Eyewitness Account-Greek Independence Day 25th March 2012

24th March 2012

The quisling unelected govt of the bankster Papadimios announced harsh measures for the annual independence day parade. More than 4,000 police are to surround all the entrances to Sindagma Sq. The metro station will not stop at Sindagma or Panepistimio station and will only work as far down as Omonia. On Friday the parties of the fake-Left Sinaspismos and KKE met the Primeminister Papadimos and announced that a provocation might ensue as part of the Troikas plan to complete the looting of Greece.

Instead of leaving Parliament and enforcing thus a date for elections, they play the game of talking to the Quisling PM, creating fear in people so they dont disrupt the Independence Day parade.

15 organisations marched under the umbrella of EPAM (united popular front) (including the Spitha movement of Mikis Theodorakis) from Marathonas to the Old Olympic Stadium today (24miles), like they did for the peace movement (Lambrakis youth in the 1960's)holding the flag of Independence against the Ottoman Empire and chanting slogans Bread Peace Freedom the Junta didn't Die in 1973.

The quisling politicians will have a show tomorrow. The police on their own without teargas wont be able to contain the crowds.

25th March 2012
The massive police and riot police presence in Athens ensured it was impossible to pass through the security cordons to disrupt the Independence Day parade. Many protestors tried to enter the parade from the bottom half of Sindagma Sq where the police had placed a cordon with metal barriers tied by a metal rope from one end to the other and when they started pushing the riot police was called and they were surrounded and forced back towards Ermou St. The Left officially didn’t take part and boycotted the parade and with its endless fear mongering alongside the mass media of disinformation people didn’t turn up to the centre and those that did, didn’t have the numbers to try anything dynamic.

But people chanted slogans against the training police officers that marches calling them quislings, traitors and sellouts. Sections of the army officers training personnel marched chanting slogans that Macedonia is Greek. From those on the Left that did take part we had Antarsya with a block which marched towards the parade but obviously couldn’t get far wanting to abolish the parade, We also had the forces around EPAM which carried Greek flags and met around the statue of Kolokotronis (leader of the Greek Revolution of 1821) which is front of the Greek stock exchange and they also put up a banner of the original flag of 1821 at the highest point in Athens Lycavittos church. The Indignant motorbikers turned up at some point and slogans were chanted as well as the national anthem. Sections of the Left are finally waking up to the fact that they have to confront Greek history from a revolutionary perspective and not hand it over to the rightist forces. The Greek Revolution liberated Greece from the Ottoman Empire and everyone one speaks to says that this is urgent today, to liberate Greece from the foreign occupation
Whilst the centre was essentially a Pyrrhic victory for the banksters government of Papadimos the periphery was not, The celebration in Iraklion Crete, which was a centre of Pasoks electoral base was totally disrupted and the parade was disrupted with government officials being forced out, and in Patras they didn’t turn up and tear gas was fired. Trouble also hit Volos and other regional cities.

The Independence day parade clearly shows that they occurred under an occupation. Everyone is waiting for someone else to start something dynamic in terms of resistance. The peaceful protests against the IMF ECB have reached their limit and gone beyond their natural limits. The clear signs of the dying days of a Greek Weimar Republic are everywhere to be seen. From the soup kitchens, to the burnt out buildings after the police provocation in February inaugurating the IMF measures part two, the rise of many smaller political parties and the collapse of the ruling political formations. The only difference being the presence of many illegal immigrants who arrive daily in their hundreds onto Greek shores and end up on the streets of Athens in their hundreds of thousands.

Not having announced elections yet, the Greek political establishment is waiting for a miracle or the 2nd coming of Christ. Either which way what started off as provisional economic measures seem to have no end in sight. Decay and depression are going to lead to a social explosion, What form this takes and in which direction it goes, depends on how quickly the forces of the fake Left disitigrate and open the road to a real Left.

For the Steelworker there is no going back…

Excerpts from the steelworkers leader George Sifonias…speaking at the gates of the Factory last Sunday.



Today we have entered 126days of strikes and we determined to continue more dynamically more united up until our demands are met. Those who believe they can terrorise us with injunctions, with sackings, with prosecutors and police are being fooled.


They live in the dark all those who believe we are going to return to fire and steel for 400 and 500 Euros. What the bosses are doing to us making us live with less than what they spend for their dogs and cats. We have said it before, for the steelworker there is no going back, we aint living with 400 Euros.

