Yesterday, in a rare demonstration of energy, the Coalition
Greek government headed by conservative Antonis Samaras moved against the
leadership of Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi), the
extremist group which apes many of the practices and symbols of the Nazis.
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| Golden Dawn Leader Nikos Michaloliakos |
Golden Dawn has certainly been provocative. Its programme of
extreme nationalism, intolerance of immigrants, rejection of Eurozone austerity
and contempt for the present political elite presses many positive buttons with
a Greek electorate in despair and impoverished after the government signed up
to two Memoranda setting out its obligations under the two bailouts. Golden
Dawn activists systematically rough up the large inner-city communities of
often illegal immigrants, Pakistanis, Kurds, Afghans and now Syrians,
friendless among the xenophobic poor Greeks. With crime rates soaring, Golden
Dawn dispenses rough street justice as the official police are ineffective.
The ancient Greek Meandros
symbol has been twisted into a crooked swastika, members usually wear black
T-shirts with emblems; there are torch-light processions, marches and parades
with drum bands beating and Greek and Golden Dawn flags flying. More sinisterly
there have been allegations of armed robbery and murder, as yet unproven. But
Golden Dawn has gone too far recently: a group of Communist fly-posters were
set upon by a mob of Golden Dawn supporters and beaten up badly: the police
stood idly by. Worse, after some altercation between opposing factions in a
café about a TV football match, on 18 September a Leftist rapper called Pavlos
Fyssas was stabbed to death by an avowed Golden Dawn supporter who seems to
have been summoned by phone. Golden Dawn denies any direct involvement but many
signs point otherwise. As a consequence Golden Dawn has been declared a
criminal organisation and about 30 arrest warrants have been issued.
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| Kasidiaris yells his innocence |
The criminal prosecutor’s office has a thick dossier on Golden
Dawn’s activities, which begs the question why action was not taken sooner. In
any event prominent Golden Dawn figures have been arrested and marched in
handcuffs between gaol and court in a surely prejudicial fashion. Apart from
the leader Nikos Michaloliakos, an uncharismatic small-time lawyer with a
rasping voice and an occasional shaft of humour, the party spokesman Elias
Kasidiaris was also detained. He is a violent young man, an ex-body builder and
regular soldier, who gained notoriety in June 2012 for assaulting a well-liked lady
Communist deputy Liana Kanelli on a prime-time TV chat show. Also arrested was
MP Elias Panagiotaris, a thuggish presence in many Golden Dawn incidents.
Justice will no doubt take its slow course.
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| Panagiotaris in custody |
Golden Dawn has few redeeming features; its policies and
personnel are despicable. The extreme right has a following in Greece – after
all the Colonel’s Regime, a military junta, ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974 with
some successes, though ultimate disaster in Cyprus. An April 2013 poll reported
that 30% of Greeks “yearned for the better days of the junta”. The marginal
party right-wing LAOS, under Holocaust-denier Georgos Karatzaferis, polled 6%
in 2009 and was even in Papademos’ 2011 Coalition before dropping below 3% and
losing all its seats in the 2012 elections.
Golden Dawn is much stronger. It
polled 7% in 2012 and now has 18 seats in the 300-seat parliament. The volatile
polls show its support at about 15% giving rise to its dubious claim to speak
for 1 million Greeks. Yet parliamentary immunity laws are generous in Greece. A
member cannot be removed unless convicted of a crime; meanwhile he retains all
his privileges. Removing Golden Dawn from Parliament will be a complex
exercise. The present uneasy New Democracy-PASOK coalition is unlikely to risk
fresh elections.
The emergence of Golden Dawn was a consequence of the
Economic Crisis and its mismanagement. History tells us, from experience in
1920-40, that nations in despair will embrace Fascism with its authoritarian
and patriotic certainties. One hopes the Greek government can lance the Golden
Dawn boil but the process is at an early stage; a reaction of street violence
can be expected and the government will have to be fair but utterly resolute.
SMD
29.09.13.
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2013
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