed other forms. As in many other parts of the world, after severe repression, the fight against the police became the central issue of the protests for a while.
\n\nAnarchists had seized the initiative to shape the narrative around these protests, positioning them in the coordinates of anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-statism, mutual aid, and solidarity—leaving little space for conspiracy theorists and far-right provocateurs to lead the actions on the streets. At the same time, the spring wave of protests also successfully halted the new government’s initial authoritarian push, rejecting the social claustrophobia it had created. One of the most valuable achievements of the protests was to reject the imposed individualism and isolation of the quarantine. Through these protests, new forms of collectivity became possible again.
\n\nAfter a period of relative ease during the summer months, the epidemiological situation began to worsen again during September and October. After decades of neoliberal privatization, the public health system was not prepared for the challenges of the new wave of COVID-19.
\n\nOn October 20, the Slovenian government declared a general curfew between 9 pm and 6 am. This was the first police curfew since fascists announced a curfew in the occupied territories of Slovenia (then Yugoslavia) during World War II.
\n\nSlovenia is not an exception: curfews have been introduced in almost all the territories of the European Union. Not surprisingly, we are chiefly seeing them in places where authoritarian state measures traditionally provoke fierce resistance—France, Spain, Italy, and Belgium. As European countries experience the second wave of epidemic along with the deterioration, privatization, and collapse of the public health system, they are also facing the first obvious signs of economic and social crisis. People are starting to lose their jobs, homes, and dignity on a massive scale. In response, governments are implementing more and more measures to exercise total control over the population—as if they are already anticipating the revolts that are yet to be born.
\n\nThe curfew in Slovenia was accompanied by several other restrictive measures. These included a prohibition on travel from one municipality, region, or country to another; an attempt to invest the army with more authority; restrictions on public gatherings and heavy penalties for any kind of protest activity; and the introduction of phone tracking of the infected. Not only is the state exercising its own control over people, but also, as in any other totalitarian regime, it is encouraging us to police our friends and neighbors while stigmatizing those who are not healthy. Many of these measures have nothing to do with fighting the virus; they are meant to fight the virus of resistance and to keep the economy going.
\n\nSince the introduction of the curfew, the cities have come alive at night again with everything from burning trash bins and graffiti to fireworks, chanting, and smaller gatherings and protests. The struggle we have been experiencing for more than six months took another turn with the new set of authoritarian measures.
\n\nThe riots of November 5 in Ljubljana.
\nOn November 5, rioting broke out in Ljubljana. Originally, the online group Anonymous had called for some sort of demonstration for this date; right-wing media engaged in fear-mongering, causing every formal organization to distance themselves from the event, but apparently building curiosity among the restless and disaffected. The composition of the crowds that gathered was diverse, but for the most part, it consisted of people who had probably not been engaged by the previous protests. This time, workers and angry youth came out, and the general atmosphere of the night was hatred against the police. The fighting lasted for several hours. Because riots do not occur often in Slovenia—before this, the last time the police used their water cannon was in 2012, during an uprising that forced the government to resign—only anarchists have raised their voices to speak affirmatively of these riots as a genuine expression of the anger of the people. Other groups that supported the previous protests are now distancing themselves from the violence on the streets.
\n\nThe riots took place in a situation in which the mobilization was practically over. It seems that, rather than trying to bring it back from the dead in hopes of creating some sort of linear path for social unrest, it makes more sense to figure out how to connect the raw anger we saw in the riots with the struggles of other people we saw on the streets over the past months, in order to create a terrain of common struggle.
\n\nYou can read an anarchist analysis of the riots from Ljubljana here.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/11/12/4.jpg\")
November 5, Ljubljana.
\nA statement from Radio Fragmata.
\n\nGreece is currently in a full lockdown. This includes no freedom of movement. There are only six legitimized reasons to leave the house. You have to text the state in order to receive permission to go outside, and show the SMS confirmation to police when they stop you. However, schools remain open, contradicting the alleged justification for the lockdown.
\n\nDuring the first lockdown in March and April, cases were averaging around 150 to 200 per day; now the numbers are fluctuating between 2000 and 2500 per day, with ICU beds rapidly filling up. The blame for the infection rates can be laid on a business elite that demanded to open borders for tourism in August, despite the fact that this would obviously fail to draw many tourists during a global pandemic. There was a 90% percent drop in tourism, but the few wealthy tourists who showed up spread the virus even further throughout the mainland and islands of Greece.
\n\nThe New Democracy regime has continued cutting hospital budgets and medical staff, redirecting the funds to decorative urban renewal projects, police and prison staff, and an increased military budget in light of tensions with Turkey. While they use fountains and potted plants to decorate neighborhoods where there is rampant homelessness and drug use, public transportation has not been adjusted to make social distancing possible; subways and buses remain packed with people, likely spreading the virus. This chiefly impacts those who cannot afford to travel to work by car. While the government’s priorities are obvious, they insist that the responsibility for the pandemic lies on individuals passing the virus to one another—that we are the only ones to blame for the alarming infection rates.
\n\nMany prisoners have initiated hunger and even thirst strikes demanding better hygiene policies and protection from COVID-19. While funding has been directed towards prisons, almost all of this has been put towards expanding staff and improving their pay.
\n\nHomeless people continue to face fines, arrest, and displacement. The state is using the virus to forbid assemblies of any kind; police recently attacked individuals inside a social center in Patras for gathering food to distribute to people struggling during this time. The current lockdown runs through November 17—an anniversary of resistance to the military junta—and will likely extend beyond December 6, which has been observed as a day of resistance since the murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos in 2008. The government maintains that their priority is to open up before Christmas, so people can shop freely—the one freedom they approve of.
\n\nLike many places in the world, scientists are proposing lockdowns without considering the plight of those living precariously under capitalism. With everything closed, furloughed workers are struggling to survive. And those deemed essential, such as delivery workers, teachers, and grocery store workers, are working with no increase in pay, forced to buy their own protective equipment, wishing they worked in an industry deemed “non-essential” so they could receive a small salary without risking their health for peanuts all day.
\n\nWe are waiting for society to explode. We are waiting for people to have enough. We recognize the dangers of COVID-19, but we refuse to accept the opportunistic “law and order” policies of the current state that don’t really aim to address the virus.
\n\nIt is hard not to say that a feeling of depression is here. The days are shorter, the weather colder, and the future is bleak. But if anything is to come out of this virus and this lockdown, is that people will begin to see the mortality of this system, and realize that the state can not protect us—if anything, it is leading us towards our demise.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/11/12/3.jpg\")
November 5, Ljubljana.
\nThe state cannot protect you, but it can get you killed.
\n\nThe Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben created controversy by adopting what many perceived to be a dismissive attitude about the virus. See, for example, “The Invention of an Epidemic.” ↩
\nFor context, see “The Yellow Vest Movement in France” and “The Pitchforks Movement in Sicily.” ↩
\nSee “Italy: We Partisans—Resisting the Wave of Fascism, Spring 2018.” ↩
\nFor more on the concept of the undercommons, begin with the book by Stefano Harney and Fred Moten. ↩
\nThe center-suburb relation in Europe is the opposite of what was common until recently in the United States: historic city centers are expensive and populated by the wealthy, while the suburbs are old commuter areas, mainly poor and lacking services and infrastructure. ↩
\nIn Greece, the far-right New Democracy party has presided over a year and a half of reactionary efforts to crush the country’s vibrant culture of resistance, targeting immigrants, anarchists, ecologists, students, and rebellious neighborhoods. On October 7, after seven years of popular pressure, the Greek courts were finally compelled to find members of the fascist party Golden Dawn guilty for the murder of Greek musician Pavlos Fyssas. This gesture was supposed to legitimize New Democracy, distancing them from the fascist party whose voting base they stole to enact a more respectable version of the same agenda. But in the streets, refugee camps, and prisons, the same struggles continue with undiminished intensity.
\n\nThis is expanded from a contribution to the Bad News report. You can also read our reports from May, June, July, August, and September.
\n\nOn October 7, the trial of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn took place in Athens. The trial dates addressed the murder of anti-fascist Greek rapper Pavlos Fyssas, also known as “Killah P,” back in 2013. The neo-Nazi group, which previously held seats in both the Greek and European Union parliaments, faced conspiracy charges for “acting as a criminal organization” and for murdering Killah P as well as multiple migrants.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/10/24/7.jpg\")
Clashes in 2017 on the four-year anniversary of the murder of Pavlos Fyssas. Actions like these were essential in pressing the Greek courts to continue prosecuting his murderers rather than quietly concluding the case out of sight of the public.
\nOn the day of the trial, a crowd of thousands gathered against the fascist party outside the courthouse of central Athens. Small clashes took place after police attacked the march. Police threw tear gas, shot water cannons, and violently attacked demonstrators at random; people threw Molotov cocktails and built barricades to defend the march. It is not certain if the actions of police were ordered from above, or were the result of their own disappointment that a party that a large percentage of Greek police embrace was deemed criminal by the state that employs them.
\n\nMembers of the party were given sentences ranging from 5 to 13 years in prison, including a life sentence for the individual responsible for murdering Killah P. However, since the verdict, the state has already revealed how pointless it is to expect justice from the judicial system. The prosecutor has called for the suspension of all sentences with the exception of the individual found responsible for the murder of Killah P. One of the Golden Dawn members also has political immunity due to his status in European parliament. Most of them remain out of prison, employing excuses such as having sick relatives or COVID-19—ironic, since Golden Dawn has been seen denying the existence of the pandemic and playing on conspiracy theories about it being created by the likes of George Soros.
\n\nAnother appeals court awaits—and while this trial is probably the most famous in modern Greek history, it is no surprise that the convictions will not deliver justice for the atrocities perpetrated by Golden Dawn. So many acts of violence go unaccounted for. The appeals court, the enforcement of prison sentences, and the course that the prosecution will take in the post-verdict judicial proceedings remain unclear. It is reasonable to expect that as the case leaves the headlines, the right-wing New Democracy government will conclude that they have achieved the effect they needed from the guilty verdict; many of the defendants may end up serving no time at all.
\n\nHere is a statement by local anarchists in response to the verdict:
\n\n\n\n\n“We sympathize with this broad moment of joy at the expense and inconvenience of the scum making up Golden Dawn. However, we want to use our voice to state that our thirst for vengeance for their heinous acts is not satisfied. We desire the liquidation of fascism, both on a social and institutional level, not the judicial regulation of fascism.
\n\nWith a humble appreciation for the feelings of redemption experienced by the family and friends of those affected by Golden Dawn’s rotten existence, we also want to point out the trickery of New Democracy ‘s administration.
\n\nIn some ways, New Democracy also won today. In creating this spectacle of “justice,” they attempt to distinguish themselves from the “fringe extremists” of Golden Dawn and reinforce their claim as the moderate neoliberal heroes of a Europeanized Greece. At the same time, they continue carrying out fascist pogroms against people of color and immigrants and waging war on anarchists and anti-fascists.
\n\nWe don’t mind when those in Golden Dawn suffer, regardless of the cause; whether from the courts, COVID-19, or tripping on a banana peel. Any cause of pain to these awful fascists brings us comfort, but we do not want to use our voice to appreciate the courts of this fascist system. As anarchists, we recognize that no true justice will ever be found in the courts. The system of the courts in itself is an injustice to our humanity. The horrible actions of Golden Dawn must be avenged and dealt with in the streets and in our broader revolt against a society built on fascist ideals.
\n\nIt’s unclear how much time these people will get. It’s unclear if Pavlos had not been Greek whether the case would have ever reached the spotlight, or gone unprosecuted like those of so many others tortured and murdered by Golden Dawn and Greek fascists/patriots. It’s not clear if the state will compensate and appease its right-wing base after this by doubling down on future repression of immigrants, anarchists, and other communities it deems expendable or unwanted.
\n\nWe recognize the struggles and efforts to draw attention to this case in the streets, but we plead not to allow the state and its trickery to measure the distance and victories of our struggles.
\n\nWill the two comrades facing terrorism charges for attacking Golden Dawn’s offices now see their charges dropped? After all, they were combatting a criminal organization, according to the courts. Of course not—dismissing those charges wouldn’t serve New Democracy’s goals.
\n\nLet us use our voices to push things further, and on our terms!”
\n\n-Anarchists / October 7th
\n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/10/24/8.jpg\")
Clashes on the day of the Golden Dawn verdict.
\nAs we believe that it is essential to achieve victory in the streets, we want to recognize some of the actions building up to the case.
\n\nIn Patras, the day before the trial, people attacked the local branch of the Ministry of Justice, as well as two ATMs and two bank branches. An anonymous group took responsibility for the action. An excerpt from the communiqué states:
\n\n\n\n\nIn the early morning of October 6, while we waited for the completion of the trial of Golden Dawn, we chose to strike state and capitalist targets in various parts of the city. More specifically, the branch of the Ministry of Justice, two ATMs, and two bank branches were broken and painted…
\n\nAs anarchists, we have no illusions about the bourgeois system of justice, as we know that it is a pillar for the preservation and formation of power. We have no confidence in this institution, which will always be in favor of the bosses and the rulers.
\n\nWe recognize that this court is by no means the final battle with fascism, because the anti-fascist struggle is daily, and requires constant vigilance and presence in our workplaces, schools, universities, and squares.
\n\nNo matter how much the state escalates its repression, no matter how many squats it evicts, no matter how many revolutionaries it imprisons: we will stand up for the anarchist / anti-fascist struggle, aiming to upgrade it.
\n
Building up to the trial, people took other actions against the offices of New Democracy, as well as the offices of the lawyers defending Golden Dawn. The communiqués for the actions spelled out a message of refusal to embrace state justice. It was impossible to miss the banners and graffiti across the country as well.
\n\nThe verdict came just weeks after 51 people were arrested while covering up fascist graffiti in Thessaloniki, all of whom face criminal charges. Much like Facebook, or Macron in France and Merkel in Germany—and soon, Biden in the United States—New Democracy tries to present itself as the peacekeeper of a polarized society while enforcing and protecting the broader policies and goals of the right.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/10/24/3.jpg\")
Anti-fascist graffiti in memory of Pavlos Fyssas.
\nJust days before the trial of Golden Dawn, a 64-year-old man murdered an 18-year-old Roma boy in the region of Messina, Peloponnese. The man claims that the boy was trying to rob him, but witnesses state that the boy was simply stepping onto his land in order to gather some lemons. The man also claims he only fired to scare away the boy; however, he shot him three times with a shotgun.
\n\nAfter the murder of the boy, the Roma community of Messina surrounded the police station, hoping to capture the murderer and enact revenge. The news spread across the country to various Roma communities in Athens, Volos, Kalamata, Katerini, Thessaloniki, Aspropyrgos, Lamia, and elsewhere. During the week of the anniversary of the October 10, 1944 murder of 800 Roma children in Auschwitz, Roma communities across the country participated in riots and barricades in response to the murder. The Peloponnese region, despite its history of being occupied by the Nazis, has many active fascist groups and instances of racist violence.
\n\nRoma people are excluded and marginalized in Greece, as they are in Europe in general. While the man has been charged with murder, the state has also charged two Roma boys with trespassing on the allegations that they were with the victim when he was murdered. The laws surrounding this murder resemble the “stand your ground” laws in the USA; it will likely go unpunished because of the ethnic background of the victim. Fascism is alive and well in Greece, and no court will ever eradicate an ideology that serves to protect the state.
\n\nClashes outside the court following the verdict agaisnt Golden Dawn.
\nHuge student strikes have erupted across the country in response to the lack of safety in schools in the face of COVID-19. The state continues to redirect money towards gentrification efforts, military budgets, and policing while sending students back to school in the middle of the pandemic with nothing more then a mask mandate. In some cases, students have occupied their schools; ironically, some conservative parents have responded by assaulting the occupiers and trying to break up barricades, despite the fact that their children are fighting for their own safety.
\n\nThe occupations began in response to a lack of anti-virus safety protocols in the schools. They have become politicized as a consequence of anarchist groups’ support efforts, as well as many young people’s experience of state repression and brutality.
\n\nTo support the youth-led demonstrations, mass bicycle protests, and blockading of schools, anarchist and anti-fascist groups have organized solidarity actions and hung banners, as well as helping to defend the occupations. As the strike has grown, the state has threatened young people identified as participating in the occupations with expulsion from school programs. Repression has escalated with riot police and Delta police attacking young people, tear-gassing gatherings of students, and, in one recent case, arresting and beating four 14-year-olds.
\n\nThe strike is expected to continue, while the corporate media has tried to minimize attention, mocking young people’s demands for safety as nothing more than an attempt to avoid school. The students’ original demands were:
\n\n· Divide classrooms into sections to avoid overcrowding\n· Recruit long-term teachers, not teachers on temporary contracts\n· Expand funding for cleaning staff\n· Provide properly sized masks for students according to need, as well as general PPE and hand sanitizer for free
\n\nThe state has made clear to an entire generation that it is not concerned with the safety and preservation of humanity, leaving a new generation of young people skeptical and discontented.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/10/24/1.jpg\")
Graffiti supporting the student occupations: “The teaching system is the teaching of the system.”
\nOn Wednesday, September 16, 2020, police raided several apartments in Berlin and Athens, pursuing accusations from the German Federal General Prosecutor at the Federal Court of Justice regarding “formation of a criminal organization” according to §129 StGB. The raids and charges have been hushed up; according to one of the only corporate media reports, they are part of a broader investigation into the riots that happened during the G20 in Hamburg.
\n\nIn Athens, Greek officers of the anti-terrorism authority (DAEEB) and one officer from the German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) stormed two apartments to execute search warrants. They took the accused and the other persons they found in the two apartments to the police headquarters in Athens and brought them into interrogation rooms.
\n\nAfter ten hours of waiting, they released two people and arrested the remaining three on the basis of pepper spray that was found in the apartment (violation of the Greek weapons law), two pocketknives, and for refusing to give fingerprints. After another six hours, the arrestees were transferred to prison cells. The next morning, a heavily armed squad dressed up all three with bulletproof vests as if they were in a blockbuster movie (typical for a presentation by the anti-terrorism authority), tied them up, and brought them to court. Yet at the end of the hearing, the court decided to postpone the trial and release the prisoners.
\n\nThe allegations seem absurd. However, the implications of the conspiracy charges and the state’s willingness to coordinate to pursue the case internationally both indicate seriousness on the part of the European authorities.
\n\nMeanwhile, Pola Roupa, the accused member of the group Revolutionary Struggle famous for allegedly hijacking a helicopter to liberate a political prisoner from the Korydallos prison in Athens, continues to fight for better living conditions and for an appeal of her sentence.
\n\nOn September 24, the anti-terror police unit arrested three comrades after raiding their homes and a warehouse. The media already had a full story from the cops linking them to the “Group of Popular Fighters,” a revolutionary group that has claimed responsibility for several attacks since 2013. It appears that the story is based on fake news and false evidence. Two of them were released; one was transferred to Larissa’s prison, facing the vengefulness of the minister Chrysohoidis. Focusing on his past contacts with the notorious fugitive Palaiokostas, the Greek state is trying to silence him and at the same time send a message to all the aspiring revolutionaries of the present and the future.
\n\nOn October 14, Şadi Naci Özpolat, an alleged fighter of “Popular Front” who is imprisoned in the Diavata prison in Thessaloniki, began a hunger strike. He was arrested in Athens on March 19, 2020, after an operation targeting Turkish and Kurdish fighters. From the moment he was taken prisoner, he refused to cooperate, maintaining his dignity in the face of the humiliating prison procedures. To punish his courage and will, the chief at the prison put him in solitary confinement, from which he was released only after a hunger strike. Now he has commenced a new hunger strike, demanding to be permitted to receive printed material sent to him (books, newspapers, letters) without censorship or damage by the prison authorities, and for his family to be permitted to visit him in prison.
\n\nPrisoners across Greece continue to demand hygienic conditions inside the prisons. Prison staff hiring continues to outpace hospital staff, as court cases continue to mount against the movement in parallel with the campaigns of state terror and repression. However, solidarity remains strong. Every trial draws a large presence of supporters outside the court, despite the attempts of riot police to intimidate those who express solidarity. Noise demonstrations continue relentlessly outside prisons as well. Repression is as strong as ever, but our solidarity will always provide a weapon to overcome it.
\n\nSince our last report, police have evicted the squat Filolaou 99 in the Athens neighborhood of Pagrati. This follows the evictions of the historic squats Terra Incognita in Thesaloniki and Rosa Nera in Crete. The squat served as a library, an organizing point, and a mutual aid resource center.
\n\nThe state refuses to return any of the contents of the library or the other equipment and resources housed by the space. After the eviction, corporate media attempts to find locals willing to offer interviews demonizing the space failed; locals described their disappointment about the eviction, recalling that the squat had replaced a house once used for drug dealing, and that the squat became known as a community resource center supporting those suffering the economic consequences of the COVID-19 lockdown.
\n\nIn response to the eviction, a demonstration spontaneously gathered in support of the squat. A thousand people took to the streets in defiance of the new law banning all non-permitted demonstrations. Police attempted to intimidate the participants, but without success.
\n\nDespite the unrelenting attacks on squats in Greece, anonymous individuals expressed solidarity with those defending the recently evicted Leipig 34 squat in Germany by attacking the offices of a German tourism business in Thessaloniki.
\n\nResistance continues in response to all the evictions: a constant campaign of graffiti, banners, and protests communicating that the spirit at the foundation of the movement’s squatted infrastructure can never be evicted. October has been deemed a month of international solidarity with squats under threat; throughout the month, people have repeatedly attacked bank branches across Athens and Thessaloniki. There have also been reports that people threw Molotov cocktails at riot police guarding the recently evicted Terra Incognito squat in Thessaloniki. No arrests were made.
\n\nExarchia continues to be overrun with police. The latest pandemic measures will undoubtedly impact the neighborhood even more, as such measures are always enforced more harshly in Exarchia than elsewhere in Athens, as a means to seek more control over the area. An organization called the “quality of life” committee has been coordinating urban gentrification efforts, helping to line the pockets of Greece’s elite with funding from the European Union. A new proposal worth 3.5 million euros to restructure a street in Exarchia that runs parallel to the historic Polytechnic University—a street once notorious for clashes with police—will likely serve as another effort to gentrify Exarchia. This illustrates the priorities of an administration that aims to decorate the city in the face of a looming depression.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/10/24/4.jpg\")
In place of vibrant communities, capitalists want to reduce Greek cities to a gentrified wasteland.
\nOn the island of Lesvos, immigrants and refugees continue to face dehumanizing treatment from the Greek state; the only humanitarian measures are directed solely at shaping international attention. The new camp replacing Moria, the previous concentration camp for refugees, leaves the residents facing comparable or even worse conditions than before. Police continue attempting to deter grassroots support efforts, blocking aid shipments and threatening to arrest people who try to help those inside the refugee camp. While funding is desperately needed for infrastructure to support those displaced from Moria or facing miserable conditions elsewhere in refugee camps across Greece, the state is prioritizing investing funds in building a new border wall on the border with Turkey in Evros.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/10/24/5.jpg\")
The border wall Greece is constructing on the border with Turkey, imitating Donald Trump.
\nOn October 8, a massive strike and demonstration took place involving delivery workers across Athens. Organizing attempts by delivery workers have drawn repression and arrest. But efforts to crush the delivery workers’ grassroots union have only invigorated the strike; in light of pandemic safety measures and the new recognition of delivery people as essential workers if another lockdown is to come, these workers are refusing to tolerate the degradation of their jobs. The strike called for more PPE for delivery workers and payment for fuel for those working on motorbikes. The delivery union’s wildcat efforts have radicalized an entire demographic of workers in Greece, helping to provide a support network among delivery workers during a precarious time.
\n\nIn solidarity with the strike and efforts of the delivery union, anonymous individuals set fire to a delivery van belonging to the courier company ACS in the early hours of October 13. ACS is a courier company operating across Greece that is notorious for exploiting their employees.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/10/24/6.jpg\")
Striking delivery workers.
\nIn memory of murdered LGBTQ activist Zackie-O and against patriarchy in general, anonymous individuals claimed responsibility for a campaign of actions against churches in Athens in mid-October.
\n\nIn response to New Democracy’s escalation of surveillance and policing, anonymous individuals attacked the private security company Group22 SA on October 13. The company’s office’s façade was set on fire along with multiple vehicles belonging to the company. The action also declared solidarity with squats and squatters evacuated by the state. Vehicles belonging to another security company had been set ablaze in Thessaloniki the previous day, on October 12.
\n\nIn response to the broader repression of campuses in light of the abolition of the asylum laws protecting universities from police attacks, anonymous individuals stormed and destroyed the offices of the dean of the NTUA university in Athens.
\n\nThe second wave—or is it the third?—of COVID-19 is coming hard. The deception of New Democracy’s guilty verdict for Golden Dawn has helped to conceal some of the regime’s heinous acts from public dialogue and media headlines, but nothing has really changed. We face an uncertain future, as people do everywhere in the world—but our solidarity and struggles remain intact.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/10/24/2.jpg\")
October 7 in Athens. Despite all their efforts, the police cannot maintain control—even on the day when the court verdict against Golden Dawn was supposed to legitimize the system they serve.
\nIn the following report from Greece, anarchists describe the burning of the refugee camp, Moria, and the response countrywide, as well as the latest chapter in other struggles against state repression on a variety of fronts.
\n\nThis update is adapted from a monthly contribution to the “Bad News Report” podcast. You can also read our reports from May, June, July, and August.
\n\nAnother month, another report on the situation here in Greece. There has been no pause in the repression of the state, nor any peace for the marginalized and excluded. Another historic squat has been evicted, the economic despair many already face is becoming generalized, society drifts towards the right at the guidance of state and corporate media, and the largest concentration camp housing migrants in all of Europe has been engulfed in flames, displacing thousands.
\n\nAs in the rest of the world, each morning brings new concerns, new disasters, new forms of precarity. We share the following information in the pursuit of a relentless and borderless solidarity.
\n\n-Anarchists, September 2020
\n\nRefugees demonstrating after the burning of Moria. “Azadi!” Freedom!
\nThe refugee camp Moria on the island of Lesvos has burned down.
\n\nThe state claims this was the result of demonstrations by desperate people inside the camp reacting to new measures the police had opportunistically declared in response to an inevitable and now unavoidable outbreak of COVID-19 inside the camp. Some 35 cases have been made public as of early September; considering the intense overcrowding of the camp, the number should be assumed to be much higher. Some wonder whether nearby fascists took the opportunity to set fires under the cover of the refugees’ protests. It is certain that some of the villagers wanted those fleeing the flames to burn alive, as they pushed those who tried to flee to the nearby village of Mytilene back towards the blaze.
\n\nIf the government’s claim that the fire started from the demonstrations is correct, we can understand this as an act of desperation on the part of individuals protesting against an unbearable situation. Out of all the concentration camps where refugees are contained on islands near Turkey or out of the view of the public on mainland Greece, Moria is by far the most famous, both for its size and for the severity of the conditions. Moria housed over 13,000 refugees, though it was designed for only around 3000. It is a symbol of the racism and dehumanizing policies of exclusion that comprise the basis of modern Europe.
\n\nIt was inevitable that COVID-19 would enter Moria. Imposing additional restrictions on the already forcibly isolated and controlled camp brought an already dire situation to the brink. Now thousands are going hungry without shelter, including many children. Facing fascist and police violence, they find themselves in an even worse situation than before.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/DunyaCollective/status/1303648750989082625\n\n\n
In some ways, the New Democracy administration has used the Moria camp to claim that the EU has failed Greece in the so-called “refugee crisis” dating back to 2015. At the same time, the administration has used the camp to fan the flames of xenophobia, framing the conditions in the camp and the desperation of those who occupy it as self-inflicted. The state shifts between these narratives according to what is politically expedient.
\n\nFascists and their “patriotic” allies will rally around the fire, blaming those inside the camp, and the state will use the disaster to demand more funding from the European Union. The only positive element of this story is that Moria is gone. Moria couldn’t have gotten any worse. It was a concentration camp. Now the world is paying more attention to a camp that was already infamous for its heinous conditions. While misery is especially visible now in the ruins of Moria, we hope that the former residents will somehow find better conditions and that the international attention this has drawn will deter the Greek state from intensifying the attacks on refugees and immigrants described in our prior reports. Many have survived Moria thanks to grassroots efforts and solidarity campaigns that have nothing to do with the state. The state has channeled much of the funds allocated for refugee support to benefit the civil and business elite and the companies they profit from.
\n\nToday, as the corporate media disparages the survivors, homeless refugees are scattered around the edges of the ruins of Moria, with many seen sleeping in cemeteries, one of the few places they can find peace from police and fascists. Riot police have been sent in. State officials intend to deal with this humanitarian and health crisis by imposing “law and order,” encouraging refugees to give up and flee back where they came from or detaining and containing them with police procedures intended to push the situation out of sight rather than improve matters for those who are suffering.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/DunyaCollective/status/1304435152743956480\n\n\n
The plight of refugees and immigrants in Greece is dire; refer to our prior reports for information on previous chapters in this struggle. The Lesvos Mutual Aid Network has called for support:
\n\n\n\n\n“If you are in need, or if you are interested in supporting us in any way you can contact us by phone: 6948580322 (+Whatsapp) or by e-mail: lesvos_network@protonmail.com.”
\n
The “Other Man Social Kitchen Free Food For Everyone” project has also gone to Lesvos to cook for those displaced by the fire. You can donate to them here.
\n\nAnarchists, the excluded, and the exploited must all stand together against the state and Eurocentric racism. When refugee and asylum laws were created in international court in Geneva in 1951 in response to World War II, the state couldn’t have anticipated that these would force Europe, the United States, or the “First World” in general to have to accept those escaping the suffering of the so-called “Third World.” The fascist reaction to these laws exposes the inherent hypocrisy and conditional nature of First World Neoliberal philosophies. Whether New Democracy plays victim or pursues populism via xenophobia, their true position regarding the plight of these desperate people is clear in the statement of Adonis Georgiadis, the minister of development and investment and the vice president of New Democracy, in response to the fire. The refugees should “get up and leave. We did not invite them here, they should leave.”
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/m_kormbaki/status/1304462840955318274\n\n\n
Resistance from the refugees in Lesvos and solidarity efforts from broader revolutionary movements has become substantial. The situation is developing.
\n\nDemonstrations have spontaneously erupted near the capital of Lesvos. Thousands of people took to the streets of Athens on September 11, and various solidarity efforts are occurring across Greece. A local anti-fascist demonstration took place on Lesvos on September 11, only to be brutally attacked and tear gassed by riot police. Nineteen people were arrested, many with injuries. The people of Moria are refusing to forfeit their dignity as they face attacks by fascist locals, an imported brigade of riot police, and threats of deportation and or disappearance. Alleged “humanitarian” efforts by the state have continued with the “law and order” approach, going so far as to prevent the military from distributing food to punish the houseless refugees for making demands and demonstrating. Fascists have acted parallel to police by attacking mutual aid support efforts—smashing the windows of cars bringing aid or threatening and assaulting individuals coming to help the refugees.
\n\nSome locals are also fighting some state efforts to build another concentration camp on the island. Some of them do not have a problem with refugees, per se, but rather with the state’s use of the land to build a concentration camp. However, it is hard with so much happening to distinguish the intentions of every actor. Many refugees are not only without resources and support, but also face manipulation by the police and “humanitarian” agencies, potentially forcing many into accepting potential deportation or loss of status as a result of confusion, disinformation, and desperation. While France and Germany have agreed to take some of the minors, European politicians have approached this disaster as a mere political debate rather than the dire situation that it is.
\n\nWe say “Bye Moria! No more First and Third World!”
\n\nFor updates on the situation in Lesvos, start here.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/09/14/9.jpg\")
The wreckage of Moria.
\nThe evictions continue. The most recent target was the historic Rosa Nera squat on the island of Crete.
\n\nRosa Nera was a gigantic squat overlooking the sea in the tourist destination of Chania in Crete. It served as a venue for concerts, educational events, political organizing, and various other activities typical of a revolutionary social center. Occupied for 16 years, it was notorious for its beautiful location and size. The state presumably carried out the eviction in September in order to send a message to the squats still holding ground across Greece. Solidarity demonstrations immediately broke out across Crete, drawing 1500 the day of the eviction. An occupation of City Hall followed, as well as interventions at the local offices of property managers and solidarity demonstrations across the island of Crete and throughout Greece.
\n\nSimultaneous solidarity actions for the recently evicted Terra Incognita squat in Thessaloniki have also been occurring, with thousands of people attending rallies across the country for both of these historic squats and all squats evicted since New Democracy called for the liquidation of all occupations following their accession to power in 2019.
\n\nComradres attempting to rebuild Libertatia, a squat burnt by fascists in Thessaloniki.
\nThese squats have served as our movement’s infrastructure. They offer places to organize, but they also function as medical centers, gyms, mutual aid and social resource bases, and martial arts studios. While the assaults of the state are dealing powerful blows, the hearts that gave life to this infrastructure continue beating with revolutionary desire, and the courage that helped to create it remains.
\n\nRecently, one of the last remaining squats in Exarchia, K-Vox, was targeted with gunfire. At the beginning of September, someone shot eight bullets into the squat while people were inside; fortunately, they didn’t strike anyone. Those inside reported that they could hear the bullets whizzing by their heads. This occurred shortly after the the vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse murdered two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The shooting has not been claimed, but it is reasonable to imagine it could be a local fascist inspired by QANON or 5G or COVID-19 conspiracy theories, as American fascists are influencing the Greek right.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/09/14/3.jpg\")
\nAs a consequence of the influence of the church, misogyny has long been a rarely-questioned norm in Greek society. Sexual assault, abuse, and even femicide have been rampant for years. A movement is emerging to break this silence. The COVID-19 lockdown led to an increase in acknowledged domestic abuse, and the lifting of the restrictions has correlated with a spike in sexual assaults.
\n\nA project mapping and tracking instances of rape, assault, and misogyny is online here. We do not encourage using Facebook as a platform, but projects like this are important and should be supported and replicated by whatever means are available.
\n\nMore and more people are speaking up to break the silence about sexual assault. An employee of a ship attempted to sexually assault a 25-year-old woman en route to Santorini island for a vacation in front of her daughter. He apologized to the courts and the judge gave him a fine of one thousand euros and released him pending a trial that may or may not happen, depending on whether his case re-enters the spotlight. On the island of Ikaria, some men have been beaten following an attempt to sexually assault a woman. This woman now fears for her safety as police are coming to her investigating the beating, rather than the assault they attempted to perpetrate.
\n\nOn the television show Big Brother, a contestant was heard giggling on a live-stream of the sitcom with his fellow contestants as he states that “I go with one chick every day ‘to empty my pocket,’ (ejaculate) otherwise there is rape.” Neither the sitcom nor the channel flinched until there was public outcry about the incident. The individual who said this has since been removed from the show; however, as occurred in response to Trump’s infamous hot-mic leak, many other misogynists came to his defense, claiming that his reference to rape was a harmless joke, or, as they say in the United States, “locker room talk.” There is no attempt by the powers that be to challenge the normalcy of rape and the patriarchy that persists. Any attempt to appear politically correct is precisely political and nothing more than this.
\n\nAnother man has been sentenced for tossing gasoline on several women in 2018. The girl who was murdered following a dispute with her cop boyfriend in Trikala last month, described in our last report, has disappeared from the headlines as police endeavor to shape the narrative. Yet women are continuing to speak up, publicizing and doxxing sexual assaulters, and, as mentioned above, some perpetrators have been beaten. Vandalism of Orthodox Christian churches and graffiti and banners against patriarchy and the culture of rape can be seen across the country as well.
\n\nIn the city of Patras, some people carried out a noteworthy action in response to the sexual assaults and abuse perpetrated by a particular guard still working at the Petrouralli detention center for migrants in Athens. On the night of Monday, August 24, a group attacked a regional asylum office with red paint balls, littering the area with leaflets against the culture of rape by police inside detention centers and spray-painting a slogan across the facade of the building: “Cops and rapists, keep your hands off immigrants!”
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/09/14/8.jpg\")
\nCostas Sakkas and Giannis Dimitrakis face trial on September 16 for allegedly attempting to expropriate a Piraeus Bank ATM in Thessaloniki. The trial of four comrades arrested during the eviction of the anarchist squat known as Gare in 2017 will continue on September 18. The defendants have passionately declared that they will not compromise or cooperate with the state.
