Δευτέρα 25 Φεβρουαρίου 2013
Κυριακή 24 Φεβρουαρίου 2013
Τρίτη 19 Φεβρουαρίου 2013
Ανακοίνωση-Κάλεσμα για Σκουριές
ΕΝΑΝΤΙΑ ΣΤΗΣ ΦΥΣΗΣ ΤΗ ΛΕΗΛΑΣΙΑ
ΑΓΩΝΑΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΓΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΝ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΑ
Το Σάββατο 16/2 στο χώρο της ανοιχτής εξόρυξης κάηκαν από αγνώστους ένα μέρος των εγκαταστάσεων και των μηχανημάτων της Ελληνικός Χρυσός Α.Ε. Ακολούθησε κύμα προσαγωγών με εισβολές σε σπίτια ενώ έχει πραγματοποιηθεί προς το παρόν μια σύλληψη.
Πουθενά στον κόσμο οι εξορύξεις του χρυσού δεν έγιναν μετά βαίων και κλάδων. Από την Αφρική μέχρι τη Λατινική Αμερική ο χρυσός είναι συνδεδεμένος με εξεγέρσεις, με νεκρούς με φυλακίσεις.
Μόνο αφελείς ή πολιτικάντηδες αγνοούν ή αποκρύπτουν αυτήν την πραγματικότητα. Μόνο αφελείς ή πολιτικάντηδες “έξω” βλέπουν αγωνιστές και “μέσα” προβοκάτορες. Εδώ και παραπάνω από ένα χρόνο, οι Σκουριές είναι ένα πεδίο μάχης ανάμεσα στην εταιρεία και τους κατοίκους των γύρω περιοχών, γιατί οποιαδήποτε συζήτηση, οποιαδήποτε διαβούλευση ήταν αντιμέτωπη με την ίδια διαταγή: Το βουνό ανήκει στην εταιρεία και το κράτος θα είναι εκεί για να προστατεύσει τα συμφέροντά της.
Εκατοντάδες αστυνομικοί και σεκιουριτάδες σαν ιδιωτικός στρατός, επιστρατευμένοι εργαζόμενοι σε ρόλο τραμπούκου, συρματοπλέγματα παντού. Το τοπίο στον Κάκκαβο τελεί υπό καθεστώς κρατικού και ιδιωτικού ολοκληρωτισμού. Η αγριότητα της καταστολής ειδικά στην τελευταία κινητοποίηση θα μπορούσε να είχε αφήσει πίσω της νεκρούς. Άφησε πολλούς τραυματίες και δεκατέσσερις συλλήψεις.
Ο τσαμπουκάς του κράτους και της εταιρείας αναπτύσσουν πράγματι την περιοχή. Η ανάπτυξη των δυνάμεων καταστολής όχι μόνο στο βουνό αλλά και μέσα στα χωριά που αντιστέκονται είναι η πρώτη σοβαρή επένδυση της ανοιχτής εξόρυξης αλλά και προϋπόθεσή της. Μέσα σ' αυτές τις συνθήκες τα γεγονότα του Σαββάτου δεν κρύβουν κανένα μυστήριο, ούτε πράκτορες, ούτε προβοκάτορες. Εξάλλου ο Κάκκαβος απ' την Κατοχή έκρυβε θαρραλέους. Και σε αγώνες που ο θάνατος δεν είναι λογοτεχνική επινόηση για να συγκινήσει αλλά πραγματική απειλή, κάπου κάπου χρειάζεται λίγο περίσσιο θάρρος για να τον αντιμετωπίσεις και πολιτική αξιοπρέπεια για να αναγνωρίσεις τις διαδρομές της αντίστασης στου κανόνες του.
Όλοι στην πορεία προς τις Σκουριές, Κυριακή 24/2.
