The brown plague tries to rise again

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wants to discuss and perhaps to come to an agreement the propagation of a program of actual transitional with the French president F. Hollande, regarding the solutions that are geared to the real needs of the vast cal situation will make inevitable a clarification of the spective of the anti-capitalist revolutionary overthrow SYRIZA leadership are inconsistent and contradictory. contradictions in the policies of the SYRIZA leadership.

Too strong is the desire of the great majority to finish with the continued impoverishment, and too weak is through a more consistent policy in the past two tion of the memoranda policies and thus of the credit the current will and ability of the SYRIZA leadership, agreements agreed with the Troika, that are leading to ties of the local committees, etc. But there was hardly a strangulation of the Greek society, without Greece’s a cure against the prevailing mood for a parliamentary to isolate itself even more from SYRIZA and the rest election was nebulous and even now continues to vorable. The disadvantage of this attitude is that it is remain so, it was essentially correct not to feed such vour of working people and all memoranda victims increasingly difficult to convince its own base that this hopes. However, ANTARSYA could come up with a ests of finance capital and big business in Greece, the ership considers more or less openly that there will ment under certain conditions. That has not happened EU countries and the United States, is very unlikely to be no overthrow of the memoranda policies by mass so far. The basic political and programmatic direction be practicable. The SYRIZA leadership is anything but of ANTARSYA remains correct after all (see ANTARSYA prepared to conduct politically this inevitable clash between the disparate interests of the perpetrators and “people’s democracy.” But it is not able to explain and victims, the exploiters and the exploited. However, how its objectives can be achieved if not by a sudden dia over decades and through the official policies of it will have to put its cards on the table in one way or and massive increase of KKE votes, something that is racism as well as the evil governmental racism are obviously not in sight. It remains the mystery of the responsible for the spreading of the fascist plague in “semi-Trotskyist” organizations of the milieu of the tives, particularly the overcoming of capitalism and formed into a mass movement along the lines of the (as yet) non-parliamentary left, but is dominated by imperialism, may be imposed. It is foreseeable that the the Synaspismos leadership. The latter group assumes party itself might get into a crisis that could soon lead difference of the political parties and organizations of that the problems of the global capitalist crisis, but the Left and the workers’ movement have also greatly also the crisis of Greek society, are to be solved with election result, gaining 1.2%. It was the main force on spective, at best, a distant goal, and achievable only at paign the importance of social resistance through ernment has appeared in Greece, but more serious is nization of all victims of the memoranda policies, of the drift of the social and political conditions into the direction of a new Weimar Republic. Greek capitalism ances more to the left than the German Left Party, for tially “illegal” immigrants. ANTARSYA has shown the instance. It is certainly not a good sign that Tsipras way how social resistance may be victorious through Socialist Action june 2012 7 By TASSOS ANASTASSIADIS and ANDREAS SARTZEKIS The following is taken from a longer article, “Greece: The Effects of the Crisis on Daily Life,” which appears in International Viewpoint, the on-line Englishlanguage journal of the Fourth International. It was written a month before the Greek national elections of May 6.

The authors are members of OKDESpartakos, Greek section of the Fourth International, which is part of the Coalition of the Anti-Capitalist Left, Antarsya. A discreet since 1974, the year of the lthough they had been relatively fall of the military dictatorship, the fascists had never completely disappeared, shamelessly exploiting nationalism and anti-Semitism and trying for several years now rebuild their forces on the basis of racist campaigns against the many immigrants arriving from Africa and Asia. This far right has today a double visage:

• An institutional face with the LAOS party, a kind of equivalent of the French National Front, around its caudillo, Karatzaferis. It failed, however, in the gamble it took: to support the policy of Papandreou, from conviction but also so as to offer a presentable face and to enter the government of national union that it was advocating. In fact, it paid quite dearly for it, pulled out its ministers (but two of them joined New Democracy!), so it re-launched its activity, rediscovering its habitual anti-immigrant discourse.

• Neo-Nazi activists, petty thugs organized in Chryssi Avgi (“Golden Dawn”), whose leader is a former terrorist who planted bombs. Openly protected by the MAT (Greek riot police) and used when necessary as auxiliaries of the police, they have had a certain success in a district in the centre of Athens by organizing part of the population against the immigrants who live there in dire poverty.

Thefts, but also some murders committed by immigrants have provided the pretext for a wave of racism, with violent attacks and the formation of “vigilance” groups, and the intolerable election to Athens City Council of the leader of the group, who had no hesitation in giving the Nazi salute in the town hall.

... Which Way?

(continued from page 6: “Critical support for Syriza?”)

It is virtually inconceivable that a Greek left-wing government, if it came about, could accomplish a revocaexit or expulsion from the eurozone.

