“They don’t want us in Greece. But they won’t let us leave. We are in a place worse than a prison. We can’t work, we have no housing, no medical care, schools for our kids and we are running out of money.”
The rise of new left leaders such as Alexis Tsipras in Greece and Pablo Iglesias in Spain reflects a new desire for leadership and political representation at odds with the neoanarchist culture that has for long dominated the radical left and influenced the movements of 2011.
It was the day, seventy years ago this Tuesday, when the British Army at war with Germany switched their allegiance, opening fire upon – and arming Greek collaborators with the Nazis to fire upon – a civilian crowd in Syntagma Square.
A soap factory in Greece, abandoned by its owners, has been reclaimed by its workers - and provides a vital example of how things can be done differently.
Once a hegemonic presence in Greek politics, PASOK (the Panhellenic Socialist Movement) is now on the verge of extinction. What happened?
More democracy and power to the people is a good starting point. Democracy is not weak or defenseless in Greece and freedom of thought and ideology are the essence of democracy.
The political and economic elites did not hesitate to present a far-right political party as a ‘responsible’ political power. This left the door open for the neo-Nazi movement.
The new Type C maximum security prisons Greece is about to introduce will inaugurate a new model for Europe in which our understanding of “crime” and “punishment” means little.
Every July I cannot stop thinking of that morning of July 20, 1974. A boy, born and raised on the Greek island of Lesbos, in very close proximity to Turkey, listening as his mother tells him that Turkish planes are flying over the village, and that we may be invaded.
Human rights violations in immigration enforcement at the external borders of the EU are almost a daily phenomenon. Yet, they have been treated as ‘exceptional’. What can we learn from looking at the case of Greek security professionals?
