CINA

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It's likely wellknown: today is the International Migrants' Day!

Already last Sunday MTU - together with several other organizations (representing migrant workers from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal and the Philippines), KCTU and some solidarity groups - celebrated the event:

Comrade "Hong Gil-dong from the Forest" made a short video about the event, incl. a photo story about the history of the migrant workers' struggle in S. Korea. You can watch/see it here!

Yesterday people representing culture, media and academia had a meeting in a restaurant in Myeong-dong, were they called on S.K. gov't and society not to discriminate migrant workers. 299 public figures signed a declaration, demanding human, labour rights and respect for all migrant workers in S.K. (according to Hankyoreh and MTU):

Related report from last Sunday's MTU/KCTU solidarity event:
☞ 세계 이주민의 날 맞이 연대마당 잘 마쳤습니다.

..and about yesterday's meeting in Myeong-dong:

☞ 세계 이주민의 날에 즈음한 문화 예술 지식인 선언

☞ “이주노동자 인권은 민주주의 척도”

Finally a few more impressions from Sunday's MTU/KCTU solidarity event:

Sources of the pics: "Hong Gil-dong..", Hankyoreh, MTU

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MUST READ!! Yesterday's Guardian (UK) had following really interesting report about the current REALITY in Afghanistan, occupied by US/NATO forces since almost seven years:

Face to face with the Taliban

Exclusive report from a Taliban veteran's compound in Afghanistan and on the battlefield

Qomendan Hemmet, the Taliban commander in Salar district, between his two

lieutenants in Wardak, Afghanistan.

Qomendan Hemmet sat cross-legged under a window of the mud-walled room. His shoulder, sunk in an old military jacket, rested against the wall and a radio antenna stuck out of his pocket. Next to him sat his deputy, wrapped in a big blanket, silent and sleepy. Around the room sat his men, their faces contorted by years of fighting and poverty, dressed in shalwar kameez and magazine pouches, eyes dark as the kohl lining them. Radios crackled, phones rang non-stop, and more fighters came, drank tea and left with orders.

"Salar is the new Falluja," declared Qomendan Hemmet emphatically. "The Americans and the Afghan army control the highway, and five metres on each side. The rest is our territory."

Salar district in Wardak province is 80km (50 miles) south of Kabul. The ­Kandahar-Kabul road that passes through this district is a major supply line for US and Nato troops. The road is reminiscent of the road from Baghdad to Falluja: littered with IED [improvised explosive devices) holes and the carcasses of burnt-out Nato supply trucks and containers.

The frequency of Taliban attacks is higher this year than at any time since 2001. Four British marines were killed last week, three of them when a 13-year-old boy blew himself up in Helmand province. Meanwhile, the area controlled by the Afghan government is shrinking to the fortified islands of the cities.

A day earlier, I stood with a dozen Afghans, watching the Qomendan and his men in action. A man straining his eyes to watch had declared in an authoritative voice "janghi" ("war") and the sky had echoed with thuds and explosions.

A couple of pick-up trucks packed with rocket launchers and Afghan militiamen, hired to provide security to the supply convoys, sped away from the battle leaving a cloud of dust. Down the road three American armoured trucks filled the air with the crackle of heavy machine guns.

It was the end of an hour-long battle and as the sun sank deep into the horizon, the shooting became more intermittent. A low-flying, dark grey F-16 shot past, leaving behind two columns of smoke in the horizon. The Americans moved towards a village on the side of the road, the Afghan men jumped into their buses and taxis, and the traffic moved on over a carpet of bullet casings.

The road to Hemmet's compound is a single dirt track passing between high mud walls and orchards. A young Taliban scout led us to the compound, his Kalashnikov hidden under a blanket. In the distance the fortification of an Afghan army and police post was visible.

"Yesterday I had only 18 fighters," the Qomendan said, his unwavering gaze fixed on a point somewhere in the middle of the low-ceilinged room. "You saw how many mercenaries and Americans were there. With the blessing of Allah, the fighting is changing. When I started in this area, three years ago, I had six fighters, one RPG and two machine guns like these." He pointed at the BKC machine guns that lay idly on the door. "Now I have more than 500 fighters, 30 machine guns and hundreds of RPGs.

"The Americans have installed hundreds of Afghan policemen, they patrol the street all the time, but they can't control it. Last week they came by helicopters, searching the area because they can't drive their vehicles here. They never come with tanks, the whole area is mined."

