We believed until the last moment, as a lot of people and comrades believed so, that the attack against the social centre of the Assembly of Thessaloniki was an act of the fascists who lurk in the shadows of this city. It was believed to be another fascist provocation after the stabbings of the 16-year-old high school students who were protesting against the national parades, and the dynamic antifascist march which followed [1*].

Unfortunately and with sadness we concluded the identity of the perpetrators after they claimed "responsibility" for the attack by calling the mainstream newspaper "Eleftherotypia" which printed their words.

First of all we have to underline that the title of the article "Civil War among Anarchists" which was printed in "Eleftherotypia" is at least an unfortunate choice of words, except if it was chosen sarcastically because of the signature of the "responsible ones", who called themselves "Group Against Internal Repression". This signature reminds and refers to the well known organisation of the Communist Party of Greece, an organisation that existed and acted during the only true civil war in the recent history of Greece [2*].

But let's get serious. The A.K. (Antiauthoritarian Movement) is indeed in war, a social war! Not the kind of war that the "wanna-be-general" would like to fantasize by discovering everywhere leaders who threaten their Kingdom of ideology. We are in social war:
- against the employers’ barbarism in the textile industry of Naousa, in the dockyard graveyards of Perama, in the tobacco industries in Athens and Xanthi, in the fertiliser industry of Thessaloniki, in the "Xenias" ex-hostels of Ioannina.
- against the immigration policies of the state in the detention centre of Venna near Komotini.
- against the Summits of the bosses in Prague, in Genoa, in Brussels, in Evian, in Thessaloniki, in Dublin, in Warsaw, in Istanbul, in Scotland.
- against the militarization of the youth through the national parades of the state and through the criminal activity of the fascist gangs.
- against the state repression mechanism, and in solidarity to the political prisoners.

The truth is that the "escape" of A.K. from the loop of self-reference of the wider resistance movement created both "bonds of sympathy" and "bonds of antipathy", but always in the political framework.

But it seems that in Thessaloniki, and this has to be underlined, some overstepped the line by using methods that reach the limit of petit bourgeois vagrancy, by falling into a delirium frenzy of slanders and lies in order to justify their existence.

Having full conscience of what we say, we believe that the Anarchist space [3*], whose name is exploited by the ones who took "responsibility", doesn't deserve to be spoiled by such kind of provocative activity.

The recent circle of violence, with the attempt of assassination against the student in the Polytechnic department of the "Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki&" [4*], with the attack of the fascists with knives against the young students, and most recently with the gas canister arson against the A.K. Assembly of Thessaloniki, is creating a deeply worrying climate.

This city cannot bear the burden of another Gkotzamanis [5*]. The self-proclaimed "protectors", who use the name of the Anarchist space as if they are its representatives, have proven to be completely unable to carry on their shoulders the burden of the struggle that the social war requires.

The price of the Struggle for Freedom is heavy and requires responsibility.

Antiauthoritarian Movement Assembly of Thessaloniki
17 Makrigianni - Kamara
www.resistance2003.gr
 ita_gr@yahoo.co.uk
tel: 0030 2310 261290


PS: Having full conscience of what we do and after many hours of discussion in the Assembly, we concluded with sadness that an announcement was necessary. In the past we never answered to similar announcements as we believe that our only answer is our everyday social activity and direct action. So, as it is obvious, we will not come back with similar announcements ever again.