Όχι στην εξόρυξη και τη λεηλασία
Όχι στην τρομοκρατία
Αντίσταση στην κρατική καταστολή
Η αλληλεγγύη είναι το όπλο μας
Ο αγώνας είναι κοινός και ενιαίος από όλους, με όλους, για όλους
Ενάντια στο χρυσό θάνατο
Κανένας όμηρος στα χέρια του κράτους
Αντιεξουσιαστική Κίνηση Θεσσαλονίκης
Κυριακή 17 Φεβρουαρίου 2013
Συνέντευξη στο Workers Solidarity Movement (Ιρλανδίας)
Last weekend in the largest show of strength in over a decade thousands of anarchist marched to protest against the violent eviction of the squats of Villa Amalias and Skaramagka and Patision Sts in Athens and also the very repressive climate that police and state have created the last months in Greece.
Below is an interview with one of the largest anarchist groups in Greece- the Anti-Authoritarian Movement (AK) in relation to the present political and social climate in Greece, the threat posed by the far-right and of course the work of the anarchist movement.
Can you provide some background regarding the current crisis and austerity programme in Greece and how it is affecting the working class?
The current crisis has affected deeply the Greek society. Unemployment and poverty has increased hugely. There are homes without food or electricity. Everyday people are losing their work. Lots of people move abroad in order to work. And we think that this is only the beginning. It’s actually another “shock doctrine” experiment.
Anarchism has strong roots in many parts of the globe. When did it first emerge in Greece and what is it current strengths and weaknesses?
Anarchists have been present in Greece from the 1900’s. The big rise of the anarchist movement was in the 1980s though. There are plenty of strengths and weaknesses. We can just mention the participation and solidarity on social struggles of workers, immigrants or prisoners, the strength in the youth, the struggle against repression and against the capital. There must be a special mention on the struggle and the clashes against the IMF cuts and measures.
Who are the Anti-Authoritarian Movement (AK) and what type of activities and struggles are they involved in in terms of unions and community campaigns?
AK is a network of assemblies in some greek cities. There is a variety of struggles we are involved in. At the moment our main campaigns have to do with the support of the workers of “VioMe” factory, who are about to take over the factory and work it in a self – organized manner, the struggle in solidarity to the civilians of Chalkidiki, Kilkis and Thrace, against the goldmines that are going to be built in their regions (a fast-track investment which would be a catastrophe for the area) and generally the support of local struggles against the catastrophic and exploitative choices of the state and capital. Also, in Thessaloniki we participate to two social centers (“Micropolis” and “Scholeio” ) where at the moment we try to create new self – organized forms and structures of social and solidarity economy in order to respond to the crisis and to work on a proposition for a different way of life, a different society. You see, things are in a really critical condition now in Greece and there are basically two routes to choose either mass brutality or creativity. In this process we collaborate with lots of people and groups from Thessaloniki and from all around Greece who work in similar projects. Last but not least we should mention our focus to the antifacist struggle which is also a crucial issue as the radical neo-nazi party of Greece continues rising….
How many anarchist prisoners are incarcerated in Greek’s prisoners?
There must be over 20. Most of them have been accused for armed struggle.
Many sections of the foreign media such as The Guardian Newspaper have focused on the worrying rise of the far-right Golden Dawn party comparing the situation today with the Weimer Republic during the early 1930s. Who are they and what are anarchists and anti-fascists doing to combat their influence?
There is a rise of the neonazi and not just far-right Golden Dawn party. Not only the crisis but the state has created this rise. Golden Dawn was always a tool of the state where police couldn’t act. The state has acted by far more nazi way than the Nazis. The creation of detention centers for the refugees, the beatings of the demonstrators, the refugees, the recent tortures of the antifascists in the police headquarters, the well known brotherhood between police and Golden Dawn (50% of the police voted for it)… All these are turned now into a rise for the Nazis.
With the rise of Golden dawn, there is also a rise of the antifascist movement. Except of the try to inform the society about the role of Golden Dawn and its relations with the police, there is also a struggle to keep them off the streets and minimize their presence in the society. So far, it seems that we have the strength to do it despite their help from the state.