Sporting a long thick moustache and a neat, well groomed beard, Qomendan Hemmet is a Taliban veteran. He started fighting when he was 17 in the Shomali plains north of Kabul against the Northern Alliance forces in the mid-90s. He went into hiding after the capital fell, and became the commander of the Salar district after the death of the previous commander three years ago.

"When we fought the Northern Alliance we fought face to face. This war is more difficult, the enemy controls the skies and they have lots of weapons. Sometimes I am scared, every human being gets scared. But we yearn for fighting the kafirs [unbelievers]. It's a joyful thing."

Hemmet's lieutenants sat around the room. One of them spoke perfect Arabic with a thick Saudi accent that he had acquired from "fighting alongside the Arab brothers". His Kalashnikov, decorated with green and red tape, was laid on the floor between us. "My brother," he said, "those police and army, they are like the blind, they don't see anything."

Hemmet and other Taliban commanders I met explained the Taliban's sophisticated network of military and civilian leadership. Each province has its own Taliban governor, military leader and shura [consultation] council. Below them are district commanders like Hemmet, who in turn divides his force into smaller units. Many say the civilian apparatus of the Taliban-run districts operates a more effective justice system than the government's, which is corrupt and inefficient. Nominally, all the councils look to Mullah Omar for guidance. In reality each province and district has its own dynamics.

The mullah

Mullah Muhamadi, one of Hemmet's men, arrived later wearing a long leather jacket and a turban bigger than all the others. "This is not just a guerrilla war, and it's not an organised war with fronts," he said. "It's both." He went on to explain the importance the Taliban attached to creating a strong administration in the areas it held: "When we control a province we need to provide service to the people. We want to show the people that we can rule, and that we are ready for the day when we take over Kabul, that we have learned from our mistakes."

Muhamadi said his group aimed to carry out around three attacks a week, but they did not always have enough ammunition. "We get intelligence that Americans or government people are coming and we hit them. Each area has a different strategy, here it's attacking the main road, but everywhere in this province the countryside is in our control."

He opened his dusty black bag and pulled out a laptop. The other fighters gathered around the screen, and watched a short film shot by Muhamadi of one of the attacks. It showed a few fighters, their faces concealed. The mullah pointed at one of them and announced that this was Qomendan. They stood under foliage on the side of the road. As a green police pick-up truck passed, the men opened fire.

Also on the computer they showed pictures of an American soldier. In one he was sitting in a makeshift wooden office in front of a computer screen, two other soldiers behind him all smiling into the camera. In another he was outside with an Afghan interpreter. "We killed him and captured his computer," the mullah told me. "He had served in Iraq."

The new Taliban

The city of Ghazni lies 145km (90 miles) south of Kabul down the same highway. Its only connection to the modern world is a few electricity poles, the police pick-up trucks, and the wreckage of an old Russian tank perched on the edge of the ruins of the 13th-century citadel.

In a hotel overlooking the bazaar square I met a young Taliban fighter. In his early 20s and with three years of fighting experience, he is part of the new generation of the Taliban who joined the movement years after they were toppled by the Americans, a symbol of its resurgence.

Qari Amanullah stretched his legs on one of the beds in the shabby room and rested his torso on his elbow. The smell of grilled meat and the sound of music wafted from the window. Amanullah explained that he came from a family who ran a small farm. When the Taliban were still in power he joined a local madrasa where he spent 12 years studying the Qur'an and religion. After he had memorised the Qur'an and acquired the title qari ("reader'), he abandoned his studies and joined the fighting.

"I joined the fight because I am resisting the kafir occupation," he said. "There are old Taliban, but most of the fighters in my unit are new. We joined after the fall of the Taliban, but the leadership is the same."

Amanullah explained how his village shared the burden of fighting the Americans and the government seen as its proxies. Each family devotes one of its sons to the jihad, while the rest of the men work in the field, "like in the madrasa, one son goes to study religion and the others work, it's the same with jihad: one son fights and the others work".

He dismissed the claim made by the government and US that the Taliban fights for money. "These are all lies. In the last few weeks we captured lots of trucks and government cars – if we were fighting for money why do we burn them?"

