ATHENSPLUS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009
OPINION
Milestones
Footnotes +
BY NIKOS KONSTANDARAS
It is one thing to see the aftermath of
bomb attacks in Pakistan and
Afghanistan, where powerful, in-
surgent religious movements are
trying to destabilize the countries so
that they can impose their dictator-
ship, and another to see violence be-
coming a routine in Greece, where full
democracy has bloomed over the
past 35 years. And yet, for the past two
days, Peshawar, Kabul and Athens
have headed the catalog of terror on
international news bulletins. This is
the absurdity of our situation: In the
rest of the world, the name Athens is
becoming synonymous with vio-
lence at a time when there is no jus-
tification for that violence nor any spe-
cific goal behind it.
The riots of last December are still
fresh in everyone’s minds. They were
sparked by a policeman’s killing of a
teenager in the Exarchia district of the
capital, where self-proclaimed anar-
chists and other street-smart young-
sters held sway, allowing them to be-
lieve that any police presence – let
alone a murderous one – was an as-
sault on their independence. The ri-
oting and looting were followed by
sporadic sniper attempts to murder
policemen, all leading up to Tuesday
night’s attack on a suburban police
station with assault rifles, where six
young officers were injured – two of
BY SOULTANA KALLIGAS
Time capsule
There is a gas station on a central road
in Athens, where beautiful objects
are (re-)born. The busy street is locat-
ed in an industrial area, where the
buildings are big, old and gray. Some
even seem abandoned. Driving through
there, you feel like you’re in a movie
about the end of the world; but when
the gas station comes into view, it is as
if a time capsule has appeared. Three
bright-red cars shine in the corner of
the lot – the expensive antiques have
been restored by the owner of the gas
station and are parked there on per-
manent display. Inside the shop, there
is a room filled with hundreds of oth-
er refurbished antiques: a jukebox, mo-
torcycles, statues, pictures, hats, even
a feather boa. Patrons are free to admire
the objects, and perhaps wonder about
the stories behind them, but only
from outside – the collection is strict-
ly private. Is the skilled antiques en-
thusiast resisting the colorlessness of
his surroundings? Or does he perhaps
hope that bringing these everyday ob-
Cops and robbers
In the dark. The latest terrorist attack underlines just how absurd these outbursts of violence are. [AFP]
Bad reputation
In the rest of the world, the
name Athens is becoming
synonymous with violence at
a time when there is no
justification for that violence
nor any specific goal behind it
Blast to the past
Getting into it
The beat put a fresh rhythm
in my step and I had a difficult
time controlling the urge to
headbang
them seriously. (The Aghia Paraske-
vi precinct, by the way, spends most
of its time issuing passports.)
When violence has become so
prevalent, when Panathinaikos and
Olympiakos hooligans spread ter-
ror whenever they clash, when police
are routinely attacked, when scores
of riot police officers are trying to en-
force the rule of law in Exarchia, then
it is clear that Athens is beginning to
live up to what had previously been
an exaggerated image of lawlessness.
So, what is going on? Why is this hap-
pening? Where is it leading?
FREEZE FRAME
[Soultana Kalligas]
jects back to life will recreate the past?
Whatever his motivation, he succeeds
in giving passers-by tangible reminders
of a time when life was more innocent.
Welcome to the jungle I
While heading to the electric railway
station after work one evening – cars
parked in every conceivable space
around the neighboring soccer stadi-
Greece’s low-level urban guerrilla
movement sprang up in reaction to
the right-wing military junta that
ruled Greece from 1967-74. It picked
up speed after the restoration of
democracy, when the guerrillas faced
lesser threats to their lives and free-
dom, until the core of the most dan-
gerous gang – November 17 – was ar-
rested and brought to trial in 2003.
Since then, some small groups have
tried to keep the flame of revolution
burning, with attacks on policemen
and banks.
The murder of teenager Alexis
um for a match starting a few hours
later – I wondered if it was wise to walk
around there. Soccer chants could be
heard, red flags could be seen and there
wasn’t a single female in sight. But it
was early, so I decided to take a deep
breath and approach the platform.
Soon a train pulled in packed with the
visiting team’s fans and rocking side-
to-side from their exuberance. This
time my worries were justified. At the
sight of a home fan close to me mak-
ing lewd gestures at them, the visitors
– testosterone levels already high – re-
taliated by throwing objects our way.
Within seconds, dozens of riot police
officers ran out of the train. How it all
ended, I am not sure: As a woman fled
to the street with eyes burning from
some sort of chemical, I hailed a cab.
Welcome to the jungle II
Two days later, I headed to the city cen-
ter again. The walk to the station was
quiet, the ride was uneventful and the
shops were still open. In a carefree, ur-
banophile mood, I turned on the radio
on my cell; as the escalator carried me
up into Omonia Square, Guns N’ Ros-
Grigoropoulos last December, which
triggered a wave of protests that po-
lice (under instructions from a supine
government) allowed to rage out of
control, gave new life to “anti-estab-
lishment” outrage.
Since Greece is under neither for-
eign occupation nor a dictatorship, it
is difficult to see what the terrorist at-
tacks are all about. If the youngsters
behind them are not aiming to top-
ple the state and impose their own
rule, then the only way to explain
what is happening is that it is a rite
of passage that has become an insti-
tution in itself. However, given that
the latest attack came one day after
the government announced a
600,000-euro bounty for informa-
tion leading to the arrest of three bank
robbers believed to have ties to the
anti-establishment establishment,
cynics might say that the “romantic”
attacks against the state are driven
by vengeance and a way to enhance
the robbers’ revolutionary credentials.
Whichever way one looks at it,
Greece’s terrorism problem is a symp-
tom of a country that cannot deal with
its problems – either due to incom-
petence or a misplaced tolerance for
sociopathic ideologues – until they do
the most possible damage.
The absurdity is that while these
meaningless outbursts of violence
have no real cause, they are the
cause of real damage to the country’s
image, its economy and its society.
The game has become very serious.
And it is far from over.
es welcomed me to the jungle. The beat
put a fresh rhythm in my step and I had
a difficult time controlling the urge to
headbang. As intense as Axl Rose’s
singing was, though, I couldn’t ignore
the muffled sound of chants. Alert, I
removed my headphones and looked
around. For a moment, it was De-
cember 2008 again: Several hundred
people carrying red-and-black flags
were slowly but determinedly making
their way from Patission Street to Syn-
tagma Square. Riot police officers – oh,
hi boys, remember me? – walked
ahead and to the side of the group, es-
sentially surrounding them in case
things got out of hand. Still in front of
the demonstration, and feeling as if the
protesters were glaring at me, I picked
up the pace. Reaching the shopping ar-
cade I was going to, I was greeted by
metal shutters coming down. The
stores – and the storekeepers – were
being locked in for safety – and I was
locked out. As the demonstrators
passed by the dark passageway, I
was surprised to realize not just that
I was scared but that I wasn’t sure who
I was scared of.
11