\n\nThe Greek state continues to implement new pre-trial restrictions, preventing individuals from visiting Exarchia or associating with “political” individuals as pre-trial measures. As mentioned in a prior report, four anarchists arrested on conspiracy charges stand accused of being part of a group allegedly known as “comrades.” The state is claiming that these comrades are responsible for dozens of actions claimed by the anonymous signature “comrades.” These individuals are trying to battle pre-trial restrictions of movement and association. A call for solidarity is online here.
\n\nPrison authorities continue to take advantage of COVID-19 to restrict the rights of prisoners, disrupting or halting visitation and furlough and limiting or suspending consultations with lawyers. Food and clothing transport have been severely disrupted. Measures in sanitation and hygiene remain as bad as they were prior to the pandemic. As cited in our prior reports, the virus has only provided an excuse for further punishment of those already facing the daily misery of prison.
\n\nThe Petrouralli immigrant detention facility in Athens continues to be a nightmare for undocumented prisoners facing deportation. You can read a statement from a prisoner held there regarding the everyday life conditions here.
\n\nAs repression intensifies, public demonstrations are legally banned, and squatted social centers are constantly threatened with eviction, revolutionary movements are forced to adapt and take cover in the night.
\n\nSince the asylum of universities has been lifted, private security contractors and police have collaborated to supervise university campuses and rid them of the freedom previously enjoyed on Greek campuses. In response, a communiqué claimed responsibility for an arson targeting a car belonging to the company “My Services” on August 24:
\n\n\n\n\n“On August 24, we attacked a vehicle belonging to the security company “My Services” that has coordinated security efforts with the police on university grounds. We broke into their car and set it on fire, destroying it completely. This company is one of the largest of its kind and is owned by a well-known mobster named Makris. Regardless of its mafia ties, this does not prevent the state and universities from cooperating with them via a two-million euro per year publicly funded security contract […]
\n\nBased on the latest leaks, also the announcements of Chrysochoidis (Minister of Civil Protection), there is a plan by security companies to expand their operations. Plans to increase security on campuses, further collaborate with police in training and supervision, and change existing laws in order to arm security personnel at universities. There is also a proposal to create an electronic card entry system in order to identify people, share information with the state regarding activity on campuses, and further suppress the presence of revolutionary activity and organizing at universities.”
\n\n-Anarchists
\n
A vehicle belonging to a Turkish diplomat was set ablaze in Thessaloniki in the early hours of Thursday, August 27. The action occurred in a neighborhood that houses multiple foreign embassies, communicating a will to strike regardless of the immense security obstacles in such an area. The action was declared to be in solidarity with Ebru Timtik, who passed away inside one of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s prisons after a 238-day hunger strike. A communiqué for the action also expressed solidarity with the Terra Incognita squat. Its release appears to have been timed to coincide with the international days of solidarity with political prisoners the Anarchist Black Cross announced for August 23-28.
\n\nFrom the communiqué:
\n\n\n\n\n“We take responsibility for the arson of a diplomatic vehicle on Ioanni Varvaki Street in Thessaloniki, in the early hours of Thursday, August 27. We call on all the world of struggle to turn the call of International Solidarity with political prisoners into a fiery flame of aggression, that will unite our struggles of rebellion across the earth. In light of this call, we took this action in response to the murder of another hunger striker by the fascist state of Erdoğan in Turkey. Ebru Timtik passed away on August 27, after 238 days of a hunger strike, demanding a fair trial.
\n\nEvery step of state repression is a call for war.
\n\nEvery loss is an occasion for new waves of attack.
\n\nSolidarity with the occupation of Terra Incognita and those who fight to the end against injustice.”
\n\n-Angry squats
\n
Late in the night on August 30, the personal car of Stefanos Tsonakidis, a well-known fascist in Patras, was destroyed by arson while it was parked in front of his home. Stefanos used to be a member of the fascist group Golden Dawn, and has now joined an even more fascistic splinter group of Golden Dawn created by notorious Neo-Nazi Ilias Kasidiaris. This action was claimed by “Anti-Fascist Action,” sending a message that there is no safe space for fascism in Greece.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/09/14/5.jpg\")
\nLittle has changed in Exarchia since our last report. Police continue to run rampant in the streets, harassing women, anyone with brown skin, and those who look “alternative” or queer—though with the end of the summer, the return of people to the streets as businesses re-open has hindered some of this harassment and abuse. Delta and riot police attacks continue on any organizing in public space for non-business reasons or in order to benefit the movement. One sees more police in uniform in Exarchia than anywhere else in the city. Fortunately, Airbnb has taken a big hit from COVID-19, though business owners and real estate developers are betting on a big boom after the pandemic eases. Unfortunately, this means that foreign businessmen and local elites have maintained their property holdings in the center of Athens as long term assets, continuing to charge absurdly high rents that do not reflect local wages.
\n\nIn the context of the ongoing struggle for control of Exarchia, it’s worth reporting a case in which one person faced and won a trial.
\n\nElias Gionis is a local artist and queer activist. Before the formal police occupation, which intensified during the COVID-19 lockdown, it was mafia and drug dealers harassing woman and LGBTQ people. Now that many of them have moved elsewhere or become more discreet in collaboration with the police, the police have taken their place. In fact, police were the first ones to push drug dealers and addicts into Exarchia in order to discredit the neighborhood’s reputation as a police-free zone.
\n\nElias Gionis was walking around Exarchia when Delta police harassed him. Elias responded, verbally defending himself. Being used to silence in response to their threats, as many residing in Exarchia live in fear of their state-sanctioned beatings and arrests, the Delta police arrested him. He faced trial and the risk of prison time simply for verbally defending himself against their homophobic abuse. Fortunately, the charges were dropped in early September.
\n\nA statement from Elias:
\n\n\n\n\n“The police are arbitrary against the citizens because they have the freedom to be. When you are attacked by a citizen, you are taught to call the police to protect you. When the police attack you, then they charge you to protect yourself. What would happen if I was not a well-known activist, if I was a weak child without a lawyer, without financial ability, and without a family to support me, especially if I was someone who did not have a family that supported me knowing I was gay? Just as we hear every day that a homosexual has been attacked, we must begin to hear that a police officer has heard a response. To give strength to the other children who may have once been wronged or to know how to react, if it happens to them in the future.”
\n
You can read more about Elias’s case here.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/09/14/2.jpg\")
Graffiti from a demonstration in solidarity with a Pakistani citizen who was shot and killed on the Greek border after living in Greece for some time.
\nAs mentioned in prior reports, environmental conflicts are escalating as the government seeks to make up for the loss of tourist money. In the region of Pelion, the state has began expanding its attempts to take control of water supplies in the biologically diverse mountain region. In concert with other community assemblies in the region, such as the one in Stagiates, the village of Drakia has established a popular assembly to stop the privatization and exploitation of natural water sources. Villagers have blocked developers from the DEYAMB group, which maintains water and sewage systems serving the nearby city of Volos. DEYAMB plans to bring in police; many anticipate a long-term struggle like the one seen in nearby Stagiates. Popular assemblies in villages across the region have given broader strength to a movement to defend the land against developers and business elites.
\n\nMeanwhile, the struggle against industrial trash burning continues in Volos, with a large banner action against the plant. There are also protests against the development of wind turbines, with blockades set up on the island of Tinos. The state has stationed police in villages and on islands to counter popular resistance, in order to halt traffic to escort industrial machinery or to lock down entire regions for the sake of destroying mountaintops before any resistance can emerge.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/AnarchyPressgr/status/1305024331622350848\n\n\n
As on the West Coast of the United States, fires also continue to blaze, likely caused by a combination of climate change and Greek developers seeking to evade regulations governing building structures. Regardless of who is responsible, capitalism is at the root of these disasters. As the climate crisis worsens, we can expect an increase in tragic ecological events—and hopefully a parallel growth of resistance to them.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/09/14/10.jpg\")
Moria on fire. From the West Coast of the United States to the wildfires in Greece and the fire that destroyed Moria, we are going to see more and more refugees. How we treat others in those straits will determine how others later treat us.
\nSeptember 18 marks seven years since Neo-Nazis from Golden Dawn murdered anti-fascist musician Pavlos Fyssas. Since then, the only justice we have seen addressing his murder was the anonymous killing of two fascist members of Golden Dawn and the broader street movement of anti-fascist resistance. The state continues to play games in their courts, shifting the urgency of the prosecution according to media attention. However, a verdict is expected on October 7.
\n\nFascists have gotten on the bandwagon of global conspiracy theories. Golden Dawn and other Greek Neo-Nazi groups have been challenging COVID-19 restrictions, spreading nonsense about 5G, and taking other cues from their American and German counterparts. Scuffles are taking place in the streets. On the other side, anti-fascists found the leader of Golden Dawn and attacked him with water bottles while he was vacationing. As the administration escalates repression, we expect a much more intense future of fighting the efforts of fascists in Greece.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/09/14/4.jpg\")
Pavlos Fyssas.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/09/14/7.jpg\")
Graffiti memorializing Pavlos Fyssas by his stage name as an MC, Killah P.
\nThe Greek delivery union has been specifically attacked for organizing events. Wolt and E-food, Greek versions of Seamless or Uber Eats have made inroads into the country. This is a sign of further automation in Greece, a consequence of the “modernization” of the Greek economy. The gig economy is not widely understood here yet, but apps such as BEAT (Greek Uber for taxis) and Airbnb have set precedents for its expansion. These services will complicate the lives of delivery workers; it is much harder to confront an invisible boss when a worker has been wronged.
\n\nWhile the economy has shrunk exponentially due to measures to control COVID-19, the Greek state was able to to find 2.5 billion euros to ramp up its military in response to the recent conflict in the Mediterranean. As cited in past reports, the heads of state of Turkey and Greece are both taking advantage of the heightened tensions around oil drilling in the Mediterranean. Turkey is sending oil exploration ships into the Aegean Sea, which Greece claims is a violation of national sovereignty. Both countries are using this conflict over natural resources and maritime claims to fan the flames of national pride rooted in militaristic goals. Regardless of who is in the right according to international law, it is obvious why the rhetoric is escalating at a time when distractions are needed, as the reality of the post-pandemic economy in both countries sets in.
\n\nWith that said, if the deal goes through that is planned by Greece, Cyprus, and Israel to drill in the Mediterranean and create a pipeline under the sea into mainland Greece and onward to Europe, it will without a doubt lead to deadly environmental disasters and social displacement. This situation will have disastrous effects on the people and land around the Aegean sea.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/09/14/6.jpg\")
The President of the European Commission shaking hands with Greek border police.
\nAs all this is unfolding, many people are fighting for the relief of their electrical bills and simply to keep their homes. The anarchist movement of Greece is facing a modernizing repression. “Quality of life” policing and a new status quo similar to the social control seen in northern Europe and the United States are both making their way to Greece as the authorities seek to reinvent a “Europeanized” Balkans.
\n\nThe situation is bleak. However, our hearts are still here. Our bodies are still here. Our passion and desire remain, awaiting the next wave of insurrection. It is only a matter of time.
\n\nMay the torch of insurrection and resistance be passed across the world through our borderless solidarity.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/09/14/1.jpg\")
\nIn Greece, following the accession of the New Democracy party and a ban on freedom of assembly, the simmering conflict between anarchists and the far right continues, even in the middle of summer. In this report, we cover gentrification, escalating tensions with Turkey, ecological struggles, refugee and prisoner solidarity, the eviction of the historic Terra Incognita squat, and more.
\n\nThis update is adapted from a monthly contribution to the “Bad News Report” podcast. You can also read our reports from May, June, and July.
\n\nThe Greek government and its bootlickers and beneficiaries are stumbling towards disaster. The economic crisis of 2008 will soon be seen as easier times. While tourists wander Greece dropping coins into the pockets of the bosses, only half of society can afford to take a holiday this year—something considered indispensable in the hot Greek summer. COVID-19 cases are at record highs. The daily infection rates are much higher than they were when the country was in formal lockdown back in March. Yet the state continues cutting hospital budgets in order to redirect funds to police agencies, focusing on its human opponents rather than the virus.
\n\nIn Greece, as elsewhere in the world, revolutionaries, the excluded, and the exploited struggle with self-preservation both materially and psychologically in the face of the slow-motion COVID-19 apocalypse and the right-wing police state. While new measures are going into effect and a second lockdown seems likely, we find strength in understanding that both our precarity and the struggle against it are shared globally. The struggle here is rooted deep in the discontent of countless beautiful hearts and a history in the streets: “Even if we never win, we will always fight!”
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/08/18/8.jpg\")
\nFormal state attacks and grassroots fascist campaigns of harassment continue in parallel across Greece. World-famous basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo recently discussed the hardships of growing up black in Greece in light of Black Lives Matter; in fact, he was not given citizenship until he was drafted into the NBA—many people born in Greece to immigrants or non-white families never receive citizenship. In response to his comments, a high-ranking member of the Ministry of Education, Konstantinos Kalemis, called Antetokounmpo a “monkey” and a “n—r” in a tweet. At the same time, the Mayor of Aspropyrgos, Nikos Meletiou, facing criticism for demolishing the homes of 100 Roma families, responded that he “didn’t demolish people’s homes,” he “simply took out the trash.”
\n\nOn August 4, a man from Cameroon was assaulted by a mob at Lianokladi Station. He was on his way via train to Lamia when he mentioned that he had already had the COVID-19 virus. He was threatened with violence, forced to the back of the train, and forced off the train at the following station. Anarchists in the region staged a demonstration at the station where this took place.
\n\nRefugees continue to arrive at Aegean Islands only to be threatened with homelessness if they request asylum and pressure not to communicate about their conditions to those who might support them. As a result of continued measures to complicate the efforts of support workers, many arriving refugees are not welcomed by helping hands, but greeted by state forces or predatory farmers looking for cheap labor. Immigrants face heinous work conditions in the brutally hot agricultural fields of Greece.
\n\nIn the last few months, support groups have documented dozens of cases of Greek border authorities escorting life rafts and dinghies of refugees out of Greek waters and abandoning them in the sea. Officially, more than a thousand refugees have been stranded in the Aegean Sea; we assume the actual number is much higher. Greek border authorities have not only pushed refugees back towards Turkish territory, but gone so far as to shoot at inflatable rafts. The journey to asylum is dangerous enough already; to force those taking this risk back into the ocean increases the chance of drowning. Even according to the state’s own protocol, this violates asylum laws established on an international level.
\n\nRefugee camps still lack basic hygiene to limit the spread of COVID-19; they are sealed off, treating the inhabitants as expendable. In the process of hiding these virus outbreaks, many camps have begun preventing supporters from entering. This cuts off a much-needed lifeline, as many refugees in the camps across Greece rely on assistance from volunteers rather than the few state programs available. Using the virus as an excuse to rationalize excluding visitors, the state has blocked the flow of needed supplies and silenced the voices of those inside the camps.
\n\nMeanwhile, construction companies are competing for a 132,680,000 euro contract to create three new refugee camps on the islands of Samos, Leros, and Kos. This offers an opportunity for money laundering; undoubtedly, this construction project will cut corners when it comes to the safety of refugees, prioritizing the profits of the contractors.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/08/18/7.jpg\")
Fliers spread by anarchists at Lianokladi Station.
\nAs described in our previous report, a campaign of displacement and terror has targeted immigrants and refugees who gather at Victoria Square in central Athens. The fascist party Golden Dawn and its sympathizers joined other groups in a call to “take back” the square, candidly asserting that they were protesting the “diversity” in the park and calling for ethnic cleansing to defend Greek purity—rhetoric typical of the Greek Christian right. A flyer for the demonstration to “cleanse the square” displayed pictures of people of color hanging out and women in hijab smiling.
\n\nIn response, a few dozen fascists rallied near the square on July 15, countered by hundreds of anti-fascists eager to fight. Once more illustrating the relationship between the state and fascists, riot police and other state agencies protected the fascists; after a few hours, the police attacked and ultimately displaced the anti-fascist protesters blocking the square. Throughout the event, police could be seen encouraging the fascists to calm down, expressing their support for them. In the end, the police escorted the fascists into the square. Dispersed anti-fascists attempted to block the nearby streets and disrupt the flow of traffic; police responded by throwing tear gas into the crowd and beating and arresting two people. Subsequent video footage clearly shows police placing weapons in their bags to justify the beating and arrest. The Delta police who arrested them took few precautions to conceal what they were doing even as they were filmed; in the current political climate, such a video may not even matter. The arrestees currently face various charges and a long trial; they have been banned from attending demonstrations or “visiting Exarchia.” New Democracy appeals to the moderate right of the European Union and the Greek middle class while consistently supporting Golden Dawn and other openly fascist elements of its base.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/08/18/2.jpg\")
During the standoff around Victoria Square.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/08/18/1.jpg\")
During the standoff around Victoria Square.
\nAnti-fascists continue to show solidarity with those residing in Victoria. Efforts continue to defend the square against fascists, along with attempts to put new benches and infrastructure in the square, since the state has removed the previous ones.
\n\nReports circulate that detainees at the Petrouralli immigrant detention facility in Athens face a campaign of sexual terror from the guards and staff. Women requesting medical attention have been sexually assaulted while being escorted to facilities where there is less surveillance. Women who have organized against the guards and attempted to share stories with the outside world have been punished for this—in one case, a group of women were surprised with searches of their confinement areas and transferred to other detention centers around Greece. Allegations of sexual assault against the staff of the detention center have become so widespread that the prison’s internal affairs has undertaken a show investigation. As of now, however, all of the guards accused of sexual assault and intimidation continue working there as if nothing has happened.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/08/18/3.jpg\")
The Petrouralli immigrant detention facility.
\nIn the early hours of August 17 in Thessaloniki, police evicted the historic squat Terra Incognita. This eviction was carried out in the middle of summer on the assumption that many supporters would be out of the city on holiday. Founded in 2004, Terra Incognita has hosted various concerts, assemblies, and projects, serving the broader anarchist and revolutionary communities of Thessaloniki.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1295298585077133313\n\n\n
.
\n\nSome hours later, 100 people held a protest in response, followed by a protest of 400 people in the evening.
\n\nOther squats across the country remain on high alert. Over eight months have passed since the deadline set by the state for squats to sign leases or face eviction. Police continue to threaten squats in the major cities and on islands including Corfu and Crete. Squats housing immigrants and refugees, such as Notara in Exarchia, have cited repeated harassment by local police. Banners, demonstrations, and graffiti campaigns continue across the country in support of these squats.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/08/18/9.jpg\")
The world-famous Terra Incognita squat before its eviction.
\nA text message from the state in mid-August warned of a wildfire taking place near a plastics factory, urging people to keep their windows closed, as the air is expected to become too toxic to breathe. This is a foretaste of the future in Greece.
\n\nDevelopers in Greece have long used fires to clear forests for development. Between this and climate change, fires are a constant and increasing threat to the land and people here. At the end of July, four thousand people were displaced from their homes when a twenty-kilometer-long area caught fire adjacent to the largest armory in the country. Some anarchist groups are organizing to help prevent forest fires where the state will not.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/08/18/5.jpg\")
Anarchists organizing against forest fires and ecological devastation.
\nAn environmental movement is growing across the country as quickly as capitalist developers look to sell off the land. An occupation of a municipal building in Athens on July 28 brought attention to plans to deforest a local mountain called Immotos, one of the few places that offers natural refuge around the city. The occupation publicized the threat; for now, the plans to deforest parts of the beloved mountain have been suspended.
\n\nCampaigns to protect fresh water against companies such as Nestle are continuing to gain traction in regions including Pelion. The campaign referred to in a prior report about the village of Stagiates continues. Communities in the region of Mesochora in Trikala face eviction orders from Greece’s state electric company, which aims to expand a hydro-electric dam there. People have already started to mobilize against the threat.
\n\nAs tourism declines, the new administration intends to intensify the plundering of previously protected wilderness. Anarchist and anti-authoritarian movements are beginning to appreciate the need for an ecological movement. On July 29 and 31, people in Athens attacked the headquarters of the companies ENTEKA SA in Chalandri and Erren Hellas in Acropolis with hammers and paint extinguishers in solidarity with those defending mountains against wind turbine construction across Greece, and to send a message that a militant ecological movement is indispensable.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/08/18/6.jpg\")
A protest at the dam at Mesochora.
\nThe Greek Orthodox church has always served to preserve patriarchy and sexual violence. The pandemic has exacerbated the situation. Some people have undertaken a project to map occurrences of sexism and sexual violence.
\n\nAs described in our last report, the anarchist Vassilis Maggos was brutally beaten by police during a demonstration expressing solidarity with those arrested while protesting a cement factory in Volos. He suffered intense psychological trauma while in recovery from the beating. Police seized his body from his family in order for the police to use their own coroner, following a public outcry about the 26-year-old’s death. The police brought in Eleni Kalyva to conduct the autopsy—she is a well-known ally that the police have repeatedly employed to investigate controversial cases in which officers may have been at fault. She is known to have fascist sympathies and a close relationship with the current government.
\n\nEleni Kalyva’s conclusion was that Vassilis died of acute pulmonary edema. The police claim that this was not due to the beating; however, the full investigation has not been made public, and his family is seeking outside help. Vassilis spent his final weeks of his life recovering from the pain and trauma of being beaten by police. Using a familiar playbook, right-wing social media have cited personal issues such as drug use as a way to suggest that Vassilis was responsible for his own death. Even if drug use had something to do with his passing, the trauma of being beaten and tortured by police was clearly the cause of his tragic death, and drug use or other issues do not diminish the responsibility of the police.
\n\nThe police also brought Eleni Kalyva to investigate the murder of a girl in Trikala in late July, when a 16-year-old girl who was known to have a relationship with a police officer was found dead outside of a church. Kalyva was called in to investigate her death after suspicions began to circulate that the girl had been murdered by her police officer boyfriend. Now we are told that the girl climbed to the top of the church and killed herself—which would be a surprising feat, given the details of the situation, but Kalyva confirmed the claims of the police.
\n\nAnarchists and anti-fascist football fans have spread murals, banners, and graffiti across Greece remembering Vassilis Maggos. A Molotov cocktail attack against a government building in Volos took place in his name, as well as an arson attack on a bank in Marroussi, Athens. He will be remembered.
\n\nWhile Greece proceeds deeper into economic crisis, an ironic relationship of opportunity is emerging between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
\n\nWar games in the Mediterranean are escalating as regional powers race to discover oil in the Aegean Sea. The conversion of the Hagia Sophia, designated a Unesco heritage site, into a mosque has also stoked tensions. Both of these have helped to distract and embolden the right-wing bases of the Greek and Turkish heads of state, utilizing nationalism to shift attention away from the economic hardships inflicted upon the people of Greece and Turkey.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/08/18/10.jpg\")
Fliers spread by anarchists at Lianokladi Station: “The machismo of the security guards reaches where the baton of the police does not.”
\nThe Solidarity Assembly for prisoners, fugitives, and persecuted fighters organized a demonstration at the Korydallos prison in Athens on July 20. The demonstrators held their ground for an hour outside the notorious prison, throwing leaflets and chanting in order to bring attention to the conditions prevailing in prisons across Greece, government plans to construct a new prison in the ruins of refugee and Roma encampments, and the danger that COVID-19 poses to prisoners.
\n\nAccess to adequate water has become an issue in the Grevena prison, as prisoners struggle to maintain proper hygiene in the midst of the pandemic. Doctors remain scarce in Greece’s prisons, leading many to wonder what the true number of COVID-19 infections is behind bars, as many who fall ill or die never see medical personnel.
\n\nInside Korydallos prison, anarchist political prisoner Dinos Giagtzoglou made a solidarity statement expressing support for Chilean defendants Monica Caballero and Francisco Solar on August 14.
\n\nVangelis Stathopoulous, a long-term prisoner accused of being a member of the group Revolutionary Struggle, was scheduled for an appeal court appearance in Athens on July 24, only to be denied access to his lawyers and quickly returned to his prison cell in Larissa, a four hour drive away. It is assumed that the point of this was to inflict psychological pressure on this political prisoner as he struggles to continue fighting for his appeal.
\n\nOn September 16, anarchist defendants Giannis Dimitrakis, Kostas Sakkas, and Dimitra Syrianou will face trial in Thessaloniki, accused of the attempted robbery of an ATM cash supply delivery. They were arrested in June 2019 following an organized operation involving an ambush by the anti-terrorist and EKAM squads. The defendants have already faced incarceration, bullet wounds, torture, prison riots, hunger strikes, arrest warrants, and then arrests and fresh imprisonment in the course of their principled commitment to anarchist struggle. Due to the pandemic, concerts and other means of fundraising are not possible, so the movement has established a firefund for their support.
\n\nNew measures are going into effect to prevent the transfer of prisoners deemed terrorists. This strategy is intended to create additional hurdles for political prisoners, especially anarchist and illegalist prisoners, who seek to be transferred to prisons closer to their families or to pursue studies while behind bars.
\n\nIn Greece, with good behavior, prisoners are permitted weekends out of prison to visit family and friends. The current government is trying to eradicate this tradition, especially for political prisoners and those deemed political enemies, implementing new hurdles to prevent prisoners from receiving permission for short-term leave. Political prisoners such as Dimitris Koufodinas of the N17 group have been denied any possibility of furlough at all. This is part of a broader claim to “modernize” Greece’s prison system, which includes the reduction of funding for hygiene and social services for prisoners and an increase in budget for prison infrastructure and staff.
\n\nAirbnb is a major cause of gentrification around the world. It has also been a driving force in the campaign to clear Exarchia of “undesirable” elements and lobbied for re-opening Greece to tourism regardless of the pandemic. The pandemic has taken a toll on Airbnb in Greece, but the company is still encouraging its beneficiaries to buy new houses and hold onto existing property on the premise that the disruption of tourism is only temporary. On August 12, people smashed the windows of the offices of a private company managing Airbnb properties in the neighborhood of Pagrati, sending a message to those who aspire to turn Athens into a zoo for tourists. Graffiti against Airbnb is widespread in Greece.
\n\nThe state is experimenting with new measures in the process of eviction in response to bankruptcy. The state is doubling down on auctioning homes while people still reside in them and foreclosing and seizing homes belonging to residents who cannot pay taxes or bank fees. While politicians are pushing new measures through parliament and police are experimenting with new tactics, anarchists and community groups are organizing popular assemblies in preparation for the fall, when the economic crisis is expected to intensify.
\n\nThe Greek government continues to grant new licenses to businesses for use of sidewalks and public space to compensate restaurants and bars for losses during the pandemic. This is also an opportunistic attempt to privatize more public space. While another lockdown is looming, we expect to lose more public space as soon as the lockdown is lifted again.
\n\nIn one of many attempts to appear more modern and “European,” a massive campaign has prioritized policing public transportation. In response, on July 27, at a major metro station in the Petralona neighborhood of Athens, people destroyed the entrance machines. Onlookers applauded as the entrance became admission-free. This action occurred just two weeks before the seventh anniversary of the death of Thanasis Kanaoutis—a nineteen-year-old boy who refused to pay the 1.20 euro fee to ride the bus and was pushed out of the bus by a metro officer, killing him. The July 27 action took place in solidarity with five graffiti writers who have died over the past few years in the course of crossing the electric track while running from security guards.
\n\nA communiqué claiming responsibility for the action signed by anarchists concludes thus:
\n\n\n\n\n“END OF APATHY
\n\n
\nCLEAN CITIES, ONLY IN DIRTY MINDS
\nSECURITY OFFICERS GET YOUR HANDS OFF GRAFFITI WRITERS
\nSOLIDARITY WITH THE SQUATS
\nA CITY ON FIRE IS A FLOWER BLOOMING
\nMOVEMENT WITHOUT TICKETS FOR EVERYONE”-Anarchists
\n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/08/18/4.jpg\")
Graffiti on the subway in Athens.
\nThe uprising in the United States continues to resonate in Greece. In mid-August, a communiqué from a group calling itself Anarchist International Solidarity claimed responsibility for two arsons expressing solidarity with those taking the streets of the USA. One targeted the home of the General Director of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, Elias Spyrtounia, a lobbyist and mediator for US geopolitical interests in Greece and around the Balkan region. According to the communiqué, “the arson attack on his home was an act of solidarity with those who took to the streets of US metropolises, clashed with police, destroyed symbols of wealth and oppression, and are struck by racist violence and state repression.” Another targeted a police officer’s car in the Athens neighborhood of Gyzi: “If the police want to speak the language of violence, let us reply in night visits to their homes and vehicles as our minimum reaction.”
\n\nEven as our movement’s infrastructure faces pressure from the Greek state, Greek anarchists have rallied to the struggle to defend squats elsewhere in Europe. In Athens, people damaged the façade of a German grocery, LIDL, and a communiqué claiming responsibility for the action declared solidarity with the squats Liebig 34 and Rigaer 94 in Berlin, Germany, as well as with all squats struggling in Greece and around the world.
\n\nThe Delta police—the police unit created to quell demonstrations following the 2008 insurrection—roam Exarchia, accosting women with sexual threats and detaining people with dark skin and those they suspect of anarchism. Some officers wear fascist patches on their uniforms—the Greek flag with an image of the Hagia Sophia in Turkey. While we do not support either side on this issue, that particular emblem is a traditional image used to rally fascists.
\n\nOne of the last open squats belonging to refugees and immigrants in Exarchia, Notatra, continues to face constant harassment. People with darker skin are followed when they approach or leave the squat; the Delta police are routinely stationed nearby. The increase of police has been obvious all around Greece since New Democracy came to power, but the situation in Exarchia is different. It is an experiment that even police agencies outside Greece will likely pay attention to—a long-term campaign to overwhelm a neighborhood and destroy its spirit.
\n\nIt is interesting to note that this approach, though new to Greece, is drawn from a strategy New York City and London police employed in the nineties known as “quality of life policing.” The idea is to attack every instance of suspected crime with equal ferocity in order to overwhelm a neighborhood that is at odds with the status quo, creating an environment of perpetual fear for those who inhabit it. As in New York City, police employ “stop and frisk” tactics in Exarchia relentlessly.
\n\nThey opened the borders—and only a fraction of the usual number of tourists came. But some of the ones who did come brought COVID-19 with them. At the same time, those few still able to work during the summer season have less leverage against their bosses than usual, both because of widespread economic desperation and because of the conditions under New Democracy. In Greece, hundreds of thousands of people usually work during the summer in order to make money to sustain them for the rest of the year. We expect a gloomy fall.
\n\nPolice continue to evict and ticket free campers across Greece, trying to force them to go home. In July, on the island of Samothrace, some police who were harassing campers were attacked with stones and beaten.
\n\nIt’s August in Greece and most people are away from their homes—or wish they could be. It’s hot and the situation is grim. Yet even amid the harsh summer, there have been demonstrations against the bill described in our previous report banning unpermitted protests. Fresh graffiti all over the country expresses insurrectionary discontent.
\n\nThe church and the far right count on the neo-liberal New Democracy administration to coddle them. Greece received some seventy billion euros in COVID-19 relief from the European union, but we know that money will chiefly serve to provide more contracts to the wealthy and to hire more police to protect their power and enforce their laws. Whatever happens in the coming months, we hope the fall will see a new wave of resistance ignite in Greece and around the world.
\n\n" }, { "id": "https://crimethinc.com/2020/07/15/greece-everything-is-coming-to-a-boil-looming-recession-the-ban-on-freedom-of-assembly-and-the-death-of-vassilis-maggos", "url": "https://crimethinc.com/2020/07/15/greece-everything-is-coming-to-a-boil-looming-recession-the-ban-on-freedom-of-assembly-and-the-death-of-vassilis-maggos", "title": "Greece: Everything Is Coming to a Boil : Looming Recession, the Ban on Freedom of Assembly, and the Death of Vassilis Maggos ", "summary": "As the Greek government seeks to ban freedom of assembly via sheer brutality, anarchists are giving battle to the forces of oppression on every front.", "image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/07/15/header.jpg", "banner_image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/07/15/header.jpg", "date_published": "2020-07-15T20:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2025-11-09T15:08:33Z", "tags": [ "repression", "ecology", "Greece", "Prisoners", "Athens", "Exarchia", "pandemic", "COVID-19" ], "content_html": "Since coming to power last summer, Greece’s far-right New Democracy party has waged an all-out war against immigrants, anarchists, and rebels, attempting to evict the entire network of occupied social centers that animates the country’s ungovernable movements and to crush other spaces of autonomy such as universities. The COVID-19 pandemic has offered New Democracy additional pretexts as they attempt to replace this rich history of rebellion with a police state suitable for international investment. Yet the looming economic crisis promises to render this effort moot. In this tense context, the past month has seen conflicts escalate all around the country, with the government attempting to ban freedom of assembly, police beating countless demonstrators—one of whom later apparently died of his injuries—and determined anarchists giving battle to the forces of oppression on every front.
\n\nThis update is adapted from a monthly contribution to the “Bad News Report” podcast. You can read last month’s report here.
\n\nAs we reach the peak season of summer tourism, it is becoming obvious that Greece is headed for economic doom. Desperate attempts to appease business owners at the risk of everyone else’s health have become embarrassing as a 90 percent drop in tourism shows how pointless it was for the Greek government to re-open the economy amid the pandemic. Yet at all costs, in defiance of reality, the state is still trying to preserve the old status quo.
\n\nFacing a disaster that will make the 2008 recession seem tolerable by comparison, the new administration continues to escalate its war on immigrants and anarchists in order to distract the public.
\n\nIn a move reminiscent of the Junta of the late 1960s and early ’70s, the government passed a law against freedom of assembly on July 9. The ruling New Democracy party demanded this law on the grounds that unregulated freedom of assembly was seen as a severe problem for Athens traffic. This is indicative of this administration’s priorities. The bill immediately sparked social unrest.
\n\nDemonstrations ahead of the vote drew a significant police response, especially those organized by anarchists. As detailed in last month’s report, police kettled a delivery workers’ motorcycle protest, arresting every attendee—something much more unusual in Greece than it would be in the United States. Another anarchist demonstration weeks before the ruling drew roughly one riot cop for every attendee.
\n\nOn the day the bill passed, some 15,000 people took to the streets in Athens around the Greek parliament. Anarchists organized several different blocs in the demonstration. Unfortunately, both the police and the authoritarian left quickly attacked anarchists: police rammed motorcycles directly into demonstrators, while at the same time, members of the KKE and PAME (two authoritarian left groups with seats in parliament) blocked the way to parliament. KKE and PAME protest marshals attacked anarchists and others who attempted to resist—beating them, removing their masks in order to expose their identities, and in some cases kidnapping them in order to hand them over to police.
\n\nDespite this, courageous acts of resistance took place. Graffiti appeared across the center of Athens decrying the law and the state. The police in front of parliament faced a flurry of Molotov cocktails, rocks, and other projectiles. One commander of the Delta squad experienced burns and damage to his teeth as a consequence of a Molotov cocktail.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/savvaskarma/status/1281300484104622081\n\n\n
In response, various riot and Delta police rushed to the borders of Exarchia, beating and detaining people at random, especially young people and those perceived to be subcultural. Police did the same thing in the nearby luxury neighborhood of Kolonaki. At least nine people are facing charges for the events, three of whom face significant felony charges. As of July 13, all nine defendants have been released awaiting trial.
\n\nDemonstrations involving anarchists and autonomists also took place in Patras, Ioannina, and Thessaloniki. As this goes to press, demonstrations are illegal without the advance approval of the state. The bill promises a future of brutality, detention, and imprisonment for those who take to the streets.
\n\nProtests in Athens against the new law banning freedom of assembly.
\nOn June 26, various police agencies evicted the Dervenion 56 squat, one of the last squats in Exarchia. The occupation was established in response to the influx of refugees and immigrants in 2015, at a time when dozens of buildings were squatted. Immigrant solidarity projects later used the space as a resource hub and cooking center. In recent years, it has hosted various solidarity projects, language classes, fundraising events, and political presentations, offering a safe gathering space for groups to assemble. When the state used COVID-19 to shut down universities, specifically the occupied GINI building at the Exarchia’s Polytechnio, Dervenion offered an essential alternative.
\n\nPolice shut down nearby streets in Exarchia to evacuate the building. Various police agencies blocked off all access points so that investigation teams could survey the grounds. City workers eventually boarded up the building’s entrances with cinder blocks, a typical state strategy.
\n\nMultiple protests have taken place since the eviction. The first night following the raid, people gathered in nearby Exarchia Square, then marched to the squat and demolished the cinder blocks closing the entrance. The police were taken by surprise, but eventually responded with full force, arresting seven people. During another demonstration a few days later, people smashed the cinder blocks in the doors of evicted occupations in another nearby Exarchia street. A week later, people also smashed the cinder blocks at the site of a squat evicted last year in Koukaki. While symbolic, these actions demonstrate a will to keep fighting. The entry points of Dervenion are now blocked with reinforced steel.
