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Eyewitness in Athens: Hundreds of thousands-strong No rally defies bankers' blackmail by Dave Sewell in Athens Socialist Worker, Britain, July 3 <http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art/40858/Eyewitness+in+Athens%3A+Hundreds+of+thousands-strong+No+rally+defies+bankers+blackmail> Hundreds of thousands of people crammed into central Athens' Syntagma Square last night, Friday, for the official no campaign's rally ahead of Sunday's austerity referendum. It will decide whether to reject or accept the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) proposed deal on Greece’s debt. The polls are nail-bitingly close–but the difference on the streets was enormous. It was the biggest turnout of any protest since at least 2012. A crowd almost too dense to move in filled the square and surrounding streets and spilled over onto bus stop and kiosk roofs and balconies of surrounding buildings. Student John told Socialist Worker, "We don't want any more austerity–we want jobs and a future for our children. “This is an act of real democracy. The people should get to decide, instead of getting things forced on us.” Left wing prime minister Alexis Tsipras topped the bill of speakers and musicians. But the people present went well beyond his party Syriza. Chris who’s unemployed is a member of the Pirate Party. She told Socialist Worker, “Five years of austerity have caused 10,000 suicides. Do we want to make that 20,000 with another five years? "Whatever happens, we're standing up for our prime minister." Pensioner Vaso added, "I'm here to encourage Tsipras to do what he needs to." The no rally and the much smaller yes rally both put forward radically different visions of Europe. Left wing politicians and activists from across the EU came to Syntagma to lend solidarity. To loud cheers, a speaker from the German protest movement Blockupy talked about domestic opposition to German chancellor Angela Merkel. He said, “For every Greek brave enough to take to the streets there are ten Europeans elsewhere watching and taking courage. “Merkel doesn't rule Europe–it is our Europe." Minister of administrative reform Giorgos Katrougalos told Socialist Worker, "What's happening here isn't just a question for Greece. We're putting forward a different vision of Europe against the neoliberal austerity. “This demonstration is a picture of Europe's future." Many demonstrators shared this hope of reforming the EU. Council worker Christos Efthimiou was giving out leaflets from his union, which is calling for a no vote. He explained, "We've had cuts of about 60 percent. That means services closing, workers being laid off and wages going down. More cuts would destroy public services. "If we vote no the EU will get the message–we want a people’s Europe." But for leading Syriza left winger Stathis Kouvelakis the insistence on staying in the eurozone and EU is a weakness for the government. He told Socialist Worker, "If the banks hadn't closed, it would have been much easier for the no campaign. It has given credibility to the other side’s apocalyptic propaganda. “This is something that has been used to blackmail Syriza all along–and it looks as if that blackmail will continue. “But we have to ask the question what we can do about it–and we need to seriously consider the possibility of setting up a new drachma currency.” The yes rally–a tenth of the size at most–took place a few blocks away. Dimitris voted for the rump of Greece's once mighty Labour-type party Pasok. He dismissed Tsipras’ assurances about the EU saying, "I don't believe any of the no campaign. “They all want to take us out of Europe–especially the government." Student Ioanna came with her father. She said, "We are European, we need Europe. That means we need to accept the position we are in–we can't get anything better." Europe's mainstream media were there. One Portuguese journalist confided to Socialist Worker, “It would actually be better for us if they voted no. But I can't really say that here.” Apart from the size, the most striking difference was the fashion. Designer shirts or handbags were the rule at the yes rally–but Nicolas bucked the trend with a T-shirt from St Tropez Marina. He said, "The problem in Greece is that politicians eat money, but now they have to give it back. "I agree with the TV journalist who said the agreement isn't good–it’s like jumping from a window on the first floor and breaking your leg. “But no agreement is like diving from the top and being killed–so I will vote for the broken leg." That gloom set the tone for the rally. Bored vendors stood with carts full of unsold Greek and EU flags, brought for a turnout that hadn't materialised. At a previous rally, a photographer captured a well-heeled man swilling fine wine. Social media exploded in mockery. On another, undercover no campaigners tricked them into holding up a banner that replaced their slogan “We stay in Europe” with “We stay in slavery”. To avoid further embarrassment, they stood sullenly and listened to hectoring speeches. Meanwhile back in Syntagma, a mighty applause went up for Tsipras followed by roars of "No! No!”. The referendum isn't won yet. The yes campaign has the power of the ruling class behind it–and it is shamelessly using it. The news after the rally brought the chilling threat of a “haircut” on bank accounts, which would rob ordinary people of all their savings above 8,000 euros. But the collective defiance of the mass rally electrified the atmosphere on Athens' streets for hours afterwards. It was a huge boost to the working class confidence that Greece and Europe's rulers are trying to stamp out. Massively succesful “OXI” demonstration in Athens by Jack Rising In Defense Of Marxism (IMT), July 4 <http://www.marxist.com/massively-succesful-oxi-demonstration-in-athens.htm> w/ video at site Last night, Friday 3 July, there was a massive pro “OXI” (no) demonstration in Athens ahead of the referendum on the austerity policies of the institutions, or Troika. The demonstration gathered in Syntagma Square, outside of the Hellenic Parliament. Although Reuters estimates that the demonstration was 50,000 people strong, demonstrators who had seen previous demonstrations in the square told us that the number was closer to 150,000. This was the biggest Syntagma Square Demonstration of the last five years, and some even say that it is the biggest protest since the fall of the dictatorship. The mood however was revolutionary and nothing like any of the protests in the past period. The working class and the youth was also back on the scene in big numbers. Other “No” demonstrations took place throughout the country, particularly in Thessaloniki where there was an estimated 10,000 demonstrators. The “Yes” campaign, in spite of having been backed by all major media, did not manage to gather more than 30,000, the composition