AUSTERITY BREEDS FASCISM
AUSTERITY BREEDS FASCISM
On the evening of 17th September in a neighborhood of Athens, the 34-year old hip-hop artist and antifascist activist Pavlos Fyssas was murdered by a gang of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn. The murderer admitted to be a member of Golden Dawn while it is known that he is on the party’s payroll. This crime was a follow-up to the violent attack of Golden Dawn last week against members of the Greek Communist Party while they were hanging posters. Fyssas was the second known murder of Golden Dawn this year after the murder of a Pakistani immigrant on 17/01/2013 in Athens while he was biking to work. This was the culmination of hundreds of reported incidents of racist violence during the last years in Greece.
Once again the police made no effort to prevent Fyssas’ murder. According to several eyewitnesses, a special police unit known for their sympathy to the neo-Nazis (DIAS) were standing next to the spot of the murder, just watching and refusing to intervene. On the contrary, during the large protests that followed the murder, the police used extreme and unprovoked violence against the protesters, prosecuted dozens and allowed Golden Dawn members standing behind police lines to throw stones to the demonstrators.
Austerity is the reason and fascism is the symptom
The attack against Pavlos has to be considered within the context of the economic, social and humanitarian crisis caused by the policies imposed by the Greek governments and the Troika (EU, ECB, and IMF). The overall unemployment rate reached 28% last summer (58,8% for young people) while suicides had increased to a 50-year record already in 2011. The brutal cuts on salaries and pensions, euphemistically called “reforms”, are only possible with the violation of vital democratic and human rights and extreme police repression. The government proceeds to tens of thousands of layoffs in the public sector and to the closure of several public enterprises such as the public broadcaster ERT.
The latest criminal attacks of the Golden Dawn take place at a moment that the largest and most militant wave of strikes is launched. Secondary and primary school teachers together with the personnel of public hospitals and other civil servants are demanding a stop to the austerity policies. The political crimes of Golden Dawn together with the brutal repression of the police aim at terrorizing the people and stopping them from mobilizing against austerity policies. At the same time, Golden Dawn tries to mislead the public opinion by pointing the immigrants as the cause of the economic crisis. This is why the Troika remains silent about the actions of the neo-Nazis. We are witnessing an era of hard austerity measures all over Europe and, once again, this goes hand in hand with the growth of fascism.
We call all of you to condemn fascism.
We do not want to live in fear again after the 1940s!
Let’s unite our voices against fascism!
Yesterday it was Pavlos, tomorrow it might be one of us.
Nowadays fascism grows in Greece. Tomorrow it may dominate Europe.
Don’t keep the anger to yourself. Together we are stronger!
ReINFORM
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