\n\nThe attempt to reoccupy Dervenion.
\nAfter the eviction, supporters organized a concert for Dervenion. Prevented from happening in its original location, this was eventually moved to Exarchia Square. Afterwards, people scattered around the neighborhood. Barricades appeared and small scuffles broke out as people attempted to reclaim Dervenion while riot police and Delta police counterattacked. Everyone on the streets in Exarchia that night was a target. Many people were sent to the hospital with injuries; police spread asphyxiating tear gas at random, in some cases in the confinement of cafés. Police raided an anarchist cooperative bar without reason. In order to rationalize the attack, police arrested and brutalized the waiter who was working there at the time. Ten people were arrested altogether, with seven facing accusations including possession of explosives, weapons, and ammunition as well as various misdemeanors. Resistance did take place on this night, but the police response was startlingly arbitrary. Video evidence of their behavior has circulated widely, showing the absurdity of these arrests.
\n\nA video supporting the re-squatting of all the evicted occupations.
\nOther actions have taken place in response to the eviction of Dervenion and the repression of squats in general. Grafitti and banners continue to be seen across the country. A group reportedly attacked the mayor at a private event in response to his war on squats and grotesque use of public funds to decorate the center of Athens. There was also a demonstration outside the home of the person who claims to own Dervenion.
\n\nPolice continue to harass Exarchia residents. The assault on public space continues as businesses are granted bigger licenses to control sidewalks. While the mafia and drug dealers who frequented Exarchia Square when it was cop-free are gone now, they have only been replaced by the police, who spread fear in much the same ways.
\n\nThe clashes of July 3 in Exarchia.
\nSolidarity actions including graffiti, banners, educational events, and small demonstrations continue as people express support for the struggle against white supremacy in the USA. In Thessaloniki, the night before the funeral of George Floyd, a small incendiary device was placed near the headquarters of the North American human resources management company MANPOWER. Anarchists took responsibility for the action in a communiqué mentioning the call for international solidarity released by the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement:
\n\n\n\n\n“The arson of the ManPower Group is a practical declaration of fiery solidarity with the comrades of the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement, who call on the international revolutionary community to take immediate and uninterrupted action in solidarity with [demonstrators in] the United States. The war waged in the American metropolises and suburbs will not be silenced. Because the fire of the attacks of internationalist revolutionary solidarity is spreading to the ends of the earth. Comrades, you have our full appreciation and solidarity from the war fronts on the other side of the Atlantic.
\n\nAll the power in the Black Uprising
\n\n
\nRevolution now and always.”-Anarchist Action Organization
\n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/07/15/5.jpg\")
A flier for one of the demonstrations on July 9.
\nThe Greek state continues to reinforce the parallel world of misery non-citizens experience by means of aggressive measures and opportunism.
\n\nIn the municipality of Aspropyrgos, bulldozers demolished an entire Roma camp, rendering a large Roma community homeless.
\n\nOn the islands of Lesvos and Samos, where some of the largest refugee camps are located, the measures passed on the pretext of responding to the virus enable local police to segregate and isolate immigrants in camps, normalizing COVID-19 outbreaks in these already overcrowded camps as long as the virus remains contained there. These camps lack basic hand washing equipment and render social distancing impossible. Alongside prisons, the Greek government has effectively designated these camps COVID-19 ghettos, in keeping with its explicit “Greece is for the Greeks” platform.
\n\nIn the first half of June, many immigrants and refugees in the grossly overpopulated Moria camp in Lesvos were granted asylum and freedom of movement. Yet according to the Greek state, it is the responsibility of immigrants to find their own housing within one month of the decision. Little to no help is provided to immigrants in these situations; over 11,000 faced eviction and homelessness. Having nowhere to turn, many escaped to Athens and set up a homeless encampment at Victoria Square.
\n\nVictoria Square is located in Kipseli, a neighborhood in central Athens. Compared to most of Greece, it’s a diverse area; refugees and immigrants have populated it since the beginning of the so-called refugee crisis of 2015. While fascists and police have attacked people there, it has been known for some time as a haven for people of color and immigrants.
\n\nStarting on June 15, buses of riot police surrounded the square, attempting to pressure people in the encampment into being escorted to other refugee camps further into the country and out of sight. At first, the police promised free housing and aid to all who voluntarily boarded the buses. When many refused, police became aggressive. Supporters arrived to show solidarity with the immigrants. For roughly 48 hours, groups mobilized to defend those in the encampment.
\n\nBefore sunrise on June 17, buses of riot police, Delta police, and other police agencies violently entered the square, forcing at least 71 children and 44 adults into buses headed for various camps across the country. Supporters of the encampment also faced repression; the police beat and arrested at least fifteen people. In order to rationalize forced detention, police forced immigrants to sign papers many of them did not understand stating that they had refused housing following their asylum.
\n\nThe whereabouts of some of the detainees remain unknown. Others have managed to escape detention and return to Athens. Stories are circulating that many of the detainees have been dropped off at refugee camps and given no accommodations there. Many remain homeless on the outskirts of camps and smaller villages or cities, facing harsher precarity in isolation out of public view. These conditions leave them at the mercy of human traffickers, sexual assault, fascist attacks, predatory agricultural and construction bosses looking to take advantage of their desperation, and other risks. A week after the first police attack, another group of approximately 70 immigrants granted asylum at Moria arrived in search of support, only to encounter the same buses full of police demanding that they forfeit their right to free movement or face arrest and deportation.
\n\nVictoria Square continues to face constant surveillance and police pressure, including an attack on July 4.
\n\nMeanwhile, volunteers and members of non-governmental organizations have been asked to register with the state. While we do not support most NGOs and recognize the faults of an industry based on suffering, the purpose of the bill calling for this is to intimidate those who support immigrants. The state will use this database to target those accused of overstepping Greek measures on immigration, revoking work and residency visas or pursuing criminal charges.
\n\nFrom the floating dams in the Aegean Sea to the absurd demands forced on the most vulnerable asylum seekers, state violence against immigrants and refugees continues to intensify countrywide.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/07/15/3.jpg\")
Graffiti against the abysmal conditions at the Moria camp.
\nRecently, there have been repeated hunger strikes inside the immigrant detention facility in Athens known as Petrouralli. Nine women went on hunger strike in June demanding better living conditions; in response, the state threatened to place them under arrest in a formal Greek prison. Sexual, physical, and psychological violence is notorious inside this detention facility, where suicide attempts are frequent. No one outside knows the extent of the virus outbreak and suicide, but it is clear enough that the facility serves to torture already struggling immigrants and refugees. Supporters frequently organize noise demonstrations outside of the facility; movement lawyers are also involved in support efforts. A recent demonstration outside inspired visible unrest in two floors of the facility.
\n\nThe supreme court of Greece recently granted permission to Dimitris Koufontinas, an ex-member of the armed struggle group N17, to leave prison in order to visit family and friends. In Greece, prisoners have the privilege to leave prison due to good behavior, regardless of their conviction—something unimaginable in North America, especially for those facing long sentences for violent crimes. The new administration is trying to amend this law, using Dimitris as a specific example. He has gone on hunger strike on and off for the last few years, and while the supreme court has declared that he is legally entitled to a “furlough,” the local council of Volos, where he is imprisoned, has rejected the supreme court ruling and his request. They claim that in light of his refusal to apologize for his actions or forswear his convictions, he does not deserve the right to leave prison. Large-scale solidarity campaigns have supported Dimitris for some time; he is expected to continue fighting for his right to leave the prison.
\n\nDuring the pandemic, the department of corrections in Greece has been punishing prisoners who express dissent by stripping them of their few rights, as COVID-19 remains a significant threat to the health and safety of those behind bars.
\n\nPrisoners such as Vassilis Dimakis and Antonis Kyriazis have carried out frequent and dangerous hunger strikes in response to the state taking away their right to education. The department of corrections has responded by reassigning prisoners to various prisons throughout Greece and sabotaging the studies of student prisoners who organize behind bars. While the authorities claim that these are simply safety measures, ironically, most of the expressions of discontent for which political prisoners are being punished were about the lack of safety measures in response to the pandemic. Solidarity graffiti and banners can be seen across the country supporting the prisoners in their hunger strikes; some supporters occupied a conservative news station in Patras in solidarity with Antonis Kyriazis.
\n\nImprisoned members of the group Revolutionary Struggle attended a court hearing in late June. The prosecution has added various bank robberies to their existing accusations; it appears that the state is trying to pin various actions to them to live up to the “law and order” rhetoric of the new administration.
\n\nAs mentioned in last month’s report, two individuals in Thessaloniki accused of an attempted incendiary attack were given until mid-June to pay a 20,000 euro bail fee in order to await trial outside prison. Thanks to a remarkable solidarity effort, the money was quickly raised and then some. At the direction of the two comrades, the extra funds were donated to the Tameio group (a solidarity fund for prisoners and other persecuted fighters), an anarchist newspaper, and espiv.net, a movement-run server similar to riseup.net that has been under attack by the administration of the university where it is located. Taking advantage of the pandemic to strike while students are locked out of the university, the administration has been making claims about piracy as an excuse to target the server.
\n\nFemale prisoners’ efforts to demand safer conditions during the pandemic have also precipitated strategic reprisals from the state. Woman prisoners accused of organizing behind bars, such as Hazal Seçer, Harika Kizilkaya of the Turkish People’s front, and the anarchist Dimitra Valavani, have been targeted with frequent searches, segregation, and even physical detention by male guards in retaliation for their attempts to speak up about prison conditions.
\n\nIn a Larissa prison, the authorities transferred 65-year-old political prisoner Ismail Zat to an isolation cell in late June in response to his refusal to be humiliated by prison guards upon his return from a hospital visit. He is one of eleven Turkish and Kurdish fighters arrested in March in a so-called anti-terror campaign. He has dedicated his life to preserving the dignity of his people and is refusing to compromise his own dignity behind bars.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/07/15/4.jpg\")
July 9: police in Athens get a small taste of the brutal violence they are constantly doling out.
\nThe government of New Democracy continues to withdraw environmental protections. It is not a coincidence that there is new pressure to develop previously protected wilderness as tourism dies off amid the pandemic. Valued for its beauty, this land was considered worth preserving as long as it helped to draw 30+ million tourists to Greece each year. Now that the economy is expected to shrink at least 12 percent and tourism has fallen almost 90 percent, the state is rushing to exploit nature in order to preserve the façade of a functioning economy.
\n\nStruggles continue across Greece against wind turbines on mountaintops. These turbines decimate the environments around them, requiring the construction of new roads for trucks to construct and service them. Such turbines are part of a broader campaign by the Greek state to appease the environmental demands of the European Union without making structural changes.
\n\nIn theory, Greece is one of the most water-rich countries in the Mediterranean—but between the effects of tourism, agriculture, and climate change, 30 percent of the country may be desert in the coming years. Attempts to privatize water continue across the country as rivers, lakes, and aquifers slowly dry up. Agricultural projects looting natural reserves are given a free pass as long they yield profits.
\n\nCommunities are coming together across the country, taking to the forests, the mountains, and the streets. Banners and graffiti of support for ecological resistance can be seen from the inner cities to the deep countryside. In the Athenian neighborhood of Kaisiarini, a vehicle belonging to the construction company INTRACAT was targeted in an arson attack. A notorious exploiter of vulnerable labor, INTRACAT is responsible for an array of wind turbine construction projects in Ithairon and South Evia as well as various other building sites.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/07/15/1.jpg\")
The clashes of July 9 in Greece.
\nGreece has started a new so-called urban renewal project in the southern suburbs of Athens. This is deemed the largest project of its kind in Greece and in all of Europe as well. An investment of nine billion dollars over ten years is intended to build a gigantic resort and casino in the ruins of the abandoned airport that was built for the Summer Olympics in 2004. The airport itself is the result of money laundering efforts by opportunistic construction companies. While Greece’s economy is expected to shrink almost 12 percent, the new administration is flaunting this development project for the alleged 2% growth it will create. In a country some say is among the most corrupt in the world, many assume that the project will benefit Greece’s elite, serving only as a talking point about economic recovery for Greece’s capitalist right. The project itself is being funded by the American casino giant Mohegan gaming.
\n\nThe planned development has caused rampant displacement. The state has already evicted nearby refugee camps and plans to displace various homeless encampments that have existed for some time nearby. At this point, it is foolish to expect great gains from a project that depends on tourism. The project will most likely fail; in any case, it will benefit the very few in the process, while further indebting the public. While the politician Mytsotakis is the face of the new administration, the business elite make the decisions here, as in the USA and many other countries.
\n\nGreece continues to sell off its land to the highest bidder. Saudi business men are buying up islands as well as ports and debt to foreign governments such as China.
\n\nAs we prepare to publish this, reports have just appeared about the death of a man in Volos, Greece. Vassilis Maggos was found dead on July 13 in his apartment by his mother, though he may have passed away some time prior to her arrival. The ambulance that responded could not resuscitate him. Police immediately rushed to the scene to supervise the investigation and shape the narrative.
\n\nVassilis Maggos passed away after weeks of suffering resulting from a beating inflicted by police officers. In our last report, we described a large demonstration on June 13 in the city of Volos against the incineration of trash, the privatization of water, and other efforts from municipal authorities to escalate the exploitation of this pristine and biologically diverse region. The police beat and arrested many people during this demonstration. The next day, Vassilis Maggos was attending a demonstration outside the courthouse of Volos in solidarity with those arrested the day prior. Video footage shows various police forces standing across from the demonstration, then suddenly running towards an individual and beating him to the ground until he was heard to scream “I can’t breathe.” That individual was Vassilis Maggos.
\n\nThe police beating Vassilis Maggos.
\nWhile the beating captured on video was heinous, the police took Vasillis into custody to continue beating and torturing him out of sight of supporters. Vassillis is known to the police as a local anarchist and football fan; the video shows that he was clearly being targeted. After arresting him, they brought him to the police station while continuing to threaten him and make homophobic remarks in response to his need for medical treatment. Now we know that he was suffering from 7 broken ribs and significant damage to his liver and gallbladder. Despite the fact that he was obviously suffering from excruciating pain, the police continued to taunt him, denying him food and water, threatening him further, and eventually throwing him into a prison cell. Vassilis reported that when he said that he would sue them, the guards answered, “Who will punish us, the police?” After they stopped laughing at him, he heard the guards saying, “If we are going to arrest him, we probably have to take him to the hospital.” Shortly after this he was thrown out onto the street, most likely to avoid a lawsuit and the procedures of formalizing his arrest.
\n\nVassilis barely recalled being on the street. He could barely breathe, he was unable to think clearly, and, in addition, he was very dehydrated. Some people came to his aid, taking him back to his home, from which he eventually went to the hospital. He remained in the hospital for four days. After he returned home, he made his story public, declaring that he had a positive attitude—that he was happy to be alive and was ready for the long recovery ahead.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1282929903239933952\n\n\n
An autopsy is taking place as we prepare to publish this. The Ministry of Civil Protection is hurrying to claim that there is no connection between the police beating and torturing Vassilis and his subsequent death, maintaining that those who suggest otherwise are simply political opportunists. Yet the defensive statements of the authorities cannot erase the video of his beating. Regardless of what the autopsy reports, during the days leading up to his death, he was suffering painful disability as a consequence of the police assault. This was his punishment for expressing solidarity with those arrested resisting the exploitative ventures of the Greek state.
\n\nThe situation is still unfolding, but it has sparked outrage from anarchists around Greece.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/07/15/2.jpg\")
The Athenian skyline at dusk.
\nIt remains to be seen how far the economic crisis will go—or the repressive violence of the New Democracy government. But it is certain that the frustration that prevails in Greek society will continue to manifest itself in the broader revolutionary movement against the state and capitalism.
\n\n" }, { "id": "https://crimethinc.com/2020/06/22/from-minneapolis-to-greece-fuck-the-police-a-month-of-ecological-prisoner-and-solidarity-struggles-in-greece", "url": "https://crimethinc.com/2020/06/22/from-minneapolis-to-greece-fuck-the-police-a-month-of-ecological-prisoner-and-solidarity-struggles-in-greece", "title": "From Minneapolis to Greece, Fuck the Police : A Month of Ecological, Prisoner, and Solidarity Struggles in Greece", "summary": "A month of struggle in Greece around prisons, ecology, autonomous spaces, and other issues, including solidarity with the uprising in the US.\n", "image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/06/22/header.jpg", "banner_image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/06/22/header.jpg", "date_published": "2020-06-22T17:26:21Z", "date_modified": "2025-11-09T15:07:24Z", "tags": [ "repression", "Greece", "insurrection", "borders", "Athens", "Exarchia", "Riot", "Minneapolis" ], "content_html": "While an uprising against the white supremacist violence of police unfolds in the United States, a protracted struggle continues in Greece, where the far-right New Democracy government is trying to suppress a longstanding culture of resistance. In the following report, we review anti-authoritarian movements across Greece—around prisons, ecology, autonomous living and organizing spaces, and other issues—including expressions of solidarity with the uprising in the US.
\n\nThis update is adapted from a monthly contribution to the “Bad News Report” podcast. It picks up where last month’s report left off.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/06/22/3.jpg\")
\nCOVID-19 has all but disappeared from day-to-day discussion in Greece. Bars are open, shops are open, and rampant opportunism and repression of marginalized people and revolutionary movements remains the primary focus of the New Democracy regime.
\n\nOur last report was completed just hours before one of the first open assemblies was called at the previously occupied “Gini” at the Polytechnio school in Exarchia. While universities remain closed across Greece, the Gini building at the Polytechnio has long been an autonomous space used by the broader anarchist movement for assemblies and organizing. The first people to arrive at the open assembly were detained and brought to the police precinct for questioning. COVID-19 offers the state and the university administration a pretext to try to take back the occupied building at the Polytechnio and to eradicate the tradition of universities serving as a safe haven for revolutionary organizing in Greece. Blocking access to the Gini bulding represents a direct assault on our movement’s ability to gather and organize. The Polytechnio in Exarchia is the university campus at which the anarchist movement established a crucial foothold in Greece after the student uprising against the Junta in the early 1970s, during which several students were murdered by the dictatorship before its transition into what is now known as New Democracy.
\n\nAlongside these efforts to use the closing of schools to wage war on the movements that have organized within them, the espiv.net servers housed at the Panteion University in Athens have been shut down by the decision of a board director of the school who claimed they were being used for electronic piracy. It is not surprising that this would occur after New Democracy formally eliminated the university asylum policy. The espiv.net servers hosted hundreds of projects, websites, and communication platforms.
\n\nJust one day after the “re-opening” of much of Greece, police raided a squat in Exarchia that housed over fifty refugees including many children. Refugees in the squat were supposedly placed in various detention centers and refugee camps—but in fact, many simply ended up homeless. New Democracy is intent on maintaining its xenophobic platform of repression and torture against non-Greeks and refugees. Immediately afterwards, a demonstration against the eviction drew many people into the streets of Exarchia. Many squats persist, despite the government declaring that it would evict all of them in December 2019. However, repression is ongoing and may continue until our movements have nowhere to organize.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/06/22/5.jpg\")
An expression of solidarity from Prosfygika, a longstanding self-organized neighborhood in downtown Athens.
\nJust like the right wing in the US, far-right Christian groups in Greece have fixated obsessively on COVID-19. Fascistic groups are beginning a new push in the name of God and economy to deprioritize the health and safety of the vulnerable, holding demonstrations claiming that COVID-19 is a conspiracy involving 5G and George Soros. At the same time, the New Democracy administration has declared that Greece will be open to the world in a desperate attempt to generate money for the economy. No quarantine, no testing—anyone who can bring tourist dollars to Greece this summer is welcome to spread the virus however they like. After one demonstration involving these conspiracy theorists, anti-fascists beat up two of them. These groups seem to be an extension of the fascist-controlled anti-Macedonia protests that took place in recent years.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/06/22/2.jpg\")
Athens: demonstrators use Molotov cocktails to push back police at the US embassy in solidarity with the uprising in Minneapolis.
\nIn addition to prioritizing tourist money over the health of the vulnerable, the new government is pushing forward its campaign to pillage the land. Village communities across Greece are threatened by various projects including mining, the plundering of natural resources such as drinking water, and the construction of so-called green energy projects. In the Agrafa mountains near Trikala in central Greece, in the islands of Tinos and Skyros, and elsewhere around the country, people are organizing against wind energy parks. Environmental struggles like this have recently been gaining steam in Greece and these struggles will reach a critical juncture in the near future.
\n\nIn Volos, ecological organizing has focused on organizing against a large cement factory (AGET-Lafarge) that burns waste for fuel and government plans to build a new SRF (solid recovered fuel) factory. The SRF factory is supposed to collect plastic waste and then transfer it to other factories (such as AGET-Lafarge) for burning. The local movement has been fighting against these projects since 2017; it is diverse, involving everyone from social democrats and labor unions to anarchist assemblies and occupations.
\n\nThis year on June 13, the second major demonstration took place against these projects, drawing approximately 3000 participants including a black bloc contingent. The demonstration stopped in front of the main gate of the factory where many police stood guard. When the protestors attempted to hang a banner on the gate of the factory, the police violently attacked the demonstration, hitting many people with clubs and shooting tear gas and flash-bang grenades into the crowd. The resulting conflict continued until 10 pm. As a consequence, thirteen people were detained; two were arrested and are facing charges.
\n\nDuring this conflict, the local chief of police was beaten by members of the black bloc in front of the factory gates. Later on the same night, approximately 100 people gathered in front of the local police headquarters in solidarity with the arrestees; riot police attacked this crowd as well. The next day, on June 14, when people gathered outside the local court in solidarity with the arrestees, police yet again attacked the crowd with tear gas and flash-bang grenades. One participant in this demonstration was beaten badly by police, who left him on the side of the road outside the police headquarters with broken ribs. As of our last news from Volos, he remained at the local hospital recovering from his injuries.
\n\nMost of the organizations that participated in these events wrote statements against the police repression proclaiming solidarity with the ecological struggle against AGET-Lafarge’s activities and the construction of the SRF factory. The arrestees have been released but face charges for which they will return to court in October.
\n\nLess than 10 kilometers away, in Stagiates, a small village in the Pelion mountains, residents have created an autonomous assembly to organize against attempts to privatize the water.
\n\nThis struggle has been ongoing for over five years. On June 5, the mayor of Volos, who is known for mafia associations, appeared in the square of Stagiates with police forces and corporate media reporters to invade all the municipal buildings—including the local library and school—where the locals hold events and assemblies. He threw away their belongings and changed the locks to prevent further usage by the community. His actions sparked an angry response from the locals.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/06/22/1.jpg\")
A banner in Stagiates.
\nOn April 9, in response to the death of a prisoner—most likely caused by COVID-19—a courageous uprising broke out at the women’s prison of Eleonas demanding more safety measures against the virus inside Greek prisons. The state has taken disciplinary measures against at least 11 women since then while refusing to make any changes to the awful conditions and poor hygiene in the prison, communicating a new will to heighten brutality and repression behind bars.
\n\nIn other prisoner news, Vassilis Dimakis, the anarchist prisoner who is conducting a long hunger strike in order to demand the right to continue his studies behind bars, has been segregated from other prisoners in an attempt to silence him and break his spirit. Solidarity efforts supporting him have been strong and he continues his courageous struggle inside the prison.
\n\nIn the early hours of May 27, in Thessaloniki, Greece, two anarchists were arrested, allegedly in response to an attempt to place an explosive device at the house of a former member of New Democracy, the current president of the Deposit and Loans Fund, Dimitris Stamatis. Greek corporate media claims that one comrade was observed by police watching the politician’s residence, while another was allegedly caught trying to plant the device. One was arrested immediately; the other, some hours later while riding his bicycle. After the arrests, police raided one arrestee’s home as well as various other homes of alleged anarchists throughout the city. They used this as an opportunity to raid four squats in the Ano Poli area of Thessaloniki, briefly arresting ten people.
\n\nThe two anarchists are accused of multiple felonies including criminal association, attempted bombing, attempted arson, possession and manufacturing of explosive material that could pose a danger to human beings, violating Greek arms laws, and resisting authority. Following a court appearance on June 1, they were released from pre-trial detention on the conditions that they report to the police station three times per month, are forbidden to travel outside of Greece, and pay a bail of 20,000 euros by June 15. People organized solidarity events at a rapid pace in order to meet the financial demands of the court, rapidly exceeding the needed amount in a remarkable display of solidarity. Comrades now encourage people to donate to Tameio or to bail funds and anti-repression efforts in the US.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1268125228644827138\n\n\n
Greece has seen a variety of efforts expressing solidarity with the insurrection in the United States. Anarchists have carried out banner drops and put up huge graffiti installations across mainland Greece and its islands while organizing educational events to help people understand the complicated political context in the US. Solidarity demonstrations have occurred in Thessaloniki and elsewhere around the country. The most notable event involved 3000 people marching from the Greek parliament to the US embassy. Upon arriving at the embassy, they threw stones and Molotov cocktails against the riot police protecting the building. The police responded with tear gas as the demonstration continued marching away from the embassy. Small clashes took place; various small attacks also occurred in the nearby upscale neighborhood of Kolonaki.
\n\nHumiliated by the videos of Molotovs hitting them outside the US embassy, police reacted by beating and arresting demonstrators at random. Some arrests took place. The trials are pending.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1268242970433720322\n\n\n
Another solidarity action supporting the insurrection in the US took place on June 12 in the Nea Ionia neighborhood of Athens. Afterwards, a communiqué and video appeared claiming responsibility for an attack in which multiple Molotov cocktails were hurled at a police station. The individuals all escaped, while the police officer standing guard fled in fear. The action was claimed anonymously by a group calling itself the “George Floyd Revenge Unit.” The act was declared to be a gesture supporting the insurrection against white supremacy and expressing solidarity with all anarchist prisoners. An excerpt from the communiqué reads as follows:
\n\n\n\n\nWe took this action inspired by the events in the US and in revenge for George Floyd. We took this action in solidarity with the imprisoned throughout the world and in conjunction with the three days of international solidarity with the imprisoned. We must make them think twice before they take our lives. Hopefully, we can build the power to make it impossible for them to.
\n\nFor Black Liberation! Death to the State! Attack the Police! Destroy the System! Loot the World!
\n\n-George Floyd Revenge Unit
\n
Action at Nea Ionia Police Station.
\nOver the past few months, the union of delivery workers have repeatedly held motorcycle parades to demand more protections and an increase in pay. They expressed these demands more fiercely as the pandemic saw these workers forced to run new health risks for their exploiters’ profits without any additional compensation. For some time, these demonstrations had taken place without serious repercussions; yet on June 11, a demonstration of delivery workers experienced unprecedented repression. As soon as they assembled, the demonstration of about 50 workers found themselves surrounded by police. The workers refused to identify themselves or be intimidated into silence; the police arrested every single participant in the demonstration, using a kettling technique rarely seen before in Greece. They forced all the workers to abandon their vehicles, bringing them to jail.
\n\nThis is a heinous assault on workers who were deemed “essential” during the lockdown in Greece. It is also a statement by the state that they intend to employ more repressive measures against demonstrators from here on—certainly a gamble, in a time when self-defense against state violence is becoming commonplace all around the world.
\n\nThe neighborhood of Exarchia itself has experienced some relief from police pressure as the re-opening of businesses has brought people back to the neighborhood, potentially deterring local police from public displays of brutality. However, police continue to patrol the square of Exarchia, frequently raiding it and demanding that those present show identification. The Delta police unit continues to roam Exarchia and other neighborhoods that young people previously experienced as safe places to gather. They wander at random, intimidating non-white individuals, harassing and searching people, aggressively sexually harassing women. Most likely, these actions are intended to recapture public spaces that youth have taken over during the lockdown, returning control of them to the bars and restaurants that occupy the sidewalks and demand that young people pay for the privilege of gathering outside. Following demonstrations in Athens after a huge assault on a public space gathering in Kipseli in May, riots broke out in Thessaloniki when police tear gassed and beat young people for hanging out in a public square.
\n\nThe movement in Greece refuses to back down even as the government does everything in its power to plunder the land, sabotage our organizing efforts, and distract society from the obvious economic crisis looming in the immediate future. Actions continue to take place every day and we remain ungovernable. Solidarity to everyone fighting white supremacy and state power in the United States and all around the world.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/06/22/4.jpg\")
\nWe present the following report from Greece about the ongoing efforts of the Greek government, along with business owners, police, and fascists, to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to intensify repression—and the efforts of anarchists, migrants, prisoners, rebel workers, and others to fight back and open up spaces of freedom.
\n\nThese updates are adapted from a monthly contribution to the “Bad News Report” podcast about the current situation in Greece. We hope to spread awareness about this situation and to bring more listeners to the podcast itself; we recommend the “Bad News” report and the Anarchist/Anti-Authoritarian Radio Network as a whole.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/obsidiananarchy/status/1257282714555817984\n\n\n
In Greece, the state has taken advantage of the coronavirus outbreak to experiment with various methods of martial law and social control. The police are running around the streets as if it is a holiday for them—a reminder of the days under the junta, the dictatorship that ruled Greece in the 1960s.
\n\nMany of the measures have political implications for our movements and for social struggles in this region.
\n\nThe refugee situation was already intensifying as a consequence of the Turkish state opportunistically sending desperate refugees to the Greek border. In the end, the refugees faced attacks on both the Turkish and the Greek sides. Many people overlooked this as a result of the virus—yet while they did not appear in the headlines, these attacks have drawn the praise of fascists, patriots, and others who want to see the passive genocide of refugees and immigrants.
\n\nThe Greek state is trying to contain refugees in camps that are utterly unhygienic, in which there are already cases of COVID-19 and it is impossible for people to maintain a safe distance from each other. These are something between concentration camps and outright death zones. Additionally, new measures are going into place to create additional refugee camps on the mainland in order to isolate refugees; many have described these proposed camps as mass petri dishes of infection and death. Hiding behind its reputation as overwhelmed and underfunded, the Greek state has sent MAT (riot police) and various other state forces to islands and refugee camps to enforce a lockdown and contain refugees who are fighting for their survival in the face of the pandemic. Tests in some hotels that house refugees have found over 70% infection rates; the death toll in some refugee camps remains unknown.
\n\nThe state has taken aggressive measures to repress refugee protests. In addition, the refugees detained on the islands have faced vigilante attacks; during the week of April 23, vigilantes attempted to murder refugees who were walking home on the island of Lesvos, the location of the Moria refugee camp, which holds over 10 times its originally intended capacity. This attack by local fascists or “patriots” has been part of a larger pattern of violence towards immigrants and refugees that also involves police forces.
\n\nThe state also arrested an anarchist immigrant for posting calls to support those facing these unbearable conditions at the border. The authorities justified the arrest on the basis of online posts, demanding a 10-year sentence and claiming that the arrestee wanted to arm refugees so they could defend themselves. They have cited no evidence in the case against him besides these posts advocating for general self-defense. This highlights a new level of repression in Greece, as the state implements new preemptive and draconian policies introduced under the far-right Mytsotakis administration.
\n\nOn Thursday, April 9, 2020, an uprising broke out in the women’s prisons of Eleonas-Thebes, triggered by the death of the arrestee Azizel Deniroglou. She may have been killed by coronavirus, seeing as she suffered from fever, shortness of breath, and a severe cough in the days before she passed away. Prisoners in Korydallos prison in Athens also demonstrated for self-preservation. Like other prisoners across the world, Greek prisoners are demanding early release or new safety and protection measures. Just like the refugees left to die, the way that prisoners are being treated shows that the state considers them expendable.
\n\nThe anarchist prisoner support group Tameio is circulating a call for urgent solidarity and funds: A Solidarity Fund for Anarchist Prisoners and Persecuted Fighters. Since they got started in 2010, they have mostly drawn their funding from donations left in cash boxes at bars and restaurants, as well as fundraising parties; the lockdown measures have caused the group a serious shortfall in resources. In this regard, the lockdown has disrupted support for those who face repression, who face court fees and legal aid—and most of all, for the 24 political prisoners that the fund supports on a monthly basis. You can find more information about this situation here.
\n\nAnarchist teams, squatted social centers, and other groups involved in mutual aid and disaster relief that is independent of the state are making new efforts. Officially, “helping those in need” is one of the six acceptable justifications for leaving one’s house during the lockdown. However, many of these groups and the spaces that host them have faced relentless police harassment and intimidation just for trying to coordinate food deliveries to those in need. On April 25, police carried out multiple arrests in Exarchia targeting those who were simply gathering food that would otherwise go to waste in order to distribute it to those struggling to get by.
\n\nMany mutual aid groups have continued operating regardless of the consequences. While the laws are blurry regarding what constitutes “helping people,” the police have been given permission to interpret this for themselves, and they maintain blatant double standards denying any efforts that specifically help immigrants or the excluded. Similarly, the anarchist group Rouvikinos received praise from the corporate media for bringing needed supplies to Athenian nursing facilities, while the gestures of support and solidarity they have made towards those in Roma camps have not elicited similar affirmations. It is dangerous to try to help people when the police consider this an affront to their authority and to the state, and this risk increases according to which people you are trying to help.
\n\nDespite the repression and intimidation of the goon police in the streets of Greece, the movement has carried out many solidarity actions with medical workers, prisoners, and refugees. It is a scary time, but it is inspiring that even under these circumstances, our movement remains visible thanks to a tremendous amount of mutual aid efforts, not to mention revolutionary graffiti, posters, and banners throughout the country.
\n\nThe police have also used the pandemic as a justification to swarm Exarchia and terrorize its residents, especially immigrants and those entering or exiting squats. The lockdown measures are more visible in Exarchia than elsewhere. Police have been randomly stopping and searching people and ticketing them for fabricated violations in order to terrorize the neighborhood. The police units typically used to attack the anarchist movement, known as MAT and Delta, have set up checkpoints and occupations across Exarchia, claiming that “the neighborhood as it was once known will never return.”
\n\nNight is especially scary; teams of Delta police can be seen riding around in motorcycle gangs, beating and arresting people at random, chiefly non-white immigrants. On top of this, gatherings of 30 to 50 cops can be seen at various checkpoints, flagrantly violating the social distancing protocol that is the justification for the lockdown in the first place. This sort of opportunism would be comical if it weren’t so oppressive for the most vulnerable residents.
\n\nHowever, disdain for the police behavior is widespread, even among residents who were annoyed by Exarchia’s squats and riots in the past. We are certain that when the lockdown measures are eased, resistance will return with a vengeance.
\n\nThe state has done everything it can to blame the public if social distancing efforts fail. The state and corporate media have spread fabricated videos of people not respecting social distance in order to turn Greek society against itself. The state is using this pandemic to experiment with martial law, even enforcing prohibitions on swimming and fishing. Such measures serve to test what Greek people will put up with in order to refine plans for future authoritarian efforts to change this society, especially considering that the IMF now anticipates an even worse economic downturn than the recession of 2008.
\n\nAll across the country, Greek police are ticketing homeless people for violating the lockdown as a consequence of lacking shelter, ticketing immigrants at a higher rate and targeting the most vulnerable on the pretext of enforcing safety measures. The Greek state has also evicted student housing throughout Athens, a step they likely hope will make it easier to privatize the university system in the future. They are also using the text message system via which residents request permission from the state to go outside to collect information about the general population.
\n\nIn short, the Greek state that slashed funding for medical facilities and accelerated the privatization of health care is dealing with the pandemic by escalating state control and social manipulation. In early April, when doctors and other workers at the Evangelismos hospital in central Athens tried to stage a demonstration demanding more protective equipment, an army of police swarmed in to shut it down. In addition to ordering direct assaults on medical staff, the authorities have also told Greek medical workers that they are forbidden to speak publicly to the press about issues relating to the pandemic.
\n\nThis is adapted from the Bad News report for April; you can listen to it here.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/TH_NASHS/status/1258204686534008833\n\n\n
The tweet reads, “Did we survive coronavirus only to catch swine flu?”
\n\nAs of now, Greece is perceived to have avoided being hit hard by COVID-19. While the official death toll has remained quite low, some suspect that the state is reporting lower numbers in order to claim a political victory over the virus and keep Greece attractive to luxury tourism this summer. In any case, the state continues to take advantage of the situation to extend its apparatus, oppress marginalized and excluded groups, target youth, and reorganize Greek society to serve the new administration’s political ends.
