GIVE ME A BREAK

I'm so angry and tired of this. Please go and read and comment here on phylax. (WARNING: It's hard to read because of the design as well as the content). I feel like I just went 10 rounds with ethnocentrist and don't want to take this on today. This cannot go unanswered though. I don't have the time right now but if you do, please take the opportunity. I will get back to this.

CATEGORIES

I am slowly adding categories to this blog. It was getting too big to find posts about a particular subject. I will still post everything here, but I will post a duplicate in the category it belongs to. It's a long process but I will get there in the end. I wonder if it's worth it but there you go.

WHAT ABOUT ME

I'm just going to have a rant here about my own situation. I just got back from a 30 minute round trip, on foot, to get my kid to school.  In three and a half hours I will be setting off again to pick him up. Yes, he is only in school from 8am until 1.30pm. I will then spend the afternoon trying to persuade him to do his "homework", which is basically the work he should be doing at school but doesn't because there aren't enough hours to get through it. At his school, they used to have afternoon hours too. This meant that it was possible to work (if you could get a job that would give you numerous days off during the term, three months off in the summer as well as sick days and the rest). Now, not only can I not work but I am also responsible for making sure that my kid gets through the school work that the government says is compulsory but takes no responsibility to ensure that it gets taught. It is generally assumed here, that when you have a child you give up any life you might have had and devote yourself to your family. While, this might be fine for some people (and I am not in any way criticizing those women (and it is mostly women) who wish to do that) but it really is not for me. I do not want to be a housewife. But I have no choice. It is assumed here that grandparents will fill in the gaps but mine are not living nearby and  I wouldn't want that even if they did. What I want is the freedom to be able to be something other than a slave to my kids education. There is no state childcare provision here in Greece. If you have money, you have options. If you don't, then you might as well forget about yourself for twelve years or so. Women have worked hard to gain their rights and freedoms. It seems that here in Greece, people are hardly even aware that women might want to work, (or need to work) or that they might want to study or they might just want to do anything other than be a housewife. I don't see any opportunities for me in this country. I would like to get a degree. I would like to work again. I would like to have been able to say yes to the couple of great job offers I have had. I would like to feel that, in the near future, I would have a life outside this house.

Technorati Tags: education, women

FLUXISTAN

A new and welcome entry from Fluxistan. Telling it like it is. Go and read it and have your say in the comments.

Technorati Tags: fascism, neo nazi

CYPRUS ACTION NETWORK

Cyprus Action Network has news about a racist beating on the island. The member of Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) is on trial for attacking two Cypriot friends (one Turkish and one Greek). For more on this follow this link. The site also has  news and  information on human rights issues in Cyprus.

Technorati Tags: human rights, racism, xenophobia

OFF SUBJECT COMMENTS

I took my email address off this blog because of unwanted mail, so from now you can send messages only via my forum. Also to keep confusion to a minimum in the discussions on this blog, please post all "off subject" comments on the forum. The link is in the sidebar.

HOUSING RIGHTS ABUSES

Roma housing rights abuses go on as ever in Greece. Here is an updated report at the European Roma Rights Centre on the appeal to stop these illegal practices.

Technorati Tags: roma

BE NICE TO IMMIGRANTS

Read this article from the Athens News  about the government ordering civil servants to be nice to immigrants! I would think it would be better for these people to be educated about racism and xenophobia. Then again so does the government. Handing out directives to smile at the foreigners is just ridiculous. "A study conducted by researchers at Panteion University in Athens last July found that nearly 70 percent of staff at municipalities and prefectures believe immigrants steal jobs from natives. Nine in 10 said they are in favour of tighter immigration controls. Three in four said there are already "too many" immigrants living in the country. When asked which immigrants they dislike the most, the majority (58 percent) of the civil servants interviewed named Albanians as their least favourite. About 32 percent named Romanians, 30 percent said Bulgarians and 19 percent said they disliked Americans."  Athens News As well as education in the issues they deal with on a daily basis, they could be trained to do their jobs at the same time

