Bring your own handcuffs if you are going to mention minorities in "HellAss"
Krater Makedonski
your own handcuffs
June 18, 2009
Aleksandra Aleksovska
"Great audacity and courage was needed in terms of vetoing FYROM�s NATO
admission" - Greek PM Kostas Karamanlis on the veto.
"We didn�t actually veto Macedonia at NATO" - Greece, earlier, to the
International Court of Justice on the veto.
It would have been nice to be there to hear Karamanlis blow any chance he
had of defending Greece's NATO veto at the ICJ (International Court of
Justice) out of the water. However, there are a number of reasons why I,
although being a journalist, was not able to cover the Greek EU
parliamentary elections last week. Part of it would be that my newspaper
wouldn�t fly me there, but another equally limiting factor would be that I
would not be allowed to ask real questions to Karamanlis, given the "press
freedom" that Greece enjoys. To be fair, many people may not be aware of
this, but Greece does have considerable freedom of press - except on two
issues. One is Macedonia and the other is the issue of minorities. So while
Greece�s press may be quite free to much of their society and comparable to
other European states - if you are an ethnic Macedonian in Greece, the press
is more like Cuba or North Korea. It�s not like I could go up to the �Dear
Leader� of the Peoples Democratic Republic of Greece and ask why as a
Macedonian here in Greece, I can communicate with people in Macedonian, yet
according to him, these Macedonians don�t exist. If I were to put a question
like that to him, I am sure I�d be dragged away in some very unfashionable
handcuffs.
Incidentally, as a travel tip for journalists going to Greece to cover
minority issues, you might want to take your own handcuffs. Within a few
seconds of mentioning the word �minority� you will end up in some horrible
'Home-Brand' handcuffs or maybe even some �Sklavenitis� own-brand plastic
prisoner tie. At least if you have your own that you cuff yourself with as
you are being arrested for �over-free speech�, you wont have the additional
embarrassment of going home to have other journalists laughing at you for
being slapped with the handcuff equivalent of a paisley bell-bottomed
jumpsuit. You can generally find some like ASP Tacticals, Hiatt-Thompson
1010Cs, Peerless 850s or Smith and Wesson 100s in a range of colors that
will match most outfits. Personally I go for Smith and Wesson 100s, they are
the handcuff equivalent of Ray Ban Wayfarers - an eternal classic.
Other than being arrested for mentioning minorities, in Greece you can also
be sued for not getting someone to shut up when they start criticizing the
government. It�s true - if I go up to an Ethnic Macedonian and ask them what
they thought of their treatment and if they were to start talking about
having their language banned and their brother having his land confiscated,
and I didn�t tell them to shut up, I could be sued! It has happened! A radio
host called Nikitas Lionarakis was sued because an interviewee was
criticizing a politician and Lionarakis didn�t cut the guy off. Does that
sound like a free media to you? There are other examples of media
repression.
In 2007 Greece passed a law that limits reporting on news to only approved
organizations - and of course you are not allowed to broadcast in any other
language than Greek. Of course! Greece said they have no minorities! What
would they need minority language radio for? But you don�t need to be on
radio to get harassed.
Last year a journalist, Dragan Micko Dado was jailed for videotaping a
Macedonian wedding in Greece. I guess, as according to the Greek government,
Macedonians don�t exist in Greece, he was jailed for video taping thin air.
Video taping a big Macedonian wedding? If you�ve ever been involved with a
big Macedonian wedding, you�d know the guy should be given a medal for valor
or a Purple Heart medal or something for agreeing to do it. But you don�t
even need to have a camera or be a journalist to be harassed in Greece.
Even speaking Macedonian in Greece can get you arrested! In 2007 some
Australian tourists visiting Lerin (Florina) were detained because they were
caught speaking Macedonian - and they are far from the only Diaspora
Macedonians who get hassled by Greek police when speaking the original
language of the Macedonian area. You don�t even have to be Macedonian to get
slapped with this treatment.
Last year, Grigoris Valianatos, a Greek government official, was asked his
opinion on the Macedonian issue on a TV show. He replied that he believed
that there was a Macedonian minority in Greece. The TV host was shocked!
Macedonians? In my Greece? Well, we know, outside of Greece this is not a
big issue; Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the US State
Department and the UN have all said there is a Macedonian minority in Greece
that has been subject to persecution. So what happened to Grigoris for
stating his personal belief? He lost his government job the next morning.
Two years ago Dora Grosomanidou, a Greek Diplomat who had responsibility for
Macedonia stated to a reporter for the Financial Times that 'Greece has to
face the new reality, as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has been
recognized under its constitutional name by more than half of the members of
the United Nations.' That is true; Macedonia has been recognized by its
constitutional name by around 130 countries out of about 195 nations on the
planet. That 130 makes up most of the world�s population, most of the UN, 4
of 5 permanent Security Council members and most of the worlds economy. What
Dora was stating is nothing surprising - but as a consequence she was
recalled to Greece and sacked from her post.
Sounds like a police state, right? Greece sounds just like George Orwell�s
1984, but with the inability to flush toilet paper. So given that you can
get sued for interviewing the wrong person, lose your job for stating that
you believe there are Macedonians in Greece, get jailed for filming
Macedonians in Greece, get arrested for speaking Macedonian and get sacked
from your nice ambassadorial job for stating what is obvious- you�d think
the Greek government had the place pretty much under control right?. A nice
well-ordered police state - like North Korea but with 5 Euro coffees.
Almost. Last week, a visiting professor from the University of Chicago came
to Athens to help launch a dictionary. What was so upsetting about this
dictionary was that it was a �Greek to Macedonian� dictionary. Just a
dictionary, OK? The most boring book in the world, other than a phone book.