\n\nIn contrast to recent years, a broader anarchist call circulated for people to participate in May Day demonstrations. In Greece, May Day had been largely appropriated by the [statist] left, despite its anarchist origins. Whether to spark new efforts or to demonstrate the political will of our movement, May Day 2020 saw a massive anarchist presence across Greece.
\n\nAround 800 anarchists gathered to march in the center of Athens in defiance of the lockdown. As usual, the police focused on this contingent while ignoring the mobilization organized by the communist party. This shows who the defenders of the state consider to be their enemies, who they consider to be a threat. In addition to this march, the autonomous labor union of delivery workers took to the streets in a motorbike demonstration. This followed an earlier demonstration by delivery workers demanding better pay and working conditions, especially in view of the increased demand for delivery during the pandemic. Other small gatherings and demonstrations took place across Athens and all around Greece on May Day, as well as banner drops and graffiti—asserting a meaning for May Day that is not coopted by the authoritarian left.
\n\nDuring the night following May Day, the anarchist group Rouvikinos attacked the headquarters of the customer service company Tele-Performance. This company is notorious for exploiting Greek people, seeing Greece as an opportunity to pay third world salaries within the European Union. This action focused attention on one of the predators that aims to profit on the economic deterioration that the coronavirus will wreak in Greece.
\n\nTaking advantage of the opportunity presented by economic desperation and the distraction created by the pandemic, the new government of Greece is attempting to eliminate many of the existing protections of Greece’s beautiful wild areas. A new law they have proposed will eliminate several regulations preserving wild areas and clear the way for the destruction of the environment to accelerate. The new law will legalize various mining, construction, and development projects that were previously impossible. This will put the fate of Greece’s vast wilderness at the mercy of private companies and industrial capitalism. On May 5, the day after the easing of the lockdown, a vigil took place in front of the parliament drawing attention to the ecological destruction that the law will cause; police brutally detained and removed 15 of the demonstrators.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/b3ta_p1nk/status/1258720925769519104\n\n\n
While freedom of movement has been eased in Greece since May 4, many of the lockdown restrictions remain in effect specifically for bars, restaurants, and other “non-essential” businesses. Regardless, it is clear that the police will continue to target specific demographics and gatherings. First, police violently attacked youth who gathered to celebrate the lifting of the lockdown in Agia Pareskevi square. Police chased young people and fired tear gas at them simply for gathering outside after weeks of lockdown.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1259046605258358785\n\n\n
Soon after, on May 8, in the Kipseli neighborhood of Athens, police once again fired tear gas into a small square and attacked young people for drinking and hanging outside. This assault followed an anarcha-feminist “take back the night” demonstration against patriarchy, likely one of their motivations for attacking the square. When the police attempted to surround the square, people began chanting against them; in response, they shot tear gas at random into the center of the crowd. People dispersed in various directions, slowing police with some projectiles and pulling dumpsters into the street. Afterwards, Delta police began chasing whoever was trying to avoid the tear gas, beating and detaining people at random. In the end, they detained over 40 people, arresting five. Many people were beaten severely, including one person whose teeth were smashed and another who suffered broken bones after police dropped a motorbike on them.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/05/14/2.jpg\")
A flier for the “take back the night” demonstration in Athens on May 8.
\nAnger about this attack inspired a defiant gathering the next day, on May 9. Thousands returned to this square to show the police that COVID-19 will not strip our society of humanity. During the demonstration, people attacked banks, corporate franchises, and a police station; one cop was ambushed and saw his motorbike destroyed.
\n\nIn addition to the misogynistic motivations for the repression of the demonstration of May 8, many believe that shopkeepers are encouraging police to disperse youth gatherings in squares. Not wishing for people to enjoy free space, they want to make it clear that when “non-essential” businesses are able to open again, you will have to buy a drink in order to hang out in public. In response to the extreme efforts police are making to exert control over Exarchia, young people are looking for new places to gather freely; the police do not want such a tradition to prevail again, nor do they want anything resembling what Exarchia was—and will be again—to generalize throughout the city.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/05/14/1.jpg\")
A call to demonstrate on May 9 in response to the police attacks in Kipseli on May 8.
\nThe anti-migrant campaign involving both the state and grassroots fascists continues to grow rapidly. Migrants are still holding small demonstrations demanding livable conditions inside refugee camps. Fascists both in and out of uniform continue to aggressively attack these demonstrations. The state has all but proclaimed that they don’t mind COVID-19 spreading in refugee camps as long as it doesn’t go beyond their walls. They are continuing to move refugees to the mainland in a process aimed at further isolating and concealing them, away from tourist destinations.
\n\nDuring the first week of May, however, local fascists responded to an attempt to move 57 refugees with extreme violence. The government was trying to move the refugees, many of whom were children, to a rented hotel in Pella, North Greece. Local fascists and so-called “patriots”—a euphemism for fascists who do not want their allegiances to be quite as obvious—attacked the buses conveying them. The attackers also set fire to the ground floor of the hotel intended to house them.
\n\nAfterwards, another attempt was made to house refugees to another hotel in Arnissa; this time, 250 fascists and other bigots set fires in the road to block the buses from entering the village. Fascist villagers also assaulted the hotel owner and attacked the hotel itself. Eventually, the refugees were taken to the region of Thessaloniki. It is known that these actions were part of a broader campaign by the openly fascist party Golden Dawn and other fascist groups to escalate violence against immigrants in ways that the state cannot do publicly. It is widely suspected that many of the participants were off-duty police officers.
\n\nThe refugee situation is not improving, and the pandemic is complicating it even further. The state narrative is typically that the authorities understand the xenophobic and fascist responses of some Greek citizens, but they cannot fully support them due to the obligations of international law. This has set the stage for state oppression and grassroots violence to work side by side, if informally. In the second week of May, a Lidl chain store on the island of Samos began to segregate customers into lines of Greeks and non-Greeks for shopping. Immigrants were told to wait for Greek shoppers to finish before they entered the store. The situation for immigrants in Greece is already terrible and expected to get worse.
\n\nPrisons have also been targeting outspoken prisoners who have stood up for their livelihood during the pandemic.
\n\nVasilis Dimakis is an anarchist serving 23 years for alleged bank robberies. He has been a courageous voice against the filthy conditions in Greek prisons. He began a hunger strike when the pandemic was first acknowledged in Greece, contributing to a broader public awareness of the repression and foul conditions that prisoners are facing during this epidemic. He has also been a passionate student behind bars, using the few educational opportunities available to him to pursue his studies while incarcerated. On May 9, he decided to expand his hunger strike to include a thirst strike in response to the authorities moving him to an isolation cell in the Korydallos prison to prevent him from continuing to inspire rage and resistance behind prison bars.
\n\nPola Roupa, a prisoner from the group Revolutionary Struggle, has called for international solidarity. She too has continued to struggle against the opportunistic repression and violence inside Greek prisons. She too has been isolated, transferred, and targeted by prison staff on account of her consistent resistance and organizing behind prison walls. Other imprisoned members of Revolutionary Struggle have also been transferred and isolated in an attempt to suppress intensifying prison resistance in response to the looming pandemic. The group has made a call for international revolutionary solidarity.
\n\nTwo members of Grup Yorum, a beloved Turkish-founded band that has a close relationship with movements in Greece, passed away in April following a long-term hunger strike: Helin Bolek passed away on April 3 and Ibrahim Gokceck on April 24. The Turkish state went so far as to steal Ibrahim’s body during his funeral and to arrest many of those attending, including his own grieving father. Afterwards, an arson attack took place targeting a Turkish diplomat’s car in Thessaloniki. The burning of the diplomat’s car was an act of revenge, but it is nothing compared to the repression and trauma that the Turkish state continues to inflict.
\n\nWith economic crisis looming ahead, insurrectionary anarchists have been carrying out expropriations in Thessaloniki. On May 7, a group went into a corporate supermarket and took baskets of food and other essentials without paying. Many of these items appeared afterwards in a major square of the city for all to take as needed. Such actions are likely to increase as Greece faces even harder economic times ahead. This is another element of an existing campaign of mutual aid projects that has continued to grow during the pandemic. Anarchist groups have delivered masks and other essentials to refugee camps for Turkish and Kurdish political refugees, Roma communities, and others excluded by the Greek state.
\n\nSummer is upon us in Greece, but the dark skies still loom ahead. However, resistance and rage are very fertile here. While the situation is unprecedented, our movements are prepared.
\n\nThis is adapted from the Bad News report for May; you can listen to it here.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1257942359586856965\n\n\n
“B(A)D NEWS—Angry voices from around the world is a monthly news program from the international network of anarchist and anti-authoritarian radios, consisting of short news segments from different parts of the world. As an international network of radio projects, we believe in the importance of international solidarity. And we also recognize the importance and the need to create and disseminate our own media and counter-information. We hope, with this effort, to reach out to other anarchist and anti-authoritarian projects, groups, and individuals, and to strengthen our connections and our struggles in sharing our stories.”
\n\n\n\n" }, { "id": "https://crimethinc.com/2020/04/28/the-agitprop-of-the-pandemic-posters-stickers-and-graffiti-from-around-the-world", "url": "https://crimethinc.com/2020/04/28/the-agitprop-of-the-pandemic-posters-stickers-and-graffiti-from-around-the-world", "title": "The Agitprop of the Pandemic : Posters, Stickers, and Graffiti from around the World", "summary": "A collection of art showing how anarchists and other rebels are responding to the pandemic and the authoritarian power grabs that accompany it.", "image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/header.jpg", "banner_image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/header.jpg", "date_published": "2020-04-28T17:04:33Z", "date_modified": "2024-09-10T03:55:43Z", "tags": [ "Brazil", "Germany", "Chile", "Greece", "Slovenia", "Italy", "disaster", "pandemic", "crisis", "masks", "Austria", "Mexico", "France" ], "content_html": "To get a sense of how anarchists and other rebels have been responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the authoritarian power grabs that accompany it, we have collected pictures of posters, stickers, and graffiti from Austria, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Slovenia, Spain, and the United States. We present them here with translations and notes. Look through these to find new slogans and imagery that you can adjust for your own context.
\n\nIn clearing the streets, the pandemic has made every city a bit more like Pripyat, the Ukrainian ghost town next to Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Pripyat has long been a destination for graffiti artists who take advantage of its empty streets to create vast murals. Similarly, over the past two months, we have seen daring artists defy curfews to decorate the walls of their cities, re-enchanting the physical world at a time when many of us are marinating in low-bandwidth virtual reality via our cell phones. May we all follow their example.
\n\nYou can find another international collection of radical street art about the pandemic starting here.
\n\n\n\n\n“Repression, propaganda, prohibitions, and confinement are not medicine. These are the solutions the state trots out for every ‘enemy.’”
\n\n-an anarchist sticker critiquing the state response to the pandemic in Greece
\n
As should go without saying, we oppose the governments and colonial narratives of all of the countries listed below. We use this taxonomy solely for the convenience of identifying the various repressive national contexts in which people are taking action and to note the different analyses and emphases that are emerging in response.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/19.jpg\")
“Rent strike now!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/27.jpg\")
A sticker: “Rent strike now!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/21.jpg\")
A sticker: “Rent strike now!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/26.jpg\")
A flier from Rent Strike Salzburg: “Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are now losing their income, or at least part of it. While the government promises billions in aid packages for the economy, we have to help ourselves: Let’s declare a rent strike now!”
\nIn addition to the rent strike group in Salzburg, there is now a similar group in Switzerland.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/13.jpg\")
“Coward 17”: 17 was the party number of Brazil’s explicitly fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro, though he has since been forced out of that party and formed another.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/15.jpg\")
A poster: “For a long time, we have recommended the use of masks. Organize solidarity and direct action!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/16.jpg\")
“We refuse to pay!” with a collection of bills including rent, water, electricity, and gas. From a page promoting rent strikes and the non-payment of bills.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/18.jpg\")
“We will not go back to normality—normality is the problem.” A poster.
\nWe will not go back to normality—normality is the problem.
\n\nDestruction of ecosystems, deforestation, pesticides, diseases. For centuries, the rampant exploitation of people and the planet has caused the multiplication of new epidemics, pandemics, and catastrophes. Despite the evidence, governments tied to the private interests of multinationals have never done and will never do anything to change that. Our strength is in our actions.
\n\nLet’s discard capitalism before it destroys us.
\n\nA video from the collective Antimídia: “Brazil is going to stop.”
\nBrazil is going to stop.
\n\nFor the 40 million workers with no rights, documentation, or any safety,
\nBrazil is going to stop.
\nFor the street vendors, the small businesses, and teachers without pay,
\nfor the cleaning workers still working when they should be home
\nor at home without payment, Brazil is going to stop.
\nFor the 31 million people with no tap water in the country,
\nfor all the people squatting or living in favelas, subject to floods and landslides,
\nfor those threatened with eviction, unable to pay rent, Brazil is going to stop.
\nFor all those in prisons and their families,
\nfor all sex workers, twice exploited,
\nfor all the threats of layoffs, for everyone living in the streets,
\nBrazil is going to stop.
\nFor the millions of wage workers and their families,
\nfor the young ones with no hope of a job or a future,
\nBrazil is going to stop.
\nFor the healthcare workers taking risks on the front line to hold off the pandemic,
\nfor all the employees who refuse to shut off water or electricity to the poor,
\nfor the garbage collectors and those who provide essential services
\nwho did not hesitate to work even facing all the risks,
\nBrazil is going to stop.
\nAnd to the bosses who can stay at home and participate in car protests
\nwhen we are the ones who have to take crowded public transit,
\nrisking our lives and those of our families,
\nand to the investors who keep profiting,
\nto the banks receiving more than a trillion reais of rescue funds from the Central Bank,
\nto all those who depend on the exploitation of others,
\nwe say: Brazil is going to stop.
\nAnd to those who defend the privileges of the elite,
\nwhile we are humiliated
\nthreatened with police and military repression when we dare to organize and rebel,
\nso that we don’t have to sacrifice ourselves once more for the “sake of the economy”
\nthat was never intended to keep us safe, that always treated us as disposable,
\nforcing us to choose between survival or shitty jobs
\nor to die waiting in line in the hospitals
\nBrazil is definitely going to stop.
\nStay at home! Organize!
\nKeep your rent and resist evictions!
\nFederal government: the politics of death.
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/17.jpg\")
“Colonialism is a plague—capitalism is a pandemic.” This Spanish-language poster appears here with an indigenous anti-futurist manifesto about the pandemic. The original photo of the subject of this poster, a person from the Mebêngôkre people (sometimes referred to as Kayapo), a group indigenous to the land brutally colonized by Brazil, appears here.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/96.jpg\")
“Strike until both the state and the coronavirus perish.” Santiago, Chile.
\n“The Other Battle of the Primera Linea,” a video from the streets of Santiago, Chile.
\nIn Chile, the primera linea refers to the front-line demonstrators who fought the police in weekly clashes from October 19, 2019—when demonstrators burned and looted Santiago—until the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile. Since October, many Chilean anarchists have expressed amazement at how swiftly militant combat against police came to be widely seen as legitimate, with the primera linea celebrated on t-shirts, by pop culture celebrities, and even by congressional representatives. However, every victory presents new challenges. Getting past the debates about nonviolence that have beleaguered anarchists for years has not sufficed to impart a thoroughgoing anarchist vision to the general public.
\n\nFor example, in the above video, we briefly see a masked primera linea demonstrator who later invokes the need to physically fight back against police handing out electoral propaganda and describing the primera linea as the “people’s army,” a concept that, despite all noble intentions, is stained with the blood of millions. As the Spanish language anarchist journal Kalinov Most put it, “[Romanticization of the primera linea should] be viewed with a certain amount of caution, given the tendency towards heroic exaltation of certain roles within the uprising that can lead to fetishism and militaristic mentalities.” Of course, the young rebel in this video doesn’t represent the views of everyone who identifies as primera linea. No one does—like the black bloc, it is an anarchic tactic, not an organization or political ideology.
\n\nWhat is exciting about the validation of the primera linea is simply that it puts people who didn’t previously have the experience of fighting against state oppression into contact with anarchists and others who do. At best, this has equipped many of those on the primera linea to understand how authority structures our society and to see, as the subjects of this video do, how fighting the police in the streets goes hand in hand with fighting the ways that capitalism impoverishes and demeans almost every aspect of our daily lives and public spaces.
\n\nThe following pictures are taken from la rue ou rien, a twitter account collecting radical political messages seen in the streets of France.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/61.jpg\")
“Jogging is too risky, but working without protection is OK.” - Macron
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/62.jpg\")
“And what if we never go back to work?”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/64.jpg\")
“Confronting COVID-19 is like confronting the cops—we help each other.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/65.jpg\")
“Confinement is a liberticidal political choice.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/66.jpg\")
“Cops, coronavirus, let us breathe!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/67.jpg\")
“Coronavirus everywhere. Justice nowhere. Fire to the prisons!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/68.jpg\")
“Coronavirus or not, we are against this world—die capitalism, die.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/69.jpg\")
“COVID-19…84.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/70.jpg\")
“The economy or life?”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/72.jpg\")
“FFP2 masks 0.70€, LBD40 1240€. ‘We are not on the same side.’ - Didier Lallement [police prefect of Paris].” The LBD40 is a stun grenade launcher purchased for the notoriously violent French police at great expense to the public against whom it is to be employed.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/94.jpg\")
“Who knows, maybe the LBD40 [the aforementioned expensive riot control device] is effective against the coronavirus?”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/73.jpg\")
“Fire fighters, nurses, garbage collectors, people on strike, I love you!” And, in another hand: “We do too!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/74.jpg\")
“Freedom is a scourge for rulers. At the end of this confinement, let’s become their black plague.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/75.jpg\")
“Less cops, more hand sanitizer.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/76.jpg\")
“Let’s not forget anything, ever!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/77.jpg\")
“Long live the prisoners’ revolt. Let’s destroy what imprisons us.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/78.jpg\")
“More masks, less cops on our backs.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/79.jpg\")
“No return to normal—normality is the problem.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/80.jpg\")
“On my official form, I wrote, ‘Engaging in an individual sport activity.’” A reference to the forms people must fill out in France to explain what they are doing when they leave the house.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/63.jpg\")
Bat + pangolin = financial collapse.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/81.jpg\")
Pangolin vs. capitalism.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/93.jpg\")
“When the fool points to the pangolin, the wise man sees deforestation.” (An adaptation of a French saying.)
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/82.jpg\")
A poster calling for the five emergency measures expressed in English on this poster.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/71.jpg\")
Stickers calling for the aforementioned measures.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/84.jpg\")
“Staying at home, OK. Not seeing friends, OK. Filling up an official form to go out, not OK!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/85.jpg\")
“COVID-19 is not an excuse to snitch. Fuck the 17.” (17 is the phone number for dialing the French police.)
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/86.jpg\")
“The government means well—April fools!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/87.jpg\")
“The illusion of safety. The unfamiliarity of freedom.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/88.jpg\")
“The revolution will go viral.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/89.jpg\")
“The virus is the state.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/90.jpg\")
“The worst kind of virus is the state.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/91.jpg\")
“Today social distancing, tomorrow barricades.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/92.jpg\")
“It is utopian to believe that everything can go on as it is.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/95.jpg\")
A gnomic pronouncement: “You are the pandemic!!!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/20.jpg\")
“The crisis shows what was already a problem before.” Berlin, in the neighborhood of Neukölln. Photo by Syndikat.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/22.jpg\")
A sticker distributed by Black Mosquito: “Solidarity and awareness instead of authoritarian measures; if the stock market counts more than human lives, we should overcome that.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/23.jpg\")
“He who hoards is too lazy to loot. Solidarity, not panic.” In German, this slogan can be read two different ways: as a way to compare hoarding to robbery—or as a way to endorse collective looting and redistribution over hoarding.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/24.jpg\")
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/25.jpg\")
“He who hoards is too lazy to loot.” Sticker from Black Mosquito.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/28.jpg\")
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/29.jpg\")
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/30.jpg\")
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/31.jpg\")
“Coronavirus into parliament.”
\nWe also note the efforts of coview.info in Germany: “An initiative to respond to the political and social impact of COVID-19 and the accompanying measures.”
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/161Schlotle/status/1254627932397547520\n\n\n
The graffiti reads “Capitalism is dying. Have no fear!”
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/37.jpg\")
“Against the death policy of the state—solidarity to the struggles and the revolts of detainees in prisons and migrant camps.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/39.jpg\")
“For some, home is not a safe place—there is also the virus of sexual violence.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/47.jpg\")
“We are not heroes, we are hostages of the bosses and the state. Solidarity to workers in the time of quarantine.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/40.jpg\")
“It’s better to kiss and hug for one hour than to have 40 days of Netflix and Chardalias.” Chardalias is the government minister responsible for the press briefings about COVID-19; every day at 6 pm, corporate media broadcasts a public announcement from him. This slogan is a reference to a traditional Greek song.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/38.jpg\")
“Exam lesson: biology; exam content: religion. We don’t assign our bodies to any god, to any science.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/41.jpg\")
“Let’s resist the virus of submission, let’s spread the virus of revolt.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/42.jpg\")
“Medicine is magical—it makes meetings prohibited.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/43.jpg\")
“Pandemic of labor exploitation and exhausting working schedules. War against the war of the bosses.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/44.jpg\")
“Quarantine is the hygiene counterpart of military curfew. Life not survival!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/45.jpg\")
“Technology is magic cyber-control and repression.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/5.jpg\")
“For the virus of totalitarianism, the therapy is meeting in the streets.”
\nMany of these sticker designs can be found here along with other stickers from Greek anarchists.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/48.jpg\")
“Tax the rich—freeze military expenditures—hire and protect healthcare workers—close unnecessary factories—amnesty and pardon for all prisoners—seize all privatized healthcare resources—’incompletes’ for all students—freeze rents—quarantine income—closer immigrant detention centers—control of production to the workers!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/50.jpg\")
A billboard modification by nomissis entitled “Money First.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/51.jpg\")
“Our health against their profit. #wecantprotecourselves #wedontwantmartyrs”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/52.jpg\")
“We won’t go back to normality, because normality was the problem! When the lockdown is over, let’s meet in the streets.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/9.jpg\")
“We won’t pay for the crisis!” “1 government car = 100 patients.” “No to militarization, yes to public healthcare.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/49.jpg\")
\nWe also note a poster series entitled #RicordaiResponsabili, “Remember the ones responsible,” including such texts as the following:
\n\nOn the outside, six feet apart—In Italian prisons, there are about 10,299 people over capacity. On March 7, riots broke out in 40 Italian prisons. The cause—due to an already exasperating situation—was the suspension of talks with family members, a measure to reduce the infection. Yet prison guards continue going in and out, infecting those inside, as has already happened in a dozen prisons.
\n\nThey keep factories overcrowded—Decrees insist on quarantining the nation, but they oblige workers to keep on making profits for factory owners. That’s why many workers went on strike in many factories.
\n\nThey blame a stroll—What’s more dangerous? A stroll in the open air with proper precautions… or working in factories and call centers, in a confined space and without suitable protection?
\n\nThey fill the streets with the army—Today, to control anyone who moves without “justified reason,” but in the future, to cope with social unrest and protests that will spread from the financial crisis to come. Militarization and surveillance maintain the state of fear, the fundamental apparatus of social control.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/_savox/status/1250441756694343681\n\n\n
\nhttps://twitter.com/JigginoRuss/status/1243079400087867394\n\n\n
\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n \n
“There is no virus worse than fear, selfishness, ignorance, and individualism.”
\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n \n
“Welcome to the struggle of the faceless.”
\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n \n
“Immediate suspension of payments and rent—If those who pay stop those who collect.” A much more realistic way of framing the situation than toothlessly making demands of those in power.
\nAll of these posters and many more about the pandemic are from the prolific Gran Om studio of visual arts.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/53.jpg\")
“After the virus, revolt.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/54.jpg\")
“Fascism beneath the mask of quarantine.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/55.jpg\")
“Government is a virus.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/56.jpg\")
“Masks on, this is a revolution.” The additional graffiti reads “The academic college to the students!”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/57.jpg\")
“Pay the workers, quarantine the government.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/58.jpg\")
“Quarantine the military.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/59.jpg\")
“Quarantine the government.”
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/60.jpg\")
English-language rent strike graffiti in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
\nPhotographs of a wide range of other anarchist graffiti in Ljubljana about the pandemic can be found on the facebook pages of Komunal.org and the Infoshop in the longstanding squatted autonomous neighborhood Metelkova. Slogans include “I #stayed home and I lost my home,” “They are finished” (a reference to a slogan from the uprising of 2012–2013), “We are not all the same—the poor person will only be alive as long as the system can benefit from him,” and one disarmingly simple expression: “I really don’t feel comfortable.”
\n\nSeveral of the above photos are from Komunal.org as well.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/12.jpg\")
Punk art about the pandemic from a Venezuelan artist in Barcelona.
\nIn this charming guide, the longstanding anarchist labor union CNT encourages workers to “wash their hands without extinguishing the flame of revolt,” measuring the proper amount of time for hand-washing by singing the classic song from the Spanish Civil War, “A Las Barricadas”:
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/cntsindikatua/status/1238770787676499968?s=21\n\n\n
Mutual aid—only the people help the people:
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/el_lokal/status/1244337135546765313\n\n\n
Rent strike, Catalunya:
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/el_lokal/status/1249409792092839943\n\n\n
Rent strike call from the anarchist federation of the Canary Islands:
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/fagc_anarquista/status/1242056078675906562\n\n\n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/1.jpg\")
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/04/28/2.jpg\")
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Welcome to the new era.
\nThe beginning of a new year offers us an opportunity to look back over our accomplishments and the things we stand to learn from the previous year. In the following report, we will review our efforts throughout 2019, set in the context of world events. This has been a year of stalemate in the US, while elsewhere, a new wave of confrontational movements has inspired some commentators to predict a global revival of anarchism on an unprecedented scale.
\n\nWhile this strikes us as optimistic, it adequately describes the stakes of the situation today. The first decade of the 21st century saw the end of the era of capitalist triumphalism; the second decade saw an explosion of uprisings followed by a wave of repression and reactionary nationalism. The decade ahead of us marks a decisive turning point in the history of our species. Increasingly polarized and nationalistic geopolitics are producing one war after another now. Desperate and oppressed people are rising up—though often without a clear analysis of the causes of their misery—while governments and corporations race to develop technology that can effectively surveil populations and suppress revolt. Meanwhile, industrially driven climate disruption is generating ecological disasters that threaten the biosphere itself.
\n\nWe will either figure out how to break down the existing mechanisms of control on a massive scale, as people have been doing in Chile over the past several months, or we will enter a period of worldwide tyranny from which humanity may never emerge.
\n\nCurrently, we are hardly prepared for the struggles this coming decade will bring. Still, it is helpful that some projects and networks persist from the struggles of the previous decades—including this particular project, the CrimethInc. ex-Workers’ Collective. At the bare minimum, we have to pass on the lessons of past struggles, update our analyses and strategies for the current era, and form much more ambitious and wide-reaching networks and initiatives. The price of failing to do this will be unspeakable.
\n\nChilean anarchists and other rebels celebrating New Year’s Eve in Plaza de la Dignidad by driving back the police and honoring the dead.
\nEverything our collective accomplished in 2019—from writing articles and recording podcasts to programming this site and mailing out book orders—we achieved by means of 100% volunteer labor, working collectively and anonymously the way we have since the mid-1990s. We seek neither financial gain nor personal fame for what we do. We are driven solely by the desire for liberation—liberation for all, in all the different forms it takes.
\n\nAs others recently put it,
\n\n\n\n\n“For our part, we seek to live without masters or bosses, in harmony with nature and animals, in a dignified and responsible manner, respecting each other, understanding that each one has different abilities, but that each is of equal value… [we believe in] self-education, sharing in free association for the pleasure of doing so and not for the need to survive, relying on values such as solidarity, altruism, honesty, and mutual support.”
\n
If you like what we do, the best thing you can do is do it yourself—take action in your own community, develop and refine your own analyses and strategies, reach out to others and mobilize for social change. You can also contribute to our efforts in a variety of ways, or, failing that, donate to us to help us print new outreach materials. Please contact us if you want to help in some other way! Later this week, we’ll publish a more specific request for assistance with our next round of projects.
\n\nFor further reading in the vein of the following report, you could consult the 2019 overview from Anarchist Agency, a similar report from our Brazilian counterparts, and the reports we published looking back on 2018 and 2017.
\n\n\n \n\n \n
A New Year’s Eve dinner in Plaza de la Dignidad bringing together anarchists and other front-line fighters in the Chilean uprising with supporters from the older generation and the hungry and needy. Scenes like this show us how inspiring mutual aid practices can be in the midst of our ongoing struggles.
\nOver two years later, 2017 remains the high point of struggles against Trump and the repressive agenda his regime represents. For good or for ill, the airport blockades, the deplatforming of Milo Yiannopoulos in Berkeley, and the groundswell of anti-fascism that followed the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville mark the high-water mark of contemporary direct action efforts. This is instructive: the moment of greatest possibility often occurs at the opening of a new era, when the horizon of what can happen has not yet been fixed in the popular imagination. Rather than planning to slowly build momentum, it is sometimes important to seize the window of opportunity and figure out how to build from there.
\n\nConversely, one of the reasons anarchists in the United States are experiencing a relative lull in activity is that, since 2017, we have been compelled to put more energy into mobilizing in response to emergencies than into slowly, steadily cultivating communities that can act together. The subcultures that nourished generations of rebels have largely melted away or been coopted; online networking is a poor substitute for long-term networks based in shared activities.
\n\nBut we should not hold ourselves solely responsible for the current lull. It takes place in the larger context of massive institutional efforts to substitute the spectator sport of electoral politics for the revolutionary practice of direct action.
\n\nAs we argued in “Life in ‘Mueller Time’,” the Democratic Party has intentionally introduced a series of spectacles aimed at centralizing itself in the popular imagination as the chief representative of anti-Trump sentiment and the only hope for social change. Foremost of these spectacles are the Mueller investigation, the recent impeachment proceedings, and the ongoing Democratic primaries. Neither the Mueller investigation nor the impeachment have threatened Trump’s power—and the 2020 election may not, either. But all three of them serve to focus attention on institutional processes and invest legitimacy in existing authority figures—including career politicians, judges, and the FBI.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/02/26/1.jpg\")
Against those who count on the authorities to resolve the problems caused by those in authority…
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/posters/hope-is-in-the-streets/hope-is-in-the-streets_front_color.jpg\")
…we know it’s up to us to deal with the situation.
\nIn this context of cooption, 2018 saw an impasse emerge in struggles between the nationalists around Trump, the centrists around the Democratic Party, and social movements, in which none of these three forces was able to definitively gain the upper hand. This impasse continued throughout 2019.
\n\nWe can see the evidence of this impasse in the desperately needed but not yet successful efforts to get a powerful new ecological movement off the ground in the US, despite the spread of Extinction Rebellion overseas; Extinction Rebellion is too legalistic and pacifist for our tastes, but its popularity speaks to a real need for ecological action. We can also see the impasse in the comparatively tame response to the Turkish invasion of Syria, at least outside the Bay Area and a couple other hotspots, and in the limits that solidarity efforts reached mobilizing against the latest wave of state attacks on the undocumented. Unfortunately, one of the more effective efforts in that struggle may have been the action Willem Van Spronsen carried out on the Northwest Detention Center, a private immigration detainment facility. Police killed Van Spronsen in response. But a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official subsequently explained to the media that the dramatic increase in anti-immigrant raids that Trump had called for had not taken place in part because of the fear Van Spronsen’s action had generated among the mercenaries serving ICE.
\n\nWe do not believe in canonizing people as heroes. Likewise, we strongly urge against people intentionally sacrificing their lives. If anti-border movements had found more effective collective means of action against ICE operations, maybe Van Spronsen would still be alive—and some of the millions of people who have been deported from the United States would still be at liberty. We honor the long-running efforts to support undocumented people that our comrades have maintained in the face of repression. The question of how to build on them remains a challenge for all of us.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/posters/the-border-is-everywhere/the-border-is-everywhere_front_color.jpg\")
Click the image to download the PDF.
\nMeanwhile, outside the United States, from France and Hong Kong to Sudan and Haiti, protracted struggles were playing out between governments and powerful social movements. This ferment reached as far as Puerto Rico, a United States territory, though denied equal status to the states proper.
\n\nIn October, conflict came to a boil on many fronts at once. Trump had been threatening to let Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan invade Rojava since December 2018; at the beginning of October, he finally did exactly that, giving Turkey carte blanche to slaughter and displace hundreds of thousands of people on the Syrian side of the border.
\n\nWe scrambled to respond, publishing a call for solidarity actions against the Turkish invasion that was endorsed by well over 100 organizations, alongside a series of articles on the situation, including “Why the Turkish Invasion Matters” and “The ‘Ceasefire’ Is a Deadly Fraud,” debunking Vice President Mike Pence’s lie that he had brokered a ceasefire in the region.
\n\nAt the same time, the wave of uprisings that had begun with Haiti, Hong Kong, and Sudan spread to Ecuador, Chile, Honduras, Catalunya, Lebanon, Iraq, and elsewhere. As our networks extend throughout many parts of the world, we went to great lengths to present on-the-ground reporting and analysis from many of these upheavals.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/10/23/3.jpg\")
Street fighters holding back the police during clashes in Catalunya, October 2019.
\nIn 2019, we published firsthand reports on struggles around the world, from Lebanon to Sudan. Here are some of the highlights.
\n\nCorresponding with anarchist participants in the powerful social movement against the Chinese-backed government of Hong Kong, we were fortunate to publish two of the most influential texts expressing the perspectives of anti-authoritarians within the movement, “Anarchists in the Resistance to the Extradition Bill” and “Three Months of Insurrection.” We recommend these two interviews as some of our best and most thought-provoking work in 2019.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/09/20/15.jpg\")
Three Months of Insurrection: An Anarchist Collective in Hong Kong Appraises the Achievements and Limits of the Revolt.
\nThis year, Greece saw the inevitable end of the disappointing left government of Syriza, which was replaced by the aptly-named far-right New Democracy party. New Democracy immediately declared an all-out war against refugees, anarchists, squatters, students, and the world-famous Athenian neighborhood of Exarchia. In response, we worked with comrades in Athens to chronicle resistance and repression from one month to the next:
\n\nEarlier in 2019, we also published “Putting Ideas on Trial: The Greek State’s Laboratory of Repression,” an interview with Greek anarchist prisoner Nikos Romanos.
\n\nIn Ecuador, a state austerity package prompted an uprising that nearly overthrew the government. We interviewed a participant immediately before the government caved in and canceled the package, while barricades still stood in the streets of the nation’s capital: “Inside the Quito Commune.”
\n\nThe uprising in Ecuador helped to inspire a similar uprising in Chile, which continues to this day. We published two articles charting its first days, “Chile: Resisting under Martial Law” and “On the Front Lines in Chile:\nSix Accounts from the Uprising.” Since then, we have continued to publish updates and interviews from the streets of Chile via our podcast.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/11/08/14.jpg\")
Altered billboards in Chile: “Looting is how a university student has to pay over twenty years what a congressman makes in two months.”—”Violence is when the police burst into a high school and shoot at the students.”—”The destruction of something man-made is called ‘vandalism,’ while the destruction of nature is called ‘progress.’” From our text, “Not Falling for It: How the Uprising in Chile Has Outlasted State Repression.”
\nFollowing our critical coverage of the independence movement in Catalunya two years ago, we published a report on the clashes that broke out in Catalunya in October 2019. We followed it up shortly afterwards with a first-person account from the front lines of the fighting, one of the most exciting texts we published this past year.
\n\nThroughout the first half of 2019, we continued to publish reports from the Yellow Vest movement in France as it slowly wound down and transitioned into other movements. Continuing the analysis we began in From Democracy to Freedom, our most important text about the Gilets Jaunes in 2019 was probably “Between the Reaction and the Referendum,” a look at nationalism and “direct democracy” in the Yellow Vest movement.
\n\nAt the same time, a year after the state raids and evictions at la ZAD—the Zone à Défendre (Zone to Defend) at Notre-Dame-des-Landes in western France, where occupiers had successfully blocked an unwanted airport—we published “Reflections on the ZAD: Another History.” While some activists steer away from dealing with the complex internal dynamics of inspiring projects like the ZAD, we feel that in the pursuit of liberation, it is just as important to learn from internal struggles as it is to learn from conflicts with the authorities; failing to do so will doom us to repeat the same mistakes.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/04/23/header.jpg\")
La ZAD in France.
