Will another Junta save Greece?

The Crisis, The Junta and Why Greeks Are On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

By Emmanouela Seiradaki on April 25, 2012 In News

Angry and Trapped  

Not many Greeks believe there’s really going to be a dictatorship anytime soon. Yet anyone who lives in Greece clearly sees that there’s now more space for conservatism, intolerance and aggression than what it used to be and these are characteristics that are expressed by the political far right. Wherever you turn there’s a political discussion. Everyone tries to shout louder than the other, just like on Greek television. Greeks are stressed and angry as the crisis is awakening their survival instincts. They push each other as if they are in a crowd waiting to get into a stadium. The doors do not open and more and more people arrive. They are exhausted. For the past two years they keep arguing non-stop. On the street, in the car, for the rent they can’t pay anymore, for the gas that has now become a luxury, for the new property tax, for the new salary cuts. They are angry at the politicians, they are angry at the EU, they are angry at themselves for voting these politicians in.

Nine out of ten keep saying they want to immigrate, yet the reality is that only a small percentage can get a decent job abroad. For instance, while the Greek media circulated that there are massive waves of Greek immigrants to Australia, the Australian Immigration Department spokesman said that during 2011 only 12 immigrants were able to immigrate to Australia, adding that Greeks did show interest of migrating to Australia but there were no relevant applications.

ATHENS, Greece — Nov. 17 is an important date for Greeks, especially for the left. It is a day of mourning, in commemoration of the Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973 when the Greek military junta stormed a Greek university and killed an unknown number of students protesting the regime.

The day also gave its name to the country's longest running, most deadly terrorist group. The group, which was broken by Greek police in 2002, killed at least 23 people over a period of more than 27 years.

But as Greece marks the anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising this year, the country is bracing for a new wave of anti-authoritarian violence.

Over the past year, there has been a surge in anarchist and anti-authoritarian attacks in Greece, primarily against government and political targets. The escalation in violence was sparked by the killing last December of a 16- year-old boy by police in a neighborhood known as a stronghold of extreme left-wing groups.

The shooting set off weeks of riots and gave new life to extremist groups. Analysts say the riots tapped into simmering youth discontent in Greece — especially over rising unemployment and corruption — and helped win extreme groups new recruits.

"There has been an increase in incidence, there has been an escalation," said Mary Bossis, a professor at the University of Piraeus who studies Greek terrorism. "And it will only get worse."
Greece has a long tradition of far-left political violence and a high public tolerance for such acts, as long as they stay within certain limits.

Large protest marches, including the annual one to the U.S. Embassy on Nov. 17, usually end with clashes between masked "anarchists," armed with clubs and Molotov cocktails, and police. And small, late-night bomb attacks against multinational companies or government offices are frequent.

But another legacy of the events of the Nov. 17 Polytechnic uprising is that the Greek public holds the police and other law enforcement in low regard. And police are barred from entering university or school campuses, which allows extremist groups to use them as bases.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/europe/091116/november-17-greece-terrorism