Technorati Tags: racism, xenophobia

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE

From the  GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR  (Minority Rights in Greece) 2005 In every court room, there is an icon of Jesus Christ behind and above the presiding judge’s head. To every participant in the proceedings, this gives the impression that they are not in a Greek state court (which would have been signified by a picture of the head of state) but in a Christian court. Members of minority religions face various forms of prejudice, harassment and discrimination. There are no mosques outside Thrace and the Dodecanese for the hundreds of thousands Muslim migrants who are forced to attend “underground” mosques. There is no possibility to get cremated. Most state cemeteries are operated by the Orthodox Church which often refuses the burial to non-Orthodox. Members of religious minorities are rarely found in state administration jobs, especially in high echelons; they cannot become either teachers in nursery schools or single-teacher primary schools, unless the pupils are of the same religion with the teacher. From Devious Diva It is generally accepted that we should have freedom of religion in Europe. This is not necessarily true here in Greece. Although children now have the right not to follow religious instruction without declaring an alternative religion, this really doesn't go far enough. A mosque was being built, 20 or so kilometres outside Athens, but work has stopped for the foreseeable future. I have heard a rumour (and this is a rumour not fact) that because of the rule that no religious building can be built within 500 metres square of another of a different denomination, the Greek Orthodox church has quickly built a church on the land. If anyone knows anything more about this situation could you please let me know.

Technorati Tags: religion, tolerance

HATEWAVE DEBATE (GREEK)

Phantasmak at Heck to Pay sent me this link to a discussion  (in Greek) on the Hatewave meeting and whether these voices should have a platform in a democratic country.

Technorati Tags: fascism, neo nazi

MIGRANTS AND ECONOMICS

This article from Kathimerini reports on the findings of the Greek Alpha Bank in relation to migrants and pensions. Read it here And read here for an article on migrant saving and borrowing.

Technorati Tags: migrant

DANGEROUS ROUTES UPDATE

As Thanos quite rightly says in his comment Greece is clearing mines. However... Read this BBC article from May 2005 And this from the Independent Race and Refugee News Network 2005 "as we all know from press reports, accidents keep occurring - people keep dying and being injured on the Evros minefields. It is estimated that over sixty people have been killed and around the same number seriously wounded since 1999. Although Greece has been mostly in compliance with the Ottawa Treaty, there has been very little focus on one section, Article 6, paragraph 3: 'Each State Party in a position to do so shall provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation and social and economic reintegration of mine victims..."

Technorati Tags: immigration, migrant

DANGEROUS ROUTES

Further to my post yesterday on the drowning deaths of migrants and asylum seekers, here is a BBC article from 2003 on landmine deaths in Greece. Also an article on the Independent Race and Refugee News Network entitled How can I leave? I have no legs Please also visit the International Campaign to Ban Landmines for further information on landmines worldwide. Thank you to SeaWitch for the prompt.

Technorati Tags: immigration

DROWNING AT SEA

An article from Kathimerini on the plight of migrants and asylum seekers at sea entitled Human Rights drowning at sea


Kofi Anan's attack on Fortress Europe in 2004 as reported in the Guardian.

"Your asylum systems are overburdened precisely because many people who feel they must leave see no other channel through which to migrate," he said. "Many others try more desperate and clandestine measures, and are sometimes injured or even killed - suffocating in trucks, drowning at sea, or perishing in the undercarriage of aircraft."

As he spoke, news emerged of another accident in which two people drowned and at least 17 were missing after a boat carrying dozens of illegal immigrants, apparently Kurds, sank off the Greek island of Evia. A small wooden ship trying to smuggle 70 illegal immigrants to Greece sank last month off the Turkish coast. Only one person survived.

"It is the sovereign right of all states to decide which voluntary migrants they will accept, and on what terms," he said. "But we cannot simply close our doors or shut our eyes to this human tragedy."