\nLike many other anarchists, we spent much of 2019 scrambling to react to emergencies rather than making progress on our own beloved projects. Especially in October and November, we put everything else on hold. One of our longer-term goals is to expand our capacity to such a point that we can continue to make progress towards our long-term projects while responding to current events.
\n\nUnexpectedly, one of our most widely read texts of 2019 was “Against the Logic of the Guillotine,” a critique of fantasies about using the institutions of the state to exact revenge. The popularity of articles like this suggests that we should be putting more energy into reflective and theoretical writing.
\n\nWe also reached many readers with “Storming the Gates,” an analysis of the importance of uncompromising anti-carceral movements, and “The Wrong ICE is Melting, The Wrong Amazon is Burning,” emphasizing the importance of direct action to ecological movements. We followed up the latter article with “What Is Burning the Amazon?”, a perspective from Brazil.
\n\nIn 2020, we aspire to step back from the constant commotion of events to publish more reflective texts like these.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/05/23/15.jpg\")
Storming the Gates: The New Wave of Frontal Attacks on Prisons, Jails, and Detention Centers.
\nBy and large, participants in CrimethInc. projects do most of our direct action organizing in other venues. However, we do occasionally coordinate mobilizations, such as our decade-running annual day of action, Steal Something from Work Day.
\n\nIn February 2019, facing another potential government shutdown over funding for Trump’s xenophobic border wall, we announced a call to action under the watchword “Block the Wall.” This campaign brought together a network of anti-border activists, giving rise to a variety of small outreach actions and longer-running solidarity efforts including a freestanding website.
\n\nAs mentioned above, our most significant mobilizing effort was our call to action against the Turkish invasion of Syria, which was endorsed by everyone from the Democratic Socialists of America and Cooperation Jackson to Noam Chomsky, David Graeber, and Debbie Bookchin.
\n\nFinally, at the end of the year, we announced a call for a day of action against the rising cost of living on November 29, 2019 under the banner #NobodyPays. This was inspired by the fare-dodging protests that had helped to catalyze the uprising in Chile. The call also appeared in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Swedish, and Finnish.
\n\nIn the United States, following two major demonstrations in New York City against police violence on public transit, #NobodyPays actions took place in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis, Toronto, and elsewhere, as chronicled here. Although the actions did not trigger a countrywide upheaval, like the evasión masiva actions in Chile, nor give rise to a fare-dodgers’ union, like planka.nu in Sweden, they did put the tactic of fare-dodging in the public consciousness as a means of taking collective direct action to counter austerity measures.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/IGD_News/status/1200962321251733504\n\n\n
As we emphasized above, one of our missions is to pass on the experiences and lessons from recent anarchist efforts. Tomorrow’s rebels will be better equipped to act effectively if they are informed about the movements of the past several decades as well as classical reference points like the Paris Commune.
\n\nAt the beginning of 2019, two years after the #J20 demonstrations at Trump’s inauguration, we published a series of articles appraising the mobilization and the legal case that followed it. This included “Anarchist Resistance to the Trump Inauguration,” a minute-by-minute analysis of the events of January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC; “I Was a J20 Street Medic and Defendant,” a narrative from one of the first defendants to go to trial in the subsequent conspiracy case; and “We’ve Got Your Back: The Story of the J20 Defense,” a full retrospective on the solidarity and legal support strategies that ultimately resulted in the dropping of charges against the vast majority of J20 defendants.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/01/21/header.jpg\")
Anarchist Resistance to the Trump Inauguration: Understanding the Events of January 20, 2017.
\nWe published two other lengthy accounts of anarchist participation in 21st-century upheavals: “Looting Back,” chronicling the uprising that took place in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 in response to the police murder of Michael Brown, and “The Battle for Ungdomshuset,” recounting the history of Denmark’s most combative social center.
\n\nFollowing the Turkish invasion of Syria, we published “The Roots of Turkish Fascism,” charting the rise of fascism in Turkey across a century in order to explain the context of Erdoğan’s assault. For lighter reading, we observed Valentine’s Day with “Love, Anarchy, and Drama,”\nexploring several classical anarchists’ experiments with non-monogamy.
\n\nFinally, continuing our series on the Russian Counterrevolution that we began on the 100-year anniversary of the seizure of the Winter Palace in 1917, we published “When the Bolsheviks Turned on the Workers,” a retrospective on the Putilov and Astrakhan strikes of 1919.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/08/09/33a.jpg\")
Looting Back: An Account of the Ferguson Uprising.
\nIn 2019, we published a full audiobook version of our book No Wall They Can Build: A Guide to Borders and Migration across North America. We hope this can set a precedent for us to release audiobook versions of future books, as well.
\n\nThe podcast crew also mobilized to respond to the Turkish invasion of Syria, releasing a four-episode series within only ten days. Then they did the same thing in response to the uprising in Chile, releasing three fully bilingual episodes from on the ground at the center of the uprising, with a fourth episode to be released shortly.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/podcast/70/ep70-1400.jpg\")
\nAt long last, we are poised to make this site fully functional in a wide range of languages in addition to English. Already, we have es.crimethinc.com and de.crimethinc.com functioning for those who access the site from Spanish-speaking and German-speaking parts of the world; already, you can peruse crimethinc.com/languages to find a list of the articles we have available in each of ten different tongues.
\n\nA considerable number of posters, zines, and book pdfs are also available on this site now in Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and other languages, and we hope to add a lot more soon. In 2019, we also added a Japanese version of our anarchist primer To Change Everything to the site, bringing the total number of language options for that project to 32. Currently, it is our most translated project; soon, we hope to make much more of our material available multilingually.
\n\nIf you can help us translate texts, or simply collect and proofread existing translations, please contact us.
\n\nOne of our responsibilities in maintaining this site is to keep 25 years worth of CrimethInc. texts and projects accessible to new generations. In 2019, we added a journals page to our archive, including all the issues of our magazine Rolling Thunder, and also added scans of a much older journal we started publishing in the 1990s, the hardcore zine Inside Front.
\n\nWe also reprinted two of our classic books, Work (2011) and Expect Resistance (2007).
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/02/06/header.jpg\")
\nWe didn’t do as much with the arts in 2019 as we hope to in 2020. Our most widely circulated creative work was probably\n“Police: An Ethnography,” a photoessay exploring the common threads that tie together police psychology all around the world. In the art-for-art’s-sake category, for Valentine’s Day we published two works of pure fiction, “Injury against Erasure/Damage against Time.”
\n\nWe also published two games this year—our acclaimed J20 Protest Simulator, a choose-your-own-adventure game enabling the player to participate in the black bloc that interrupted the spectacle of Trump’s inauguration, and Up against the Wall, Motherfucker, a simulation of the 1968 occupation of Columbia University.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/games/j20/images/header.jpg\")
\nClick here to play our J20 Protest Simulator.
\n\nThroughout 2019, CrimethInc. agents distributed literature at events across the United States, including the Asheville Anarchist Book Fair, the Olympia Zine Fest, the Boston Anarchist Book Fair, the New York City Anarchist Book Fair, the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine fest in Oakland, the Howard Zinn Book Fair in San Francisco, and the Humboldt County Anarchist Book Fair, among others.
\n\nCrimethInc. agents also conducted tours of the southern half of Brazil between June and July and the West Coast of the United States in December, promoting the English and Portuguese versions of the book From Democracy to Freedom and speaking about various forms of contemporary anarchist struggle. The report from the tour in Brazil includes an overview of anarchist projects and popular struggles throughout the country.
\n\nThis report only covers a fraction of what we did in 2019. We have a lot planned for 2020, but as usual, it’s better not to promise things—but simply to do them. We’ll see you on the front lines this year.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2020/01/06/1.jpg\")
Celebrants in the Plaza de la Dignidad on New Year’s Eve, 2019: “Only by fighting do we advance.”
\nContinuing our coverage of the struggle in Greece between the new repressive New Democracy government and the longstanding anarchist movement, we present the following report, drawing on eyewitness accounts from street mobilizations and the defense of several squats. The Greek state continues to throw its full weight behind an all-out assault on refugees, anarchists, and student movements, encouraging gratuitous police brutality against both human beings and their animal companions while seeking to exonerate right-wing murderers including members of the Neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn who faced conspiracy charges in the murder of Pavlos Fyssas and the police officer who murdered the 15-year-old anarchist Alexis Grigoropoulos 11 years ago this month.
\n\nWe hope to inspire international solidarity actions with the movement in Greece and to equip readers for action and analysis in other contexts in an era in which state violence and grassroots resistance are escalating worldwide. The struggle continues.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/12/25/8.jpg\")
A police officer doused in paint during the eviction of the squats in Koukaki.
\nThis month the eviction of three inspiring squatted spaces in the Koukaki region of Athens has driven me to compose this urgent update. I aim to keep the struggle in Greece alive in international dialogue—not only in discussion but also in the actions taken to demonstrate international solidarity—in order to remind the Greek state that the foundation and spirit of our struggle goes beyond their borders and to keep this spirit strong and warm in such heinous and cold times.
\n\nMany things have happened since the last update; I will do my best to mention them. However, I want to start with the eviction of Koukaki.
\n\nAt dawn on the morning of December 18, dozens of police from various agencies attacked the three squats in the Koukaki neighborhood, employing weapons including stun grenades and rubber bullets. These three occupations—45 Matrouzou Street, 21 Panetoliou Avenue, and Arvalis 3—were well-known and widely loved spaces helping to preserve an anarchist presence in one of the most expensive and rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in Athens. While some property owners in the neighborhood considered these spaces threatening, many Koukaki locals appreciated them for maintaining free clothing and food distribution projects and for maintaining a significant voice against Airbnb and similar capitalist efforts.
\n\nLocated very close to the Acropolis with a predominantly upper-middle-class population, Koukaki has been one of the neighborhoods most impacted by Airbnb. The squats evicted represent immediate opportunities in real estate speculation; this may have helped to push their eviction to the top of the state’s priorities.
\n\nPolice invaded the two smaller squats (21 Panetoliou Avenue and Arvalis 3) following a short but courageous defense effort ending in four arrests at Panetoliou and two arrests at Arvalis. The arrestees were later released pending trial on charges including damage to property, disobedience, resisting arrest, and assault on an officer; in addition, police are attempting to use the same laws typically applied to gun possession to prosecute the arrestees after finding ordinary kitchen knives, bits of rock, and a crossbow on the premises.
\n\nOne of the arrestees sustained a shot impact from a plastic bullet at close range and required two hospital visits during imprisonment. Despite this, the arrestees remain resilient. From inside the cells of Athens’ main pre-trial prison, they managed to send out the following statement:
\n\n\n\n\nToday, December 18, the state and its army attacked our community, evicting all three of our homes. Crowds of EKAM, Delta, and MAT scum assisted in the eviction of our homes. We were hit by a flash of lightning, and our companion was shot by a plastic bullet at close range. At the same time, neighbors of the M45 were beaten and tortured when they refused entry to the cops, as there was no public prosecutor. At the time of writing this text, we do not know where and how our companions from the occupation M45 are. This comes as part of a larger campaign to assault all those who resist power and fight for freedom. This is a time where the state is spreading its tentacles of repression against squats in order to meet the needs of tourists, replace permanent homes with Airbnb, and continue a violent campaign of gentrification. We do not recognize the notion of property and ownership that the state protects. We have used these empty buildings to foster a community of revolutionary desire, beauty, and the rejection of capitalism.
\n\nSolidarity to the squats!
\n\n
\nWe will spread across all the land!
\nPower to everyone who resists state violence!Repression does not scare us, it persuades us to continue our struggle for a world of solidarity, equality, and self-organization.
\n
[For background, Delta police are designated for beating demonstrators at close quarters; MAT police are riot squads; EKAM are Greece’s SWAT and the most “organized” police department.]
\n\nNearby, at 45 Matrouzou Street, a great battle took place in which people stood up to the state for an hour. Cops were covered in paint and faced a hailstorm of debris while blinded with the smoke of fire extinguishers. The police equate the protective measures those inside the squat took to defend themselves to attempts on the lives of the officers who attacked their home. These measures included reinforced doors, windows, and other typical security mechanisms. Any sensible person will recognize such measures as simple self-defense.
\n\nAmazingly, all the occupants of Matrouzou succeeded in escaping after this battle, despite all the forces and resources the state had mobilized against them. Embarrassed by this, the invaders punished the immediate neighbors.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/12/25/9.jpg\")
The consequences of the eviction of the squats in Koukaki.
\nHoping to capture the escaped squatters, officers knocked on a neighbor’s door, expecting to be welcomed. The mother of the household demanded that they present a warrant in order to enter; as she was requesting this, she heard other officers illegally entering her balcony and rooftop. When she and her husband demanded a warrant once again, the police beat her husband and their two sons, handcuffed them, put black bags over their heads, and detained them in the cold outside on their roof. While the police did not present a warrant, they claimed they had done this with the supervision of the prosecutor in charge of the raids. The sons and father of the family were both arrested alongside the squatters from the other two occupations.
\n\nThe police justified the brutality they inflicted on the family on the grounds that the family members were aiding the squatters in their escape. Yet in searching their home, the police found no evidence to support this claim. Grasping at straws, representatives of the state claim that they will test DNA found inside the squat and the DNA of the family members they arrested to prove there was a connection. An anonymous statement from Matrouzou following the raid claims that this family did not help them in any way. The father who was arrested also happens to be a prominent director who has received a lot of media attention. He has made his disdain for the police apparent, but his distance from the anarchist movement is also obvious.
\n\nThe family has no formal connection to the squat, though they had witnessed the brutality involved in prior evictions, as the squat was also evicted in 2018—under Syriza—only to be re-occupied shortly after. In view of what they had already seen police do, it is not surprising that the family did not feel comfortable allowing police officers into their home if they were not legally obliged to do so.
\n\nEvidence of torture and brutality against the family is widely available via the mainstream media. The police continue to make conflicting statements, even claiming that the family members went for a gun—a desperate lie which has slowly disappeared from their narrative. Despite this, the father and sons are facing charges of resisting arrest and disrupting a police operation.
\n\nThis assault on the neighbors has hit the mainstream press harder than the evictions themselves, in ways that are significant in light of Greek history and the current political polarization of Greece. Like police everywhere, Greek police perceive themselves to be heroes, regardless of how most people see them. Lacking maturity or self-awareness, they tend to lash out when rejected. So when a family that does not resemble the image of their target asserts that officers are not welcome without a warrant, they become aggressive. This incident has generated a dialogue reminiscent of the days of the Greek Junta.
\n\nPolice have gone so far as to argue that the family’s balconies and roof are public spaces, so they do not need to present a warrant to enter. Imagine what would happen if people tried to enter the pools on the roofs of the rich in the upscale neighborhood of Kolonaki! Much of the right-wing media is attempting to blame the woman for defying the police, regardless of the laws. We see this in a discussion between the mother and a condescending anchorman in which he explains that what the officers did was wrong, but it’s actually her fault for defying their demands.
\n\nThe polarization of Greece is playing out in the mainstream media. The proponents of the Junta whine that under the dictatorship “we slept with our doors open”—others joke that “we slept with our doors open because we didn’t want to have to wake up to open them for police raids.”
\n\nIn any case, the three evicted spaces that provided a voice for the residents of Koukaki who celebrated community over profit are now boarded up with bricks. It is fortunate that many of the occupiers escaped; all of them demonstrated remarkable courage. They published a statement which is available below.1
\n\nWhile many of the non-human animals residing at the three occupations in Koukaki were also able to escape, it is unclear whether some of the cats that lived at Matrouzou remain boarded up inside. The police have taken to intentionally trapping animals inside evicted squats as a way to terrorize squatters; they did this during the eviction of the Vancouver squat on November 2. Considering that the residents of Matrouzou escaped, it is not surprising that police would contain animals inside the building until they die of hunger in hopes of luring the escapees into a trap or, failing that, tormenting them.
\n\nWe should also mention that Dimitris Armakolas, the comrade who died in a tragic accident while raising a banner in solidarity with prisoner Marios Seisidis, was also a resident of the Koukaki squats before his passing.
\n\nImmediately after the eviction, a small solidarity demonstration took place. Police kettled the demonstrators, arresting five of them, then attacked the subsequent gathering at police headquarters to support the arrestees. That evening, after an emergency assembly, a surprise mob appeared in the heart of Athens’ shopping district in Monistraki, a well-known hang out of the rich and comfortable. While the beneficiaries of capital sipped their drinks, over 200 people marched disruptively through the area throwing flyers, painting graffiti on various stores, and smashing out the windows of a bank, a corporate grocery franchise, and a Starbucks. The police could not carry out any arrests and were forced to issue a public warning.
\n\nThis action demonstrated that the movement does not only exist in squats and in Exarchia; it can arise and strike anywhere.
\n\nSurprise action in Athens’ shopping district in Monistraki, December 18.
\nAs remarked, it is becoming a pattern for police to target the animal companions of squatters. This bears more comment.
\n\nIn the Vancouver squat, for example, the squatters kept dogs and cats carefully separated in order to avoid the possibility of a violent dispute between the creatures. Signs on doors informed people of the dangers of letting certain dogs or cats out of the rooms they lived in. When the police raided Vancouver, they handcuffed and beat those who were defending the squat. While in handcuffs, one of the detainees begged officers to keep the animals apart for their safety. The officer replied by elbowing this person in the face. In spite of this person’s requests, the cops intentionally placed the two dogs in the room occupied by four cats and closed the door—at a time when all of the animals were extremely distressed. One of the cats died as a consequence.
\n\nThe closest companion of the cat who died learned of the death while inside prison. Absurdly, the cops claimed that the cat had been dead for two weeks, alleging that the squatters were lying in order to gain access to the squat again in order to reoccupy it. This broke the heart of the cat’s closest companion, considering they had spent time together just recently.
\n\nFollowing the cat’s death, animal control took the two dogs; the police threw the deceased cat in a dumpster and denied that the surviving three cats remained inside, claiming that no animals were left on the premises. Only after a bricklayer who was sealing up the entrances of the building was attacked by a cat to such an extent that it necessitated a visit to the hospital was anyone permitted to enter to search for the remaining cats. Then the state allowed animal welfare officials in for one hour, but they found only one of the three remaining cats. Vancouver is a very large building and cats are highly skilled at hiding, especially from police that they recognize as lethal antagonists.
\n\nFinally, with two cats remaining inside, an animal liberationist conducted a hunger strike outside Vancouver. At first, police attacked and threatened the hunger striker; when a prosecutor sent an order to allow for a proper search for the remaining cats, the police chief denied the request, claiming there were not enough police to safeguard the search—the same day that hundreds of police poured into Exarchia following an attack on a motorcycle belonging to a Delta cop. After a week of hunger strike and the spreading public accusation of animal cruelty, the cops finally gave in and allowed people to find and release the remaining cats. According to comrades from Vancouver, if not for the mainstream attention resulting from a social media campaign to get the cats out, they are certain that the prosecutor would have never called for their release. It is all too easy to torture and kill the voiceless in order to torment those with more “rights.”
\n\nShortly after the raid of Vancouver, in the course a string of raids against the group Revolutionary Self-Defense, police raided a home in Exarchia. The cops found nothing to charge the residents with. The cops conducting the raid were the same ones who had attacked Vancouver. Leaving in frustration, they attacked a cat that lived there, breaking the cat’s front legs and smashing the cat’s jaw. When asked what they were doing, one responded, “Are you gonna do a hunger strike too?”
\n\nIn another home invasion in the same string of anti-terror raids, officers kidnapped all the dogs on the premises—apparently for no reason other than to cause pain to their human companions.
\n\nPolice in the United States often murder animals—for example, shooting dogs; maybe this news will not surprise many readers. But it is important to record the brutal cowardice of the police carrying out these evictions and to emphasize that the free hand that New Democracy has given them amplifies the cruelest and most sordid aspects of humanity.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/12/25/7.jpg\")
Two cats impacted by evictions in Athens. Kolonia, on the left, was intentionally murdered by police during the eviction of the squat Vancouver. They later threw her body in a dumpster and claimed she had been dead for two weeks already. Sara, on the right, is a blind cat who was found on the streets of Athens and given love and housing at a squat in Koukaki. She remains alive and well and among caring friends, but the police have stolen her home.
\nMeanwhile, the state prosecutor has suggested dismissing conspiracy charges against the Neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn in the case of the 2013 murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas, aka Killah P, while at the same time charging two individuals for alleged attacks against the offices of Golden Dawn. Such attacks have happened repeatedly in the last few years, usually claimed anonymously by communiqués signed with the names of victims of Golden Dawn—for example, the Pavlos Fyssas brigade and the Sahzat Luqman brigade. (Sahzat Luqman was a Pakistani laborer murdered by members of Golden Dawn.) According to corporate media, police allege the suspects to be linked to a November 1 attack on Golden Dawn’s office on Deligianni Street in downtown Athens as well as an earlier attack on May 23 in the West Attica area of Acharnes. Both attacks used makeshift explosives that damaged the premises but caused no injuries.
\n\nIf the state allegations are pushed forward, it is likely that the prosecution will attempt to charge the two under new anti-terror measures, with the possible result that both of them could receive longer sentences than any of the murderers convicted for killings Golden Dawn has perpetrated, not to mention all the Golden Dawn murders that have never even been investigated. If Killah P had not been a white Greek citizen, his case likely would have never have made headlines—a tragic reality in Greece and around the world.
\n\nTo the surprise of many people, the two arrestees were not remanded into custody on the day of their arraignment. Typically in cases involving terrorism, the state will hold those accused until their trial. Most likely, they are being allowed to await trial outside of jail as a result of a calculated effort by the state to moderate outrage. In view of widespread domestic and even international outrage against police brutality in Greece and the outcome of the Golden Dawn conspiracy case, the theatre of Greek politics will appear to remain in accordance with the laws of neoliberal democracy. But despite the flimsy evidence, the two comrades still have to report to the police four times a month and pay 15,000 euro bail, and they cannot travel abroad until the trial begins. If their case proceeds as others have, their trial could be delayed for years—using bureaucracy to punish the unconvicted.
\n\nIt is not a coincidence that the state is dropping the conspiracy charges against Golden Dawn while cracking down on their enemies. New Democracy attempted to distance themselves from Golden Dawn during the elections, but they continue to make it clear that they are allies of the openly fascist group, even if somewhat wealthier and better mannered. When Killah P’s mother left the courtroom after the conclusion of the prosecution at the end of six years of traumatizing trial, she said “Today, you have stabbed Pavlos.”
\n\nNow Golden Dawn stands to be awarded 8 million euros as compensation for the case. This is a substantial amount of money in Greece for a political group. Political parties in Greece’s parliament are entitled to state funding. However, when the trial began six years ago, the state froze this funding. If Golden Dawn receives this large sum at once now, we will no doubt see them attempt to make up for their recent setbacks in the 2019 elections; it will also dramatically increase the resources available to support fascist street violence.
\n\nAs an anarchist, I never expect justice from the state. I won’t use my limited voice to demand that anyone be imprisoned, not even fascist murderers. However, it is necessary to point out that a great deal of evidence was presented in the case against Golden Dawn. Beyond the obvious evidence of their Nazi connections and politics, investigators presented an array of intercepted phone calls and messages in the court, as well as written instructions explicitly organizing fascist violence. In view of the hierarchical organization of Golden Dawn, it’s very difficult to imagine that autonomous actions would take place without the approval of higher party members. Despite this, all 65 accused members of the conspiracy were acquitted of their charges. Only the individuals accused of actually stabbing Killah P will face any punishment, despite the large number of Golden Dawn members who coordinated throughout the neighborhood to converge on him, threatened him, surrounded him, and attacked him on the night he was murdered.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/12/25/3.jpg\")
Graffiti on a state monument in Athens, December 6, 2019.
\nNow let’s back up and start earlier, to cover what else has happened this month.
\n\nFrom November 20, when the government announced that it would evict all squats, until the deadline of December 5 that they set for the occupiers to gain legalization or vacate, squats across Greece organized daily events and coordinated demonstrations across the country to show the strength of our movements and solidarity.
\n\nOn the day of the deadline, anonymous comrades reclaimed 15 new squats across Athens to be used if existing squats were evicted. Anarchists also boarded up an office of New Democracy with bricks the same way they have assaulted our spaces. This is one of many recent actions against the offices of New Democracy across the country.
\n\nOn December 6, demonstrations took place across Greece in memory of Alexis Grigoropoulos, the 15-year-old murdered by police in 2008, and the insurrection that followed; Greek anarchists have observed this date for ten years now. Clashes occurred in Patras and Thessaloniki.
\n\nIn the morning of December 6, an autonomous demonstration of anarchist students set out, surrounded on all sides by the police and isolated from other left demonstrators. This clearly illustrated which movement the state recognizes as a threat to its power. That night, a huge demonstration marking the anniversary of the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos took place with thousands of anarchists attending.
\n\nAt the end of the demonstration, many took small actions, destroying advertisements on bus stations, pelting banks and state offices with paint bombs, and attempting to remove the barricades at universities, which are aimed at preventing public use of campuses. While these actions were fairly limited, once the demonstrators began to make their way back to Exarchia, where the memorial to Alexis is, without provocation or direct confrontation against the cops, police attacked brutally, beating people at random. Video footage shows the violence; even the state has been forced to pretend to investigate its own brutality, though we can be sure this will come to nothing.
\n\nOne of the important pieces of evidence is a video showing police beating an unarmed man screaming “I surrender.” While they beat many people that night, this video caught mass attention not only due to the cowardly assaults carried out by officers, but also because, intent on humiliating him, they were stripping him of his clothing. This, too, has become a common police tactic aimed at humiliating arrestees and detainees, reported by many individuals who have been kidnapped by the riot police around the center of Athens. It is reminiscent of the kidnappings and torture done under Greece’s Junta.
\n\nOne reporter from a mainstream television station was compelled to comment on the brutality live on the air on the night of December 6. A reporter from the mainstream channel Kontra couldn’t help reacting to the beating he witnessed of a person filming with a phone near the events. The reporter said, “People were beaten for truly doing nothing,” and that if he hadn’t had a professional camera crew, he would have been beaten as well. Shocking many people, he added that “While many take to the streets, we must chant the chant that unites us all: ‘cops, pigs, murderers.’”
\n\nDozens were arrested across the country on ridiculous allegations by the state. A deliveryman delivering food near the assault by police was beaten and arrested; while he was identifying himself, police asked him why he was running. All arrestees have been released and are currently awaiting trial.
\n\nAt the same time as the demonstration in Athens, people carried out clandestine actions outside of Exarchia in thirteen other Athenian neighborhoods. Communiqués claim that people attacked approximately thirty state and capitalist targets in solidarity with the spirit of the day and against new state measures.
\n\nAs of now, the deadline for squats to seek legalization has passed. All remaining squatted social centers and residences are in open war with the government. Yet our solidarity and the spirit of the anarchist movement here is rooted too deeply to be vulnerable to any material attack they could make on anarchist infrastructure.
\n\nNumerous counterattacks have taken place since the last update. People have targeted expensive cars specifically in affluent neighborhoods to remind those benefiting from the displacement of anarchists and immigrants that they are not safe. The movement is getting hit hard, but we are not out of action. On the contrary, many more people have passionately woken up.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/12/25/2.jpg\")
Demonstration in Athens, December 6, 2019.
\nOn December 17, 2019, police evicted the Villa Kouvelos squat in Marousi, a northern district of Athens, in the early morning hours.
\n\nThe empty and dilapidated building was occupied by anarchists in April 2010 and rapidly renovated into a regionally-known social center that enriched the district with concerts, lectures, discussions, and political events. The neighborhood of Marousi is known more as a bland middle-class district of Athens. Kouvelos was important to many youth as a safe place to explore revolutionary ideas.
\n\nBeing close to one of the offices of Golden Dawn, the squat was a frequent target of fascist attacks. However, many locals in the surrounding neighborhood appreciated Kouvelos as a friendly and safe space offering an alternative to Marousi’s bland normalcy. As of now, there remains no fabricated reason for the eviction—there are no plans to use the building or sell the land. The eviction was most likely prioritized because state officials perceived it to be an easy operation on account of its location.
\n\nWhen the cops began the evacuation, at 7:30 am, many local residents gathered outside to voice their opposition to the operation and solidarity for the occupation. Later that day, a demonstration of 300+ people took place in Marousi, smashing many banks and spraying graffiti for Kouvelos around the neighborhood.
\n\nThe weekend after the evacuation, a spontaneous demonstration of 300+ anarchists converged in Marousi to re-enter Kouvelos. They asserted the resilience of our movements, hung a banner, and reclaimed the squat for a period of time, during which they surveyed the damage done by the EKAM (Greek SWAT police), documented the investigations police were carrying out (such as marked DNA samples), and noted what will be needed in order to fully re-occupy the squat in the near future.
\n\nExiting the squat, the demonstration took the streets, attacking some local corporate franchises and the metro station of Marousi, where the glass turnstiles were smashed. While the participants had not intended to battle the police, riot police attacked the march, and demonstrators defended themselves against asphyxiating tear gas and riot police assaults. During the demonstration, some people identified an undercover police officer taking pictures and video of the demonstrators. A demonstrator confronted him and punched him.
\n\nIn response, corporate media outlets flexed their muscles of deception. Due to the perceived old age of the undercover officer, media claimed that anarchists attacked an old man wearing a hearing aid without reason. Quickly, it became clear that the hearing aid was actually a device to communicate with other officers and the supposedly old man was an active-duty police officer. However, the press turned this lie into prime time news, solely focusing on the footage, playing the attack on the cop over and over again and purposefully neglecting to remind viewers of the original point of the demonstration.
\n\nStill, an action like this occurring with so much strength in a neighborhood such as Marousi underscores the resilience of our movements. Those resisting on behalf of Kouvelos emphasize that the squat will be re-occupied, stating that their revolutionary desires will outweigh any campaign of repression.
\n\nLeading up to Christmas, the state has also targeted Exarchia Square with surreal efforts to “normalize” the area. Police raided and surrounded the square to hose down the sidewalk and install a Christmas tree. The tree was burned twice the first day. The police did the same thing the next day; the tree was burned again. These highly symbolic efforts to “clean up” the area indicate the way the state hopes to use Exarchia to send a message to its base. On top of this, the Mayor of Athens is discussing organizing state events in the square. If this happens, the festivities will only take place surrounded by the police who protect them; the real point is to provoke the defenders of Exarchia and to send a message to those who never go there that the state has recaptured it.
\n\nThe burning of the Christmas tree recalls the famous event during the 2008 insurrection when demonstrators burned the iconic Christmas tree in front of the Greek parliament to convey a willingness to continue fighting even as many Greeks returned to their villages for holiday festivities.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/th1an1/status/1208133100347305986\n\n\n
The Greek state is also continuing efforts to modernize its surveillance methods. While they have always been open about their ability to monitor classic phone and SMS conversations, they are looking to move forward in the digital world, openly mentioning their efforts to get consulting in the UK for the purposes of investigating Viber and Whatsapp users. This effort to collaborate with foreign tech-spy agencies follows the formal incorporation of drone technology into Greek policing.
\n\nWhile all this plays out, New Democracy is hurrying to meet its promise to relocate 20,000 refugees to mainland Greece. They aim to move refugees off islands such as Lesvos and further from the public eye. Over 50,000 refugees remain in camps on various Aegean islands across the water from Turkey, in conditions so appalling that NGOs and human rights groups have publicly called out the state for them. Local fascists frequently attack these camps. The numbers in these camps are slowly increasing again as more immigrants arrive in Greece. However, the government passed new laws to limit and deter asylum requests in November; they aim to define refugees as migrants in order to weaken the standards of protection that are due to them. Additional new measures to slow the already drawn-out asylum procedure have gone into effect in order to deter refugees from following proper procedure as a way to lower the acceptance rates of asylum requests.
\n\nAlongside all these measures, new cuts will go into effect in 2020 that will leave refugees without the support programs that have helped them to survive; they will be expected to fend for themselves during their application processing. The existing support programs were never enough to begin with; in many cases, a refugee awaiting asylum was expected to survive on 150 euros a month, while being unable to seek legal employment. Now they will face even worse challenges.
\n\nAll these measures are intended to deter refugees and immigrants from coming to Greece and to torture those who already live here, having made the daring journey across the Aegean Sea. If people are pushed to work illegally, or forced to steal to eat, or if they travel abroad hoping for better opportunities, all of these are grounds that can be used to reject their applications and deport them.
\n\nThis month, heinous overcrowding and institutional degradation set off an inspiring uprising on Samos Island, a short distance from Turkey. According to No Borders, a refugee camp on this island originally designed for 650 people is housing 8000. That means roughly one toilet per 300 people and one shower per 500 people. Camps like this are spread across other islands near Turkey. This month, residents of the camp came together to spark an uprising against the police. Facing tear gas and brutality by local riot forces, they demonstrated their humanity despite a terrible situation and harsh winter. This follows another uprising in October, when a massive fire necessitated the eviction of the over-crowded camp. Both uprisings have resulted in the shutting down of schools and other major institutions on the island. Riots and resistance in these camps are ongoing; they account for some of the reasons the new government prefers to move them out of sight rather than being forced to meet the demands of the migrants.
\n\nA tour of Samos camp by Euronews.
\nCorporate coverage of the December 2019 uprising in Samos.
\nEntering the holiday season, we wish to bring to mind the hunger strike of political prisoner Kostas Sakkas, a Greek anarchist charged with belonging to a terrorist group and with aggravated possession of weapons after his arrest at a warehouse. He is accused of participating in the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, though both he and the CCF deny this. Throughout his imprisonment, he has conducted frequent hunger strikes. His hunger strikes became so frequent and so effective under the prior administration that they considered releasing him under the same bill that led to the release of anarchist prisoner Nikos Romanos. New Democracy has dismissed his struggle, suggesting that “the law should never apply to anarchist terrorists” while using that same law to release the murderer of Alexis Grigoropoulos as soon as they took power.
\n\nMany of Sakkas’s hunger strikes have been aimed at winning the option to work or gain access to education. His most recent hunger strike was intended to compel the government to transfer him from the Nigrita prison in northern Greece to Korydallos prison in Athens in order that he could be closer to his family. After going into a hypoglycemic shock and facing other life-threatening health issues, he won his demand and will be transferred to Korydallos prison. His courage should be an inspiration to us all.
\n\nMay the names of fallen comrades, such as Alexis Grigoropoulos, and those struggling behind bars, such as Kostas Sakkas, resound around the world during this cold time of the year. May our struggles demonstrate that our passion for freedom is stronger than any prison, inspiring others to connect their struggles with ours.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/12/25/11.jpg\")
Alexis Grigoropoulos.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/12/25/10.jpg\")
Kostas Sakkas.
\nFurther English coverage of some of the events described in this text can be found here.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/exiledarizona/status/1209066332953731079\n \n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/12/25/4.jpg\")
The famous burning of the Christmas tree in front of the Greek parliament in 2008.
\nThe following is an online statement of 45 Matrouzou St. regarding the escape and defense, entitled “From the Koukaki Occupation Community.”
\n\nThis is a statement by comrades who defended the Matrouzou 45 building and escaped the MAT, OPKE, and EKAM police forces of repression. While facing a police raid, we were informed to the fate of the other houses in our squatted community.
\n\nWe immediately fortified the house and entered conflict with the forces of repression. Furniture, electrical appliances, boilers, paint, fire extinguishers, everything and anything in the house fell upon their heads. They responded by shooting and injuring us with plastic bullets as well as with stun grenades thrown directly into our home. We shouted “Here we live, here is our home, here we will die!”—”Fuck your development and Airbnb.”
\n\nWhen they finally did get in, completely chaotic factors and a survival instinct offered an escape path. The memories that push us forward were awakened as inspiration by the forces of repression. These mercenaries could not accept that those who resisted them had escaped. We assume they were sad they couldn’t catch us to beat and torture us. In response to this embarrassment, they turned to accuse random neighbors of arranging our escape. Like true mercenaries, the cops targeted the first house they found in front of them. They carried out an armed invasion, beating and capturing an entire family, concluding by arresting the father and both sons.
\n\nThe state that claims to protect the institutionalized Greek family and the sanctity of private property lost their focused target. Not having captured those resisting, they took to beating people at random.
\n\nWe send our respect to the woman and her family who refused to let the cops enter their home illegally, paying the price for their choices.
\n\nWe send infinite love to our companions and to every person who supported us.
