Greek Reaction
Greece's economy has hit the country hard, miring it deep in an economic and social crisis. Apart from riots in the streets, protesting new austerity measures undertaken by the government in a desperate attempt to save the country from complete economic collapse, there has been a rise in what is being termed 'far-right' politics.A new political party is gaining strength, one with the innocuous-enough-sounding name of Golden Dawn. Its ideology attracts young Greek men who shave their heads and war black Tee-shirts, reminiscent of skinheads in Germany and Britain, and with a somewhat similar agenda of xenophobic exclusion of foreigners.
"We want all illegal immigrants out, we want to take their stench out of this place", explained one candidate for the ultra nationalist party. "They shouldn't be here and they will leave one way or the other - the good or the bad way", he said ominously at a meeting in Piraeus.
Most illegal immigrants arriving in Greece entered by land or sea mostly by way of Turkey. Greece is not the only European Union country that has been the recipient of these people seeking asylum from disruptive situations in their homelands. Many of them arrived in Italy representing people in flight from the Arab Spring turmoil.
People from West Africa, from Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Africa crowd the country and its city streets. Greece, a country of 11 million people now has over one million immigrants, both legal and illegal. Many immigrants view Greece as a temporary stop on their way to more prosperous areas of the EU.
Golden Dawn's candidates include farmers, shepherds, workers and retired army officers, not just disaffected youth. Its leader, Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, served in the Greek special forces. When he was elected to the Athens city council in 2010 he gave the Nazi salute on his first official appearance. Little wonder it has been linked to racist, anti-immigrant attacks.
And it is preparing to sit in parliament. Polls indicate the party can expect to take between 4.1 and 5.7% of the popular vote in next month's elections. The party has a tried-and-true strategy to increase its visibility and its popular appeal. In working class neighbourhoods of Athens, Golden Dawn represents itself as a useful group to hard-pressed people.
Party members give needy families bags of rice and pasta, olive oil and clothing. The cartons containing these gifts have labels reading "I vote for Golden Dawn to clean up the place", and "for Athens to become Greek again". A cancer-stricken patient was given large bags of food, reducing her to tears. "I hear they are doing nice things for people. Why not vote for them?" her elderly husband said.
"It's the first time someone has brought us clothes and food. Only the church has helped us so far", said another woman suffering from epilepsy and who supports her family on welfare benefits. "'I'll vote for Golden Dawn, maybe it's time for something new." There's nothing new about this technique; it was pioneered by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, and practised by its offshoots Hamas and Hezbollah.
The party's manifesto insists that illegal immigrants must be arrested and deported. Legal immigrants too are to be expelled. Crimes committed by immigrants should fall under a special category, with sentences committed to special detention centres where the immigrants are to be put to work.
Politicians responsible for Greece's economic crisis should have their properties confiscated and they to be jailed. Any Greek citizen who refuses to join the conscript army should be stripped of citizenship and exiled.
"For the Communists we are Nazis, for the Socialists we are fascists and for the conservatives we are extreme right. Let them call me what they want. I do what I do with honour", proclaimed one Golden Dawn member anonymously.
Labels: European Union, Greece, Human Relations, Immigration, Political Realities
posted by Pieface @ Friday, April 27, 2012
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