#Politics
Target:
Statement by Greek and other academics against xenophobia
Region:
GLOBAL

In Greece we witness a xenophobic and racist hysteria fuelled by a wide spectrum of conservative, extreme Right and fascist forces, and supported by the mass media and the government. In an atmosphere of nationalistic fervour, public discourse is pierced by war cries and inhuman declarations offending fundamental moral values. Incredible, hateful and shameless insults are hurled against women and children, and against the weak in general.

This organised and psychotic xenophobia cultivates panic, paralyses rational thought, drowns every call for solidarity, and fills a tired and insecure society with the poisons of the extreme right and misanthropic fascism. It marks the climax of a systematic and insistent effort of capital to impose on Greek society the ideological hegemony of a racist extreme right. It exploits the huge problems created by the harsh liberal policies of the present and previous incumbents of state power.

The text was originally written on the initiative of Greek academics, to circulate among Greek academics in Greece and abroad. It has also been signed by academics from other countries, including several from Turkey who have been expelled from their jobs by the government.

Against the histrionics of the extreme right we declare calmly:

Refugees were never a problem for the Greek people.

Refugees did not cause the world crisis, capital did.

Refugees did not lead millions of workers to unemployment, nor hundreds of thousands of businesses in Greece to closure. All over the world, capital did this.

Refugees did not, during the last decade, make states rob their own citizens through taxes earmarked for saving the banks and other oligarchic nodes of world capitalism. Oligarchs did.

Refugees lost everything in the years of the world economic crisis. Oligarchs however continue to accumulate riches by spoliating the planet.

Refugees did not impose on the Greek people mass unemployment and poverty. The Troika did this through its memoranda.

Refugees did not send to emigration half a million children of the Greek people.

Refugees do not manage a system based on exploitation, competition, alienation, and war. Like the migrants they are victims of the dominant capitalist system that organises the class war of rich against poor. They experience all the catastrophes that this system brings to humanity. They are victims of all the wars and interventions organised by the imperialist West - USA, European Union, NATO- in order to impose its dominance.

Greece is an integral part of the euroatlantic financial, political and military structures. Through participation in these structures Greek oligarchs advance aggressively their interests, here and elsewhere. Refugees and immigrants are victims of the financial world war waged by colossal monopolies of imperialist states against producers of the weaker countries, thus causing and recycling underdevelopment and poverty.

The extreme Right however, in Greece and everywhere else, ascribes all these scourges to the refugees. In a systematic and organised fashion it turns against refugees the rage of those who don’t notice the real culprits: the forces of war (USA, NATO, European Union), the oligarchy of wealth, and the politicians who serve them.

Through xenophobic targeting of refugees the extreme Right cultivates strife among the people. It subverts social solidarity, which has always been the weapon of the exploited and oppressed against exploiters and oppressors.

Faced with an epidemic of xenophobia and racism, we declare emphatically that refugees and migrants are not our enemies. We are not against them! We are not against the weak, the destitute, the paupers of this world! Our enemies are the warmongers – the USA, the NATO, the EU, the capitalist oligarchs in Greece and Turkey, and their political servants. Our enemies are the assorted fascists, racists, and misanthropes.

Against a system crushing whole peoples and pulverising their lives, a system that day by day produces more and more “redundant people”, we will always fight for the peoples’ solidarity against their common enemies, for a new society of comradeship and humanity.