\n\nSolidarity with those arrested in the occupation of our community.
\n\nWe may have lost all our belongings, we remain without clothes and shelter, they may have temporarily erased from the map three houses and three years of continuous and painstaking work for social solidarity and resistance; but we know they are afraid, our momentum and power is uncontrollable.
\n\nSolidarity with the occupation of the Villa Kouvelos and all squats.
\n\nLet the evictions of squatters become the reason for the escalation of the struggle on every social front. ↩
\nThe neighborhood of Exarchia in Athens, Greece is known worldwide as an epicenter of combative anarchism. For many years, anarchists and refugees have worked together to occupy buildings, establishing housing collectives and social centers that provide a variety of services outside the control of the state. Starting in August, the new government has carried out a series of massive raids targeting immigrants, anarchists, and other rebels, while revoking the autonomy previously granted to universities and introducing a wide range of new repressive measures and technologies. Now the government has given all the remaining occupations in Greece two weeks to conclude lease agreements with the owners or face the same fate. This deadline coincides with December 6, a day that anarchists have observed for ten years as the anniversary of the police murder of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos and the uprising that followed it.
\n\nThe new governing party of Greece, aptly named New Democracy, is described by some media outlets as “center right,” in contrast to outright fascist parties like Golden Dawn; in fact, New Democracy has adopted much of its repressive and xenophobic agenda directly from the fascist right, while pursuing a neoliberal agenda in service of international finance capital. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mytsotakis, a hereditary representative of the capitalist class whose father was also prime minister, exemplifies the political caste that seeks to destroy the last safeguards protecting workers and poor people while scapegoating those who resist.
\n\nIn the following interview, an anarchist in Athens details the government crackdown that is unfolding and explores the stakes of the fight. This is nothing less than an attempt to erase and rewrite the history of resistance movements in Greece and around the world—so that the dates November 17 and December 6, on which demonstrators have memorialized those murdered by the police, will instead mark the triumphs of repression—so that the name Black Panthers will not call to mind the grassroots Black organization for self-defense and survival, but rather designate the blackshirts of the new police force tasked with patrolling the subways and tourist areas. Imitating protesters around the world, Greek police are now terrorizing pedestrians in Exarchia by shining lasers in their eyes. All of this underscores the extent to which the gloves have come off: from Chile to Hong Kong, open war is erupting between those who aspire to rule and those who aspire to freedom.
\n\nWe have anticipated this wave of reaction since the left party Syriza came to power in 2015. Something similar occurred not long ago in Brazil: the Workers’ Party (PT) maintained power for years by introducing minor social reforms while pursuing a neoliberal agenda and cracking down on movements for social change, ultimately creating the conditions for the far right to seize the government and take revenge on the general population, culminating in the electoral victory of Jair Bolsonaro. While some leftists see this as a reason to remain loyal to left parties no matter what they do, we see the events in Brazil and Greece as a reminder that no electoral strategy can stand in for the sort of collective horizontal organizing that could one day make us capable of facing down the state.
\n\nThe repression in Greece gives us an opportunity to reevaluate the effectiveness of current anarchist tactics and strategies in a context where many thousands of people are employing them. We should not blame Greek anarchists for experiencing this repression; the story is not over yet, and as in Chile, this crackdown may ultimately broaden and deepen the movement against the state. At the most, we might hypothesize that this wave of repression illustrates the difficulties of maintaining fixed territory today, when governments fearing for their stability are striking out as hard as they can. The age of ceasefires is over. In the coming years, it will be impossible to defend zones of autonomy without precipitating ever wider uprisings against authority.
\n\nInternational solidarity is an essential aspect of this. We urge everyone to stay abreast of the events in Greece, to support arrestees there, and to carry out solidarity actions at Greek embassies and elsewhere.
\n\nThe interview follows.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/11/23/6.jpg\")
Riot police guard the US embassy and enclose anarchist demonstrators in Athens on November 17.
\nWe last spoke in August. What has happened since then?
\n\nSince August, the Greek state has exceeded general expectations. It’s hard to know where to begin in listing the incidents of brutality and terror it has visited upon the anarchist movement, targeted minorities, and all those excluded or at odds with the new administration over the past three months.
\n\nWhat happens next will surely overshadow the intense repression that has already occurred. Every morning I wake up to news of another squat evicted, another person beaten or arrested. We are seeing a new campaign of repression in which an emboldened right wing seeks revenge for the years under a left government, ironically focusing on those who were outside and against the Syriza administration. Syriza also carried out repression, but it utilized a more complex, deceptive, and indirect strategy.
\n\nSome older anarchists describe what is happening now as nothing more than a return to the days before Syriza. Yet confronting the swift and relentless assault on our movement and infrastructure, even those who have been around since the resurgence of the anarchist movement in Greece in the 1980s admit that this may exceed all the previous waves of repression since the far-right military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974.
\n\nThe state is hitting from every angle. It is attempting to destroy the anarchist movement, but it is also attempting to revoke the remaining freedoms that have made Greece unique relative to other western nation-states. “Law and order” is the banner beneath which this administration is carrying out this campaign of revenge.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/11/23/3.jpg\")
Police beating and detaining youths.
\nThings could be worse. This sort of state violence is the norm in the United States; far more brutal repression is taking place elsewhere in the world. I simply aim to report on the situation in Greece during these dark days, particularly in Athens. I affirm my solidarity with the struggles unfolding from Chile to Hong Kong in response to capitalist restructuring across the world. I hope to inspire more solidarity and to make sure that the story of what is happening here does not go untold.
\n\nAs of November 20, the so-called “Ministry of Citizen Protection” has officially given all squats remaining in Greece fifteen days’ notice to vacate or face forceful eviction. [Today, the media has published a map of the squats under threat here.] In the statement, they exhort occupiers to contact the owners to make lease agreements and allege that immigrants will be moved to “inland accommodations.” While most squatted buildings are owned by the state, even in cases in which the owners have not made moves to evict squatters, government officials have pressured them or fabricated justifications for eviction such as accusations of drug dealing or weapons-making. Considering that most squats maintain strict anti-drug policies and are clearly aware enough of the risk of imminent raids to know the risks of manufacturing weapons, these accusations are blatantly dishonest. Fabrications like this also provide excuses to evict squats like Lelas that have been occupied for over 20 years, regardless of whether there is pressure from their owners or precise evidence of illegal activity. Under the prosecutors appointed by New Democracy, housing protection laws no longer pose any obstacle to the current regime.
\n\nAs for the “inland accommodations” for immigrants, this is clearly a reference to concentration camps. When we completed the last interview in August, only about 150 immigrants were reported to have been evicted during the raids of August 26. Today, well over 500 immigrants have been evicted, according to the official numbers. The squats housing refugees that have been evicted since August 26 include the fifth high school of Athens in Neapoli, an unnamed squat on the outskirts of Omonia, Hotel Oneiro squat in Exarchia, and the Clandestina squat in Exarchia.
\n\nThe people who have been kidnapped from these squats by the state were transferred to detention centers or taken to concentration camps far from the public eye. Many people have been turned away from these camps due to overcrowding, leaving them homeless and vulnerable to human trafficking and attacks from fascists and police. The housing inside these camps is reportedly little better. Many stories have gone unheard; communication has been lost with many of those taken.
\n\nSome of those evicted from Clandestina refused to board a bus to one of these camps; the police stole their papers and forced them to walk back 10 miles in the pouring rain without knowing where they would go. It is becoming common for police to steal the documents of refugees or immigrants who resist, which complicates future police encounters. Conditions in the camps are overcrowded and unhygienic; fascist groups have pelted refugees and immigrants with rocks and organized pork barbecues outside the camps in hopes of offending those they assume to be Muslims. This week, the government released a plan to further curtail procedures that welcome refugees while funding new concentration camps in abandoned schools or unused land far from cities and tourist destinations.
\n\nOn November 2, police raided and evicted the 14-year-old squat known as Vancouver located near the Economics School of Athens, arresting four people, planting drugs on the premises, destroying the interior, kidnapping several dogs, and boarding up the building with cats trapped inside it. Following a hunger strike by a member of an animal liberation group and legal pressure, officials permitted a person to scale the bricks of the building and release the cats that the police had intended to starve to death as a form of punishment. Vancouver was beloved by a variety of anarchists, transcending some of the divisions that have plagued the movement here. It was also the first formally anarchist squat to be evicted.
\n\nA response to the eviction of the squat Vancouver.
\nOutside of Athens, in Larisa, the Palmares squat was evicted. In Thessaloniki, where fascists had burned down the squat Libertatia during nationalist demonstrations regarding the name of Macedonia in January 2018, the squatters had almost finished reconstructing the building; police attacked them, arresting four people and forcing the occupants to break off reconstruction on the absurd grounds that they were “destroying” a historic site.
\n\nOriginally, the government declared that all occupations were to be evicted by November 17, the anniversary of the day in 1973 when the Greek military junta attacked the Polytechnic University in Exarchia with a tank, murdering dozens. Now that this deadline has passed, the new statement from the government announces that all occupations will be evicted by December 5, one day before the anniversary of the day Greek police officers murdered Alexis Grigoropoulos, an unarmed 15-year-old, in Exarchia. Both dates were clearly chosen as provocations, explicitly affirming the murders of young civilians that the Greek state has carried out and aiming to suppress the movements that memorialize them.
\n\nThe government has rapidly channeled a great deal of additional resources to the police specifically for the purpose of attacking immigrant communities in Athens and crushing the anarchist and squatter movements. Syriza had suspended the Delta police, the roving motorbike force used to beat and terrify demonstrators in Exarchia, relying instead on MAT police. Now 300 new Delta police have been established under a new name, OPKE, which can be translated as “crime prevention and repression teams.” They are officially in the streets again.
\n\nNew Democracy has also created a new police force inside the subways and tourist areas of Athens, embarrassingly called the Black Panthers on account of their black uniforms. Transportation regulation and fare enforcement have already become stricter; now there is a police force for this reason alone. The MAT police, the riot police units that repress demonstrations, stand guard to prevent people from reoccupying evicted squats, attack demonstrations, and surround the neighborhood of Exarchia every day, have also been increased by an additional 1500 members. These increased numbers were first visible on November 17.
\n\nPolice officers on the streets are visibly emboldened. I have seen officers openly harassing women; they threaten anyone they suspect might be their enemy. Their brutality is intense and amazingly random. In grotesque appropriation of the tactic protesters have used in Hong Kong and Chile to keep riot police at a distance, officers have been using laser pointers to point out targets in the streets; when they have nothing better to do, they sometimes simply point them at people’s eyes. This has happened to me and to other people I know.
\n\nBeing near a clash, regardless of your participation in it, is justification enough for officers to attack you with physical force; facing no legal risk, they are seeking to exert maximum force against the general population. Individual officers take pride in the power that has been vested in them to do this. A well-known anarchist was recently arrested in the square of Exarchia for simply sitting. The police pulled his clothing down and sexually assaulted him while telling him “the junta is back.”
\n\nSignificant changes in repression have also been made into policy. For example, the government has extended the minimum sentence for those convicted on terrorism charges from 17 years to 22, while stiffening the conditions of release and intensifying the penalties for probation violations. The penalties for rioting and the use of Molotov cocktails have been increased; expanded trespassing laws specifically target protests that enter buildings “unlawfully,” an attack aimed at groups like Rouvikonas who enter buildings when protesting conditions or exploitation by bosses or employers. There are efforts to punish those advocating or reporting on resistance, essentially criminalizing radical content itself. The new government aims to modernize the apparatus and practices of state repression in Greece so they will compare with those of the United States. The officials appointed to the Ministry of Civilian Protection have consulted with various foreign agencies, including the FBI. They are investing in new technologies including drones and cyber-surveillance.
\n\nPolice have brought back additional methods of intimidation and surveillance at full force. Officers have shown up at the homes of accused anarchists before demonstrations to intimidate them—a tactic they employed under Syriza, but less often and less intensely. Anarchists have found GPS tracking equipment attached to their vehicles and seen cameras stationed in cars outside their homes. Two nights ago in Exarchia, anarchists noticed a vehicle containing badly camouflaged surveillance equipment parked outside the offices of Class Counterattack and the Mikro cafe. When they went to photograph the car, dozens of riot police swarmed the area, escorting two undercover officers as they moved the vehicle.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/11/23/5.jpg\")
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis gloating about new repressive measures.
\nOn November 8, police carried out anti-terror raids targeting over a dozen houses alleged to be the residences of anarchists connected to the group Revolutionary Self-Defense. The authorities claim to have seized an array of weapons including guns used in prior attacks against the Mexican embassy and the headquarters of PASOK, the socialist party, which is the location of one of the main stations of the MAT riot police in Exarchia. Police arrested three people in these raids; it’s likely that they will experiment with the new punitive measures in prosecuting them. The new prime minister has bragged about these arrests as a victory for the state.
\n\nFollowing the formal abolition of the university asylum policy, police have entered universities such as the School of Economics in Kipseli to evict the occupied social centers knows as stekis. Police are threatening the stekis they have not evicted yet and pressuring university administrators to let them invade the campuses. Inside the universities, right-wing groups such as the Youth Party of the ruling New Democracy party have been emboldened to attack anti-fascists and anarchists, assaulting individuals pasting flyers and openly marching against immigrants.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/11/23/1.jpg\")
Riot police entering the Economics School in Athens.
\nDemonstrations continue to occur, with small clashes erupting despite the unrelenting assault from all sides. Many anticipated that November 17 would indicate the future of important anniversaries revolutionaries and anarchists have used to foster a tradition of resistance and riot.
\n\nNovember 17, 1973 marked the resurgence of the anarchist movement in the 20th century and the emergence of Exarchia as a zone of anti-police and anti-fascist activity. Most anarchists have observed the anniversary of November 17 by occupying the Polytechnic and honoring the legacy of those murdered by the police. This year, the daytime demonstration that went to the US embassy—since the USA supported the junta in order to keep Greece a right-wing stronghold following a civil war between the left and right—saw one of the largest presences of anarchists in its history. Thousands of anarchists participated in the march in two blocs. Police isolated the larger of the blocs from the rest of the march, with lines of 500 or more riot police walking on both sides of the demonstrators.
\n\nIn anticipation of the traditional night riots around the Polytechnic in Exarchia, police completely militarized the neighborhood. Roving groups of Delta police operated in groups of ten, while hundreds—if not thousands—of riot police surrounded the neighborhood. In the past, when operations like this took place, anarchists took to the roofs of Exarchia to fight the police. This year, equipped with drones and new anti-terror measures that enable police to enter buildings without regard for the law, police arrested six individuals and accused them of planning attacks from the roofs.
\n\nAmid all this terrifying posturing from the state, despite the odds against them, a few hundred courageous individuals still took the square of Exarchia to try to fight their way through the police to access the blocked off Polytechnic. Additional massive numbers of riot police and Delta police bombarded them with tear gas and stun grenades. An array of videos show officers inflicting heinous beatings to people at random. Many people were seriously injured and currently face weighty charges. We know of 28 arrests in Athens on November 17—six during preemptive daytime measures and 22 during night clashes. At least 31 more people were arrested across Greece as demonstrations involving anarchists occurred in Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, and other cities. The following day, police brutally attacked a march organized in solidarity with the arrestees.
\n\n\nhttps://twitter.com/anthony_pls/status/1196140163736449024\n\n\n
Following an attack on a motorbike belonging to a Delta cop two weeks ago, police attacked a bar frequented by anarchists; failing to enter the bar, they turned on the crowd that had gathered to observe, then roved the neighborhood arresting and beating people at random. The state specifically tasks the most reactionary police with terrorizing Exarchia, usually insecure men from outside Athens—many of whom are involved with the neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn. For them, this is a personal grudge match.
\n\nWhat other factors are shaping the situation besides outright government repression?
\n\nWhile the new administration is playing to its base by using anarchists and immigrants as scapegoats for the anger and misery of post-crisis Greece, capitalists are carrying out an assault on the whole country under the cover of “law and order.” The Orthodox Church and the proponents of the junta have been forces in Greek society for a long time; but thanks to new opportunities for capitalists, technological advancements, and the exodus of youth abroad looking for work, the reactionaries have gained the upper hand.
\n\nAs a result of the golden passport policy of the Greek state, in which investing $250,000 or more automatically obtains the investor citizenship, wealthy Americans, Chinese, Israelis, and Russians seeking EU citizenship are buying up a great deal of Greek real estate. This has been unfolding since the crisis in 2008, but it has accelerated in response to the arrival of the business-friendly New Democracy.
\n\nAs we discussed in the previous interview, the invasion of Airbnb and ex-pat tech workers able to work remotely has sent rents soaring through the roof and inflated real estate value everywhere. Just as it has in London, Berlin, San Francisco, New York, and Hong Kong, this has driven out or impoverished those who define the very reputation of these renowned cities. Especially in Athens, the culture of the center—including graffiti, cafés, food, and other customs—is being commodified alongside the process of gentrification. We are being turned into a zoo for those who can afford to pay for the “Athens experience.” Exarchia is just one instance of a much more widespread phenomenon.
\n\nIn this context, the evictions of squats and the efforts to pacify neighborhoods are not just a matter of reasserting “law and order”—they are also an essential part of capitalist restructuring. In the past, evicted buildings would sit empty for years, but now there are gentrifiers waiting to take control of them. The police are just the point at the end of the spear; the thrust behind it is the pressure to auction Greece off to the global capitalist class, further impoverishing many locals while rewarding the necessary accomplices.
\n\nThe new government has hastened to cut taxes for the wealthy and cater to their interests. They recently sold a large portion of the biggest port in Athens to the Chinese government and agreed to build a new American military base in the city of Alexanderpouli on the border with Turkey. Everything is for sale in Greece as they look to privatize and modernize.
\n\nIronically, while targeting anarchists and immigrants in the name of “law and order,” the state continues to channel the drug epidemic into neighborhoods like Exarchia and the immigrant-dominated Omonia neighborhood. In part, this helps them to maintain the illusion that anarchist and immigrant squats are connected with drug dealing and general criminality, when in fact they represent one of the chief alternatives to them. In this regard, the drug epidemic serves to maintain the status quo. Because it provides a pretext for scapegoating and repression, the government has no real incentive to suppress it. As New Democracy member of Parliament Thanos Plevris1 said on television, explaining their policing strategy,
\n\n\n\n\n“We want Exarchia to return to normal criminality.”
\n
Despite widespread nationalism and racism, Greece has long been known as a lax society compared to Northern Europe or North America. It is famous for drinking outside, smoking inside, and inconsistent law enforcement. European Union standards ban smoking inside; around the country, you can see “no smoking” signs beside tables with ashtrays. Now the authorities are ticketing businesses and threatening their licenses for allowing smoking inside; presumably, the state will use this to target businesses hostile to police or suspected to regularly host anarchists and immigrants.
\n\nFor the first time in five years, police arrested a person for not paying the fare on the metro. Police raided a nightclub in the Gazi neighborhood of Athens in a sort of vice-style police operation in which 300 partygoers were held at gunpoint by black-clad police looking for drugs. What is going on is not just a political war on immigrants and anarchists; it is also a cultural war on the sort of “Mediterranean” freedom that has come to define Greece as a result of slower processes of modernization.2 The rigid enforcement of sterile order that defines countries like the USA is the standard that New Democracy hopes to impose on Greece.
\n\nIn short: neoliberalism at the end of a gun, along with technocracy, church, and tradition. This is what New Democracy means by “law and order.”
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/11/23/8.jpg\")
Greek police confiscating a container of books in Exarchia square.
\nHow effective has state repression been so far?
\n\nGreek anarchists have earned many things with blood. Both Exarchia as we know it and the Greek anarchist movement of today have their origins in blood and courage. Anarchism is a staple of Greek society that will never be eradicated. Proportionate to the population, I don’t think there is a larger anarchist movement anywhere in the world. While the numbers of anarchists, anti-authoritarians, and autonomists are at an all-time high, repression is taking aim at movement infrastructure, effectively and rapidly changing the game.
\n\nA word about the different forms of repression here: what is new here is the technological advances in policing in Greece including surveillance, harsher anti-terror measures, and harsher punishments. The police and court system in the United States are ruthless in their relentless investigations, premeditated repression, and judicial punishment; likewise, US police kill far more people then Greek police—specifically people of color and poor people. On the other hand, police are able to beat people more freely here in response to demonstrations.3 Both systems are brutal; but until now, the Greek police have been more heavy-handed and arguably less systematic.
\n\nIt’s important to remember the history of Greece to understand how the state functions here. Since the fall of the junta, the anarchist movement in Greece has not faced the extreme degrees of repression seen in the US in the McCarthy era, when the FBI cracked down on everyone with left or anarchist views. The abandoning of any pretense of democracy and legal rights is taking place suddenly and swiftly. It has surprised many people here.
\n\nYet when we consider everything that has happened elsewhere over the past two decades, from the militarization of police to the dismantling of the safety nets that formed the basis of the previous social contract, it seems inevitable that this was going to happen—especially taking into account how rapidly changes go global these days. In any case, we can hope that the fighting spirit here, which has emerged from so many experiences of struggle, will ultimately adapt, grow, and overcome.
\n\nWhy do you think it has been possible for the state to carry out this repression? Is the anarchist movement isolated? What are other people in Greece doing right now? What are people outside the anarchist movement focusing on?
\n\nThe anarchist movement was prepared for a big shift to come when ND was elected. However, few anticipated such a scorched earth approach. The movement is very different here than it is in the US. Proportionate to the population, it is huge, as I’ve said; however, it is isolated in some ways that may be unhelpful to our struggles.
\n\nAnarchists and the left have a tense relationship. The left here is openly authoritarian and complicit in many aspects of the current system. Although in theory, the repeal of the asylum laws on the universities could offer grounds for anarchists and leftists to unite against a common enemy, it is very hard to imagine the left and anarchists unifying against the right wing and the institutions of the state. On the contrary, the left wants to reclaim the state, not to destroy it. The problem with this was evident when many people stopped participating in mass mobilizations at the high point of their potential in 2012, anticipating that Syriza would come to power and fix things; as a consequence of this demobilization, people were not prepared to compel Syriza to follow through on its promises, which contributed to the disillusionment that enabled New Democracy to come to power.
\n\nAt the same time, there are other issues relating to the isolation of the movement, and the gulfs between groups within the movement itself.
\n\nOne issue is that the movement has been able to count on large enough numbers to be self-sufficient, with the consequence that it can also be insular. Additionally, while people have built a great deal of infrastructure over the past several years, a lot of division has also resulted as a consequence of infighting, as people have remained loyal to their chosen assembly, crew, or team in disputes without finding ways to resolve them. This happens everywhere in the world; unfortunately, in Greece, it has enabled the state to skip directly to the “conquer” phase of their “divide and conquer” strategy, seeing how much division already exists.
\n\nIn the United States, due to the diversity of the society and the comparatively small proportion of self-proclaimed anarchists in the population, it appears that anarchists are forced to discover affinities with other angry people or struggling communities who may not claim precisely the same identity or political affiliation. This is a good thing.
\n\nOf course, in Greece, there are efforts that involve collaborating with refugees, immigrants, and working-class or excluded Greek people, and these have created beautiful relationships and projects. Still, some anarchists tend to approach them as distinct subjects rather than as comrades with whom to build something collectively. There are exceptions to this—for example, in the participation of immigrants who made connections with anarchists who set out to support them during the so-called “refugee crisis.” Still, lines of separation remain that may hinder revolt from spreading further.
\n\nDespite these issues, the anarchist movement is very strong. People are nervous at this moment, but fear is an obstacle that every struggle must overcome. Regardless of this fear, people are continuing to organize, trying to overcome divisions and external obstacles bit by bit. Exhaustion and cynicism can be inevitable when the state hits you hard and takes everything from you, but the anarchist communities of Greece will never be eradicated. Too many people here have struggled, suffered, and found safety and community in anarchy.
\n\nAlso, while we should identify our weaknesses and errors and the ways we can improve, the blame for this repression rests on the state and its puppets. At the moment, the police and their masters have all the cards in their favor; they are cowards who can flaunt their expensive weapons in public with no risk of legal repercussions. Our response, our resistance, is grounded in the strength of our spines and the courage of our hearts. The state currently has the advantage, but I don’t think we should blame ourselves for this; as conflict is intensifying around the world, it is to be expected that the state strategy will escalate here. In Greece, new elements of revolt will emerge as we are pushed into a corner.
\n\nThe repression that is taking place now is unique in our experience, but they can never crush our spirit. They are punching a lion inside a cage; eventually, the lion will break out.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/11/23/7.jpg\")
The anarchist steki in the Economics School.
\nWhat is at stake going into December? What are the dangers? And are there any new opportunities, if people could shift strategies?
\n\nAnticipating the anniversary of the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos on December 6, I expect the police will attempt to a inflict a bloodbath. At a dinner party in a village prior to November 17, a police commissioner was heard to say that he would be surprised if the police didn’t kill anyone that day. They didn’t get to kill anyone on November 17, though video footage of beatings shows their readiness to do so—so who knows what they will attempt on December 6.
\n\nFrom what I saw on November 17, I think they will double down on violent repression. They will be out in full force; they will make preemptive arrests and beat anyone on the streets of Exarchia that night. I think they will permit a daytime demonstration in memory of Alexis to maintain the façade of democracy, but, as they did on November 17, they will surround all the anarchists and respond brutally if anyone tries to get out of line.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/11/23/4.jpg\")
Bloodstains on the streets of Exarchia on the night of November 17.
\nI don’t know what December 6 will bring, but I know that the memory of Alexis and the way his death touched the lives of so many generations is far more powerful than the self-interested agendas of politicians like Mytsotakis who were born with silver spoons in their mouths.
\n\nOverall, I think that the purpose of the resources that they are investing in repression is chiefly to keep the base of New Democracy voters distracted from the broader economic and social issues at play in Greece today. I think the state’s resources will be focused so much on crushing the anarchist movement and torturing immigrants that eventually Greek civilians will realize once again that the precarity they are subjected to has not changed. This is by no means guaranteed—as you see with Trump supporters in the states, outright fascism offers some very efficient methods of deception and control.
\n\nI think the movement will have to struggle harder in these dark days, but I believe that in the long run, we will grow stronger as a result of these challenges. People continue to organize and act; despite the fear, we are still in the streets. The hundred or so people sparking small clashes inside the square of Exarchia on November 17 were like a David without a slingshot facing a Goliath in a tank. Yet while they could have kept to the safety of their couches, they chose to stand up in the street.
\n\nFor context, we should recall that in 1995, the police arrested everyone; almost nothing occurred in 1996. At that time, no one could anticipate the explosions that would take place during the Olympic Games in 2004 and on a much bigger scale in December 2008, nor what is to come now.
\n\nThe wave of repression in 1995.
\nAgain, what can people outside Greece to do support the struggle there?
\n\nThe neoliberal nation-states and the profiteers they benefit are staying their post-industrial course while forcing a feudal vision on humanity. This is taking place globally—from Greece to Chile, from the United States to China. More than ever in these dark days, solidarity must be our weapon.
\n\nIf you can come here to help refugees and immigrants, that will be very important, as resources will be stretched ever thinner and the government will intentionally make the conditions that are imposed on them worse. Even if you come simply to do volunteer work, any help to people in these dire conditions is an important act of solidarity; it will also show that people have not forgotten them.
\n\nFundraising will be needed as new measures of repression and punishment here hit home. Please continue to pay attention to what is happening here; don’t allow the state to isolate us from our comrades around the world. Demonstrations at embassies—or inside them—will also help.
\n\nAbove all, as I said in August, the best thing you can do to support the movement in Greece is to organize and fight the state and capitalism wherever you are, regardless of the odds. The anarchist movement has no borders. Learn from our losses and grow stronger. We call on those across the world who share our discontent and our commitment to solidarity to take action. We maintain that their repression, alienation, and prisons can never kill this spirit.
\n\nOur passion for freedom is the core of our solidarity and the foundation of our struggle.
\n\nPlevris is a classic example of how the politics of the fascist Golden Dawn party have become mainstream in New Democracy. In 2011, he claimed that Greece should use deadly force against refugees trying to cross into Greece and deny immigrants access to food, water, and healthcare. ↩
\nBelieve it or not, when the Joker film came out, police raided cinemas to check IDs, threatening parents who brought their children to see it that someday they might lose custody of their children as a consequence. ↩
\nThis is not because police in the US are more ethical; rather, it is a traditional aspect of police conduct in Greece, in part as a result of Greek police not facing the same lawsuit system that exists in the USA. It is very uncommon to sue here, and it would be unlikely that such a charge would be taken seriously if the beating occurred during a demonstration. Even if a lawsuit succeeded, the compensation would be much smaller than what one might win in a lawsuit against police in the United States. ↩
\nFilled with squatted social centers and characterized by a combative anti-authoritarian spirit, the neighborhood of Exarchia in Athens, Greece has long been an important reference point for autonomous movements around the world. The new right-wing government that has come to power in Greece has pledged to crush this experiment in inclusivity and self-determination. On August 26, massive police raids evicted four occupations, including some hosting refugee families, many of whom have been sent to concentration camps; at this moment, riot police surround Exarchia, preparing their next attacks. In response, demonstrations have been called for August 31 and September 14. We interviewed a resident of Exarchia about the context of this new chapter of struggle and the prospects ahead for those who seek a world without capitalism or state oppression.
\n\nIn January 2015, as the global wave of right-wing electoral victories was picking up momentum, the new left party Syriza won the Greek elections. At the time, this inspired a lot of enthusiasm from leftists and socialists in Greece and elsewhere around the world; yet we argued that Syriza would draw movements out of the streets, re-legitimize the institutions of the state without changing their essentially repressive character, and ultimately fail to address the consequences of capitalism, polarizing Greek voters to the right. As we anticipated, Syriza did not follow through on their promises to defend Greece from the austerity measures demanded by the European Union. Instead, they imposed austerity measures themselves, further polarizing Greece and confirming that there is no viable electoral solution to the crises imposed by capitalism.
\n\nConsequently, in July 2019, the longstanding right-wing party New Democracy won the national elections by a clear majority. Some corporate media journalists celebrated the victory of New Democracy as a return to business as usual, a rejection of the supposed “extremism” of both Syriza and the fascist Golden Dawn party. But the victory of New Democracy is also a victory for the far right, who have seen their racist, nationalist agenda become mainstream. They took office with the intention of scapegoating immigrants and anarchists for the failures of neoliberal capitalism and the betrayals of left politicians. Taking advantage of the summer holidays to strike, they have already begun violently evicting anarchist social centers and self-organized refugee housing in Athens, openly declaring war on all who stand in the way of their oppressive vision of order.
\n\nWe conducted the following interview with an anonymous black flag anarchist resident of Exarchia three blocks from Exarchia Square following a small riot in the early hours of August 28.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/08/29/2.jpg\")
\nNew Democracy began by declaring war on anarchists, specifically on the neighborhood of Exarchia in Athens. We have seen a series of poorly-written articles from the yellow press spreading fear about “anarchist violence” and promising major government crackdowns. Why have they prioritized focusing on anarchists and specifically Exarchia as the chief enemy of the state? How much of the population do you think agrees with this characterization of anarchists?
\n\nNew Democracy has shown a sort of delusional obsession with Exarchia. They refer to it as if it were the basis of the crisis here, as if it were the foundation of all of Greece’s problems. As a resident of Exarchia and an active anarchist, I can confirm that the language they use to describe my neighborhood is ridiculously overstated.
\n\nSure, there are some issues with drug dealing and predatory mafia practices in Exarchia. The mafia recruits refugees, taking advantage of their desperate need for employment, hoping that anarchists who oppose opportunistic attempts to establish a drug market in the police-free zone of Exarchia will hesitate before hitting a refugee. This situation is the result of the poverty refugees face as they wait to receive asylum or struggle to make their home in Athens, trying to avoid harassment from police or fascists.
\n\nThis is tragic, but it is nothing compared to a typical ghetto in the United States; it’s the inevitable result of the combination of the economic crisis and the so-called refugee crisis. The image of a refugee dealing drugs in Exarchia is an easy scapegoat for the right, and New Democracy has used this over and over in a cowardly manner to rally reactionary support.
\n\nMost people outside of Greece don’t understand that Exarchia is a very large neighborhood. It is only a five-minute walk from the most expensive part of the city center, Colonaki, a middle-to-upper-class neighborhood comparable to Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The anarchist movement emerged in the early 1970s out of student resistance to the Junta, which was concentrated at the nearby Polytechnio, the architectural university of Athens. Until then, Exarchia was a sort of extension of Colonaki. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has become a gathering place for anarchists and squatters, but also for the theater community, leftists, intellectuals, artists, and the clients of an array of alternative bars. It is known locally as a nightlife destination on the weekends for students and partygoers as much as it is known for riots and squats.
\n\nWhile all of these elements coexist in a sort of chaotic equilibrium, the old inhabitants of Exarchia still complain. Unless you are one of the lucky few who have found an apartment here owned by an old person unaware of its Airbnb potential and the erupting real estate market in central Athens, or you are living in a squat or in a home owned by family, it is unlikely that a typical working-class Greek person could afford to live here. The wealthy residents of Exarchia complain to the municipal authorities. They have been doing so for years. New Democracy is responding in a way that may go beyond their whining.
\n\nFor example, there is famous hill called Streffi where youth and anarchist-friendly folks go to chill with their friends and comrades. It is also a beautiful park that used to house parties and gatherings to celebrate and benefit the punk and hip-hop counter-cultures and anarchist and anti-fascist movements. Because it has a view of the Acropolis and some of the most expensive houses in Exarchia, a brutal initiative began in the summer 2018 to crush the cop-free-zone culture of Streffi. Riot police surrounded the hill before any announced event, and completely demolished the only squat in the area shortly after it declared solidarity with those trying to reclaim Streffi.
\n\nIn short, Exarchia is not a beautiful utopia in which anarchists live in harmony together and with other locals. There are snitches and “good citizens” here who applaud the police.
\n\nNew Democracy has been in power before; they are not something new. But after five years in exile under Syriza, they are declaring revenge on the left. Unlike Syriza, which has a realistic understanding of Exarchia, New Democracy members have a childish image of it. They mystify it as the enemy of all Greek civility and as the epicenter of all things left or anarchist.
\n\nWhile Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the new prime minister, is a rich kid who has probably never set foot in the neighborhood, the police are even more obsessed with Exarchia. On the morning of August 26, when four squats were evacuated, a police spokesperson went on national television to say “One finger launched a silent new vacuum cleaner which is the police, which will slowly suck all the garbage from Exarchia progressively, democratically, with a plan by police officers.” He went on to describe the 143 refugees who were detained as “dust with an annoying character.”
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/08/29/4.jpg\")
A police officer wearing a patch identifying his fascist politics during the evictions. It says “Come and Get It,” a slogan of the fascist party Golden Dawn.
\nThe police felt betrayed by Syriza. They think that for the past five years, the government condoned the weekly actions against the riot police that surround Exarchia. Now the police are ready for war. As soon as New Democracy was elected, riot police guarding the old PASOK political headquarters in Exarchia beat a homeless man nearly to death. When a local journalist tried to intervene, the police made threats; one cop was quoted as saying “this is how things will be for now on.” They are emboldened now in the same way that American police and fascists were when Trump was elected. I couldn’t make a more precise comparison.
\n\nThus emboldened, they await the next battle with great anticipation. The riot police they station in Exarchia are typically not from Athens; they choose officers with extreme right-wing attitudes specifically for that role. This is a longstanding precedent for riot police. In some ways, they enjoy the riots as much as anarchists do; they too believe that they are fighting a war. New Democracy has handed them a clear mandate to restore order in Exarchia.
\n\nWe can also see that Exarchia has become the highest priority target as a consequence of the decline of more radical action from the anarchist movement. After a period of many surprise attacks and bombings following the upheaval of December 2008, many members of the anarchist groups Conspiracy Cells of Fire and Revolutionary Struggle have been captured and imprisoned, and there has been a significant decrease in so-called political terrorism. Such actions still happen, but not at the same frequency and intensity as before.
\n\nThis is similar to what happened to US anarchists following Operation Backfire as a result of the FBI declaring the Animal and Earth Liberation Fronts to be the number one domestic “terror” threat in the United States. After a wave of infiltration, repression, and inflated sentences targeting clandestine direct action, the US anarchist movement shifted towards mass street action. The state shifted its strategy, as well, using grand juries to harass people, demonizing classic forms of protest, and militarizing police departments.