Manesis (owner) believes that he can terrorise us with threats that he will shut the factory, that he will disappoint us as he refuses to meet with us. On the one hand he threatens us with the closure of the factory and on the other with the aid of the coalition government aims plans to open a private port, wanting a licence to employ 420workers for 365days of the year.

On the one hand he remains indifferent and from the other he aims to set up a strikebreaking force, he produces statements which show panic and not indifference. He understands that it will be difficult for him to find steelworkers to sell out this heroic struggle.

A few co-workers who were conned by lies and sycophancy and turned them against the union now most of them declare openly they were deceived, that they trust the union, its decisions and its mass meetings .
We declare openly that he will find a steel wall to every splitting and terrorist attempts against us. We are united and decided to have those who were fired to return.
They are lost the coalition of ND and PASOK and their hangers on if they believe we will be fooled by the Minister of Employment “does not understand the licence of the Minister of Environment for the port and that he will call Manesis and ask him what he seeks on doing. Trying to deceive us stating, cancel the strike and then we will discuss the matters that you have placed on the table…

Government and Manesis, government and industry, bankers, shipowners, big wholesales, big construction firms are all planning deciding and implementing all the anti-working class measures. They are opposite us the Greek TUC, POEM (Greek sailors union) generally government tradeunions. They were also praying we kneel over. They are opposite us, they are our enemies, they don’t deceive us they don’t fool us. It is a government of the plutocracy, we will fight with tooth and nail for it to fall one hour early.

They didn’t achieve in forcing us to kneel, to collapse us. They are fooled if they think that they can deceive us and that they can con the workers that support them. That we will always have them round our necks. The Greek TUC doesn’t belong to the workers, it is an arm of the capitalists.
Comrades, workers, unemployed, self-employed young and old.
We learn very clearly that the struggle is now more decisive and more difficult phase. As long as the employers are being confronted they will become more fierce. The state will provide services with prosecutors, the police and the repressive measures.

Now we are as steelworkers more strong more organised and more astute. During the 126 days of strikes we have learnt a lot, the power of our strength the power of class unity for the stance and the tricks of the employers for all those who are coming near us for who is coming to aid us and who to attack us.

We brought to the fore the worth of collective struggle, the power of united class struggle the power and the strength of workers solidarity. The steel, disciplined vanguard characteristics of the industrial worker.

We showed the two worlds, that of Manesis and his class, and the steelworkers and their class, where we have nothing in common, no common interest.

Now though we need bigger support and solidarity. We now believe that they are creating better conditions so as to light the fire of Steelworkers so the whole of Greece becomes a Steelworkers cauldron. Now the things are more simple. We either agree to rise up or decide to live on 300 Euros a month and get a pension of 70, to become slaves of the 21st century.

We call all the workers, the young to follow our example and rise up. To transform every place of work into a field of battle. To not allo the anti-working class measures to pass. To support our contracts, to demand pay rises. To continue until we take control everything that belongs to us”

Notes
This strike ended in defeat after all the factories weren't shut down in particular the Volos factory. This was blocked by the KKE leadership which didn't wan to be accused of racism as a majority of the employees there were immigrants.

Glezos-Theodorakis-Kazakis KKE-Sinaspismos-Expelled PASOK Popular Front?

Glezos and Theodorakis attending the Vote in Parliament






Kazakis





Whilst the allegatioin was that Glezos and Theodorakis were attacked on the the large demo in February which had over a million on the streets the reality is that they were escorted by the chief of police and a show was made to pretend they were attacked in order to justify their left profile.

They attended the voting session of Parliament with respect to the IMF measures Pt 2 or otherwise known as Memorandum 2 in Greece and were given top seat facing all the MP's in Parliament.

A letter has circulated by Kazakis from EPAM (ex-KKE economist) asking for unity between Sinaspismos and the KKE and to support the army to hit the streets.

"If we dont act quickly he states, blood will be spilt. Not only from the praetorian guards of the government but from the people itself who will have lost hope. If all these measures are implemented in the next two-three months half the Greeks will not have food to eat. When people are committing suicide daily when they see their children die as there are no gauzes in the hospital, how easy is it for the people to turn and we have a bloody conflict..."

This letter was sent also to the Head of the Army, the Police and the Public Sector Unions.

On the day of the big demo Kazakis was in a hotel lunching and watching the tear gas rip the Greeks apart

Kazakis in his own words
http://www.attac.org/en/groups/centre-and-periphery-abolition-neocolonialism-working-groupcpwg/dimitris-kazakis-what-will