The day appeared initially a very difficult one for a demonstration because of the very bad weather and continuous rain. But despite the rain (later on, the day, fortunately, became sunny and then cloudy from the tear gas of the riot police) a tremendous march of 50.000 students, schoolchildren, workers and organizations of the Left has shaken Athens. It marked the success of this national day of struggle, December 18, coinciding with the stoppage of ADEDY (National Federation of Public Employees) and the 24 hours strike of the hospital workers of the country. (Yesterday the march of the Stalinist KKE had, according to the figures given by the KKE itself about 7.000).
The hospital workers fighting against the destruction of the National Health Service surrounded, earlier in the morning, the Ministry of Health. They stayed there until noon shouting slogans for a free, public health service for the people, against privatization, and against the police repression responsible for the killing of the young Alexis Grigoropoulos. Later, they joined the common march that started in front of the University of Athens and went to the Parliament, in Syntagma Square, passing through Omonia Square.
The march lasted about four hours. In Syntagma Square, in front of the Parliament clashes with the riot police started as young people tried to burn the new Christmas tree that the right wing Mayor of Athens put there in replacement of another huge Christmas tree burned in a previous demonstration. The street fight continued in the University Avenue and then around the occupied Law Faculty which was put under siege by the repressive forces of the State. The picture of students standing on the roof of the Law Faculty attacking from above the policemen in the street revived the memories of a similar event in 1972, in the same Faculty during the times of the CIA imposed dictatorship of the colonels.
In the morning it became known that yesterday another 16 years old boy, son of a leading member of PAME/KKE, was shot at the hand by a policeman, in Peristeri, a working class area of the greater region of Athens. A mass demonstration was held in Peristeri today afternoon in protest. It was organized by KKE but joined also by other left organizations, including our Party EEK.
Early evening a meeting of representatives of 15 class struggle trade unions was held in the headquarters of OTOE (Federation of Bank Employees) and it was decided to prepare anew strike action immediately after the holidays, on January 9, 2009, anniversary of the murder of the left wing teacher Nicos Temboneras in 1991.
A students’ assembly in the Law Faculty of the Athens University took the decision to continue the struggle with occupations and demonstrations indefinitely until the overthrow of the right wing government of murderers.
The workers and youth occupying the GSEE headquarters participated in the march and had afterwards a workers’ assembly to discuss future actions. They have renamed the headquarters and themselves from “General Confederation of Labor” into “General Assembly of Labor in Rebellion” (in Greek the initials are the same: GSEE). PASOK, of course, the Stalinists, and unfortunately a part of the extra-parliamentary left accuse the occupation to be an adventure of anarchists and of the Trotskyists of EEK…
And some news from sports: today my favorite football team Olympiacos won in the match the German team Hertha in Karaiskaki Stadium in Piraeus; during the match again, as in all football matches these days, the fans shouted non-stop the most popular slogan in Greece in relation to our “beloved” police: “ Cops, Pigs, Murderers!”
La Luta continúa!
Venceremos! __
Athens, 18 December 2008
_________Savas Michael