of whom were predominantly upper middle class or above. When it came to reporting on the demonstrations of course, the Yes demonstration was scandalously portrayed as a major mass protest while the OXI campaign barely got any coverage. This shows the mood of the Greek bourgeois who are determined, along with the European capitalists class, to overthrow the Syriza government and to demoralise the Greek masses. Contrary to their wishes however, the mood on the streets is rapidly radicalising. Since Tsipras called the referendum, there has been a growing militancy and enthusiasm to amongst the Greek working masses to defeat the creditors’ austerity programme. All over Athens there are an overwhelming amount of OXI posters and banners, while there are an underwhelming amount of NEA (Yes) posters. Although the Yes and No camps seem to be neck and neck in the opinion polls, this does not reflect the qualitative difference between the two campaigns. Those who are in the streets actively fighting for No are mainly working class in composition, and are incredibly enthusiastic. In contrast, the Yes camp attracts mainly the middle class and bourgeois to their demonstrations, while they are dramatically less enthusiastic. The referendum has reignited the struggle against capitalist austerity, with the active participation of the masses on the streets. When we emerged from the Syntagma Square Metro, it felt as if we were famous sports stars coming onto the field, except the sports team numbered in the tens of thousands. There were blinding lights from the speakers podium, loud speeches and music throughout the square, and thunderous chants of “OXI! OXI! OXI!”. Tourists watching this event from the balconies of their hotel rooms could be forgiven for thinking they were in the middle of a revolution - the mood was revolutionary. Many comrades of the Communist Tendency of Syriza were also present, although they had a hard time linking up with each other as the square was packed like sardines. The comrades sold out of their paper “Epanastasi” (Revolution), while many more demonstrators expressed sympathy with our cause. The headline of the paper, “Massive no: a command for rupture with the troika and the oligarchy” was very warmly received. Thomas Georgiou, of the Communist Tendency of Syriza, spoke of the demonstration very emotionally, “This is incredible, it is like nothing we have seen in the past five years.” He also noted that there was an unprecedented amount of militant youth. Many speakers took to the stage and spoke against the brutal austerity imposed by the creditors, and the need to fight back and vote no. In between the speeches musicians played music from the fall of the Military Junta in the 70’s, tapping into a feeling amongst Greeks that they now live under a new Junta, one of oligarchs and imperialism, and that this regime must be overthrown once again. Everyone was anticipating Tsipras’ speech. Actor George Kimoulis introduced Tsipras to the stage by noting that the Greeks and the creditors have a very serious difference: the Greek people want Tsipras as Prime Minister, while the creditors want the government to fall. When Tsipras took to the podium, there was thunderous cheering and applause. Although the crowd responded positively to Tsipras, as they believe that for the first time since the crisis they have a Prime Minister working for them rather than for the creditors and the rich, the crowd was much more militant than the Prime Ministers’ speech. Tsipras spoke vaguely of bringing “democracy” back to Greece and Europe as a whole, even going as far as to say no matter what the outcome of the referendum is, it will be a victory for “democracy”. Tsipras explicitly called the referendum in order to have a stronger hand at the bargaining table with the creditors, but the masses see the referendum in a different light. Tsipras has accidentally sparked a new mass movement against austerity, which will put great pressure on the government not to make any concessions after a No vote. After Tsipras gave his speech, a demonstrator named Christina, when she was asked what she thought of the campaign of the private media companies in greece to spread fear around the referendum to force a Yes vote, said, “I refuse to watch the lying television stations, I get my news from independent sources online. This is not a referendum on the EU as the media says, this is a referendum on austerity.” When asked what she thought about Tsipras’s tactic of negotiation with the creditors she said that, “It is very hard to negotiate with the institutions. I believe that the institutions are trying to remove Tsipras and Syriza from power in order to prevent other left wing parties from succeeding in Europe, such as Podemos in Spain.” In all, the demonstration was a huge success. Events in Greece will certainly (and have already, as seen with the solidarity rallies in London, Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris, and several other cities) give inspiration to the working class throughout Europe. A “OXI” victory will mean a new stage in the class struggle in Greece as well as througout Europe, but a NEA vote, although it would be an important setback, would not be the end of the war. While the European capitalists want to overthrow Syriza [for] fear of “contagion”, what they have also done is to reveal the farcical nature of bourgeois democracy which is only a democracy as long as the capital gets its way. Their scandalous breaking of all principles of democracy in order to overthrowing a democratically elected government in Europe will thus only serve to crush the illusions that the European masses might have had in fighting austerity, within the narrow confines of the Capitalist system. This struggle is a struggle for all the workers and youth of Europe against austerity and against the European capitalist class. The outcome will affect the class struggle across the continent. A victory will mean a step towards defeating austerity, and replacing this brutal capitalist system with a truly democratic system, socialism. Victory to OXI! [NOTE: in my original message i used link to Left Flank for Kevin Ovenden's report on NO rally; later found that it was also posted at Counterfire, here: <http://www.counterfire.org/news/17895-no-to-fear-report-from-athens-as-no-supporters-flood-the-streets> ] On Sat, Jul 4, 2015 at 12:33 AM, Dayne Goodwin <daynegood...@gmail.com> wrote: > Tsipras speech to huge rally (dubbed into English) > <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aidRyCAbAao> > > ‘No to fear’ — Greece’s No protest as it happened > by Kevin Ovenden > Left Flank, July 3 > <http://left-flank.org/2015/07/04/no-to-fear-greeces-no-protest-as-it-happened> > > A selection of KEVIN OVENDEN’s live posts from the massive No protest > in Athens, 3 July 2015 > . . . > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
