What We See, What We Hope: Declaration of Solidarity with the Uprising in Greece

In light of the above, we declare openly that:

1) We are moved by the courage and humanity of those who have repeatedly filled the streets and are now occupying schools and university campuses in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, and cities across Greece. Our solidarity with them will not be shaken by official attempts to divide the movement into “good” protesters and “bad.” In the face of the police murder of a 15-year old – only the most recent in a long series of such murders by state officers – and in the face of the grinding inhumanity and relentless militarization of everyday life under the capitalist war of all against all, the destruction of private property does not upset us. To be clear: We’re not endorsing violence blindly; in fact we’re heartened to see that actions are becoming more selective, more political, with each day. But we know how divisive fixation on the “violence” of protesters can be in moments such as these. And so we refuse to go along with attempts to isolate certain groups. Those who play along with that script allow themselves to be used in a way that delivers others to direct repression.

2) We call for the immediate liberation and unconditional amnesty for all those arrested for participating in the uprising – more than 400 people at this writing.

3) We reject all attempts to trivialize this uprising by reducing it to the revolt of an overeducated “700-Euro generation.”

4) We categorically reject any attempt to smear this uprising with the label of “terrorism.” The only terror it is appropriate to speak of here is the ongoing state terror inflicted on the autonomists of Exarchia, on immigrants, on the poor and vulnerable, and on all those who refuse to conform and submit to the bleak and violent givens of capitalist normality. We condemn any attempt, now or in the future, to apply draconian “anti-terrorism” laws and measures against those participating in this movement.

Signed:

Brett Bloom (Urbana)

Dimitris Bacharas (Athens)

Rozalinda Borcila (Chicago)

Peter Conlin (London)

Alexandros Efklidis (Thessaloniki)

Markus Euskirchen (Berlin)

Nathalie Fixon (Paris)

Bonnie Fortune (Urbana)

Kirsten Forkert (London)

John Fulljames (London)

Jack Hirschman (San Francisco)

Antoneta Kotsi (Athens)

Isabella Kounidou (Nicosia)

Henrik Lebuhn (San Francisco)

Ed Marszewski (Chicago)

Jasmin Mersmann (Berlin)

Anna Papaeti (Athens)

Csaba Polony (Oakland)

Katja Praznik (Ljubljana)

Gene Ray (Berlin)

Tamas St. Auby (Budapest)

Gregory Sholette (New York)

G.M. Tamás (Budapest)

Flora Tsilaga (Athens)