1. ON GREECE’S ELECTION DAY SUNDAY 17 JUNE, 2.00 pm – STAND WITH THE GREEK PEOPLE AGAINST EU IMPOSED AUSTERITY – at European Union Commission, 32 Smith Square, SW1P 3EU, Just off Millbank, near Parliament Square. Called by the Greek Solidarity Campaign (GSC).
THE PEOPLE OF GREECE face an unprecedented economic and political crisis. They are being driven to poverty and mass unemployment by the demands of the so-called Troika – the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the IMF. Hospitals in Greece are running out of basic medicines, nearly half of all young people are unemployed, some workers have not been paid for months, and many are forced to resort to soup kitchens or scavenge from rubbish dumps.
Last month 65% of Greek voters chose parties who rejected this austerity but they were unable to form a government. On 17 June they go to the polls again. We support those parties of the left which demand an end to austerity. Come and show your support on 17 June, when the Greek people will go to the polls again. Let’s show the Greek people, the European Union Commission and our own austerity government on 17 June: We are all Greek! Solidarity with everyone fighting against austerity! No cuts – anywhere!
2. CONTACT JEREMY CORBYN MP IF YOU WANT HIM TO SPEAK ON HIS LATEST TRIP TO GREECE – corbynj@parliament.uk. At the 6 June GSC Organising Meeting, Jeremy described his meetings with the unions and with sections of the anti austerity movement, including Sofia Sakorafa, MP (ex PASOK, now SYRIZA), who is heading up the lobby for a public inquiry into the debt and where the borrowed money went to, and Alexis Tspiras, leader of SYRIZA, with whom he also addressed a rally of over 2000in Keratea. Jeremy, Katy Clark and other MPs will be making another trip after the Greek election. Jeremy’s article is in Morning Star (04.06.12) http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/119772
3. GET INVOLVED: COME TO THE NEXT GSC ORGANISING MEETING 6.30 – 8pm on Wednesday 20 June for discussions about the situation in Greece, reporting on and planning solidarity work – at UNITE OFFICES (128 Theobalds Road Holborn, WC1X 8TN (between Old Gloucester St and Boswell St – nearest tube Holborn, on Central and Piccadilly lines).
4. GSC WEBSITE – www.GreeeceSolidarity.org is still being constructed but carries an increasing amount of useful information (especially if you use the tabs at the top of the home page). There is also Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GreeceSolidarityCampaign
5. SYRIZA and NEW DEMOCRACY are NECK AND NECK IN THE RUN-UP TO 17 JUNE ELECTIONS. An amalgam of the last round of opinion polls indicates Syriza (Radical Left Coalition) 25%; New Democracy (Conservatives) 25%; PASOK (social democrats) 13%; Independent Greeks (UKIPish) 7%; KKE (Communists) 5%; Democratic Left 5%; Golden Dawn (Fascists) 5%; with a number of other parties predicted to get less than the 3% threshold for winning seats. Asked “who is more suitable for Prime Minister?”, 26% said Alexis Tsipras (Syriza); 23.5% Antonis Samaris (ND); and 19% Evangelos Venizelos; with 28.5 saying ‘none of the above’.
6. GOLDEN DAWN SHOWS ITS TRUE FACE: The spokesman for Greece’s fascist so-called Golden Dawn party physically assaulted two left-wing deputies on live television during a morning political show. A public prosecutor ordered his immediate arrest following the incident. Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris had taken offence at a reference by radical left Syriza party member Rena Dorou to a court case that is pending against him. He hurled a glass of water across the table over Dorou when she said there was a “crisis of democracy when people who will take the country back 500 years have got into the Greek parliament.” He then turned on prominent Communist Party member Liana Kanelli, hitting her around the face three times. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18350017 . Liana Kanelli who received three punches to the face said: “They should know that we won’t allow them to turn us into soap. Resistance veteran Manolis Glezos said “Now they can all see that they are not a Golden Dawn but a Dark Dawn for our country.”
7. AN EXAMINATION OF THE PROGRAMME AND POLICIES OF THE KKE (Greek Communist Party) by Kenny Coyle can be seen here: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/119521
8. AN OPTIMISTIC SPEECH BY PHILOSOPHY PROFESSOR SLAVOJ ZIZEK at a SYRIZA RALLY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWtn7iECkyY&feature=share A flavour of his speech can be found in his ‘Save us from Saviours’ article here: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n11/slavoj-zizek/save-us-from-the-saviours
9. MODERN GREEK MYTHS:
a) Greeks work the longest hours in Europe – ‘Exploding the myth of lazy, feckless Greeks’? Useful facts in this New statesman article http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/world-affairs/2012/05/exploding-myth-feckless-lazy-greeks
b) How different is Greece when it comes to tax avoidance? Nick Malkoutzis’s article on tax avoidance across Europe – http://insidegreece.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/for-sweet-dreams-evasion-and-avoidance/
10. HEAR TONY BENN AT THE COALITION OF RESISTANCE PUBLIC MEETING – STOP THE CUTS / DEFEND OUR SERVICES / RECLAIM THE NHS at 6.30 TUESDAY 19 JUNE, Friends Meeting House (almost opposite Euston station), Euston Road, London NW1 with Greek speaker (two days after the elections), Len McCluskey (UNITE), Christine Blower (NUT), Wendy Savage (Keep Our NHS Public), Katy Clark (Labour MP), Salma Yaqoob (Respect), Owen Jones, Clare Solomon (Counterfire), Rachel Newton (People’s Charter), Danielle Obono (Front de Gauche), Andrew Burgin (CoR), Chaired by Romayne Phoenix (Chair of CoR and Green Party).
11. BRIGHTON MEETING: Solidarity with the people of Greece against austerity – June 25, 2012 7:30 pm Friends Meeting House Ship Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1AF
12. BIRMINGHAM – Taking the Gloves Off: Festival of Song, Theatre and Debate for a better world, Friday 22 / Saturday 23 June with Georgia Mylonakis from the occupied Eleftherotypia newspaper in Athens – details http://www.btuc.org/wordpress1/
13. THE FUTURE IS NOW INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2012 – Athens, 29-30 June & 1 July organized by the youth section of the Communist Organisation of Greece (KOE), at the Agricultural University of Athens. ‘Within the premises of the Agricultural university the camping of the festival – between Thursday 28.06 and Monday 2.07 – can host you for free.’ For further details contact Christos Giovanopoulos at karaokecasualties@yahoo.co.uk and on +30 6978 450 126.
14. VERY USEFUL GREEK LISTINGS NEWSLETTER: subscribe to: http://www.eugreeka.com/subscribe.
15. JOIN UP! You can be a supporter (which puts you on mailing lists for free) or a member with voting rights for £1 per month. As a number of national unions and the South East Regional TUC have already, you can also affiliate an organisation. http://www.greecesolidarity.org/?page_id=37
16. ENCOURAGE OTHERS: Please run off the form http://www.greecesolidarity.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Greece-Solidarity-Leaflet.pdf
αλληλεγγύη και φιλία – solidarity and friendship – Paul Mackney – Chair, Greece Solidarity Campaign www.Greecesolidarity.org – paulmackney@btinternet.com – 07974 353 709