What On Earth Is Happening In Greece?
A Forum/Discussion/Call to Action on the Greek Rebellion of December 2008
Sponsored By Wooden Shoe Books
Thursday January 8th 7:00PM
@
Wooden Shoe Books
508 s. 5th St.
Philadelphia PA 19147
215-413-0999
sabot@woodenshoebooks.com [1]
www.woodenshoebooks.com [2]
On Saturday, December 20th the insurrection in Greece will
enter its 14th day. It has moved from demonstrations against the police
who murdered 15-year old anarchist Alexandros Grigoropoulos, to a nation wide revolt
against the Greek state, where workers, retirees, and immigrants have joined with
students and young people in the streets to fight against the injustices that the
Greek government has imposed upon them. The people of Greece have a long tradition
of resistance, and for the past two weeks they have said "No!" to the representative
government that has failed them. They have taken over their universities, town
halls, and television and radio stations, occupying them and broadcasting their
ideas, refusing to give in to attacks by the police. The Greek people in the
streets, in occupied universities and in town halls have asked that people stop
referring to what is happening over there as rioting, and instead to realize that
this is an insurrection.
On Tuesday, December 16th a group of 30 demonstrators gathered in front of the Greek
Consulate to stand in support of the Greek people. They stayed
for an hour under police watch with lively chants, red and black flags
and colorful banners. After an hour, the group dispersed under the
calls of "We'll be back!" and the police then retreated. Soon after,
the demonstrators returned with a spirited energy, charging across the
street to block the entrance of the consulate. In the ensuing
excitement, the outer Iron Gate was smashed
open, and the government officials inside the consulate quickly fled
sight. The group then melded into city, cheering as they went. Later
that evening, Boston Detective Andrew Creed, the officer in charge of
Anarchist repression, posted his view of events to the public internet
forum Boston Lemming Trail of which he is a regular poster under the
user name "Keegs". "The only suck [sic] thing" he said, "was, after the
demonstrators and us [sic] 'left', a few anarchists came back and
smashed the gate to the consulate. That sort of adds a new dimension to
[sic] situation for us."
This Discussion Will focus on analyzing what's going on, go over the political
climate and history that led to this situation, and on what we can do in
Philadelphia to support the actions of the people in Greece!
This is an Open-Ended Event, so anyone who would like to participate in Organizing
it or getting involved in participating in it should send a message to the wooden
shoe @ sabot@woodenshoebooks.com [1]