SYRIZA, KKE, and ANTARSYA In other words, a consistent “reform policy” in fathat does not come into direct conflict with the interanother.

SYRIZA is an alliance with some “semi-Stalinist” and Keynesian means within the framework of the capitalist system of exploitation. “Socialism” is in this peran “all-European” level etc.

Despite its “radical” name, SYRIZA is an alliance oriented to limited reforms, although in some nuAs of now, the group, as though it had been made respectable by the participation of its LAOS counterpart in the government, is trying to move to the next stage, in suburbs of Athens and in the provinces—on the one hand, attempts to infiltrate assemblies of the Indignant, on the other, enrollment of young people to attack immigrants and antiracists.

They even try incursions into suburbs with a democratic tradition, such as this week in Nea Smyrni, where they injured two Syrian refugees right in the main square, which was full of people who did not react.

For its part, the Network for Monitoring Racist Attacks has recorded a very sharp increase in attacks, and is worried by the participation of minors.

Faced with this situation, the government is making the conscious choice of encouraging racism and thus fascist violence, with a policy and declarations that are illustrated by the minister “for the protection of citizens,” Michalis Chryssochoïdis, a very reactionary cadre of PASOK.

Justifying the opening of a veritable concentration camp for immigrants fleeing their conditions of war and povmemoranda policies. to implement this need into a real anti-capitalist (ultimately revolutionary) orientation.

of the left because its election result was not very fastrategy and tactics might be successful. The KKE leadmobilization from below and by the movement itself.

party leadership how all verbally proclaimed objecto greater losses.

the left that placed at the center of its election camstrikes, occupations and mass protests, the self-orgathe workers, young people, pensioners, and of the parerty (1000 places in a former barracks, which will be guarded by a private militia), he declared (quoted by Epochi): “We must face resolutely the question of immigration, which has now been transformed into a social and national problem.”

And speaking about the policy of camps: “It is the only way that will enable us to neutralize this bomb (sic).

Otherwise, inevitably, we will be led to catastrophe. And so we can no longer as a society stand for this. Hundreds of thousands of poor and wretched men in the streets, without work, with nothing to do and starving, victims of the criminal gangs of the slave trade: it is absolutely vital that we take steps.”

Since then, the government has announced the construction of 30 similar camps in the country, where 30,000 immigrants will be held. Parallel to this we have a big campaign by the government and the media about the danger that this population represents, including for public health.

The tone is set. And so, the anti-racist and today anti-fascist tasks are extremely urgent. There are at least two such tasks:

The explosiveness of the current social and politiThe KKE (Communist Party) leadership has decided Thus, the KKE points to a future “people’s economy” declaration on page 11). ANTARSYA had not a sensationally good, but solid, Ability is very serious.

(Left) Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos.

• A central battle for the rights of immigrants, in particular for them to be welcomed in a way that is worthy of the rights of man. From this point of view, it is certainly necessary to put a stop to the policy which forces immigrants without resources to survive in terrifying and dangerous conditions in some districts of Athens. But to remove the public benches in the main squares, as the mayor of the capital has done, reinforces exclusion and justifies racism.

However, the demands concern both the Greek and immigrant population: job creation, in particular in the building industry (a sector that has been very hard hit by the crisis), the right to quality health care, the right to an education (this year, there were no school books for months on end and schools were closed as economy measures) … • Unity of the antiracist movement so as to give it the mass and effective character that is necessary. On March 17, a demonstration of 1000 people marched (and was blocked by the police) towards Aghios Pandelimonas, the district where the neo-Nazis area active. This demonstration, called by an association linked, as is often the case in Greece, to a political organization, was an example of a fightback that was necessary but very insufficient.

At a time when the neo-Nazis are credited in the opinion polls with scores sometimes higher than those of LAOS and could get into parliament, united and prolonged mass campaigns are on the agenda, and we have seen some examples of this, with the massive participation of high-school students. Preventing the fascists from growing, and reconquering, through mass mobilizations and anti-capitalist perspectives, the neighbourhoods that have fallen into their hands form part of our urgent tasks! n majority of the population and aimed at the self-organization of these people, and by adhering to the perof the existing political and social system.

ANTARSYA could have achieved a better result years, through greater unity, more and better activichange mainly in the last week before the elections.

As the slogan of “left-wing government” before the statement supporting critically a left-wing governRacist incitement and chauvinism in the mass meGreece, which is only one step away from being transGerman Nazi Party before 1933. But the apathy and incontributed to the rise of Nazi gang, and this responsiIt is urgently necessary to reverse this disastrous trend. It may be that the specter of a left-wing govand its bourgeois democracy have evoked this witching hour. n