Initial signatories

Greek signatories
1. Aarbakke Vemund, Assistant Professor, AUTh
2. Aggelatou Roni, Emeritus Professor, University of Patras
3. Aidinis Thanasis, Professor, AUTh
4. Albanoudi Angeliki, Lecturer at AUTh
5. Αlexopoulou Kleoniki, University of Tuebingen, Germany
6. Arkolakis Manolis, SEP, Hellenic Open University
7. Avgeridis Manos, history PhD, NTUA
8. Benos Alexis, Professor, AUTh
9. Bibou Anna, Professor, AUTh
10. Bocaris Themis, Associate Professor, University of Ioannina
11. Bougioukos Costas, Assistant Professor, Université de Paris.
12. Chrysochoou Xenia, Professor, Panteion University
13. Chryssis Alexandros, Professor, Panteion University
14. Costagiolas Petros, Assistant Professor, Ionian University
16. Dafermos Manolis, Associate Professor, University of Crete
17. Dalakoglou Dimitris, Professor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
18. Damigos Dimitris, Professor, NTUA
19. Desli Despina, Associate Professor, AUTh
20. Dimoulas Kostas, Associate Professor, Panteion University
21. Fyssa Artemis, Researcher, Universität Basel, Switzerland
22. Gaganakis Kostas, Associate Professor, NCSR
23. Georgiou Myria, Professor, LSE< UK
24. Georgoulas Stratos, Professor, University of the Aegean
25. Gerotziafas Grigoris, Professor, Sorbonne Université
26. Gioti Lambrina, Assistant Professor, AUTh
27. Gounari Panayota, Professor, University of Massachusetts
28. Gouvias Dionysis, Associate Professor, University of the Aegean
29. Grammenos Theofanis, Assistant Professor, University of Thessaly
30. Grollios George, Professor, AUTh
31. Gryllia Stella, Lecturer, University of Utrecht
32. Gryllias Konstantinos, Assistant Professor, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
33. Hassiotis Loukis, Associate Professor, AUTh
34. Iliopoulos Dimitris, University of Patras
35. Ioannidou Alexandra, Associate Professor, University of Macedonia
36. Kaliambakos Dimitris, Professor, NTUA
37. Kallergis Dimitris, Lecturer, University of Western Attica
38. Kaltsonis Dimitris, Associate Professor, Panteion University
39. Karagianni Yiota, Associate Professor, AUTh
40. Karakantza Euphemia, Associate Professor, University of Patras
41. Karandreas Nikos, Emeritus Professor, NCSR
42. Kargas George, Associate Professor, Agricultural University of Athens
43. Katsiaboura Yianna, Lecturer at AUTh
44. Kioupkiolis Alexandros, Assistant Professor, AUTh
45. Kougioumoutzaki Foteini, Lecturer, AUTh
46. Koukoutsakis Aphrodite, Panteion University
47. Kousouris Dimitris, Assistant Professor, Vienna University
48. Kouvelakis Stathis, University of London
49. Kouzis Giannis, Professor, Panteion University
50. Lambropoulou Dimitra, Assistant Professor, NCSR
51. Lapavitsas Kostas, Professor, University of London
52. Marchetos Spyros, Assistant Professor, AUTh
53. Maistros Yannis, Assistant Professor, NTUA
54. Mavridis Heracles, Assistant Professor, Panteion
55. Mavroudeas Stavros, Professor, Panteion University
56. Michalopoulou Eleni, Senior Lecturer, University of Liverpool
57. Michelioudakis Dimitris, Assistant Professor, AUTh
58. Milios Giannis, Emeritus Professor, NTUA
59. Moutsopoulos Thanassis, Associate Professor, University of Crete
60. Mylonas Yannis, Associate Professor, HSE University, Russia
61. Nikonanou Niki, Associate Professor, University of Thessaly
62. Papadaki Polyxeni, Associate Professor, Panteion University
63. Papadimitriou Fotini, Associate Professor, AUTh
64. Papatheodorou Christos, Professor, Panteion University
65. Paradeisi Maria, Associate Professor, Panteion
66. Patelis Dimitris, Associate Professor, University of Crete
67. Pavlidis Periklis, Associate Professor, AUTh
68. Pavlopoulos Dimitris, Associate Professor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
69. Politis Takis, Associate Professor, University of Thessaly
70. Potamianos Nikos, Historian, Institute of Mediterranean Studies (Rethymnon)
71. Psimmenos Iordanis, Professor, Panteion University
72. Roussis George. Emeritus Professor. Panteion University
73. Samaris Nikolaos, University of Patras
74. Sampanikou Evi, Professor, University of the Aegean
75. Sarigiannis Marinos, Historian, Institute of Mediterranean Studies (Rethymnon)
76. Serdedakis Nikos, Associate Professor, University of Crete,
77. Seirinidou Vaso, Assistant Professor, NCSR
78. Sepheriades Serafeim, Associate Professor of Political Science, Panteion University
79. Skordoulis Kostas, Professor, NCSR
80. Sotiris Panagiotis, SEP, Hellenic Open University
81. Souvatzis Styliani, SEP, Hellenic Open University
82. Souvlis George, Lecturer at Democritus University of Thrace
83. Spathis Gerasimos, Emeritus Professor, NTUA
84. Stamatopoulos Dimitris, Professor, University of Macedonia
85. Stouraitis Giannis, Assistant Professor, University of Edinburgh
86. Stravelakis Nikos, Teacher at the NERC
87. Touloumi Yota, Professor, NCSR
88. Trimberis George, Emeritus Professor, NCSR
89. Tourtouras Christos Assistant Professor, AUTh
90. Trachana Varvara, Associate Professor, University of Thessaly
91. Traianou Anna, Professor, University of London
92. Tympas Aristotelis, Professor, NCSR
93. Vassalos Giorgos, researcher, University of Strasbourg
94. Velissariou Sissi, Professor, NCSR
95. Zacharopoulos Nikos, Lecturer, University of the Aegean
96. Zarkadis Giannis, Professor, University of Patras
97. Zorbala Tina, Assistant Professor, University of the Aegean