For full story read here

Technorati Tags: immigration

COLLISION

I am now a team member at collision///commentary. It is collaborative political blog. that features opinion and entries from all major political ideologies/affiliations. Many of these ideologies are in complete oppostion to my own but the reason I started blogging was to have a dialogue. It seems pointless to me to discuss politcs only with people who share your views. Also Heck to Pay has written a post about THIS IS NOT MY COUNTRY. Read it here

Technorati Tags: politics

PROTEST HIJACKED

It seems that the anti-nazi protest against the meeting of the neo-nazis in Greece, has been hijacked by the "anarchists". There has been little mention of the truly digusting hatewave gathering. We now have the misfortune of seeing these idiots, who mistakenly call themselves anarchists, running around with their helmets on, throwing stones and molotovs, setting fire to the polytechnic and burning the Greek flag. How is this helping the fight against nazism ? It's not. It undermines any legitimate protest we have against the nazis. It means that those on the right can turn round and accuse the left of being more fascistic than they are. That the left is violent and dumb. It makes ethnocentrists point for him. The media will concentrate only on what makes a good story. The neo-nazis will be free to spread their hate. The public will be left with images of "lefties" burning their flag. These idiots have destroyed all the hard work that many ordinary people and organisations (some politically-affiliated to the left but many that are not) have done to protest hatewave. I resent the fact that our argument against nazis will be lost. The nazis will use this against us yet again. Their point will be made and ours will not. One positive point about this whole sorry story: The nazis were unable to drum up the numbers they were hoping for. I don't like the whole "there are only 150 of them" argument. To me, one nazi on the street is too many. But I am glad the "thousands" did not arrive.

Technorati Tags: neo nazi, politics

FELLOW BLOGGER

There's a lotof activity these past few days on my post entitled SICKENED which you can find here. An interesting (though at times difficult to read) argument is raging there. Latest on hatewave. The location of the meeting remains unknown. Let's hope they all get lost... and very wet. Mel's Diner, has a good post on hatewave Go read it here

Technorati Tags: blogs

GOLDEN DAWN MEMBER SURRENDERS

This morning a leading member of the ultra-right wing Golden Dawn party surrendered. An arrest warrant was issued in 1998. He and his gang attacked and seriously injured Dimitris Kousouris and two other people. It's seven years late but I am sure, for his victims, there is now hope that justice will be done. Please note though, he surrendered. He wasn't caught. Anyway, that's one less thug heading to Hatewave. Read brief article from ERT In Brief from Kathimerini

Technorati Tags: neo nazi

SICKENED

It seems as suspected by many that the Hatewave festival is going ahead. The organisers are determined to protect thier "constitutional rights" and hold this hate meeting despite all efforts to ban it. Read article here from Kathimerini. I don't believe they have a right to have a "festival" they themselves call hatewave. They are nazis. Just look around the internet at some of their sites. They make me sick. I don't want to see or hear anymore of it. As far as I am concerned they have NO right to spread their hatred and violence around. I've had enough of being tolerant and listening to the censorship arguments, freedom of speech, the right to meet and all that. Right now I want to throw up just from looking at this stuff; the swastikas, the armbands, the hate paraphenalia, the lies and the sickness.  If you can stomach it, read some of their forums. We are dealing with very sick people. A LOT of very sick people. I was going to post some links to their sites but I can't bring myself to do it. Believe me, I know what the reaction will be to this post. But I've had enough. I don't want them here. STAY SAFE THIS WEEKEND

Technorati Tags: neo nazi, personal

CHILD EXPLOITATION

A series of articles on the exploitation of children in Greece. Entitled "Children of the Stoplights" and written by discarded lies these articles are hosted at the website Winds of Change. Please take the time to read them. We see these children everyday. We ignore them. We get annoyed with them pestering us. This is their reality CHILDREN OF THE STOPLIGHTS Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six For a more detailed information on the rights of children worldwide and ways to get involved go to Terre des Hommes

Technorati Tags: child exploitation, trafficking

FESTIVAL BAN?