A few hours later there was a knock on the door and two men came in. One was wearing a red motorcycle helmet and wrapped in a blue sheet. He removed his helmet and revealed long hair, and a smooth beard that went down to his chest. Apart from his shalwar kameez, or gown, he could have been a 1960s hippie. He explained that he was the commander of a small unit, with around 100 men.

Mawlawi Abdul Halim, a mosque leader, who divides his time between fighting and his job as a preacher, said the insurgency was chaotic at first, with each group fighting on its own. It wasn't until 2005 that the fighters became well organised. "I was in a madrasa when the Taliban were in government and I only joined them after the American occupation. Lots of Talibs in madrasa have joined the fight but that doesn't mean we stopped learning."

Like Qomendan, Mawlawi Abdul Halim talked about the Taliban strategy of controlling the countryside, establishing an alternative administration and squeezing the cities by eroding the government control. "In the areas where there are government or international forces, they only control their posts and 1km around, and we control the rest. If we cut off the countryside then the cities will come under our control — we know that from our experience with the Soviets."

Lunch was spread out on a long plastic sheet. The waiter threw a few flat loaves of bread at us, and brought dishes of qabuli, rice and mutton, and few plates of stew. "The main two problems we deal with in the Taliban courts are bandits and land disputes," Abdul Halim went on. "When we solve these problems we win the hearts of the people. We went from the jihad to the government and now we are in the jihad again. We have learned from the mistakes we committed. Lots of our leaders have experience in the jihad and in the government. The leaders are the same leaders but the fighters are new and they don't want to be like those who ruled and committed mistakes."

He said the failure of a recent voter registration drive in Ghazni showed how effectively the Taliban was cutting off the countryside. "We stood at road intersections and prevented people from registering for the coming elections — even if the planes were flying above our heads that didn't prevent us from manning checkpoints. And some of our men followed the people to the market to make sure they wouldn't register. Now registration has almost stopped in our province." But why were they determined to prevent people from voting? "It's better for them. Most of the people know that this new government won't help them but those who don't know we prevent them."

As the mawlawi talked, Amanullah sat by the window pushing the curtain aside a little and peering out into the square. At the far side of the square sat two police cars.

The urban Taliban

Not all of the Taliban have beards. Inside Kabul University Taliban support is mushrooming. In a small filthy hotel in Kabul, I met a group of Taliban-supporting students. The room had two mattresses on the floor, a TV set on a cardboard box and a strong stench from the lavatories next door. From the window came the din of traffic police sirens and the hum of a generator. Around a breakfast spread of cheese, green tea and bread, the young men told their stories.

Luqman's hair is parted in the middle pulled down on his forehead. He is clean shaven, with a pencil-thin moustache. His beige sharwal qameez is pressed and his chocolate jacket is immaculately clean, almost impossible in the dust and fumes of Kabul. He carried a black computer bag and when started to speak it felt he was delivering a speech on the radio. I had to remind him to lower his voice – after all, he was supposed to be an undercover insurgent. Luqman is a self-declared propagandist for the Taliban in charge of updating the movement's website. He spoke good Arabic and better English. He is member of the cultural shura of the movement.

"We monitor the situation and when we see any issue that can provide propaganda to the Taliban, we raise it and create awareness amongst the people: issues like the occupation and how they terrorise the people, the corruption of the government, anything that can help the cause of the Taliban." He said the website was updated hourly. "We have all the tools we need. Most of us speak English, Arabic, Pashtu and Dari."

He had not been a Taliban supporter when they were in power "but when the occupation came and we saw the atrocities we joined the Taliban. Lots of my university friends are with the Taliban not because they are Taliban but because they are against this government and the occupation. No one expected the Taliban to be back, but when the normal people saw the corruption of the government, when they saw that the warlords are back, people started supporting the resistance."

The Threki Taliban [the current Taliban movement] was not the same as the Taliban which had ruled, he said. And its grip on the country is tightening, he insisted: "The Taliban are squeezing the circle on Kabul, and the signs of the collapse of the government are similar to signs of the collapse of all governments that face an insurrection: they only control the cities, the streets are fed up with them and we have our intelligence even in the streets."

Another of the young men, Abdul Rhaman, explained that he studied in the morning at Kabul University and attended a private school, at night. In basic English he described how he worked as a recruiter for the Taliban among fellow students.

"I convince friends inside and outside the university that the Taliban are coming. We use all the facilities we have, our words and our pens to recruit for the movement, in the university, the bazaar and everywhere in the city."

