Mass anti-fascist mobilization in Greece after violent attack
Image via the KKE
On the afternoon of 4 November, the city’s Labour Centre, along with the municipal authority, unions, and other mass organisations in Patras, held a massive, militant rally and anti-fascist demonstration on the main streets of Patras. They sent a powerful message: “Not in schools, not anywhere — block the fascists in every neighbourhood”. They were condemning the murderous fascist attack that had taken place the previous evening against a high school student who was a member of Greek Communist Youth (KNE), as well as other high school and university students who stood by her side. Eight university students, who are members of KNE, were injured in the attack after being hit on the head and elsewhere. The armed, 40-strong fascist gang used helmets and knuckle dusters during the attack, and a car in which the four individuals arrested was found to contain, among other things, a pistol with a magazine loaded with five bullets!
The provocation did not stop with these latest events. The bourgeois state and the justice system dared to proceed with the arrest of the eight members of the KKE and KNE who were taken to the hospital with injuries, charging them with “brawling” and “causing grievous bodily harm.” The police attempted to portray the events as “personal disputes among minors” in order to “whitewash” the murderous actions of the fascists and their premeditated attack.
On 4 November, speaking in Parliament, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the KKE, began his speech by emphasizing the following: “You, members of the government, bear enormous, criminal responsibility. You are letting these fascists run rampant. A fascist non-commissioned officer stubbed out a cigarette on the cheek of a conscript, a child of our people. Another kicked a different soldier in the face, breaking his teeth. Last night, an armed fascist gang attacked a high school student and KNE member outside her home, in front of her parents, neighbours, classmates, and university students who were near the house and rushed to her aid to save her from their murderous plans in the square nearby. And the police arrested some people—those in whose car they found guns and knives, that is, murder weapons. But, in addition to these fascists, they also arrested those who rushed to the student’s aid. What a disgrace!”
It should be noted that eight KKE members of parliament addressed a question to the ministers of Citizen Protection and Justice, demanding an immediate halt to all prosecutions against the KKE and KNE members who were subjected to the murderous attack by fascists in Patras, as well as the arrest and conviction of the fascists who organized and carried out the criminal attack.
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On the evening of Tuesday, 3 November, fascists carried out a murderous attack in a neighbourhood of Patras against a militant school student and member of KNE, whom they had been targeting and intimidating for days. They also attacked students, also members of KNE, who stood by her side to defend her.
For the past few days, a militant school student at the 8th High School of Patras — a member of KNE and the Patras School Students’ Coordination Committee who is at the forefront of struggles — had been threatened and insulted by cowardly fascists in a small square outside her home in the evenings.
On Tuesday evening, when the same thing happened again, high school and university students intervened, demanding that the individuals outside the girl’s home stop their unacceptable behaviour. In response, they were violently attacked by around 40 fascists. Several students were injured in the attack, two of them seriously.
The attack was well-planned and organized, with the fascists’ actions bringing to mind the notorious Nazi stormtroopers. Emboldened by the protection afforded to them by the bourgeois state and its mechanisms, as well as by the bourgeois parties, and acting in collaboration with other criminal elements, the fascists have crawled out of their holes to play their dirty role at a time when the workers’, people’s, and youth movements are on the rise. This is all happening at a time when capitalists are intensifying their preparations for war and getting ready for a new economic crisis.
Local organizations of the KKE and KNE reacted immediately to these events, issuing a statement condemning the fascist attack against a militant student and KNE member, as well as against the KNE members who rushed to her defence. They point out that the fascists are attempting to terrorize the youth movement, which opposes the policies of the government and capital, and that they have the support of the bourgeois state, seeking to strike a blow against the organized struggle of the labour movement. The local organizations of the KKE and KNE call on the people of Patras to isolate the fascists and condemn these attempts to terrorize the students.
The Labour Center of Patras is calling for a rally on Wednesday, 4 November, at 6 p.m., in Patras, to denounce the fascist attack. Among other things, its statement emphasizes:
“These so-called patriotic Nazis, whose “homeland” is capital and to which they provide oaths of allegiance solely—along with its interests— want the working class and the younger generation to passively support the bloodstained “national goals” of business groups, military intervention, and enormous profits. They have vowed to crush every effort to assert our contemporary needs! That is why they are attacking the pioneers!”
The Labor Center of Patras calls on all mass organizations in the city to condemn the fascist attack and emphasizes: “The fascists who have crawled out of their holes to spew their fascist poison will be isolated and will face the response of the organized labour and popular movement.”
For more images see: CP of Greece, A massive anti-fascist response from the people of Patras
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