It seems possible that the "Hatewave" festival might be banned. Please see the article below from Kathimerini. I am searching continuously for news. There is a lot of rubblish out there saying that only Jewish groups and "lefties" are against this festival. The fascists are quite happily using this against any argument to ban this meeting. Here's just one comment from the white nationalists at stormfront out of the scores I found. "Actually, the commotion has been made by the Hellinic Jewish community, a couple of commies and the Turkish newspapers 'Radical' and 'Aksam'." I think it is only right to point out that, although the most vocal and effective groups are the organised, political ones, there are many others who are not affiliated to any parties and are just as "anti" this kind of nazi meeting anywhere. Many ordinary Greeks are outraged at the prospect of this gathering given the relatively recent history of fascism here in Greece. I would like to acknowledge and thank everyone who has taken part in this campaign to stop this festival, however small the contribution may seem to have been. If anyone finds more news on this topic please email it to me or post a comment with a link. FROM KATHIMERINI The government yesterday said it would ban a planned festival by European far-right groups set to take place in southern Greece this month out of concern it could stir racist behavior, but organizers responded by saying the event will go ahead as planned. Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said state authorities have not been officially notified about the event scheduled to commence between September 16 and 18 but were aware of it. Known as the “Eurofest 2005,” the festival will allegedly be staged by the ultra-rightist group Chryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn). “The government condemns these gatherings which harbor racist attitudes,” Roussopoulos said. "All measures will be taken as outlined by the constitution and the law.” But the Patriotic Alliance, a group helping to organize the gathering, said the festival will take place as planned. “We have not been informed about such a ban,” Patriotic Alliance secretary Dimitris Zareifopoulos told The Associated Press. Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis described the event as being “undesirable” for the country. From the Anti-Nazi Initiative Following international and domestic protests, the government was forced to declare that the pan-european nazi meeting in Greece is banned. Nevertheless, the democrats should be alert until the actual implementation of this declaration, as still the great scandal for all Europe remains, namely the legal function in our country of "Golden Dawn", an overt nazi organization.

Technorati Tags: neo nazi

UNPRECEDENTED PRISON TERM

Mr. Boris Sotiriadis, a conscientious objector on religious grounds has been sentenced to an unprecedented three and a half years in jail. Amnesty International urges the Greek authorities to stop immediately the prosecutions of all conscientious objectors and to bring the provisions for conscientious objection in line with European and international standards and recommendations as well as in line with the recommendations of the Greek Ombudsman and the Greek National Commission for Human Rights. READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Technorati Tags: conscientious objector

COMMENTS WELCOME

So far with my blog I have avoided getting into too many personal discussions with commentors. But I felt compelled to open this one up to everyone. "I fail to see the problem here. What is so troubling about Greeks wanting to maintain the country of Greece FOR Greeks? Diva?" ethnocentrist | 08.13.05 - 1:41 am | My problem with this view is that we are living in multi-cultural society whether we like it or not. The benefits of diversity are many, as far as I am concerned. Our humanity is enriched by mixing and embracing other cultures. I am not advocating that people give up their own cultures and traditions. I believe that tolerance and understanding of other people and their cultures enables us to grow as human beings, which is what we are, first and foremost. This blog is basically about Human Rights, the rights of all human beings, regardless of how different they are to you and where they happen to choose to live. Greece is already a diverse and rich country influenced by many different cultures. It is a shame that this diversity is seen as a threat. It doesn't have to be. Please feel free to add your comments to this discussion.

Technorati Tags: multicultural, human rights, racism

MORE HOMELESS

A new, much needed park and stadium planned for Votanikos, may result in evictions of Gypsy families. They are living in appalling conditions there because they have nowhere else to live. Where will they push them off to now? READ MORE HERE

Technorati Tags: roma