International signatories
1. Giuseppe Acconcia, Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Giuridiche e Studi Internazionali SPGI, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy
2. Ceren Akyos, Centro de Estudos Sociais, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
3. Latife Akyuz, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
4. Alessandra Algostino, Professoressa ordinaria di Diritto costituzionale, Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università di Torino, Italy
5. Hakan Altun, Visiting Professor, Goethe University Frankfurt AM, Germany
6. Hacer Ansal PhD, Academics for Peace, Turkey
7. Ari Aydın Ph.D, İzmir Dayanışma Akademisi, İzmir, Turkey
8. Angelo Baracca, Retired Professor of Physics and History of Physics, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Fiorentina Studiorum Universitas, Italy
9. Funda Başaran PhD, Academics for Peace, Turkey
10. Dr. Begüm Basdas, Humboldt University Berlin, BIM
11. Luciana Bohne, Emerita Professor, English and Commonwealth Literature, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, USA
12. Yanis Bonos, editor TurkeyToday.gr , Turkey
13. Emanuele Braga, Prof. Big Data, Università degli Studi di Milano Statale UNIMI, Italy
14. Dario Bursztyn, Sociologist, editor of Cuadernos de Crisis, Buenos Aires, Argentina
15. George Caffentzis, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Southern Maine, USA
16. Meral Camcı PhD, Academics for Peace, Turkey
17. Sergio Caserta, Faculty Member, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, Università di Napoli Federico II, Italy
18. Özlem Caykent PhD, Academics for Peace, Turkey
19. Osvaldo Coggiola, History Professor, University of São Paulo, Brazil
20. Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu, Academics for Peace, Turkey
21. Claudio Deluca, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita’ di Bologna, Italy
22. F. Dilara Demir, Department of Sociology, The School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA
23. Mariglen Demiri, Research Assistant, Institute of social sciences and humanities, Skopje, North Macedonia
24. Dilsa Deniz, Social Anthropologist, Visiting Scholar, International Institute, University of California in San Diego, USA
25. İrfan Eroğlu PhD, Lecturer (expelled), Maltepe University, Academics for Peace, Turkey
26. Silvia Federici, Professor Emerita, New College, Hofstra University, Long Island NY, USA
27. Ozlem Goner PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, USA
28. Philip Hager, Associate lecturer, University of Kent, UK
29. Ahmet Kerim Gültekin PhD, Phillip Schwartz Fellow, The Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Leipzig University, Germany
30. Emrah Günok PhD, Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi (expelled), Academics for Peace, Turkey
31. Mariya Ivancheva, Lecturer in Higher Education Studies, University of Liverpool, UK
32. Zeynep Kaşlı, Academic researcher, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
33. Egemen Kepekçi, Bayreuth University, Germany
34. Lülüfer Körükmez PhD, Academics for Peace, Turkey
35. Özlem Köseoğlu Örnek PhD, Academics for Peace, Turkey
36. Zerrin Kurtoglu, Doktora, Barış Akademisyenleri, Türkiye
37. Kuvvet Lordoğlu, Kocaeli Dayanışma Akademisi KODA, Turkey
38. Zdravko Savevski, researcher i.e. Assistant Professor, Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, Skopje, North Macedonia
39. Stefano Lucarelli, Professore di Politica Economica, Università degli Studi di Bergamo, Italy