\n\nIn a similar way, owing to the drop in clandestine attacks, the Greek right was forced to construct a new enemy. This is likely why they chose the neighborhood of Exarchia and focused on the local anarchist group Rouvikonas (Rubicon). Rouvikonas has quite a reputation in Athens and the media love them. Essentially, they are an anarcho-communist group that engages in civil disobedience with an aggressive edge. They intimidate bosses, throw paint on buildings, smash turnstiles at subway entrances, and organize various other actions that are inspiring and courageous but deliberately restrained in order to avoid the risk of long prison terms.
\n\nRegardless of their restraint and the fact that they are just one of many groups in the Greek anarchist movement, Rouvikonas has become the new government’s public enemy number one alongside the anarchists in Exarchia as a whole and the specter of drug dealing in the square. Unless some more pressing concern arises, New Democracy will focus on this constructed threat, striving to present themselves as the saviors of the Hellenic people, while doing nothing to truly improve people’s lives—a classic fascist strategy.
\n\nIt is hard to know how many people buy into the narrative of the new Greek right. About 39 percent of Greek voters cast ballots for New Democracy, with another 31 percent voting for Syriza, 5 percent for the Communist Party, and 3 percent for Golden Dawn. It is hard to tell how much of the population believes this administration’s nonsense about Exarchia. Greece is a very polarized society, notorious for a popular skepticism of politicians of all stripes. But the residents of the countryside and the suburbs of Athens, the super-rich, and the isolated poor people who voted for New Democracy certainly subscribe to their agenda.
\n\n“Good morning from Exarchia square. On July 8, we are giving the square to its residents. The lawlessness is finished. The prohibition on entering is finished. With New Democracy, this square will be a normal square again.” After hastily recording this video, this right-wing politician fled Exarchia as fast as he could.
\nOf the first wave of police raids, in which four squats were evicted and 143 people arrested, the vast majority of the arrestees were immigrants, who are being moved to concentration camps. How do the crackdowns promised by New Democracy relate to continued scapegoating and repression of immigrants? How do anarchist strategies for defense against the government crackdown address the targeting of immigrants?
\n\nOf the four squats evicted, only two were housing refugees. The other two were anarchist spaces that did not serve this function. It is not easy to put all the squats that were targeted in any one category, as they are associated with different groups and different objectives. One of these squats, named Gare, has been evicted—and reoccupied—several times already under Syriza.
\n\nIt’s also important to emphasize that the squats Spirou Trikopi 17 and Transito were providing housing and support to refugees in a completely self-determined manner independent of the state. Syriza never targeted this occupation, from what I understand—and this is where a new policy shift is obvious. These squats, along with several others nearby, have been providing free spaces for refugee families in conditions that are far superior to those in the state-funded detention facilities. Even if we consider the subject from a statist point of view, it actually saves the state money for refugees to be self-organizing their housing in this way with support from anarchists.
\n\nSo this is an explicitly racist and fascistic act of symbolic revenge from the new government: a statement to refugees and other immigrants that they are no longer safe in Exarchia’s asylum. Many of the refugees who were arrested will probably be moved to Petrou Ralli detention center, a volatile place located in the middle of an industrial zone in Athens. Others have reportedly been dispersed to various refugee concentration camps around Athens and Greece. We hope that many of those detained will be released following investigation, but some may be deported or else remain in overcrowded detention centers in Greece.
\n\nLet me repeat this: even from a state perspective, the spaces that the police evicted were saving Greek taxpayers money and alleviating some of the impact of the so-called refugee crisis. However, just as the US government spends more money capturing and imprisoning immigrants and homeless people than it would spend simply helping or housing them, the point is to set a political precedent for society at any cost. Immigrants and refugees are not welcome here, law and order above all else, and, like all the other right-wing governments reigning over various parts of the earth today, the Greek government aims to encourage their base to blame the desperate and excluded for their suffering, rather than the prevailing order or the elites that benefit from it.
\n\nSyriza evicted plenty of squats during their time in power. But they targeted the immigrant squats that they alleged were housing people involved in drug dealing and the anarchist squats that they claimed were being used to manufacture Molotov cocktails. In both cases, they attempted to frame an ethical narrative, trying to draw a line between “good” and “bad” squats.
\n\nBy contrast, New Democracy has made it clear that they have a long-term plan to eradicate not only the existing squats in Exarchia but squatting itself, along with all the refugees, immigrants, anarchists, youth, and other people who give the neighborhood its world-famous character. They aim to destroy the culture that has come to define Exarchia. This will not be a quick procedure; they have a long-term plan, likely concluding with the creation of a subway stop in Exarchia Square and a return to the good old days when Exarchia had more in common with Colonaki.
\n\nBesides the government imprisoning families who had been living self-determined, peaceful lives in Exarchia, the most striking element of the eviction of August 26 was its timing. In late July 2019, around the same time they officially lifted the university asylum, New Democracy released the police officer who murdered the teenage anarchist Alexis Grigoropoulous; these were two dramatic provocations aimed at the anarchist and autonomous movements. Typically, the state has evicted squats between the beginning of July and the middle of August. While squats both inside and outside Exarchia—for example, in the neighborhoods of Kipseli and Koukaki—have been repeatedly harassed throughout the summer and continue to experience harassment at this moment, the operation of August 26 was timed to occur immediately before many people are returning from summer vacations. Carrying out these attacks at this time is meant to send the message that war has been declared on Exarchia and those who support the cop-free and anti-fascist social experiment that it represents.
\n\nTo bring this back to the situation for immigrants, they are having their lives ruined once again. People are concerned about refugees committing suicide. We may see an escalation of violence on the part of desperate refugees. Many people who have faced and escaped the direst circumstances of our century have found Exarchia to be a safe place they could call home. The trauma that New Democracy aims to inflict with its reign of terror may produce unexpected results. This is a sad reality that we have to discuss. We should take seriously the severity of the emotional damage that the raids of August 26 inflicted, as well as the raids likely to come.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/08/29/3.jpg\")
\nWe hear that the Greek government has repealed the “sanctuary law” maintaining university asylum, prohibiting police from entering the universities except in emergencies. How will this effect the anarchist movement in Greece and the social context as a whole?
\n\nSo far, the end of university asylum has taken place in words alone. Cops already often raided universities during riots or in pursuit of so-called criminals. Now they have changed the law so police will not need the formal permission of a university dean to enter. But it remains to be seen what this will mean in practice. University asylum is a hard-won victory cherished by a substantial part of the movement in Greece. Many people are deeply invested in it. It is not simply a matter of people sometimes running to the Polytechnic in Exarchia to avoid arrest during riots. This is a very small aspect of how the end of university autonomy will effect the movement.
\n\nUniversities are important rallying points for assemblies and organizing in Greece. There are occupied spaces inside many universities that house social centers (steki) and anarchist groups. Above all, universities have served as a recruiting space for anarchists and as a venue for events. Parties and events at universities throughout Greece, from the hip-hop shows at the economics school in Kipseli to the punk shows at the law school in Neapoli, have provided important infrastructure to challenge repression and raise funds, as well as a safe and affordable space for people to gather and connect politically.
\n\nNew Democracy has been obsessed with drug users and drug dealing, but no informed person would deny that the police have been intentionally pushing addicts and dealers into the universities. In most cases, drug use and dealing has not interrupted the ordinary function of the universities. But drug addiction is a major problem in Greece, where there is intense poverty by European standards and the port of Piraeus serves as a hub for heroin entering Europe. I do not blame people for their addictions; I blame capitalism. At the same time, the police have used the epidemic to target universities and Exarchia. For a long time, now, they have pushed addicts to the peripheries of the universities in hopes of delegitimizing the asylum law and undermining student autonomy. And while the drug dealing situation in Exarchia has become sad and confusing, it originated with a huge police effort in 2010 to push addicts into Exarchia.
\n\nIncidentally, in addition to pushing the drug trade into universities, police have also sought to push it into neighborhoods inhabited by (largely legal) immigrants. This is a way to consolidate drugs and crime in non-white or immigrant communities. In Athens, the neighborhood of Omonia experiences some of the most devastating heroin and meth use I have seen in this city. It also happens to be one of the largest concentrations of Pakistani and Bangladeshi business owners.
\n\nTime will tell whether the police can take control of the universities in practice. If they begin patrolling campuses, evicting occupied centers in the universities, and shutting down parties, this would put a damper on the movement. At the same time, it would probably ignite a forceful reaction from the movement that would backfire against New Democracy.
\n\nNew Democracy may be poking the wrong beast. If they push harder, rather than sticking to the slow, patient strategy of repression Syriza employed, there will be a broader backlash extending far beyond Exarchia. The asylum law is not only cherished by anarchists, but also autonomists, communists, leftists of all kinds, and, to put it simply, kids who like to party. The reaction to this clampdown has yet to be seen.
\n\nHow does the state attack on Exarchia relate to the capitalist assault on the neighborhood that has been taking place through gentrification and urban displacement? What is the relationship between Airbnb and urban development initiatives and riot police?
\n\nExarchia has always been a sort of obsession for people from the conservative suburbs and for fascists in the countryside. Since the 1970s, there have been efforts to mess with Exarchia time and time again. After the 2008 insurrection, the Delta police would raid the neighborhood at random, attacking and beating people. Syriza formally eliminated the force; now New Democracy plans to reestablish it.
\n\nBut Airbnb is the invisible enemy everyone is at a loss to deal with. Exarchia is becoming one of the most expensive places to live in the center of Athens, and Airbnb is almost 100 percent responsible for this sudden spike in real estate value and short-term rent hikes. Prior to Airbnb, a three-bedroom apartment could cost you 250 euros a month; now, that same apartment could generate well over 1800 euros a month if used for Airbnb.
\n\nThis has drawn the attention of property owners and investors. New Democracy has been promising a new prosperity for Greece following years of recession. Yet in the melodramatic television coverage of Exarchia here, it is rarely mentioned that all these demonized alternative and deviant criminal elements are actually entertaining a huge market of alternative tourism.
\n\nIn Exarchia, German, American, and Chinese tourists walk side by side the same immigrants and anarchists that the police refer to as trash. There is even a tour available as an “Airbnb Experience” called “Sweet Anarchy” describing Exarchia and its street inhabitants as if we are animals in a zoo.
\n\nWhat has changed in the war on Exarchia since the days before Syriza? Chiefly, this: if New Democracy is able to succeed in its long-term effort to eradicate those who defend the neighborhood’s character, Airbnb and foreign investors have created a new market that will be ready to redefine Exarchia swiftly.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/08/29/1.jpg\")
\nHow will anarchists respond to the attacks promised by the state? Are there divisions over issues of strategy?
\n\nI don’t think there are very many divisions over issues of strategy. Compared to the US, there are fewer bourgeois voices demanding pacifism in the movements here. Any strategy for the self-defense of Exarchia and the movements that define it will be welcome, whatever form it takes. Some groups are more open to using force than others are, but it’s rare to hear the sort of debate about violence and nonviolence that often takes place in the US.
\n\nBut the challenge isn’t division over strategy so much as it is division itself. I think most people in the movement would say that morale is at a low point in recent memory. There are more anarchists, autonomists, and anti-fascists then ever before, but division is rampant. Many groups have a competitive attitude towards each other, nurse personal disputes, experience infighting, or refuse to work together at all. Still, I believe this will change quickly.
\n\nMany would say that 2008 to 2012 saw the peak of anarchist activity in Greece thus far for the 21st century. There were many challenges following mass police operations against the groups Conspiracy Cells of Fire and Revolutionary Struggle, not to mention the tragic deaths of three bank employees during a general strike in 2010.1 Many people experienced an insurrection, a generalized revolt that people can only dream of in the current anarchist movement in the United States. Rioting and organizing both took place on a massive scale. However, following those years of struggle, very little actually changed. Austerity and poverty remained the norm, as Greece became the scapegoat for failed European policies and the new generation was forced to bear the consequences of the economic crisis.
\n\nWhen Syriza came to power, many anarchists fought with each other about whether to vote for them. Some argued that a Syriza government would make it easier to defend Exarchia and alleviate the suffering of those in prison, as well as mitigating the stress caused by state forces such as the Delta police. This created a great deal of division between anarchists, showing how confusing things became as what had seemed to be a social revolution quickly turned to the left, taking the stage in the theater of Greek politics.
\n\nSyriza was strategic like a snake. The party leaders knew Exarchia; many of them were leftist intellectuals and academics who used to come to Exarchia to debate over coffee or beer. They knew how to quell the movement, how to turn people against each other. They knew how to give people just enough room to breathe so they wouldn’t feel strangled. But they had their hands around our necks the whole time.
\n\nMany people from the prior generation became depressed or moved on. It was sad to see what many had thought of as a leftist government with all the right answers imposing austerity measures. It was a sad conclusion to the peak years of resistance.
\n\nHowever, the number of participants in anarchist, autonomist, and anti-authoritarian movements has not decreased. On the contrary, it has dramatically increased. Anarchism exists on a massive scale in Greece. It is hard to describe the extent of the movement and its diversity to an American audience.
\n\nDuring the Syriza years, there was a considerable amount of repression. The police attacked squats, but did so in a very calculated manner, so that people would target their anger internally, emphasizing small conflicts and political distinctions. The Syriza government helped to fan the flames of sectarianism in the movement by containing the movement rather than trying to suppress it.
\n\nNow, there are signs that people are coming together. A new poster is circulating calling for a mobilization on September 14 under the banner “No Pasaran.” Many groups in Exarchia that were at odds during the Syriza years are calling for this mobilization together. The assemblies that have taken place in the last 48 hours were not characterized by the infighting many of us are used to, and the number of participants has been high. People feel the pressure. They know they have to choose their battles. They have learned from the deceptions of Syriza that there is no such thing as a victory for our movements in the theater of state politics.
\n\nI think many people expected this. Some are depressed and divided, but prepared to transcend these issues collectively. Since its inception in the 1970s, the Greek anarchist movement as we know it has always been characterized by waves. As summer is ending, we see people coming together, opening their minds, and realizing the seriousness of the battle ahead.
\n\nI should note that the four squats evicted on August 26 were associated with groups that are at odds. But the dialogue that has followed has expressed unity and solidarity. Things are bad and they will definitely get worse. But I believe that people will come together. This is already happening.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/08/29/6.jpg\")
\nWhat can we do outside Greece to support the anarchist movement and the freedom of immigrants there? What are the most effective ways we can act in solidarity?
\n\nFor better or worse, Exarchia has been portrayed as the mecca of global anarchism. Sometimes I laugh about this, but then I remind myself to not take for granted the beautiful elements of this neighborhood.
\n\nMany would say that the answer to your question is to go to Greek embassies and let the Greek state know that Exarchia will not be isolated, that it is loved from across the world. But I would say, in the spirit of revolutionary solidarity, that the most important thing that those who read this text can do is to continue building spaces and community wherever you are.
\n\nExarchia has its fair share of issues, but it is generally a safe place. Considering its size, the fact that it functions so well without policing—despite so much diversity and internal differences and external pressure—attests to the viability of anarchism. Exarchia confirms that even without a police force, a major metropolitan area can function peacefully. So one way you could demonstrate your solidarity is to work towards creating more communities that celebrate self-determination, that do not welcome the police.
\n\nThis year will see the first observances of important annual events under New Democracy, including November 17, the anniversary of the day 23 students were killed by the Junta at the Polytechnio in Exarchia, and December 6, the anniversary of the murder of Alexis Grigoropolous that sparked the 2008 insurrection. New Democracy has used both days to rally their supporters and argue that they must lift the asylum laws. While the movement has generally been critical of what is called anarcho-tourism, I think the attitude around this is changing. If people come to Greece for these days, they could help to protect Exarchia.
\n\nOutside supporters can also come to Greece to help immigrants independent of the state and NGOs, inside and outside of Athens. This has been going on for a long time.
\n\nIt is not easy to say exactly what you should do. As I write this, I still don’t know what New Democracy has planned, nor how anarchists here will respond. But there are cops in riot gear surrounding the neighborhood, undercover cops roaming the streets, and tension everywhere. I am equally afraid and excited to see what is to come.
\n\nFor perspectives in English from other anarchists organizing in Athens right now, you could begin with these starting places:
\n\nExarchia: Solidarity to Squats and All Spaces of Struggle—Assembly Announcement
\nStatement of the Anarchist Political Organization against the Repressive Campaign of the State
\nMany attribute these three deaths to the boss refusing to let the employees leave during the general strike and the riot that predictably accompanied it. ↩
\nAfter several failed attempts across Europe to frame anarchists and other anti-authoritarians with conspiracy and terrorism charges, the Greek state is at the forefront of developing new legal strategies to attack social movements. Article 187A of the Greek legal penal code has existed since 2004, but last year, Greek officials used it in a new way against Nikos Romanos and several other anarchist prisoners, convicting and sentencing them to many years in prison based on a new interpretation of the article. Regardless of whether these verdicts are overturned in higher courts, the trials indicate a major strategic shift in the policing of social movements in Greece. They offer an important warning sign about the new forms that repression may assume around the world as social conflict intensifies.
\n\nThe Greek “anti-terrorism” laws are largely drawn from United Nations and European anti-terrorism guidelines; for the most part, they were drafted in the post-9/11 period. The social-democratic PASOK government introduced the majority of Greek “anti-terrorism” legislation in 2001; at the time, it was primarily aimed at criminal organizations. In 2004, the right-wing government of New Democracy introduced a new charge: “terrorist organization.” The infamous article 187A appeared in this legislative package.
\n\nArticle 187A defines the nature and scope of so-called “criminal” and “terrorist organization” and describes the role of an “individual terrorist” within an organization. In both cases, it is not necessary that an actual crime be committed to determine that an individual participated in a coordinated act against the state and should therefore be imprisoned for many years. The article gives the judge free rein to interpret the evidence provided by the police however he or she sees fit. This has already resulted in many arrests and long-term imprisonments, mostly targeting anarchists and anti-authoritarians.
\n\nWhen Nikos Romanos and several other anarchists faced trial last year, the prosecutor repeatedly emphasized: “They are anarchists, so their actions are terrorist.” This sentence summarizes the message that the Greek state aims to send.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/03/19/5.jpg\")
Nikos Romanos.
\nThe case of Nikos Romanos illustrates this clearly. He was sentenced to 15 years and 10 months in prison in 2014, after police arrested and brutally tortured him for expropriating a bank in Venvento, Kozani. They also accused him and five others of participating in an alleged “terrorist organization,” Conspiracy Cells of Fire; all of the accused deny this. The state failed to prove they were part of the network and consequently failed to convict them on charges of conspiracy or terrorism.
\n\nConsidering the burden of proof too high for the state to imprison anarchists for participating in collective struggle, officials set out to invent a new prosecution strategy. For this purpose, the advantage of article 187A is that it prosecutes an idea. This strategy strikes at the heart of the ungovernable anarchist movement in Greece, which is based above all in a shared ethic. When Nikos Romanos faced additional charges along with his comrades in 2018, he was no longer being charged with carrying out acts of collective terrorism; rather, he was charged with being an individual terrorist on the basis of his ideas. The consequence was that he received a harsher sentence for being an avowed anarchist than he did for robbing a bank.
\n\nIt is no coincidence that article 187A was first used in this way against an anarchist who saw his best friend, Alexis Grigoropoulos, murdered by police on the streets of Exarchia. Nor is it a coincidence that the authorities used article 187A against Romanos after the hunger strike he carried out in prison in 2014 triggered massive confrontations in Greece and solidarity protests around the world. The Greek authorities hope to crush the most militant current in the anarchist movement while giving others a false sense of security—as if what happens to Nikos Romanos is an isolated case of an extremist receiving an extreme punishment rather than a step towards the repression of all social movements in Greece. Essentially, prosecution on the grounds of “individual terrorism” is intended to break down any kind of form of solidarity, making people fear that if they stand up for someone who is targeted by the state, they too could be targeted as “individual terrorists.”
\n\nThe only way to counter this strategy is to create an abundance of solidarity, rather than the scarcity they aim to produce. This is not just about Nikos Romanos and other specific imprisoned anarchists. It is about the future of resistance itself. And not just in Greece.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/03/19/1.jpg\")
Nikos Romanos greets supporters with a raised fist through the bars of a hospital prison during his hunger strike in 2014.
\nWe have to see the article 187A trials in a broader context. For over a century, the Balkans have functioned as a state laboratory for experiments in breeding nationalist hatred, fomenting civil war, and crushing social movements. Greece undoubtedly has one of the most thriving and confrontational anarchist movements in Europe; other countries are observing it carefully for this reason. Just as Germany exports crowd control tactics and tear gas to the south, what happens in Greece could be exported as a model to destroy movements elsewhere as well.
\n\nFollowing the rise and inevitable failure of left political parties like Podemos, Syriza, and Die Linke in Europe, and the equally inevitable rise of extreme right-wing and openly pro-fascist political parties and governments like we are seeing in Hungary, Austria, Poland, and Italy, centrist politicians are desperately grasping for ways to stay in power wherever they can.
\n\nThe partisans of the extreme center have to demonstrate that they are the rational alternative to both the right-wing and left-wing movements. In an absurd situation in which the pro-war neoliberal Angela Merkel has apparently become the sole defender of migrants’ right to travel, it is clear that centrists aim to falsely distinguish themselves from the right via a discourse of liberal and reformist “openness” and “human rights,” while at the same time deporting migrants to war zones and depriving them of human dignity in maximum security prisons and refugee camps all around Europe.
\n\nBut the centrists have to do more than simply prove themselves more rational and reasonable than the far right. They also have to show that the values of true solidarity, mutual aid, radical equality, horizontality, anti-capitalism, anti-sexism, and self-organization are not the appropriate response to the rising tide of fascist politics and the environmental and economic crises of our age. They have to figure out how to target scapegoats within the social movements. This is why they are putting anarchism on trial, not just anarchists. To retain power, they have to prevent people from developing the ability to imagine other forms of social organization beyond capitalism and the state. By introducing and expanding harsher methods of repression, the centrists are pushing us faster and faster towards a state of extreme center in which the right wing does not need to take power to implement its agenda—because the policies of the center themselves create de facto fascist results on the ground.
\n\nThe trials under article 187A, the introduction of ever more restrictive laws, and the increasing impunity of police and the military around the world comprise an attack on our communities and on the possibility of collectivity itself. They are an attempt to divide, isolate, and defeat us so we will have to accept any injustice that the state imposes. In constructing the “individual terrorist” as a new target for law enforcement on the basis of ideology alone, they are threatening everyone who might dare to challenge the prevailing order.
\n\nIn such circumstances, practically anyone can become the target of persecution. The only way to fight this is to stand together.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/03/19/3.jpg\")
Graffiti in solidarity with Nikos Romanos.
\nThe following interview with Nikos Romanos originally appeared in Greek in Apatris, an anarchist street newspaper in Greece. You can read more about Apatris in the appendix, below. We thank our comrades for generously translating the interview.
\n\nHow is the new interpretation of the counter-terrorist law affecting your case?
\n\nNikos Romanos: This conviction has a significant effect on us, as it means that some of us will spend two or three more years in prison. Considering that we have already been in prison for more than five years, this conviction should be seen as an attempt to create a permanent captive status based on the “counter”-terrorism law (187A). In application, this law serves the purpose of producing the specter of “internal enemies.”
\n\nDehumanizing sentences, repressive new interpretations and arbitrary applications of the 187A law, criminalization of the anarchist (political) identity—together, these constitute a network of penal repression that methodically enfolds the anarchist movement and its imprisoned militants.
\n\nThis specific conviction should not be understood as an attack against individuals. We have to recognize it as a continuation of the domestic Greek counterterrorism policy, which aims to tighten a noose around the neck of the anarchist movement as a whole.
\n\nThe state is taking advantage of the fragmentation and the lack of a radical analysis that characterize both the movement and society at large to intensify its attacks.
\n\nThe conviction for individual terrorism is the first of its kind in Greece. The 187A counter-terrorism law deliberately leaves a lot of space for each judge to make his own interpretation, which expands the armory that the state has at its disposal to carry out repression. How should we respond to this kind of law, and to the other convictions like yours that we can expect to follow?
\n\nNikos Romanos: What is further equipping the state is the political nature of 187A law, which legalizes every possible interpretation of the article. Essentially, we are dealing with a law that practically implements the dogma of the US “war on terror.” This law paves the way for a ruthless witch-hunt targeting “internal enemies” and all who are seen as a threat to the state and capitalist interests.
\n\nRegarding our response to these processes, in my opinion, first, we must realize that we need an organized subversive movement. A movement that is capable of destabilizing and undermining the state and the plans of the capitalist bosses and their political puppets in our regions.
\n\nTo be more precise, we have to begin a process of self-criticism analyzing our mistakes, our deficiencies, our organizing weaknesses. This self-criticism must neither flatter us nor make space for pessimism and despair. Our goal should be to sharpen the subversive struggle in every form it can take, to transform it into a real danger for every ruler. Part of this process is reconstructing our historical memory, so it can serve as a compass for the strategies of struggle we employ. We should start talking again about the organization of different forms of revolutionary violence, the practices of revolutionary illegalism, and the need to diffuse these in the movement in order to overcome the “politics” (in the dirty and civil meaning of the word) that have infected our circles.
\n\nThis conversation will be empty and without effect if it isn’t connected with the political initiatives of comrades, in order to fill in the gaps in our practice and to improve our prospects on the basis of our conclusions. The best response to the judicial attacks on the movement is to make sure that those who enact them pay a high political cost for it. This should take place throughout entire pyramid of authority—everyone, from the political instigators of the repression to the straw men who implement it, should have to share the responsibility for the repression of the movement.
\n\nThis response is part of the wider historical context of our time; it is our political proposition. In response to the transnational wars, we propose nothing less than a war of liberation in the capitalist metropolises, a war of everyone against everything that capitalism promotes.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/03/19/2.jpg\")
Defending a social center in Thessaloniki from riot police during demonstrations in solidarity with Nikos Romanos.
\nHow does this new interpretation of the law affect comrades in struggle outside the walls of prison who are thinking of taking militant action?
\n\nNikos Romanos: This decision creates a really negative precedent that will increase the extent of criminal repression against anarchists who take action and have the misfortune of being captured and becoming prisoners of the Greek state. Essentially, according to this interpretation of the law, what is criminalized is the anarchist political identity. In the words of our appellate prosecutor, “What else could these acts be, other than terrorist, since they are anarchists?” With the new interpretation of “individual terrorism,” it is not necessary for judicial mechanisms to try to associate the accused with the action of a revolutionary organization, as was the case in the past. One’s political identity and taking an uncompromising position in the courtroom are enough for a person to be condemned as an “individual terrorist.” Anyone who chooses to fight according to the principles of anarchy can therefore be condemned as a terrorist as soon as their choices put them beyond the frameworks set by civic legitimacy.
\n\nOf course, this should not spread defeatism. On the contrary, it is another reason to escalate our struggle against capitalist dominance. Whoever arms his conscience to overthrow the brutal cycle of oppression and exploitation will definitely be the target of vengeful and authoritarian treatment by the regime. This does not mean that we will give up our fight, in the courtroom or elsewhere.
\n\nThe fact that anarchy is a target of state oppression even in a time of the movement’s retreat should be a source of honor for the anarchist movement, proof that the struggle for anarchy and freedom is the only decent way to stand against the totalitarianism of our time.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/03/19/4.jpg\")
“Partly because of their studies, partly because of their job, partly because they got “Europeanized,” some seem to forget more easily now how furious they are about the social and political stagnation of Greece. Still others shook the dust off their feet out of the disappointment that followed the wrath, promising themselves they would never look back. But then there come those moments of the ‘re-awakening,’ when the death of freedom is near and humanity loses its value. In moments like those, they imagine grabbing the first plane and going back to get down on the streets. SOLIDARITY TO NIKOS ROMANOS!”
\nGiven the directives of the European Union and the global witch-hunt against “terrorism” since 9/11, counterterrorism law has become a major battlefield against the enemies of the Greek state, internal and otherwise. In this situation, when the state is attempting to widen the application of the law with new trials, what sort of actions should the movement take to respond to this interpretation of the law?
\n\nNikos Romanos: For me, there is an imperative need to create political initiatives against the “counter”-terrorism law, which constitutes the battlefield of criminal law enforcement against us. We have to spread the word that this can affect others involved in struggle if their actions create obstacles for capitalist interests. They too will be charged with the counterterrorism law (187A).
\n\nFor example, the residents of Skouries (Chalkidiki) were persecuted for terrorism because they took action against capitalist development and the pillaging of nature. This demands careful political analysis. It is dangerous to make two categories of people who are accused with the “counter”-terrorism law. On the one hand, the authorities are using it against those whose actions could be described as an urban guerrilla strategy; on the other hand, they are using it against people from completely different parts of society.
\n\nCalling for a front of struggle against the “counter”-terrorism law does not mean maintaining illusions that it will be abolished. Greece is a state in the European Union; it has a specific role in capitalism in the region and it is willing to unconditionally apply all EU directives on security and immigration. No matter which party is in power, Greece will not abolish the “counter”-terrorism law. The “counter”-terrorism law is inseparable from the interests of the Greek state. Therefore, the fight against 187A has to reveal precisely this connection. We have to attack both the local continuation of the American rhetoric of the “war on terror” and the mendacious narratives of the left social-democratic SYRIZA. In reality, all their talk about human rights magically ceases when the interests of the state and capitalists are in play.
\n\nA common struggle against 187A has to emphasize the internal contradictions of the system, show the role of “counter”-terrorism laws in the functioning of the EU states, and send a powerful message of solidarity to everyone around the world who is imprisoned under laws like this. This would create political issues around the invasive “counter”-terrorism crusades of our era. It would inflict permanent political damage for the criminal existence of the 187A law, the state, and capitalism, all of which poison and destroy our lives.
\n\nEstablishing this offensive can offer a basis for comrades to communicate, act, and undertake a general counterattack against the capitalist complex and all its deadly tentacles. This is why I consider an initiative like this crucial for the evolution of the subversive struggles of our time.
\n\nRiots in solidarity with Nikos Romanos in Athens on December 2, 2014.
\nThe Case of “Individual Terrorists” by Nikos Romanos
\n\nApatris was born in Heraklion, Crete in Greece in 2009. It was the response of some people to eviction threats against the local squat Evaggelismos in the summer of 2008. When the threats stopped, the uprising of December the same year boosted our ideas into a feasible project. It started as a local anarchist “free press” publication with a circulation of 3000; starting in June 2013, it became a nationwide project and today it is still going strong with a circulation of 15000 copies.
\n\napatris: without a homeland, apatride, apatrido
\n\nWe see Apatris as a means of spreading the word of the Anarchist, Autonomous, and Anti-Authoritarian movement everywhere. We serve to amplify the various voices of the movement in a critical way and to promote its pluralism as something positive, encouraging participation in a fertile discussion based on mutual respect and avoiding any dogmatic interpretation of the surrounding situation.
\n\n\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2019/03/19/6.jpg\")
A banner in Brussels expressing solidarity with Nikos Romanos.
\nOn December 6, 2008, in Athens, Greece, police murdered 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in the neighborhood of Exarchia. In response, anarchists, young people, and other rebels from targeted populations rose in revolt, organizing countrywide riots and occupations that lasted for weeks. Arguably, this was the first of the waves of rebellion that culminated with the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. This year, as they have for a decade, people observed the murder of Alexandros and the insurrection of 2008 with a day of demonstrations and direct action. This is a report from December 6, 2018 in Athens, including some of the solidarity actions that preceded it.
\n\nYou can download a print-ready PDF of this text in zine form here.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/12/17/3.jpg\")
Welcome to Exarchia.
\nI remember the 6th of December 2008. I remember some friends of mine quit their jobs and flew to Greece to participate in what we thought of as the first anarchist insurrection in our lifetimes. I remember the beautiful images of revolt in the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki, spreading across Greece and inspiring acts of solidarity around the world.
\n\nHere, in Athens, many locals are all too familiar with the phenomenon of foreigners coming here to riot. Such visitors are called anarcho-tourists; many of them come for the bahala [the riots] in the same way that other tourists come here for their summer vacations. It takes a great deal of time for an anarcho-tourist to warrant respect and trust among the locals.
\n\nWhile I admit to my status as an anarcho-tourist, I have built close relationships and shared unforgettable experiences in this country. I feel obliged to share some thoughts and to help paint a picture of this year’s much-hyped ten-year anniversary of the 2008 insurrection.
\n\nFor years, when I saw photographs of demonstrators clashing with police in Greece or Chile, it was easy to feel that my own efforts at resistance were insignificant. After spending time outside the United States, however, I have lost my illusions and gained some useful perspective. The tolerance that the Greek state is compelled to exercise towards such activities is the result of a long history of resistance. As things stand today, it is impossible to imagine such conditions existing in North America.
\n\nThe history that gave the neighborhood of Exarchia its character has been bloody indeed. That goes double for the university asylum laws of Greece and Chile. Pinochet in Chile and the junta in Greece slaughtered anarchists, leftists, and radical students in considerable numbers. We have to understand how those tragedies contributed to the conditions in which political movements have been able to establish annual days of action such as December 6 in Greece or March 29, the Day of the Young Combatant in Chile.
\n\nThings are different in the United States. Greece experiences brutal police violence and repression, but the repressive apparatus of the United States is far more invasive, pervasive, and complex. The sentences are not the same. The surveillance before and after actions is not the same. Above all, the society itself is completely different. People have an entirely different relationship to the state and to conflict with it.
\n\nWhen we set out to learn from other struggles and draw inspiration from them, we have to bear the differences in mind. We should prioritize a revolutionary introspection that takes safety and risk into account. Courage and passion are indispensable, but if we don’t account for context, we might sell our own struggles short.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/12/17/7.jpg\")
A banner on December 6, 2018 reading “Money in the banks, bullets in the youth—Against the disintegration of our future prospects, against the state / fascist murders—As the people and youth, we’re not terrified, we’ll smash them (i.e., the fascists and state murderers)—Our time has come.”
\nThe Greek financial crisis began in 2008. It’s probably what Greece is best known for these days besides its islands. Alexis’s generation has suffered severe austerity measures and poverty. Unemployment is rampant, especially among young people. For a part time job in Greece, you might make 390 euros a month. The standard for decent survival is 600 euros a month. Beyond merely economic factors, many anarchists remain imprisoned who were radicalized from the events in 2008.
\n\nIn May 2010, three workers were killed in the burning of a bank; the last major countrywide rioting took place in early 2012, before the left party Syriza came to power. Some say that since then, the anti-state and anti-capitalist movements of Greece have been experiencing a slump. Many are ambivalent about the tactic of rioting. Most are over the bahala (the riot for the sake of riot), including even the so-called insurrectionary anarchists of the movement. The reality of 2008 is that it was one of the most remarkable uprisings in contemporary anarchist history. Cities were burning, revolt had generalized, strikes were spreading, and people were ungovernable together in the street. Today, many people wonder how we started there and ended up here.
\n\nThe Greek anarchist movement has fluctuated ever since it reemerged in the 1970s. It involves a tremendous number of people, especially in relation to the population of Greece as a whole, and has developed resources and infrastructure we couldn’t imagine in North America. But with fluctuation there are up and down moments.
\n\nMany here have seen the years that Syriza has been in power as a stagnant, confusing, and futile time in the Greek anarchist movement. Yet there is no shortage of anarchists, autonomists, and other rebels. The anti-state movement in Greece is a recognized part of society; it is not even considered marginal or fringe. For this reason, as someone who is generally seen to be too old for the bahala, I can appreciate annual days of action like December 6—not necessarily as a means of accomplishing any immediate objective, but for the role they play in reproducing the movement and preserving certain social tensions.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/12/17/2.jpg\")
Militants launch fireworks at riot police.
\nExarchia has a reputation as an anarchist mecca, but it is no such thing, and this reputation is dangerous to everything that is beautiful about it. It is undergoing brutal gentrification as a consequence of Airbnb, the scourge of neighborhoods worldwide.
\n\nThe trepidation with which police approach the neighborhood of Exarchia was earned through years of struggle and the extension of rebellious culture that erupted around the Polytechnic University as a result of the resistance to the military dictatorship. Yet in the absence of police—or, rather, as a result of police measures to concentrate dealers and junkies in rebellious neighborhoods and universities—opportunistic drug dealers have established themselves in Exarchia. They have used refugees—who are forced to sell drugs as a consequence of having no other options—in order to deter anarchist efforts to discourage dealing.