What is your perspective regarding the rise of the radical leftist party Syriza and did many anarchists vote for them in the last election?
First of all, Syriza is not radical at all. We will remind our announcement after the last elections. “We welcome Syriza in authority’s hell”. Syriza gained this rise from the movement in Syntagma Square but it is not the movement. It is a leftist party struggling to be government. We don’t know how many of the anarchists voted Syriza. We know that our assembly –Thessaloniki’s- didn’t vote at all.
Despite their being over dozen general strikes the current administration under New Democracy continues to impose vicious austerity measures at the behest of the IMF-EU. What do you think should be the next step and what role anarchists should play in these struggles?
It’s hard to predict the next step. One thing we understood, after struggling against a really determined repressive regime throughout the last 3 years, is that the “traditional” ways of struggling against their policies are not really effective at the moment. So nowadays, we try to create new bonds with different parts of the society which will help us resist and build something new. We will try to show to the society that there is an alternative way without the state and the capital. It’s a hard way, we know it but we wouldn’t be struggling for it if we don’t think it is possible. We can’t talk on behalf of all anarchists, we speak for our choices and strategy as AK.
What role can anarchists play outside of Greece in helping the movement?
The part of solidarity is so important at the moment. It helps people to keep on struggling and encourage them. It is vital also to press the authorities. It is so helpful to see that there are comrades and people out of your country who care about you and what is happening here. We feel we are not alone in this attack of the state and the capital. In addition we always look for meetings and collaborations with groups and collectives of Europe and especially from the PIIGS countries to share thoughts, experiences and forms of struggle. We shouldn’t be alone in this. You shouldn’t be alone. We are all together. For that reason during the last year we participate to the “European” anti-capitalistic network M31 (http://march31.net/).
Συνέντευξη στο αμερικάνικο περιοδικό "The New Significance"
http://www.thenewsignificance.com/2013/02/13/the-future-of-greece-a-society-of-barbarism-or-of-social-spaces-for-freedom/
Introduction
Below is an interview with two members of the Greek Anti-Authoritarian Movement (AK) – Malamas Sotiriou and Grigoris Tsilimandos – who are both based in Thessaloniki. In addition to being members of Alpha Kappa – Greece’s largest anti-authoritarian movement – Malamas and Grigoris participate in the free social center Micropolis. Questions were posed by Mark Bray, Preeti Kaur and Chris Spannos. The interview was produced for The New Significance, an online magazine exploring revolutionary forces for change and autonomy in the 21st Century.
What is the Anti-Authoritarian Movement, Alpha Kappa?
Grigoris: The Anti-Authoritarian Movement began in 2002 in response to news that the 2003 European Union (EU) West Balkans summit was going to take place near Thessaloniki, under the Greek presidency of the EU. It’s a political network that anti-authoritarians participate in. EU gatherings were held in the capitals of all the countries that made up the EU at that time. The High Level part of the tour – with presidents, primes ministers and heads of state – was going to be held in Thessaloniki. So, the Anti-Authoritarian Movement began in 2002 in response to this.
Do you make decisions in assemblies? Who can participate in the movement?
Grigoris: Of course there are assemblies to make decisions and the assemblies are open to everybody. In that way there are no members in the traditional meaning of the word.
The Anti-Authoritarian Movement may have begun in 2002-2003 with the EU Summit but the members and originators of Alpha Kappa already participated in general anti-authoritarian movements of Greece that started after the dictatorship fell in 1974 (Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos’ dictatorship was in power between 1967 to 1974).
Anti-authoritarian movements were something new – a line in the history of the movements in Greece – because the other movements in general were very critical of the birth of the Anti-Authoritarian Movement.
Movements were critical in the beginning but now relations have normalized. So we are now part of the movements and we have also put some new things and themes in the anarchist movement in Greece.
We also stopped talking about the movement only from the point of view of the movement and for the movement. We started talking from the point of view of society and asking questions from the point of view of society. Then, we try to answer like a movement. By doing this we break the cycle of ideologies.