The irony is that in working the cities to recruit for the Taliban, Abdul Rhaman is using the freedom of speech that is provided by the Afghan government. "There is freedom of speech now in Afghanistan and we are not scared of the government. We work cautiously, we talk to the people as if we are talking about political and daily issues. The government is too weak to follow us or monitor us."

A couple of weeks ago I called Mullah Muhamadi again. I wanted to go down and meet Qomendan Hemmet again. "No," he replied in Arabic over the phone. "The weather is too cold now. We are leaving to a neighbouring country. See you next year."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/14/afghanistan-terrorism

More from Guardian (12.16/15):
☞ 'I was still holding my grandson's hand - the rest was gone'
☞ Photo Gallery

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Ten days (*) ago I wrote, related to Hankyoreh's report "Progressives launch coalition..", that "my comment" would follow soon...

Well, there will be NO comment! But some questions:

The proposed "alliance" includes the Democratic Party (DP), i.e. Roh Moo-hyun's former governing party "Uri-dang" (later UNDP and now DP)..

How about the responsibility of their countless attacks against the struggling parts of the S.K. working class (during the Roh/Uri-dang administration)???

How about the decision to send S.K. troops to Iraq (against the will of the majority of the people in S.K.!!)???

How about all the efforts by the Roh gov't, i.e. the current DP staff, to deport "undocumented" migrant workers as much as possible and to exterminate the ETU-MB/MTU???

etc, etc, etc...

Related stuff by Hankyoreh:

☞ Progressive and reformist forces meet to chart economic alternatives (12.12)

☞ Progressives struggle to build framework for solidarity (12.6)


* '민주대연합' #1

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The mass protests in Greece are now entering the 2nd week! While yesterday, once again, thousands of protesters took the streets of Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras... today is a kind of "break".

 
But for tomorrow the next mass demonstrations are already planned and prepared!

Meanwhile last Friday's General Assembly in the occupied Polytechnic Univ. (Athens) proposed for next Saturday (12.20) an "Inernational Action Day" to remember all the youth, migrants and political activists who were killed by the ruling (i.e. capitalist) systems:
"Today (12.12), the assembly of the occupied Athens Polytechnic decided to make a callout for European and global-wide actions of resistance in the memory of all assassinated youth, migrants and all those who were struggling against the lackeys of the state. Carlo Juliani; the French suburb youths; Alexandros Grigoropoulos and the countless others, all around the world. Our lives do not belong to the states and their assassins! The memory of the assassinated brothers and sisters, friends and comrades stays alive through our struggles! We do not forget our brothers and sisters, we do not forgive their murderers."

*****

2nd Communique by the Polytechnic University Occupation (Athens):

 
THEIR DEMOCRACY MURDERS…

On Saturday December 6, 2008, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15-year old comrade, was murdered in cold blood, with a bullet in the chest by the cop Epaminondas Korkoneas of the special guards` police force in the area of Exarchia.

Contrary to the statements of politicians and journalists who are accomplices to the murder, this was not an “isolated incident”, but an explosion of the state repression which systematically and in an organised manner targets those who resist, those who revolt, the anarchists and antiauthoritarians.
It is the peak of state terrorism which is expressed with the upgrading of the role of repressive mechanisms, their continuous armament, the increasing levels of violence they use, with the doctrine of “zero tolerance”, with the slandering media propaganda that criminalises those who are fighting against authority.

It is these conditions that prepare the ground for the intensification of repression, attempting to extract social consent beforehand, and arming the weapons of state murderers in uniform that are targeting the people who fight, the youth, the damned who are revolting in the entire country.
Lethal violence against the people in the social and class struggle is aiming at everybody’s submission, serving as exemplary punishment, meant to spread fear.

It is the escalation of the generalized attack of the state and the bosses against the whole of society, in order to impose more rigid conditions of exploitation and oppression, to consolidate control and repression. An attack that is reflected everyday on poverty, social exclusion, the blackmail to adjust in the world of social and class divisions, the ideological war launched by the dominant mechanisms of manipulation (the mass media). An attack which is raging in every social space, demanding from the oppressed their division and silence. From the schools’ cells and the universities to the dungeons of waged slavery with the hundreds of dead workers in the so-called “working accidents” and the poverty embracing large numbers of the population… From the minefields in the borders, the pogroms and the murders of immigrants and refugees to the numerous “suicides” in prisons and police stations… from the “accidental shootings” in police blockades to violent repression of local resistances, Democracy is showing its teeth!