\n\nThere are also undercover police everywhere. When you are standing in the center of Exarchia square, you can be sure that riot police are prepared within one kilometer of you to the north, south, east, or west.
\n\nMany people living in Exarchia are not anarchists. With the refugee crisis and the tolerance of the state due to the political calculations of Syriza, there are many squats in Exarchia; generally speaking, it is easier to defend them here than it is in other parts of the city. But they, too, are frequently evicted and, in some cases, demolished so they will not be reoccupied. Most young Greek people cannot afford the rent that it costs to live legally in Exarchia.
\n\nIn short, it’s a beautiful neighborhood, like nothing I’ve seen anywhere else in the world, but it’s a huge neighborhood in a metropolis and there are plenty of locals who are not part of the movement and have little in common with the reputation many associate with Exarchia.
\n\nFinally, in looking at events in Exarchia, it’s important to understand that in the movement here, there is understood to be a difference between a bahala and a riot. A bahala, literally translated, is a sort of mess or disaster. In the movement, bahala often refers to a worthless sort of riot, or more specifically, to the small groups of kids who come from the outskirts of Athens to throw Molotov cocktails at the police who stand guard around the borders of Exarchia. By contrast, the weeks of insurrection that followed the murder of Alexis ten years ago would be considered true riots.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/12/17/1.jpg\")
Riot police amid petrol bombs in Exarchia.
\nAt this point, the actions every 6th of December serve as a reminder that not only is Alexis not forgotten, but that the generalized revolt that engulfed Greece in December 2008 lives on as well.
\n\nDecember 6 is a sort of traditional day of rioting. There is also November 17, which commemorates the day in 1973 when the military junta invaded the grounds of the Polytechnio (the architectural school) in Exarchia, killing at least 23 people who were occupying the grounds or otherwise resisting the dictatorship. More recently, there is also the anniversary of the killing of anti-fascist rapper Killah P (Pavlos Fyssas) in the Keratsini neighborhood of Athens on September 18, 2013. Both of those dates draw out considerable anarchist contingents and involve night-time bahala, but there is no other day like December 6 for the black flag anarchist. It is truly our day.
\n\nIt’s important that we show solidarity on December 6 because it is a celebration of anarchist insurrection. It is also an impressive demonstration of informal and borderless solidarity against the police. In some ways, it gets the extra push it needs each year from internationals; much as locals can be frustrated by anarcho-tourists, outsiders can be helpful when the Greek movement is at a lower ebb. It is also a beautiful display of contempt for the state on the part of both organized and non-organized anarchists, hooligans, students, immigrants, refugees, and teenagers. At its core, December 6 offers an opportunity to express and fortify the passions that give strength to the worldwide anarchist movement.
\n\nUsually on December 6, there are two demonstrations. In the morning, there is the student demonstration; it meets around the Propylaea, a university building located between Exarchia and Parliament. This year, the student march involved nearly a thousand people. After the police attacked the march, a conflict broke out involving some property destruction and people throwing Molotovs at police.
\n\nIn the evening, from the same location, there is usually another demonstration that makes its way from the Propylaea to the memorial of Alexis near the heart of Exarchia. Ten meters in one direction from the memorial is a place that students hang out; ten meters in the other direction is the club of AEK, a soccer team comprised primarily of anti-fascist soccer hooligans. While many who support AEK are not political, this particular club based in Exarchia is notoriously anti-fascist and opposed to police; they hung a banner in memory of Alexis this year.
\n\nThis year, the demonstration was mostly peaceful. It consisted of around 2000 people, surrounded by an estimated 2500 police. It is still not clear how much of the demonstration was successfully able to reach the memorial.
\n\nAround the time that the nighttime actions begin, there are usually hundreds of black-clad folks wandering the streets of Exarchia, working together to erect barricades in anticipation of the return of the final night demonstration, so as to be prepared to fight the police as they enter the neighborhood. Imagine entering a city center and seeing hundreds upon hundreds of people dressed in black casually preparing to defend the area. How beautiful and exciting it is to walk through the neighborhood then! Breathing the pungent scent of petrol, hearing voices and languages from across the world and the constant clacking of hammers breaking up the sidewalk to make huge piles of projectiles with which to greet the riot police. There is no elaborate concrete objective, simply to erect huge barricades around the perimeter of the central square of Exarchia and keep the authorities away from every entrance for as long as possible.
\n\nAs simple as this sounds, it is not simple to accomplish. The tear gas used in Greece is like nowhere else in the world except Palestine; it is asphyxiating tear gas that comes from Israel and the US. It is the most asphyxiating and debilitating tear gas you could imagine. You cannot participate in the festivities unless you have a gas mask; and unless you spend real money on your equipment, the gas can still inflict significant effects on you through even a decent mask.
\n\nThis year, the barricades were sizeable and our numbers grew quite fast. As we waited, hoping for the demonstration to return, we had roughly four hours to prepare for the fight. When it seemed that the demonstration might not return, the behalakis (the children of the bahala) lost patience and sent an invitation of fire to the riot police.
\n\nSeveral hours of intense fighting ensued. A thousand or more people roamed the neighborhood hurling Molotovs, rocks, and everything else necessary to keep the police at bay. This involves considerable risk, giving a literal meaning to the term friendly fire. The police are equipped with gear that protects them from fire, but it is horrifying to see a human being beside you injured by flames. The police throw rocks no less than the demonstrators. If they catch you, they will beat you, especially if the situation makes it too difficult for them to arrest you.
\n\nThis year, cops also brought in new equipment I’ve never seen before. There were rumors of plastic bullets and strange dispersal missiles like some kind of fireworks. Even though it’s not the United States, and the police are less likely to shoot you, it’s still terrifying and dangerous. It’s an intense, chaotic battle that requires quick decision-making within mingling clouds of burning debris and unbearable tear gas.
\n\nThe barricades lasted a couple of hours. Considering how aggressively the police attacked, this is remarkable. In light of all the measures taken by the state to contain it, it was a proper celebration of the anarchist spark that lit the prairie fire of 2008.
\n\nBetween the scuffles during the morning student demonstration and the nighttime fight in Exarchia, about 66 people were detained in Athens, with 13 receiving formal charges. The arrestees, some of whom are international, are facing charges of arson, possession of explosives, weapons possession, disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest.
\n\nPeople organize parties at universities and an array of local fundraising efforts in order to maintain a constant war chest to offer financial support to arrested anarchist fighters. One of the most trusted and consistent prisoner support projects here is called Tameio: fund for imprisoned and persecuted fighters. The literal translation of Tameio is cash register. This group maintains donation boxes at bars across Athens; it functions in a similar way to the Anarchist Black Cross elsewhere in the world. If you are interested in organizing a solidarity event or donating money to comrades facing repression in Greece, please contact Tameio for more details at: tameio@espiv.net.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/12/17/5.jpg\")
Riot police beneath the fireworks in Athens.
\nIn Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, a massive demonstration also took place, which also concluded in rioting. Two construction sites for new subway projects in the city were completely destroyed. People occupied the theological department at Aristotle university. Despite the asylum almost unconditionally observed by the state in Greece, which forbids police from entering universities, a request was made to evacuate the occupation. In retaliation for this threat, the occupiers almost completely destroyed the theological department’s facilities. Scuffles with the police took place throughout the city streets. In the course of the day, approximately 52 people were detained in Thessaloniki, with 13 charged with offenses similar to those in Athens.
\n\nIn both cities, people have reported large numbers of injuries. It’s important to note that it is difficult to know the extent of injuries because not all of the participants are formally involved in the movement; some likely do not choose to use public forums related to the movement. Likewise, most people are hesitant to go to the hospital and formally request treatment for wounds inflicted by the police—especially on December 6—lest they face reprisals or be arrested inside of the hospitals.
\n\nIn Athens, there is a volunteer medical crew called the Solidarity Health Workers. They have written a statement regarding injuries inflicted by the police:
\n\n\n\n\n“Ten years after the murder of the 15-year-old anarchist student, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, things remain the same. The repression is an objective scale of application of the doctrine of order of submission and security that does not vary between left and right governance. Once again, we witnessed a lasting and merciless chemical war by the police forces… In addition to carrying out provocative attacks and using chemical projectiles, civil protection forces have prevented people from receiving medical assistance several times by refusing access to Exarchia Square, blocking members of Solidarity Health Workers in order to prevent them from witnessing the incredible barbarity.
\n\nDuring the night, due to the extensive use of chemicals, there were dozens of cases of people with respiratory problems and a multitude of minor injuries, while, more severely, there were 16 cases of head and face injuries with hematomas, bruises and scratches on the scalp, all of which we treated directly and effectively. To convey the seriousness of the situation, it is worth mentioning the case of a young person with left foot trauma from a shot from a high-energy firearm that inflicted a large permanent cavity and extensive damage to the soft tissues. After we stabilized the wounded person’s condition, an ambulance was called and the injured person was transported to a hospital. We want to draw attention once again to the fact that when the police aim directly at people, this not only poses the risk of severe injuries but can also cause death.
\n\nThe fact that people were not killed or more seriously injured by the number of direct shots the police took yesterday night is the result of good luck and not of police accountability.”
\n\nDecember 7, 2018 / Solidarity Health Workers
\n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/12/17/6.jpg\")
Police protect the Christmas tree in Syntagma Square. The Christmas tree there was burned on December 6, 2008.
\nActions also took place in small towns across the country. Student walkouts, occupations, and street battles erupted on much smaller levels outside the major cities. It’s not easy to learn the details about subsequent injuries and arrests, but it’s important to emphasize that the events were not confined to Athens and Thessaloniki. The name of Alexis is still known to youth throughout Greece.
\n\nIt is worth noting some actions in addition to the demonstrations and bahala.
\n\nIn the Elliniko suburb of Athens on the night of December 6, an anonymous crew of anarchists blockaded a central street. The windows and ATMs of three major banks were all destroyed, as was the office façade belonging to the right-wing mayor.
\n\nSome days prior, on the evening of December 2, a group of approximately twenty dressed in black attacked the headquarters of the MAT (the riot police force) in the Kesariani neighborhood of Athens. Cars and motorcycles belonging to the police were set ablaze as the guards were taken by surprise. Participants withdrew to the asylum of a nearby university, according to corporate media; unfortunately, the police claim to have arrested two. Corporate news sources claim that flyers were scattered at the scene of the attack claiming solidarity with Alexis on the 10-year anniversary of his murder. Here is an excerpt from the communiqué claiming the attack:
\n\n\n\n\n“The 2008 Greek uprising was one of the strongest in the modern world. It has demonstrated the magnitude of the power and creativity that can arise against state mechanisms and how small and weak they looked like in those days. The murder of the anarchist student Grigoropoulos by the Greek police will always be a part of memory and will feed our actions. However, we want to note that this murder caused a rebellion from society and the political spectrum of the left—and because it was a 15-year-old white-Greek student (while attempting to silence his political identity). But we, from our own position, see the state murder various subjects on a daily basis, as well as seeing prisons and domination on the ground. That is why our struggles are violent and lasting. Our insurgency does not depend on social legitimacy. Society is an abstract concept that probably has more to do with what is visible and has the approval to exist. Our struggles are linked to our experiences. We do not struggle to save people, we fight to survive and give solidarity to them and those who resist in order to draw closer to more individuals and groups who want to join this honest anarchist struggle.
\n\nLet’s create a rebellious movement without frontiers, capable of spreading anarchist ideas and practices.
\n\nOur attack is a contribution to the internationalist call and a fiery signal to the comrades and comrades from Chile for a black December. A message to the insurgents and insurgents around the world. In the battered memory of all the friends, companions of companions, and unknown murder victims and prisoners of the state.”
\n\n-Anarchists / Anarchists Against Oblivion
\n
Two more actions in Athens that happened during the month preceding December 6 were finally claimed in solidarity online shortly before that day. In the gaudily wealthy neighborhood of Kolonaki, all the windows of a jewelry store were smashed in the night, leaving the goods on display for anyone walking by to take. People also attacked a bank in the Ilisia neighborhood of Athens. This is an excerpt from the communiqué:
\n\n\n\n\n“During the early hours of Tuesday, November 6, we attacked by hit-and-run the Tahidromiko Tamieftirio of Eurobank, in Afxentiou street in Ilisia, destroying the cameras, breaking all of the windows and the ATM.
\n\nAlso, during the early hours of Sunday, November 11, we attacked by hit-and-run a jewelry shop in Kolonaki, at the corner of Skoufa and Massalias street, breaking the windows and the entrance to the store.
\n\nAll these gems and golden jewelry that were not meant for any of us were exposed to the night in the metropolitan center. They reminded us of the exposure we feel when we walk alone in the streets, they reminded us of the exposure that each one of us feels towards the social prescriptions and proscriptions. That is for all of you—fathers, bosses, pimps, Greeks, and those of your people. We collected our pains, our suppressions, our angers, our complaints, our sex drive, and here we are; we acted out. If only time were always as unimportant yet at the same time as extremely important as it was during the moment in which the windows of the bank were melodiously and chaotically broken. We synchronized the one for the other to steal back some seconds of life. Let’s take back our joy—even for a little bit—for those hands that were vigorously laid on us, for those stares that still hunt us, for those university desks and the labor-hours that suck us dry, for the skirts that we would like to wear but never dared to, for our perverted thoughts, for our unfulfilled desires, for our unexpressed values.
\n\nWe live in the rat race, in the disgusting smell of the metropolitan gutter that sucks us in and throws us out as machines, as roles, as executions of those that were inflicted on us from the day we were born. And, according to ethical norms, we chose the total submission to the aggressive barking of those who dominate this world. With some exceptions, these are the choices of those faced with suppression, violence, and death. To reinforce the anti-authoritarian struggle, we would like to mention some who have fallen in the social war, to dedicate to them the lines above and the action. Not to honor them as holy totems, as untouchable memories, only as historical saints, but as living howlings of war, as those who overcame social and personal doubt, as points of rising and expansion of insurrectional consciousness, as the starting point of the creation and strengthening of relations, and also as the production of radical forms and content.
\n\n\n
\n\n- \n
\nAlexis Grigoropoulos, killed by a cop’s bullet in Exarchia, on December 6, 2008.
\n- \n
\nSebastian Oversluij, killed by security guard’s bullets during a robbery of a bank in Chile, on December 11, 2013.
\n- \n
\nZack Kostopoulos / Zackie Oh, lynched to death by a crowd of bosses, Greek property owners and cops, on September 21, 2018.
\n- \n
\nMikhail Zhlobitskiy, who ended his life in a bombing attack in the Secret Agencies of Russia (FSB), on October 31, 2018.
\nPS: Comrade Dimitris, have a nice journey. You will live forever in our struggles.”
\n
The comrade Dimitris referred to in this piece is a comrade who recently passed away while hanging a banner in solidarity with political prisoner Marios Seisidis.
\n\nFinally, two days before December 6, an anonymous group claimed responsibility for an attack on a MAT police checkpoint on the border of Exarchia. Here are two excerpts from their published communiqué:
\n\n\n\n\nOn the evening of December 4, we made our attack upon the police border control of Exarchia on Voulgaroktonou street. We arrived with sticks and bottles flaming, and when they saw us they immediately started to panic and run shouting for help. We struck fear into their hearts and sticks onto their heads, fire engulfed at least two policemen and at least one patrol car was burned. We hunted them and made sure it was a night to remember. We also stole some of their equipment (clubs, shields, helmets). When we left, the street had changed its character, transformed from a quiet suburban street with a police checkpoint to a battleground, a site of victory. They also bleed, and we can make them.
\n\nWe are everywhere there is a fight against authority, we are the seed in the burning forest. In our hearts are the insurrections that followed the revolt of Alexis, which spread throughout North Africa and the Middle East. These revolts were subdued by dictatorships, theocracy, and the military power of capital, but we still feel their pulse every time we take revolt into our hands.
\n\nIn our hearts are those who fight in the USA, revolting inside and outside of the mass prison system. In our hearts are those who combat the rise of fascism globally (US, Europe, Brazil, etc.). In our hearts are the migrants and those in solidarity who destroy these recent national lines which attempt to divide our struggle in Greece and everywhere. In our hearts are the anarchists fighting the state in Russia, including Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who bombed the FSB office in Archangelsk on October 31. In our hearts are those building and defending the free spaces in France. In our hearts is the Algerian woman murdered in Paris by a gas grenade. In our hearts are the indigenous struggles and assassinated comrades in Latin America.
\n\nAlexis lives in all these struggles, as long as we fight he will never die. We humbly add one more attack to the list.
\n\nDeath to the bosses, death to the police, death to capital.
\n\nAnarchy lives.”
\n\n-From some of those who participated in the attack
\n
![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/12/17/4.jpg\")
Anniversaries marked with fire.
\nThe Exarcheia Commune Rises and Defends Itself, a Review of the Battle—A personal account of the events of December 6, 2016 in Athens recorded by Paul Z. Simons (RIP). Although it, too, is an account by a foreigner, and less informed than the above, it is valuable above all as a document illustrating the character and enthusiasm of Paul Simons, a longtime participant in the anarchist movement who passed away earlier this year.
\n\n" }, { "id": "https://crimethinc.com/2016/04/07/feature-destination-anarchy-every-step-is-an-obstacle", "url": "https://crimethinc.com/2016/04/07/feature-destination-anarchy-every-step-is-an-obstacle", "title": "Destination Anarchy! Every Step Is an Obstacle", "summary": "", "image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/defending1370.jpg", "banner_image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/defending1370.jpg", "date_published": "2016-04-07T16:49:00Z", "date_modified": "2024-09-10T03:55:26Z", "tags": [ "Greece", "democracy", "anarchy" ], "content_html": "By Tasos Sagris of VOID NETWORK, this text is part of a series exploring the anarchist analysis of democracy.
\nI find myself in the courtyard of the School of Fine Arts in Athens, Greece. It’s May 25, 2011, a hot summer day. A five-day anarchist and anti-authoritarian festival starts in six hours and I am scrambling to prepare all the small details I have in mind. I’m working alone.
\nI walk across the campus to bring an electrician from one stage to the other. In Spain, people have been on the streets for ten days now, after 75 years of silence. They are sending us signals of revolt, bringing the flame of liberation from the Arab countries to European land. We are just setting up for our festival: sound systems for three stages and two areas for public discussions and lectures; there is a theater stage, a book fair area, and workshop areas. We are about 30 people from two affinity groups constructing an area for 12,000 people. We are acting like a Spartan army (totally paranoid ideas about the amazing abilities of a small group of determined fighters). The mind is a spaceship. People travel to other planets during the summer nights for thousands of years now. We are on our way to anarchy! Sometimes it seems far away; sometimes it is suddenly all around us.
\nThis same afternoon, there is an assembly behind the Acropolis for people hoping to bring the flame from Spain to Greece. For a year now, a small weekly anarchist assembly has met in Syntagma Square in front of the Parliament to talk about the crises. At the new assembly this afternoon, people decide to go and camp in Syntagma following the calls for action coming from Spain, Tunisia, and Egypt. They publish a call for others to join them.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/may26-1370.jpg\")
May 26, 2011: The second day of protest in Syntagma Square.
\nWe can do an incredible amount of logistical work to prepare a space for people, but if the spirit of revolt draws them somewhere else, the important thing is to be there! We can spend our whole lives building a theoretical argument or an ideological position or an infrastructure for the movement—but when a revolt is taking place, we have to be ready to abandon what keeps us apart and find a way to meet each other, to spread beneficial ideas and revolutionary practices to those in rebellion.
\nWhat appeared that day was a tropical storm, an ocean arising in front of our eyes, vast and wild. 100,000 people gathered suddenly around the parliament, shouting the classic anarchist slogan against democracy, “We Want to Burn, We Want to Burn the Parliament, this Bordello!” Nobody was at the festival for the afternoon lectures; everybody was at Syntagma. More than 8000 people arrived late at night for the concerts and the techno-trance stage. The crowd was in a frenzy, sharing an unfamiliar and wild enthusiasm.
\nWe went to camp at Syntagma with Void Network. We announced this in the weekly anarchist assembly “For the Self-Organization of the Society,” which we had been participating in for three years already. Some of the groups refused to come to Syntagma—they called it petit bourgeois, they kept a distance from it, just watching. Other anarchist, autonomous, and anti-authoritarian groups and individuals stayed at Syntagma all summer. We stayed there too, spreading anarchist ideas and practices among countless desperate people, participating in the organization of the Athens General Assembly to guarantee that everyone would have an equal opportunity to express himself or herself, to ensure that no political party or ultra-left group could manipulate the decisions, to keep leftists from taking over the movement.
\nOther groups came only for the three days of riots. The riots were vast… In the middle of financial collapse, in the middle of inhuman austerity measures, unemployment, and unbelievable state repression… this was one of the best summers of my life.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/may29-1370.jpg\")
May 29, 2011: The encampment in Syntagma Square.
\nWhen the Greek government signed a contract with the IMF and Central European Bank in 2010, agreeing to austerity measures, it gave everyone the chance to see how global economic interests control representative democracy. People felt betrayed by politicians they had believed in for 40 years, politicians they had put in parliament to represent their interests. Furious, they imagined burning down the Parliament; many of them even tried to. Metal bars and 24/7 riot police protected the Parliament for three years, representing the final obstacle between the people and the economic interests that govern our lives.
\nThe collapse of faith in representation was also a kind of emancipation. The obedient victims of superior logic and common sense shook free of the leadership of the politicians and the manipulation of the journalists. The unions and parties lost their influence. A new individual and collective intelligence and liberation arose in place of the old identities. Wild strikes took place after decades of apathy and obedience among what we call the general public, millions of people took part in wild riots—shouting first against themselves for believing in the politicians for so many years, and then against the politicians.
\nThe people took a step. This is what happened during the summer of 2011 in Greece and many other countries.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/june5-1370.jpg\")
June 5, 2011: The encampment in Syntagma Square.
\nI find myself in my mother’s house. It is June 2011. A 65-year-old social democrat, she wonders why people didn’t succeed in storming the parliament yet during the days they have been encircling it. She is afraid to go out in the streets because of the tear gas, but she always asks me, “Maybe I could come also to the camp during the daytime?” My uncle and my aunt are also there, members of the Socialist Party (PASOK) since it was established in 1973; now it governs the country. My aunt is 62. With her eyes shining, she describes how last night the limousine of a famous minister of PASOK passed her outside the Parliament. She punched the back of the limousine, then ran behind it with other people to smash its windows and punch the minister. She feels liberation—she feels free! She took a step…
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/june15-1370.jpg\")
June 15, 2011: Fighting against right-wing nationalist protesters at Syntagma Square.
\nBut were the assemblies that happened in Syntagma liberating, in the end? Or were they “directly democratic” in a way that led directly to the parties of Syriza and Golden Dawn gaining huge numbers of new adherents, for different but fundamentally similar reasons?
\nPeople expressed themselves through the assemblies all around the country. Common people who had never taken part in any kind of public event spoke openly about their deepest fears and their most precious desires, in front of thousands upon thousands of people, with megaphones to guarantee that everyone could hear their voices clearly. It was like some kind of group therapy, a catharsis from the delusions of the past, a jump into public space, an expedition into the vast possibilities of social power. It was a wonderful summer when everyone was staying out in the streets talking with everyone about everything.
\nAnd then democracy was re-established.
\nMost of the anarchists were absent, anyway, committing their biggest political mistake so far this century. In any case, we—the anarchists of our times—do not yet have anarchist answers for most of the problems our societies face. We know very well how to deconstruct the ideas of our enemies, but our worst enemy is our own inability to bring our ideals from the clouds of anarchism down to the rough and dirty ground of anarchy.
\nUnder these circumstances, with no other concrete options, people felt obliged—or forced—to choose between the party of social control offering them a totalitarian leader for a father figure, or the social-democratic party promising them free schools, hospitals, and some amount of protection from the wild neoliberal sharks that govern this world.
\nAnd so, after speaking in the assemblies, after participating in “direct” democracy, people got in line once again to vote, to reaffirm the democracy of the state. Every step you take towards freedom becomes an obstacle to going further. Democracy itself is an obstacle.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/directdemocracy1350.jpg\")
June 15, 2011: Riot police line up behind a banner reading “DIRECT DEMOCRACY.”
\nThe democracy of our times, the highest achievement of bourgeois civilization, has built-in properties that go all the way back to its origins here in Athens thousands of years ago.
\nThe Founding Fathers of every nation imagined themselves as the governors of uneducated savages, perverted masses of poor people ready to commit all kinds of crimes as soon as they were not controlled. Democracy was constructed by people with a political and economic interest in keeping the masses under control by means of words rather than the sword (and with the sword whenever words are not enough). Representative democracy is a system of mind control offering a pseudo-reality of freedom in which you cannot have any serious influence over the fundamental decisions about your life.
\nThe Founding Fathers of democracy—like all fathers, perhaps—fear the critical thinking of their children. Democracy keeps people stupid: we are forced to remain in a childish state of mind, participating in obligatory social structures in which we cannot realize the totality of our capabilities and desires. There is no need to know the exact details of the decisions that determine your life: you have just to vote for who seems good enough to govern your life. Democracy spreads corruption: the leaders drain the resources of the community. Democracy keeps people apathetic. Nobody gives a damn about your opinion; you are just one statistic among millions. Democracy will never teach you to speak in public, just to remain silent and listen to your governors speak. You are there to applaud. Throughout your entire political life, you have been absent, represented.
\nDemocracy keeps you afraid, afraid of the enemies of democracy that have hidden within your tribe, your democratic community, your nation. Democracy created borders in your life and now you have to protect these borders with your own body. The borders are imaginary, social inventions, but your dead body on the battleground is real. Democracy excludes the rest of humanity from your community and it prepares an army, including you, to kill all the excluded ones. The moment you refuse to kill for the sake of democracy, you too are excluded.
\nThis system has an amazing ability to reproduce itself. It produces schools, hospitals, theaters, kindergartens, military camps, university campuses, galleries, museums, and amusement parks. You can spend your whole life inside those institutions, and if you try to escape from them, you will probably end up in an asylum for homeless people, a jail, or a psychiatric clinic (all of which are also democratic institutions). The flipside of this amazing ability to reproduce itself is that democracy is unable to surpass itself, to evolve into something different, in the same way that the Soviet Union never arrived at a communist paradise. Listen to what the democratic states say against those who revolt: “Nobody can blackmail democracy.”
\nSo democracy never changes. Statutes and politicians may be replaced, but it is always the same oligarchic system, aristocratic in its core. Democracy is always searching, through elections and business contracts and nepotism, for the best ones to perpetuate it.
\nThis should come as no surprise. Democracy is a conservative tribal method by which certain ancient Greek tribes reproduced themselves. It will never allow you to become different until you escape from the tribe. And today, when the control of the capitalist market and democratic state are absolute all around the world, there is no other way to escape democracy except to destroy it.
\nEven knowing all of this, some people defend democracy. They want to find a form of democracy that doesn’t end up in oligarchy, just like the 21st century communists who are searching for communist systems that don’t lead to totalitarianism. But the Founding Fathers of all nations stand over democrats of all kinds, looking on approvingly as normality reasserts itself—the same conditions of exploitation, new faces in the same old positions of authority.
\nThis world will never change as long as we are afraid to cut the roots of this order. Democracy is the final alternative for all who are afraid to step into the unknown territory of their own desires, their own power. Likewise, the demand for “real” democracy is the last way for social movements to legitimize themselves in the supposed “social sphere” (and to avoid criminalization). Just as it is the final step, democracy is also the final obstacle to new possibilities arising in social movements.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/june28-1000.jpg\")
June 28, 2011: Nationalist flags replace the banner demanding direct democracy.
\nCould any form of democracy save us from democracy?
\nDirect democracy offers us an alternative way to govern our lives. But is this really what we need? Do we want to reproduce the limits of the old world on a smaller scale? Do we want the “general assembly” to decide about our lives? Or do we want to expand our lives into new forms of self-determination and open sharing of creativity, to offer our power freely for the benefit of all humanity, however we (and those with whom we share our lives) see fit?
\nWhen I take part in the assembly of Void Network, I have to take into account the needs and interests of all my comrades, and our group has to take into account the needs and desires of the greatest possible number of people in this world. If we do not take care of each other, there can be no Void Network, and if we do not take care of the people outside our group, there will be no connection between us and the world. There is no general assembly that could know better than we do how we can make the most of our abilities to benefit the people around us. This is the difference between an affinity group, which produces a collective and expansive power, and a democratic assembly, which concentrates power outside our lives and relationships, alienating us from ourselves and each other.
\nDirect democracy is supposed to get rid of the apathy produced by representation, since it appears as a “participatory” form of democracy. But is the idea that we will have an assembly of millions of people? Would such an assembly really be capable of offering us freedom and equality? Each of us would just feel like a statistic in it as we waited for days for our turn to speak. On the other hand, if we reduce that form to the miniscule level of a neighborhood assembly, don’t we trap ourselves in a microcosm like oversized ants?
\nAny kind of “direct democracy” reproduces the same conditions as representative democracy, just on a smaller scale. The majority suppresses the minority, driving them into apathy. Often, you don’t even try to express your opinion, as you know you will have no chance to put it into practice. Often, you are afraid to speak, as you know that you will be humiliated by the majority. Homogeneity is the ultimate imperative of any democratic procedure, “direct” or representational—a homogeneity that ends up as two final opinions (the majority and minority), losing the vast richness of human intelligence and sensibility, erasing all the complexity and diversity of human needs and desires.
\nThis is why even directly democratic assemblies can end up deciding to carry out inhuman genocides, like the one ancient Athens inflicted upon Mylos in 416 BC. Excluded people have been enslaved and raped as a result of direct democratic decisions. Direct democracy is “members only.” Because it is smaller, it excludes even more people than representative democracy—producing isolated bubbles that fight each other like the city-states of ancient Greece. Everybody is an outsider, a foreigner, a possible enemy; that’s why the community has to build armies to defend itself and you have to die to protect the opinion of the majority even if you disagree with it. Whoever will not go along with the decision must be punished—like Socrates, the world-famous victim of democracy, and thousands of others. The charismatic leaders find the best possible direct connection with their followers, and the democratic mechanisms for manipulating public opinion work directly better than ever! Direct democracy will never liberate us from democracy.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/june29-1370.jpg\")
June 29, 2011: Greek riot police, the new hoplites imposing democracy on the exploited and excluded.
\nMonths later, I find myself at my mother’s house again. It is early in September 2011, a few days before Occupy Wall Street begins. I am sending out emails to comrades in the USA, urging them to expand the encampments all over the states, to spread anarchist ideas and methodologies in the Occupy movement assemblies.
\nMy uncle is also there. As I am looking at my screen, he says to me, “We decided now to move”—I look up at him—“away from PASOK, to try the European communist party of SYRIZA.” I feel terror, because I know that when he says, “We decided,” he speaks for about two million people. It’s as if he knows them all individually—they are the betrayed followers of PASOK, and he was in the social-democrat party from the first day to the last. Syriza had only 4% of the votes just one day ago. I am looking at him, seeing two million zombies walk just a few steps from one party to another. I want to shout, “YOU HAVE TO MOVE FURTHER! EVERY STEP IS A NEW OBSTACLE! YOU CAN’T STOP THERE…”
\nAnarchists have a lot to do before we can speak to this kind of people. They are the realists, these people who understand politics as the management of reality.
\nI imagine history as a beautiful girl: she smiles, and riots explode in Athens. I feel history going away from Athens after staying a long time in my city, now that the Parliament has found a new way to reestablish delusional hopes in people’s minds. Three and a half years later, in 2015, the streets are still silent and the Euro-communists of SYRIZA win the elections with just one word for a campaign slogan: HOPE. (The last thing left in Pandora’s box.) To me, it seems more like DESPERATION.
\nOne of the first decisions the new government of Syriza makes is to remove the protective metal bars and riot police from around the Parliament. The Parliament is safe again. Democracy never changes. It just reforms and reproduces itself.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/defending1370.jpg\")
Defending a space of freedom in Syntagma Square.
\nEvery step is a new obstacle. 2600 years ago in Greece and two centuries ago in Europe the struggle for democracy liberated the poverty-stricken masses from their misery. They found themselves some years later in exactly the same conditions—in eternal war with all possible outsiders, plus the right to vote for it. Christianity and Islam attracted millions of poor people with promises of social justice and eternal love; some years later they became ideological tools for massive genocides all around the world, absolute enemies of human emancipation and obstacles to the arising of human spirituality. The Communist Party, proclaimed to be the voice of all those without voices, became the worst enemy of freedom of expression. Anarchists became ministers and governors in the Spanish revolution—and the CNT, the great organization for the liberation of the workers, organized them to work at the factories for their whole lives until their heroic deaths. It is very possible to sacrifice our lives to liberate ourselves from the old world’s prisons and find ourselves entrapped in a new high-quality jail.
\nAnarcho-communism, an emancipatory vision that we all share in Void Network, is an old vision of a world without money and without borders. But it needs to be updated for the 21st century—otherwise, it will remain in our minds like a mythological ghost, another obstacle. If we want a world without money, this means we have to transform labor into open-source creativity, to turn workplaces into beautiful parks of voluntary creative participation in a global web that freely distributes all material and mental production. Life has to be organized around the production of desires and the enjoyment of needs. If we want a world without borders, that means a world without “foreigners”—so you will not be a “stranger” anywhere in the world at any moment of your life. We have to transform “societies” into open and inclusive communities that will be fully connected in a global network, so that everyone is welcome and useful anywhere and anytime on this planet, not divided into isolated, self-sufficient, xenophobic groups. We have to open “ourselves” to the difference of all the “others.”
\nIn the eight decades since the collapse of the Spanish Revolution, anarchists have avoided offering solid plans for anarchist revolution on this scale. Meanwhile, during those years, capitalism has evolved to levels that the revolutionaries of late 19th century could not have imagined. Global capitalism is here, global anarchism is not.
\nThe only possible way that an anarchist revolution could happen is on a planetary scale—not on a local scale, not on isolated islands. Even if it will take 200 years for an anarchist revolution to extend to every corner of this world, this has to be envisioned, planned, and realized.
\nIf we reduce the scale of our organizational structures to tiny neighborhood assemblies or miniscule eco-communities, we will find ourselves dealing with problems that pass through our small community like the huge ocean waves pass over a small, fragile fishing boat. Neo-totalitarianism will never leave us alone in alternative-lifestyle eco-paradisiacal bubbles (though neoliberalism might sell vacations there to the rich). We cannot close our eyes to the suffering of this world.
\nOn the other hand, if we permit old or new forms of authoritarian mass structures to oblige us to embrace their notions of efficiency and practicality, we will end up in the belly of a new bureaucratic monster. We need a global network of communities on struggle, a network of millions of flexible groups ready to fight against totalitarianism, to create public liberated zones, to defend them against their enemies and connect them in a revolutionary wave of global social emancipation—and to do all this without central control.
\nIn 1964, Marshall McLuhan wrote in his book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man that
\nThe Greeks had the notion of a consensus or a faculty of “common sense” that translated each sense into each other sense, and conferred consciousness on man. Today, when we have extended all parts of our bodies and senses by technology, we are haunted by the need for an outer consensus of technology and experience that would raise our communal lives to the level of a worldwide consensus. When we have achieved a worldwide fragmentation, it is not unnatural to think about a worldwide integration. Such a universality of conscious being for mankind was dreamt of by Dante, who believed that men would remain mere broken fragments until they should be united in an inclusive consciousness.
\nCould anarchy—total freedom, absolute social and economic equality, and global fellowship—offer an inclusive consciousness to fragmented humanity for the 21st century?
\nIt is not simple even to begin thinking about it. And if we want a vision of emancipation that is created socially and collectively, we have to avoid simplistic solutions and the leadership of specific individuals. For example, Karl Marx was a very smart man, but Marxism is an obstacle for free thinking.
\nIn any case, we are anarchists. We are fighting against the state and capitalism to open passages—practices, strategies, and methodologies—that lead to total freedom, social equality, mutual aid, and self-determination. We have to find a way to connect with the many, in order that together we may transform the conditions that produce our reality. Against homogeneity, we have to empower diversity; against certitude, we have to allow all truths to come true; against exclusion, we want to defend the stranger, the queer, the old, the young, the freak, the unknown; against borders, we want to live openheartedly; against atomization, to care for others, to learn from each other, to carry out our great plans and achieve our ultimate goals. Otherwise, established political authority and economic interests will reassert themselves in endless versions of the same conditions. This world will never change until we dare to live free, to share everything, to spread anarchy!
\n \n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/features/destination/images/closing1370.jpg\")
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