Were anarchist and anti-authoritarian politics popular in Greece over the past decades? Or, put another way, when did they start becoming more popular?
Grigoris: These politics began to become more popular after the 1970’s, after Georgios Papadopoulos fell from power in 1974. Between 1974 and 1981 the New Democracy party was in power. Then in 1981, Andres Papandreou, became Prime Minister. He took up Left ideas in Greece. This created more space for anti-authoritarian and anarchist ideas.
How wide-spread is the Anti-Authoritarian Movement across Greece today and what role do the free social centers play?
Grigoris: It matters less how widespread the Anti-Authoritarian Movement is than how popular the anti-authoritarian movement agenda is in Greece.
We can say for example, for fun, the whole thing with Syriza and Alexander Tsipras – who are now the second most popular party in Greece – that half of the ideas that they were using to express the political agenda of their party were things that the Anti-Authoritarian Movement had already put forward. For example, it was first at the 2009 international anti-authoritarian festival (the BFest) in Athens that Michael Albert talked about something called “Solidarity Economy” – participatory economics – so then we started talking about it and making it reality. And then the Left started talking about it and making it reality as well – which is very popular and on the agenda of Syriza.
The same happened with the movements in the city centers. And the same happened in the ecology movements. We participate and change the subject from being centered on only one thing (such as ecology) to being a social movement.
Can you tell us about Micropolis – the free social center in Thessaloniki – as one example of how you put these ideas into practice?
Malamas: Micropolis was needed after the 2008 riots, which took place not only in Athens, but in many cities in Greece, including in Thessaloniki. The riots started following the shooting of young Alexander Grigoropoulos in December 2008. Micropolis was needed after the riots in Thessaloniki. It was a need for the people who participated in the riots and the events that were happening in Thessaoloniki. They gathered in order to have a social space. I would call it a social space for freedom.
In Micropolis we stared to turn our ideas, for example about wanting an economy of solidarity, into reality. What we wanted to do and were trying to do – and have succeeded in a way – was to have the social center become a small autonomous community. And of course communities also have the economic sphere in their lives so we are trying to do production through anti-authoritarian views.
At Micropolis there are many different organizational teams. There is the kick boxing team, the kitchen that serves cheap food every day, there is the market where we have fresh food from local producers and we have an engagement with producers around what we need, what they can produce and for how much. In the market we also try to engage in solidarity activities like purchasing coffee from the Zapatistas and sugar from the Brazilian MST (Landless Workers Movement). There is also the soap team who make soap from used oil. And the table tennis team.
The Anti-Authoritarian Movement has its political network inside Micropolis. There is “VIDA” whose name has a double meaning. In Spanish it means “Life” and in Greek it means “Screw”. VIDA makes furniture by using material from the street and sells it for a social purpose like helping to raise money for infrastructure and will help disabled people, for example, to come into Micropolis, since we have had only stairs until now. We have the wild animals team who support, help, and take care of wild animals that are found injured in the woods or wherever. And there is a free store where we put things that we don’t want or need anymore and anyone who wants or needs those things comes and gets it for free. There is also a library if you want to take a book and return it and there is a book store if you have money and you want to buy and keep it.
How are all these activities organized?
Malamas: There is a main assembly on Tuesdays and we take part in it as different teams of Micropolis. Of course there is direct democracy in decisions and we kind of have a good understanding of this form of decision-making. These decisions are made on full consensus. We don’t have voting.
Recently there has been a series of police raids on squats and social centers. What is your understanding of why these raids have been happening? How has this impacted your work and the work of movements on the ground?
Malamas: Yes, recently the state has started invasions in social centers and squats. This is just the beginning. The minister of “Public Order and Protection of the Citizen” has announced his intention to be strict against “spaces of lawlessness”. This term includes all the free social spaces, everything that’s not under the control of the state. So, this includes all of the radical movement who offers a perspective for a different way of society without the state.