40. Redi Muçi, Lecturer, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania
41. Marcello Maneri, Professore di Sociologia, Università di Milano – Bicocca, Italy
42. David McNally, Distinguished Professor of History, University of Houston, USA
43. Sandro Mezzadra, Associate Professor of Political Theory, University of Bologna, Italy
44. Özgür Müftüoğlu PhD, Academics for Peace, Turkey
45. Esra Mungan PhD, Boğaziçi University, Turkey
46. Gaye Onurer, Department of Sociology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
47. Gözde Özdikmenli PhD, Psychological Counselling Center, Academics for Peace, Mugla, Turkey
48. Oktay Özel, retired historian, Bilkent Üniversity, Ankara, Turkey
49. H. Neşe Özgen PhD, Visiting scholar, Department of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University, Durham NC, USA
50. Onur Özgür, rechercheur, Sciences Po Aix, France
51. Dimitra Pachi, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Winchester, UK
52. Prof. Dr. Salvatore Palidda, Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione-Universitˆ degli Studi di Genova, Italy
53. Pier Luigi Papini, Department of Mathematics, University of Bologna UNIBO, Italy
54. Andreas Petrossiants, Independent scholar, New York, USA
55. Tamar Pitch, Professor of Legal Philosophy and Sociology of Law, Law Department, University of Perugia, Italy
56. Goran Sergej Pristas, professor, University of Zagreb, Croatia
57. Sevin Gulfer Sagnic PhD, Department of Sociology, University of California, San Diego, USA
58. Pietro Saitta, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Messina, Italy
59. Alessandro Sarti, Directeur de Recherche CNRS/EHESS, Paris, France
60. Mauro Sentimenti, Costituzionalista, Componente Comitato nazionale per il NO al Referendum costituzionale, Modena, Italy
61. Vildan Seckiner, PhD.Munih. Academics for Peace, Turkey
62. Professor Helena Sheehan, Dublin City University, Ireland
63. Leyla Şimşek-Rathke PhD, sociologist Associate Prof., Marmara University (expelled), Academics for Peace, Turkey
64. Elif Sandal Onal, researcher, Universität Bielefeld, Germany
65. M. Oğuz Sinemillioğlu PhD, Dicle Üniversitesi, Diyarbakir (expelled), Academics for Peace, Turkey
66. Prof. Semra Somersan PhD (expelled), Academics for Peace, Turkey
67. Aslı Telli, Research Associate, Universität Siegen, Germany
68. Nilgün Toker PhD, Academics for Peace, Turkey
69. Ahmet Tonak PhD, Economics Department, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
70. Ozgun Topak, Professor, York University,CANADA
71. Tolga Tören PhD, University of Kassel, Germany
72. Michael Tortorella, Sociologia del Diritto e dell’Economia, Università di Bologna, Italy
73. Eric Toussaint, Universities of Liege and Paris VIII, ex-scientific coordinator of the Debt Truth Committee of the Hellenic Parliament, spokersperson CADTM international, Belgium
74. Jana Tsoneva PhD, independent reearcher, Sofia, Bulgaria
75. . Barış Ünlü, Philipp Schwartz research fellow, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
76. Süha Ünsal, Department of History, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey
77. Hakan Yüksel PhD, Universite de Lille, France
78. Mustafa Kerem Yüksel PhD, Atılım University, Turkey

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The Who is our enemy in this war? petition to Statement by Greek and other academics against xenophobia was written by Spyros Marchetos and is in the category Politics at GoPetition.

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