INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-GREECE:

SECOND ATTACK ON RADIO REVOLT:

Radio Revolt is a "pirate radio" operations broadcasting from a squatted railway car (of all places) in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. Recently there was a second arson attempt in less than a month at their premises. Here is their statement from the Athens Indymedia site. the following has been slightly edited for English grammar.

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About the 2nd attack on Radio Revolt:
Yesterday night, only 15 days after the first failed arson attempt on the squatted train car where Radio Revolt is housed, there was a second attack. The perpetrators manage to break a small window and pour flammable fluids into the interior and cause a fire, with the result of small damages to the station's lounge.

As all comrades pointed out, and to the great disappointment of the perpetrators , Radio Revolt didn't stop broadcasting for a single minute. This second attack doesn't scare us, worry us, or surprise us. The long expected attack against free anarchist – antiauthoritarian- groups and spaces is reaching a peak these days: attacks also took place at the Fabrika Yfanet squat and at the Prapopoulou and Villa Amalias squats in Athens. And we say we are not afraid , because from the moment we stopped being afraid of the guns and the teargas of the police we ,of course, aren't going to be afraid of ridiculous attacks on unguarded targets. And we say we are not worried because Radio Revolt, no matter what happens, will continue to transmit messages and voices against the state, bosses, fascists and the para-state. And we say we are not surprised because it is a fact that we are at war with the state and capital . Let it be the Dean's authority that from the day he first started trying to repress the station, let it be the cop/fascists hands that started yesterday's fire. They should all be sure that the modern anarchist revolutionary movement , in which Radio Revolt has a small part, will really soon make them history. It should be taken as granted that we will find them very soon.
ARM YOUR VOICE Thessaloniki 5-8-2009 Radio Revolt

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-GREECE:

ATTEMPTED ARSON ATTACK ON THESSALONIKI SQUAT:

Since the uprising of last winter the authorities and Greece's large and influential anarchist movement have played a cat and mouse game. While the anarchists failed to break through and inspire the general population to revolt they, in turn, were not crushed by the government. This is a situation that the authorities find most unsatisfactory, and since the failed insurrection they have increased their efforts, aided by neo-fascist allies, to reduce the influence of the anarchists as much as they can- often by what seems like a calculated campaign of terror. What the rulers fear is not so much the anarchist movement in its present state but rather its potential to trigger another revolt that the majority of the population might join should economic times be tough enough.

The following, originallyfrom Athen's Indymedia, has been edited for English grammar and published at the Anarkismo site.

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Arson attempt against Fabricka Yfanet:
Fabricka Yfanet is a former 19,500 m² factory in Thessaloniki (Greece) that has been occupied by people demanding their freedom from political and economic oppression since 20 March 2004.

On Saturday morning, 25 July 2009 at 5.05, arsonists attempted to put our squat on fire by lighting barbecue tanks at the main iron gate. They left a bag containing six gas cans, one 4-litre petrol canister, and a box of fire-starters.

The explosion could not escape the attention of squatters on standby inside the occupation for its protection (such measures were taken after the government threats against free spaces). With the help of neighbours we put down the fire, and fortunately absolutely no damage was done at all. Of special interest was the ‘quick mobilization’ of the police: just six minutes after the explosion they came with three patrol vehicles, a car with civilian number plates, and a jeep.

Cops came out from the latter with hostile intentions. 20 minutes later two riot police squads, attempting to provoke us, were seen at the corner of Katsimidi Str. and Egnatia Str.. Comrades were called and came quickly to help defend our squat in case of attack.

This was the second attack against a free space in Thessaloniki within the last four days (the first attack was against Radio Revolt, a radio station in a retired railroad car within the city's major university).

Nothing will overcome our determination to defend our squats—the places where we live and breathe. *

This is a refined translation of this Athens Indymedia post, with the help of two other posters who wrote the draft translation:

http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_...62583

www.yfanet.net

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-GREECE:

GREECE- THE PEOPLE VERSUS THE STATE:

Politics in Greece has always been highly confrontational and this is especially true recently. Here are two articles from the LibCom site about recent struggles in that country.

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Residents clash with police in Greek refuse dump row:
October 16th, 2008

by taxikipali

Local resistance to open-refuse dump near Ioannina escalates to clashes after an army of 230 riot policemen charges barricades
On the 15th of October the residents of Elliniko village near the city of Ioannina, North West Greece, blockaded the construction of the open-refuse dump (XYTA) to which they have been opposed for over 18 months. The response of Athens was to send 19 battalions of riot police forces (MAT), that is about 230 policemen, to open the way for the bulldozers.

Faced with what they termed "an occupation force", local people erected barricades. Riot police resorted to tear gas and attacked the residents who responded by pelting officers with stones and molotov cocktails.

The situation remains tense, with three residents and five riot policemen in hospital as a result of the clashes, thus opening yet another front of local environmental resistance on the confrontational model set by Lefkimi in the island of Corfu.

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Meanwhile students in Greece continue to occupy over 300 secondary and high schools in protest against conservative education "reforms". Here's another article from Libcom on this struggle.

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Occupied schools in Greece face repression:
October 19th, 2008

by taxikipali
As the tide of secondary and high-school squats rises again across Greece, the state responds with repression
More than 300 secondary and high schools (that is 1/6 of the national total) around Greece are currently occupied by their pupils who are demanding the reversal of several articles of the conservative educational reform that caused widespread revolt by students and university staff during the academic years of 2005-2006-2007. The renewed resistance to the law which has been rejected by the entire school and academic community and is considered to be the first step towards the abolition of student-pupil participation in management, is being faced with unprecedented measures of repression. There have been consistent efforts by the government and the local authorities to criminalise the school squats, whereas neonazi attacks against squatted schools in Athens have been reported.

Most recently, on the 17th of October, the president of the pupil's council and one more pupil of the 4th high-school of the city of Karditsa were arrested on charges of obstructing the function of a public service, after the pupils of the squatted school staged a demo against the installation of an iron fence around the premises, with the central slogan being "School is not a Prison". After the reaction of the Teacher's Union (OLME) the pupils were released.

While the repression escalates, several schools in Athens and Thessaloniki have opposed the annual election of representatives, opting for direct-democratic procedures without the realm of state-recognised legality. In the city of Peiraeus, on the 17th of October the Autonomous Coordination Squat Committee, held a protest march for "Liberatory free and public education".