There was an immediate reaction from the movement. A huge demonstration was held in Athens and in many cities in Greece including Thessaloniki. Many actions took place. This state repression activated all the social centers to make the bonds between them stronger and be more open to the society.
Could you tell us about the rise of Fascism and Golden Dawn here in Greece as well as some of the current organizing you are doing against it?
Grigoris: There are many reasons why – which we won’t analyze now – a small neo-nazi, and kind of criminal, party took from 0.5% to 7% of the electoral vote in a very small period of time. It’s not just a fascist party. It’s a neo-nazi party. They have Nazism in their ideology. They are also connected to the mafia and, generally, their members are criminals who also participate in the mafia.
This shows a deep social crisis in Greece. Not only a financial crisis – this is a sign of a deep social one.
This situation began 10 years ago when there were big protests and demonstrations about Macedonia. So nationalism rose then and that was the point when it began to be popular. This was the point when nationalism in Greece increased hugely. In the previous years in Greece, nationalism was in a kind of hiding. Not so much underground. But the protests about Macedonia was the point it began to rise. Nationalism and far right speeches became more popular after that and people were more receptive then.
And when the political system was destroyed after the crisis all these nationalistic and far-right ideas, they found a haven. And PASOK – the so-called “socialist” party – is more responsible for this than the right wing New Democracy party. PASOK gave advantages to the far-right party LAOS (Popular Orthodox Rally). LAOS and Georgios Karatzaferis (their leader) was the connection between the right and Golden Dawn and when LAOS collapsed the way was open for the neo-nazi Golden Dawn to enter into the political scene of Greece. Because things are not stable, at all, the way is open for the neo-nazis to have lots of influence and be a big problem for Greece. It’s not just a small group of criminals any more. It’s a big problem.
Leftists in Greece are saying that Greece is the experiment for all of Europe to see if they can try to make the same thing happen in others countries like Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal. And what they are doing in Greece they will try to do in the whole of Europe. This is half the truth. The other half of the truth is that European Union leaders are trying to destroy our rights and destroy everything in our social and financial life to show the rest of Europe that they will suffer like Greeks if they don’t play by the European Union’s rules and demands. This is why there is no attempt – even by capitalism’s own standards and interests – to avoid what is happening in Greece and to try to develop again.
The other view is that Greece is ready for social revolution. This is more worrying for the leaders of the European Union. And more worrying for them than the threat of Fascism.
What is your assessment of the relationship between the Greek government and police with Golden Dawn?
Malamas: What worries me is when the Greek state is teaching fascism to fascists. I mean that the Greek state has given the right to the fascists in order to attack immigrants and attack homosexuals. And although they haven’t done it yet, they will some time, give them the right to attack the social centers, Leftists or anarchists. One problem is that the detention centers for immigrants were made by the government not the fascists. The fascists and Nazis also created detention centers however they did it for the Jews. Another problem is that the connections between the police and Golden Dawn are very tight – 50 to 60 percent of the police officers have voted for Golden Dawn. There is also the problem that the state shows us that Golden Dawn members will go unpunished no matter what they do. We see that for example when the anti-fascists had a clash with the fascists and the 15 anti-fascists were tortured by the police like they were protecting their little brother – fascism. That example was obvious but it only became well known because of foreign newspapers (the Guardian for example) reported on these events outside of Greece. Until then no one inside Greece made it public. And this is also another problem with the media because we are now, like some decades ago, experiencing a situation similar to the past dictatorship, when the media from Greece didn’t say anything about the tortures and it took foreign reporters outside of Greece to say what was happening inside our country.
Grigoris: On the subject of 50 to 60 percent of police officers supporting Golden Dawn, some people ask “how do you know that?” Well, there are specific poll stations where only the police officers go to vote. So at the end of the elections, if you know which of the poll stations have the police officers vote, you can understand the percentages. Their vote is not for Golden Dawn. They are not pro Golden Dawn – they are Golden Dawn. You can understand that from the streets, when there are demonstrations, from their brutality against protestors.
