What the hell. :-\ -Gel
" [snip] Not long after the September 11th attack, some 30,000 Greek soccer fans, attending a Uefa match against Scotland in Athens, jeered through the moment's silence held in honour of the terror victims. The Scots looked on aghast as they then tried to burn the Stars and Stripes in the stands. [snip] In trying to explain the opposition, analysts point to the Greeks' delicate geo-political position as citizens of a Christian buffer state, at the crossroads of the east and west. But the Greeks also cite America's support for the ruthless military regime that ruled them between 1967 and 1974 as the root cause of their reaction. In addition, they say, Washington is guilty of "double-standards". The Greeks believe the US has failed to pressure Nato ally Turkey to remove some 35,000 Turkish troops from Cyprus, 27 years after Ankara invaded and seized the island's northern third in response to an Athens engineered coup. What have we done to the Greeks to deserve such antipathy? The demonstrations, and intense media criticism of US policies in the wake of the suicide bombings, has outraged classics buffs, dyed-in-the wool philhellenes and Greeks living abroad. "What have we done to the Greeks to deserve such antipathy?" Professor Stephen Miller, one of America's most eminent classical archaeologists, railed in a letter published in the the Greek daily Kathimerini. Greek-Americans, who lobby tirelessly on Athens' behalf in Washington, have also been unable to contain their rage. Some have even said they will be cancelling plans to attend the 2004 Olympics in the Greek capital. "We condemn and reject the shameless and baseless insults and blatant slander of fellow Greeks in the motherland," snapped the Federation of Greek Associations of Greater New York in a blistering statement. " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