1* The 25th of March is considered to be the anniversary of the uprising of the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire who had enslaved the people of Balkans for more than 400 years. The school-books teach the youth that it was purely a national uprising and they hide all the facts of the class struggle characteristics of the armed rebellion. Anyway, not only the state distorts history but they even celebrate the 25th of March with Mussolini style of parades, which prepare the school-children to become the future cannon-fodder for their wars. Similar parade takes place on the 28th of October which is the anniversary of the Greek-Italian war.
We are against this, and for the last year or so we began a campaign of trying to stop this fascist custom. We found many allies in this attempt like other comrades from the anarchist-antiauthoritarian space, form the left, many teachers in schools, and of course students.
During our last intervention against the national parades on the 25/03/06 in Thessaloniki, a gang of 30 fascists armed with knives, attacked a small group of 16-year-old students. They stabbed 3 of the students and then they left, and all this in front of the eyes of a police riot squad, and tenths of civil cops who were watching apathetic and they even tried to stop the students from escaping.
In the parade in Ksanthi, the AK Assembly of Ksanthi, was attacked by the cops and by enraged supporters of the ex-Junta, and afterwards fascists attacked the social centre of the Assembly of Ksanthi. During the confrontation the fascists were repelled, but a comrade was lightly injured.
In the parade in Ioannina, the comrades from the assembly there faced a small group of scum who were under the protection of the cops and they were making the nazi salute.
After this a 1000 people antifascist march was organised in Thessaloniki on the 30/03/06. The march headed towards the offices of the local fascists, but we came face to face with a lot of riot squads (MAT). The confrontation was inevitable. None was arrested, and only one cop of the MAT was injured.
Photos from the march:
 http://www.resistance2003.gr/en/gallery/gallery.php?id=56
VIDEO from the clashes:
 http://www.babylonia.gr/video_download.php?id=14


2* The Axis forces left from Greece in 1945. A few months later, in 1946 the civil war began and lasted until 1949. The two main sides were: A coalition of communist and democrat illegal parties and groups who were the Resistance forces during the Nazi occupation. Leading role in this coalition had the Communist Party of Greece (K.K.E.). The other side was the supporters of Monarchy, the Nationalists who were supporters of the Nazis during the occupation and they were still bearing German arms, an array of politicians who were supporters of Britain, and the British army who sent many troops and occupied the bigger cities. During the civil war more than 10000 people died during battles, and thousands more from famine, diseases etc. The winner was the Nationalist side.
The organisation which we speak about is the Group of Protection of Folk Fighters (O.P.L.A.). This group was "taking care" of the ones who were not considered by the KKE as the real folk fighters. So whoever was not a "real communist" according to the "wise" leadership of the KKE was meeting OPLA and disappearing sooner or later. In other words OPLA was solely engaged into "solving" the "internal matters".

3* Anarchist space or anarchist-antiauthoritarian space is the exact name that it is used in Greece when someone wants to speak about the whole array of groups, organisations, squats, individuals that are anarchists or antiauthoritarians. The name movement is not used most of the times, and when it is used it means the wider resitance movement. The Antiauthoritarian Movement, the name of our network of autonomous Assemblies, doesn't mean THE movement. We are just a component/move in the wider movement. By the way, in Greek the movement is "KINIMA" and the word movement which we use is "KINISI".

4* A couple of months ago in Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki a group of individuals tried to steal computers from the university. They used as a cover a party of an autonomous-left student group. When the students understood what it was going on they attempted to reason with the thieves and told them to stop. Instead they called for backups and more than 20 friends of them came with iron bars, chains, crowbars and helmets and started to hit everyone in the party. Many were injured and one student had a fracture from a crowbar on the skull. He fell into a comma and was in the hospital for weeks.
The student general assmeblies declared this action as a provocation for the University Asylum. On the other hand the parliament parties were saying that the Asylum must break now so as the police to enter the universities and safeguard the students from similar attacks. The place from which the thugs launched the attack was inside the University protected from the Asylum which whey didn’t respect. And this is the least, if you considered that they tried to assassinate a student for a few PCs. Their place was demolished by the students. The "responsible" ones for the arson at AK Assembly of Thessaloniki mean this place when they speak of "invasions in anarchist
and, generally, libertarian, infoshops".

5* Gkotzamanis was a fascist who assassinated Gr. Lambrakis, a well known member of United Democratic Left (EDA), on the 22 of May 1963 in Thessaloniki. After Lambrakis delivered the keynote speech at a pacifist meeting in Thessaloniki, he was run down by a delivery truck driven by two right-wing extremists (E. Emmanouilidis and S. Gotzamanis). Lambrakis suffered brain injuries and died in the hospital five days later, on 27 May.
You can read more about this in Wikipedia:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregoris_Lambrakis