In these conditions of fierce exploitation and oppression, and against the daily looting and pillage that the state and the bosses are launching, taking as spoils the oppressed people’s labour force, their life, their dignity and freedom, the accumulated social suffocation is accompanying today the rage erupting in the streets and the barricades for the murder of Alexandros.

From the first moment after the murder of Alexandros, spontaneous demonstrations and riots appear in the centre of Athens, the Polytechnic, the Economic and the Law Schools are being occupied and attacks against state and capitalist targets take place in many different neighbourhoods and in the city centre. Demonstrations, attacks and clashes erupt in Thessaloniki, Patras, Volos, Chania and Heraklion in Crete, in Giannena, Komotini, Xanthi, Serres, Sparti, Alexandroupoli, Mytilini. In Athens, in Patission street -outside the Polytechnic and the Economic School- clashes last all night. Outside the Polytechnic the riot police make use of plastic bullets.

On Sunday the 7th December, thousands of people demonstrate towards the police headquarters in Athens, attacking the riot police. Clashes of unprecedented tension spread in the streets of the city centre, lasting until late at night. Many demonstrators are injured and a number of them are arrested.

From Monday morning until today the revolt spreads and becomes generalized. The last days are full of uncountable social events: militant high school students’ demonstrations ending up -in many cases- in attacks against police stations and clashes with the cops in the neighborhoods of Athens and in the rest of the country, massive demonstrations and conflicts between protestors and the police in the centre of Athens, during which there are assaults in banks, big department stores and ministries, siege of the Parliament in Syntagma square, occupations of public buildings, demonstrations ending in riots and attacks against state and capitalist targets in many different cities.

The attacks of the police against youth and generally against people who are fighting, the dozens of arrests and beatings of demonstrators, and in some cases the threatening of protestors by cops waving their guns, as well as their cooperation with the fascist thugs -like in the incidents of Patras, where cops together with fascists charged against the rebels of the city-, are the methods in which the state’s uniformed dogs are implementing the doctrine of “zero tolerance” under the commands of the political bosses in order to suppress the wave of revolt which was triggered last Saturday night.

The terrorism by the police occupation army is completed by the exemplary punishment of those who are arrested and now facing severe accusations leading to their imprisonment:
In the city of Larisa, 8 persons arrested are prosecuted with the “anti”terrorist law and were imprisoned facing charges for “criminal organization”. 25 immigrants who were arrested during the riots in Athens face the same charges as well. Also in Athens, 5 of the arrested on Monday were imprisoned, and 5 more who were arrested Wednesday night are in custody and will be taken in front of a prosecutor next Monday, facing felony charges.

At the same time, a deceitful propaganda war is launched against the people fighting, paving the way for repression, for the returning in the normality of social injustice and submission.

The explosive events right after the murder caused a wave of international mobilization in memory of Alexandros and in solidarity with the revolted who are fighting in the streets, inspiring a counter-attack to the totalitarianism of democracy. Concentrations, demonstrations, symbolic attacks in greek embassies and consulates and other solidarity actions have taken place in cities of Cyprus, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Holland, G. Britain, France, Italy, Poland, Turkey, USA, in Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Slovakia, Croatia, Russia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Belgium, N. Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, Chile and elsewhere.

We continue the occupation of the Polytechnic School which started on Saturday night, creating a space for all people who are fighting to gather, and one more permanent focus of resistance in the city.

In the barricades, the occupations, the demonstrations and the assemblies we keep alive the memory of Alexandros, but also the memory of Michalis Kaltezas, of Carlo Giuliani, Michalis Prekas, Christoforos Marinos and of all the comrades who were murdered by the state. We don’t forget the social-class war in which these comrades fell and we keep open the front of a total refusal to the aged world of Authority. Our actions, our attempts are the living cells of the insubordinate free world that we dream, without masters and slaves, without police, armies, prisons and borders.

The bullets of the murderers in uniform, the arrests and beatings of demonstrators, the chemical gas war launched by the police forces, the ideological attack of Democracy not only cannot manage to impose fear and silence, but they become for the people the reason to raise against state terrorism the cries of the struggle for freedom, to abandon fear and to meet –more and more every day, youth, high school and university students, immigrants, jobless, workers- in the streets of revolt. To let the rage overflow and drown them!