Well obviously it upset a few people. A bunch of overweight Greek Neo-Nazis
from the party Chrysi Avyi showed up and started destroying dictionaries and
camera equipment. Well of course, the police were contacted and showed up as
you�d expect. Given the fact that you get arrested for being a tourist and
talking the wrong language - you�d expect the police to go the full 'Rodney
King' on a bunch of vandalizing Neo-Nazis, right?
Well not exactly. What did the police actually do? They sat outside the
building and did absolutely nothing. No arrests were made for vandalism;
they were not removed from the building by the police. No police came in to
protect anyone. It appears the neo-Nazis left under the power of their own
cowardice soon after the police had arrived, yet they really didn�t have to
worry. This is not the first time that the neo-Nazi Chrysi Avyi have been
ignored by the Greek police. There has been a long history of tolerance and
even reports of cooperation with Chrysi Avyi by the Greek police. One can
only assume that it will continue in the future. An environment where thugs
can operate with what amounts to police sanction should not exist in Europe.
Welcome to "HellAss", where if you say you are a minority, or your report on
minorities, you can get jailed; and if you attack minorities, the police
will sit by and watch you do it.
Spirit of Truth
Official Charter for all groups bearing the exclusive name MACEDONIA as
adopted by their members.
Charter Revision 4.02
So that the newsgroups "alt.culture.macedonia", "alt.news.macedonia", and
"alt.culture.macedonia.moderated" which were created without support from
soc.culture.greek or appropriate discussion in alt.config, cannot be used
for anti-Greek propaganda purposes their members have declared that they
should be deleted from news server active files by all ISP's.
Until this deletion occurs the members of the groups named above including
soc.culture.greek the parent group of all Greek newsgroups have voted for
the following charter to be enforced.
All newsgroups bearing the exclusive name MACEDONIA are considered as forums
for the discussion of matters relating to the province of Macedonia in
Northern Greece. This should not be confused with the internationally
isolated "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM) which in 1991
unilaterally declared independence and illegally usurped the historically
Greek name of Macedonia that until then had only ever been used to refer to
territory in the north of Greece which for 4000 years has been inhabited by
Hellenes (Greeks) who can trace their ancestry back to Alexander the Great.
There are no other people in the Balkans who are ethnically or racially
Macedonians except these Greeks.
The more than 2,000,000 Greeks who live in Macedonia (outnumbering the Slav
inhabitants of FYROM) and the 18 Million Greeks world-wide consider it as
OFFENSIVE and INSULTING to themselves, their ancestors and kinsmen, and to
their Hellenic heritage and inheritance for anyone but Macedonian Greeks to
call themselves Macedonian and the region they inhabit Macedonia.
The international community including the United Nations and the European
Union supported by very Eminent Historians only recognises the "Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" by the acronym "FYROM" and NO OTHER NAME.
They believe that FYROM should adopt a name that does not include the term
"Macedonia" or any of its derivatives and that FYROM must desist from using
Greek symbols on its flag and stop teaching children in its schools the
mythos of General Tito which falsely claims that the FYROMians are the
descendants of the ancient Macedonians when in-reality they are ethnic
Bulgarian speaking Slavs that came into the Balkans in the 6th Century AD
(~1000 years after Alexander). For this reason there is NO short form for
FYROM's name except the acronym FYROM.
Additionally no member of the international community nor any international
organisation recognises the FYROMian nationality by the term "Macedonian",
not even the European Court of Human Rights.
FYROM has partially accepted the un-tenability of these false claims by
agreeing to use the acronym "FYROM" as its name and the term "Citizen of the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" to describe its national inhabitants
in all international fora. "FYROM" is the official name also used by the CIA
and all Government bodies world wide to refer to this entity.
Please use to the correct name for the "Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia" which is FYROM whenever you refer to this entity so as not to
cause unwarranted offence or confusion.
The newsgroups for discussion of matters relating to FYROM are
alt.news.fyrom and alt.culture.fyrom. Please post there if you are from
FYROM
It must be emphasised that information supplied by FYROMian organisations
and representatives in this or other news groups, on the Internet or
directly to you and to media organisations, relating to their unfounded
claims is nothing but propaganda and revisionism that both Scholars and
professional Historians acknowledge as being unfounded lies of Orwellian
proportion designed for internal consumption and international propaganda
purposes.
The official languages of all newsgroups bearing the name "Macedonia" are
English and Greek.
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The decision of the EU summit meeting in Lisbon 1992
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"The European Council reiterates the position taken by the Community and its
members in Guimaraes on the request of the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia to be recognized as an independent State. If expresses its
readiness to recognize that republic within its existing borders according
to their Declaration on 16 December 1991 under a name which does not include
the term Macedonia. It furthermore considers the borders of this republic as
inviolable and guaranteed in accordance with the principles of the UN
Charter and the Charter of Paris".
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FYROM President Kiro Gligorov: "We are Slavs who came to this area in the
sixth century . . . we are not descendants of the ancient Macedonians."
(President of FYROM Ciro Gligorov, from the Foreign Information Service
Daily Report, Eastern Europe, February 26, 1992, p. 35. )
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The United Nations strongly disapproves of the use of the name "Macedonia"
by the FYROM and demands that FYROM find an acceptable name which does not
use the name "Macedonia", which belongs to Greece, or any of its
derivatives.
"The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia -- (8 Apr. 1993)
--The General Assembly decided on 8 April 1993 to admit to United Nations
membership the State being provisionally referred to for all purposes within
the United Nations as "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" pending
settlement of the difference that had arisen over its name."
http://www.un.org/Overview/unmember.html
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Any actions designed to propagate the use of the name "Macedonia" by the
FYROM are considered by the UN as contrary the United Nations Charter and as
attacks upon the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Greece.
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Spirit of Truth
