While w e were inspired, even exhilarated, by the strength of SYRIZA and its meteoric growth in influence and potential power, at the same time, we became increasingly aware of the ominous threat posed by the rise of Golden Dawn. Although it denies any association with neo-Nazism, Golden Dawn has adopted Third Reich paraphernalia and uses a symbol closely resembling the swastik a. Its leaders have written and spoken of their admiration for Hitler and the Nazis. It is mobilizing anti-immigrant sentiment among many Greeks who blame immigrants for the economic crisis. Currently, SYRIZA has 71 MPs, compared with Golden Dawn's 18, which reflects the fact that so far they have been more successful than the right wing in gathering support from people enraged by the country's economic horrors. But there is no guarantee that this relative success will last.
Golden Dawn regularly terrorizes immigrants, particularly those from Afghanistan and Pakistan, in the streets, in the public squares, on the metro, and in immigrant neighborhoods. They recruit bodybuilders from the gyms, and clothed in black, run through the streets in groups of 30 or 40, shouting anti-immigrant slogan s, threatening and beating people with darker skins. Many of its members are criminals convicted of contract killings, trafficking, assaults, rapes, and armed robberies. At the same time, they position themselves as the defenders of public order, for example offering to accompany older people to ATM machines to protect them from robbers.
Golden Dawn has an alarming degree of support from the police, especially the riot police. It has been reported that as many as 50 percent of the police voted for its ca ndidates in the June elections. Rather than protecting immigrants, the police regularly turn a blind eye to Golden Dawn's assaults. They often tell immigrants who complain of being attacked that they will have to defend themselves, or that they will have to pay a fee in order to file a formal complaint. In fact there are no such fees. [For a fuller account, see the Human Rights Watch report "Hate on the Streets: Xenophobic Violence in Greece," July 10, 2012 http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/07/10/hate-streets
Golden Dawn's vicious xenophobia is accompanied by a crude male chauvinism that is shocking to see in the 21 st century. We were told that the party believes that woman's place is in the home not in public positions of power. This was acted out on a television talk show ten days before the June elections, when Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris threw water in the face of one female SYRIZA MP, Rena Dourou, and then hit another woman, Liana Kanelli, a Communist MP, three times in the face. Kasidiaris was elected to his seat in parliament in the elections that followed soon after this grotesque incident. The British Guardian reported "Several hours after the incident, with the group still resolutely refusing to apologise, two MPs with the socialist Pasok party were attacked by Golden Dawn supporters as they campaigned in northern Greece". In recent months, and especially in the weeks that have elapsed between Greece's two [May and June 2012] ballots, the party has been linked to a number of attacks on migrants, liberals, human rights activists and journalists, particularly women. ["Golden Dawn MP's live TV assault shocks Greece," by Helena Smith, June 7 2012 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/07/golden-dawn-tv-assault-greece ]
Hilary Wainwright, founding editor of the lively left-wing British magazine Red Pepper, was in Greece at the same time we were. She has written an account of her trip in the current issue entitled "Greece: Syriza Shines a Light" click here Wainwright gives the following account of SYRIZA's response to Golden Dawn's virulent racist behavior:
On 23 June, for example, a gang of Golden Dawn thugs raided Pakistani grocers' shops in the working class suburb of Nikea, near the port of Piraeus, telling them they had one week to get ready and go, "or else'. Syriza had won 38 per cent of the vote in Nikea " and after the attack the party helped to organise a rally and march of 3,000 in support of the shopkeepers".
SYRIZA has long opposed racism in Greece. It has for many years participated in the Anti-Racism Festivals. Meanwhile, however, the brutal attacks on immigrants continue, and we asked people in SYRIZA how the party was responding to these assaults on a day-to-day basis. Specifically we asked if, in light of the failure of the police to defend the immigrants, was SYRIZA organizing any kind of physical response to the Golden Dawn attacks.
Leaders of SYRIZA told us that they believed that the effective response to Golden Dawn was political, to put forward a radical democratic agenda that could address the economic crisis in a progressive way rather than scapegoating immigrants. They also advocate human rights training for police and call on the police to do their job and protect victims of racist assault. They said that in their opinion to resist Golden Dawn physically would simply lead to disastrous fighting in the street s. SYRIZA wants to prevent the media from portraying a confrontation with Golden Dawn as a "clash of two extremes."
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