THE STATE, THE BOSSES, THEIR THUGS AND THEIR LACKEYS ARE MOCKING US, ROBBING US AND KILLING US!

LET’S ORGANISE, COUNTER-ATTACK AND SMASH THEM!

THESE NIGHTS BELONG TO ALEXIS!

IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ALL THE ARRESTED!

We are sending our solidarity to everyone occupying universities, schools and state buildings, demonstrating and clashing with the state murderers all over the country.

We are sending our solidarity to all comrades abroad who are mobilizing, transferring our voice everywhere. In the great battle for global social liberation we stand together!

The Occupation of the Polytechnic University in Athens
December 12, 2008

*****

The Independent (UK, 12.14) makes the most serious attempt by the corporate media so far to understand - in their own convoluted way - anarchists and their role in the Greek riots:
☞ Greek concessions fail to stop the riots

Related reports in Guardian/The Observer (UK, 12.13/14):
☞ How police shooting of a teenage boy rallied the '€700 generation'

 
Latest news:
☞ Saturday Reports from Greece
☞ COG(KOE) 6th Statement: The Revolt Goes On!

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KCTU released three days ago (12.8) following statement:

The South Korean Gov. arrested KCTU President Lee Suk-haeng

Lee Suk-haeng, President (of the KCTU), was arrested on 10:40 pm, December 5th by the police due to organizing an “illegal” general strike on July 2nd, 2008 and solidarity struggles to support E-land Retail Precarious workers strike in 2007.  The July 2nd general strike was conducted to call for protection of people’s right to health and renegotiation of April 18 Protocol on US beef import to reflect food safety concerns.  Since the June, 2007, the E-land Retail precarious workers union has conducted strike to protest against the termination of contract and illegal subcontracting by the employer which was aimed at evading relevant provisions in the new irregular workers bill that went into effect on the 1st of July, 2007.  The KCTU organized various solidarity actions to support the E-land Retail Shop precarious workers strike.

Lee Suk-haeng would be mainly charged with “obstruction of business” provision in section 314 of the Penal Code due to the role in July 2nd General Strike and solidarity actions for Eland Retail precarious workers.  However, we believe that workers organization should be able to use strike action to pursue solutions to problems posed by social and economic policies.  And it should be noted that the ILO strongly urges that no one should receive criminal sanction or be deprived of their freedom for the fact of simply exercising the right to strike.  In particular, we would like to emphasize that the ILO has recommended continuously that South Korean government “adopt a general practice of investigation without detention of workers and bring section 314 of the Penal Code (obstruction of business) in line with freedom of association principles.”

At the hearing to review a detention warrant against Lee on December 8th, the Court ruled the detention of him.

Facing this urgent situation, we are calling you to conduct every possible measure to urge the South Korean Government to stop trade union repression, implement and respect fully the ILO CFA recommendations and principles of freedom of association, and adopt a general practice of investigation without detention of workers including an immediate release of Lee Suk-haeng. 

http://nodong.org/bbs//view.php?id=eng_action&no=66

Related:
☞ ITUC Condemns Arrest of KCTU President

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THE UPRISING IN GREECE

Latest news:
1. Today's General Strike brought Greece to a complete stillstand!
2. Since the early afternoon the street protests led to renewed street battles...
3. According to a German report: (at least) in Patras the cops are collaborating with armed nazi/fascist groups, such as the "Golden Dawn" (Chrysí Avgí) and the youth organisation (ONNED) of the ruling party (Nea Dimokratia) to smash the street protests and get back the control over the entire city! (*)

"The best thing the gov't can do is resign

and let the people find a solution."

That was a view widely shared by many of the leftist and anarchists fuelling the riots. At the Athens Polytechnic, now the centre of the groups' operations, young men and women broke up marble slabs and quietly stocked up on the firebombs they have been throwing at police. Standing behind makeshift barriers of burning rubbish bins, they promised to turn the unrest into "an uprising the likes of which Greece has never seen".

"This is not just about the kid, it's about our dreadful education and economic situation. That's what pushed us on to the streets," insisted one youth who called himself Andreas. "It's our belief and hope that this is the beginning of a rebellion against the system."