In the Anti-Authoritarian Movement we have claimed that on the question of “revolution or barbarism” the state will support barbarism. This is obvious with every decision it has made already. And with all the things that it has done like within the detention centers, and with repression in the streets and so on.
The Left, Syriza for example, is trying more to be in government than trying to solve and understand things that are already happening in social life in Greece. They are trying to be the ruling government but they don’t realize that that if they become the leading party with Golden Dawn possibly holding 13 to 15 percent of parliamentary seats (which the polls estimate), it wouldn’t be easy to control the situation.
And because the leader of Golden Dawn was accused years ago for bombing a cinema full of people in it, the possibility of their making another provocation like this in the future is something we should expect. For example, in 2008 Golden Dawn threw grenades in an immigrant center in Athens. These provocations could repeat like in Italy in the 1970’s where bombings by the right-wing were blamed on someone else like the workers or communists or anarchists.
Malamas: I must add something here. A bomb was blown up in a house and they found the guy who did it. This guy was a member of Golden Dawn. They found in his place about 60 bombs. The problem is that nobody knows – it wasn’t public – we never found out what all these bombs were for. What was their target? This is another example of the relationship between Golden Dawn and the police. The treatment is not the same – the state talks about the two extremes of fascism and anarchism – but of course the two are not the same if one is involved with the police and the other is getting brutal treatment from the police. So this guy who was found with 60 bombs, it was never made public what his bombs were about – if it was a terrorist group or something – and they keep the details of this event in the dark. On the other hand the 15 anti-fascists who participated in the motorcycle patrols were tortured. Of course we don’t know, again, the names of the police who did that.
Grigoris: We have to think about how much money Golden Dawn has now that they are in parliament. They have 7.5 million Euros as a party now. As a party they also have a military commitment and structure. So you can understand what that means. And with connections to the police, army and mafia, Golden Dawn can express itself in many ways. And with this money and these connections you don’t know how it could be expressed in the streets. This is not to make us frightened. But thinking that we are going the way of revolution without any fear, and we are trying to be more powerful in our battle.
Τετάρτη 13 Φεβρουαρίου 2013
ΒΙΟ.ΜΕ.: άνοιγμα του εργοστασίου στα χέρια των εργατών
Την Τρίτη 12/2/2012 το εργοστάσιο της ΒΙΟ.ΜΕ. ξεκίνησε να λειτουργεί στα χέρια των εργαζομένων! Πλήθος αλληλέγγυων συγκεντρώθηκαν στο εργοστάσιο και περιηγήθηκαν στους χώρους του. Ο αγώνας συνεχίζεται, η αλληλεγγύη είναι το όπλο μας!
Τρίτη 12 Φεβρουαρίου 2013
Φωτογραφίες από τη συναυλία αλληλεγγύης στη ΒΙΟ.ΜΕ.
Στις 11/2/2013 πραγματοποιήθηκε συναυλία αλληλεγγύης στον αγώνα των εργαζομένων της ΒΙΟ.ΜΕ. στο Ιβανώφειο με τους Θ.Παπακωνσταντίνου, Γ.Χαρούλη και Χαϊνηδες.
Το Ιβανώφειο αποδείχθηκε μικρό για τη διοργάνωση αυτή... από νωρίς γέμισε ασφυκτικά, με αποτέλεσμα χιλιάδες κόσμου να μην καταφέρουν τελικά να μπουν και να παρακολουθήσουν τη συναυλία.
Κατά τη διάρκεια της συναυλίας πραγματοποιήθηκαν παρεμβάσεις από μέλη του σωματείου των εργαζομένων και από μέλη της ανοιχτής πρωτοβουλίας αλληλεγγύης, ενώ καθόλη τη διάρκεια της βραδιάς φωνάζονταν συνθήματα αλληλεγγύης από τον κόσμο.
Εγγραφή σε:
Αναρτήσεις (Atom)