Nice: Statement from Greek Activists
MichaelP
More info from activists helping shut down the EU summit in Nice, France:
Von: Ilias Tzouras <ft...@otenet.gr>
An: ezl...@ecn.org
ez: Fwd: Message from Athens Greece
AGAINST THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF CAPITAL, FOR THE GLOBALISATION OF
SOCIAL RESISTANCE
Why we came
We came at Nice to demonstrate together with tens of thousands of others,
men and women, workers and jobless, blacks and whites, religious and
atheists, young and aged, our contradiction to unemployment,
underemployment and social exclusion.
We came at Nice because in our country, Greece, we fight against the
neoliberalism of Simitis government, the privatisations, the abolition of
the 8-hour work and the abstraction of our insurance rights, against
xenophobia, racism and nationalism, for the legalisation of all
immigrants, the 35-hour and the dole (unemployment benefit) for every
jobless.
We came at Nice because we are inspired by the great demonstrations of
Amsterdam and Ksln, Seattle and Prague, because we are on the side of a
Europe of people and not a Europe of markets, because we believe that the
answer to capitalisms internationalisation is not closing ourselves inside
our country, national independence and nationalism but rather
internationalism, solidarity to the oppressed and unity among all workers
regardless of nationality, sex, colour and religion.
We came at Nice because we believe that our homeland is the one where our
heart is and we feel as brothers those fighting for
equality and freedom from Mexico to Palestine and from Turkey to
Colombia.
Who we are
We are part of the greek, european and international anticapitalistic,
internationalist and libertarian Left, of that Left which
believes that the capitalistic system can not improve, which knows that
the bourgeois democracy cannot be succeeded by any
dictatorship, even proletarian, but only by a society in which equality
will ensure freedom and freedom will safeguard equality.
We are a collectivity inspired by the tradition of revolutionary marxism,
the disciplines of libertarian communism, the ideas and practices of the
feminist, ecological and antiracist movements, the rebel flame of
Zapatistas, the struggle of the landless in Brasil, the heroism of the
turkish resistance and the Palestinian revolt, the political maturity of
the french extreme Left, the lucid fighting spirit of the italian Ya
Basta, the liberating struggles of any kind all over the world.
We are the Network for the Political and Social Rights the former
Movement for the defense of Political and Social Rights
which, with its small powers, stands by the side of Greek and Turkish
political prisoners, resists the nationalism developing in the
Balkans but also the imperialistic NATO operations, fights for equal
rights to Greek and foreign workers by organising antiracist
demonstrations and festivals in which thousands of people participate.
Where we live
In Greece, in the name of modernisation, an extended neoliberal attack is
taking place against the social rights as a whole but also against
fundamental political freedoms. In the private sector of economy trade
unionist organisation and action are almost forbidden. Economic refugees
without papers in their vast majority are treated with brutality. In the
name of cracking down terrorism and in sight of the 2004 Olympic games in
Athens, the greek government, under the guidance of the USA, prepares the
antiterrorist law and the penalization of bill-posting and demonstrating.
In Greece the state, in compliance to the european models, is
transforming to a state-businessman and a top-executive for the promotion
of the interests of the high capital, the electronic media are sponsoring
the unworthy values of the market and disdain any sense of collectivity
and struggle, the church is nominated as party of the social Right and
main expression of nationalism and racist intolerance, trade unionism,
already ossified, insists in national development and production
responsibility, while the Left, in its majority, continuous to dodder
between governism, EC cosmopolitanism and nationalistic anti-imperialism.
In Greece however, and despite all that, great social fights have been
revealed (from the 2-month students sit-in and the 8-week school teachers
strike, to the massive clashes that were held in 20 greek cities for the
right of educators to work in the time period 1996-98 and the massive
mobilizations in hospitals and medical schools right now), the peoples
discontent to neoliberal modernisation deepens, a small but strong
antiracist movement is emerging, great campaigns of solidarity to
political prisoners prosecuted for terrorist action are held with most
recent being the one for Abraham Lesperoglou, interesting attempts and
mobility are developing throughout the Left, parliamentary or not.
What we fight for
We know that neoliberalism and capitalism are enemies of the humankind
and the planet itself, that the dictatorship of profit and
market degrades the third world, condemns billions of people to poverty
and distress, is a reality that deprives humans of their
humanity.
We know that racism and sexism are repulsive forms of discrimination and
violence, they support the capitalistic dominance but
they are not depending solely on it, neither will they be dispelled in
general under workers rule. Fighting against them is a
prerequisite for the development of a true movement for social
emancipation and a means for the labour movement and the Left to
get rid of conservatism and dominating ideologies of every kind.
We are aware that the social struggles and movements of our time are
obliged to give defensive fights in order to defend rights that
have been won with sacrifices, however if they dont coordinate,
internationalise and colour by the ideas of social
self-organisation, direct democracy, acceptance of the different and
multinational intracultural coexistence, they are condemned to
decay to rearguard actions and ineffective cries of protest.
We believe that the internationalisation of fight as a view, as political
plan and as direct action is the oxygen to any attempt of
social liberation today.
NETWORK FOR THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL RIGHTS
GREECE, ATHENS, VALTETSIOU 35 st. Post Code: 10681
Tel: 0030 1 3813928, Fax: 0030 1 3840390
E-mail: dik...@hol.gr
PEOPLE ABOVE PROFITS