The chaos, he said, had exposed the deep-seated anger of Greeks who after the introduction of the euro have not only struggled to make ends meet but have increasingly felt deceived by a system that thrived on corruption, party political affiliations and patronage.

"All of us have poor parents who are really struggling," said Andreas as he sat cross-legged before a makeshift fire blazing in the polytechnic's courtyard.

For young Greeks like Andreas, who belong to a lost generation without work or hope, it is a rage that has been fuelled by allegations of corruption and the seemingly relentless scandals involving sex, money and the church which have swirled around the conservatives - and for which, despite public outrage, no one has been punished.

"We all thought it would take one incident for things to go up, and with the police killing of the teenage boy that is exactly what happened," said a veteran political analyst, Konstantinos Angelopoulos.

Zoe Papanidou, 19, student: "There were many reasons why these riots happened. The situation was explosive, socially and economically. The state undermines people. You feel it is violating your rights. At some point the lid was going to burst from the pot."

Andreas, 19, student protester: "The police are pigs and they deserve what they get. They don't have the balls to go after the anarchists. Instead they pick on us kids, stop us in the streets all the time. It's wrong to smash up shops, but personally I see it as a symbolic act to throw stones and rocks at the police, because they're bastards."
 

"For me, only two scenarios are feasible: Either the protests will calm down over the weekend or the government will call in the army to help. But if that happens, there will be even more deaths.", says Yannis, a 35-year-old filmmaker.

(sources: Der Spiegel, indy athens, Guardian)

☞ Use of fascists by gov't and police (Indymedia NL)

☞ Photos published of Greek police/fascist collaboration (libcom)

Related:
☞ Greek capital hit by major strike (BBC)

☞ General strike brings Greece to standstill (Guardian)  

☞ Photo Gallery (Der Spiegel)

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Right now thousands of people are attending the funeral for Alexandros Grigoropoulos in Athens.

Meanwhile the Greek (and int'l) ruling (capitalist) class is "fearing another night of excessive violent riots", according to the Greek bourgeois media.

At the same time the int'l (bourgeois) media is "trying to find out" what's the main reason behind the "sudden" explosion of the riots..

Like today's Guardian (UK):

The shooting of the schoolboy on Saturday quickly laid bare the simmering tensions between the police and members of alleged anarchist groups, who retaliated by going on the rampage. But the teenager's death has given vent to a deeper anger that has also been mounting in Greece.

With many struggling to make ends meet, and one in five living below the poverty line, there is growing anger at the tough fiscal policies of a government determined to reach the prescriptive benchmarks set out by Brussels and rein in budget deficits. The disaffection has been exacerbated by allegations of corruption and a series of scandals implicating members of Karamanlis's inner circle.

High school students have rushed to join the protests, throwing stones at police in clashes in front of the Athens parliament yesterday, and on islands and mainland towns nationwide.

"A lot of teenagers identify with Grigoropoulos," said Christos Mazanitis, an Athenian journalist. "There's a whole generation out there who see their parents in debt and feel they have nothing to look forward to in the future. Fear and despair are what these riots are about."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/09/greece-riots

But already two days ago (and not for the first time!!!) some of the reasons were explained  for example in the "Communique by the Polytechnic School Occupation in Athens":

Lethal violence against the people in the social and class struggle is aiming at everybody’s submission, serving as exemplary punishment, meant to spread fear.
   It is part of the wider attack of the state and the bosses against the entire society, in order to impose more rigid conditions of exploitation and oppression, to consolidate control and repression.
   From school and universities to the dungeons of waged slavery with the hundreds of dead workers in the so-called “working accidents” and the poverty embracing large numbers of the population…
   From the minefields in the borders, the pogroms and the murders of immigrants and refugees to the numerous “suicides” in prisons and police stations… from the “accindental shootings” in police blockades to violent repression of local resistances, Democracy is showing its teeth! 

Related:
☞ THE STATE MURDERS - communique from Athens
☞ 15 years old anarchist killed by Cops.. (balkan decentralized network)
☞ Greece tense for boy's funeral (al-Jazeera, 12.9)

  
☞ Clashes hit Athens ahead of boy's funeral (CNN, 12.9)
☞ 그리스 자율주의 투쟁 4

Last night:

While the Christmas tree in downtown Athens has been "setting alight" protesters sang

the Greek version of the world-well-known song "Oh Tannenbaum"..^^