National Film and Television student Konstantinos Georgousis spent a month in summer 2012 filming members of extreme-right party Golden Dawn – wandering through the streets of Athens, harassing migrants. The result is shocking. So shocking that I refuse to display the video footage here.
Speaking to UK Channel 4 News about his experience of making the film, Georgousis stated, he was “shocked by the hostility” of GD members.
“I walked through every nook and cranny in the centre of Athens to find these Golden Dawn members.
“I was terrified that these members were proud to express their extreme ideas during campaigning openly in public. I was shocked by their hostility and by the way they treated immigrants in the Athenian squares.”
Greek centre-right New Democracy MP Adonis Georgiadis told Channel 4 News the opinions expressed by Golden Dawn supporters in Konstantinos Georgousis’s film are not “the opinion of the majority of Greek people”.
“Many man people in Greece are very much concerned about the changing of the population because of these illegal immigrants,” he said.
“Golden Dawn is a disgrace for our society and our democracy.”
But he explained that Greek society was under “major pressure” which prompted some people went to vote for Golden Dawn.” (full report and video in Channel 4 News)
As the video footage contains highly offensive and racist language, KTG cannot display it here.
The video triggered an outrage in Greece with private SKAI TV making a reference to the documentary on Wednesday morning. Prompt was the intervention of
“Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris, who called Skai television, saying that the film’s crew had failed to officially identify themselves during the interviews conducted with Golden Dawn party members. He also added that the party condemned all acts of violence.” (ekathimerini)
Exile, Exercise & Executions for the Left
Of courses, it’s not only the migrants who become targets of GD ideology. “Left-wing” is another society chapter that makes GD see red.
In a delirium that reminds of dark chapters of the Greek and German history, Rhodes branch of GD suggested “exile and daily exercise for ‘Anti-Greek Leftists.
“The exercises will be performed on daily basis. Target of the program is that the Anti-Greek Leftists understand the program nature via the physical and mental exercise. Left ‘products’ that won’t perform orders, will be …executed” (via zougla.gr, newsit.gr)
irish cross border police found a van with a ROCKET launcher on board in the vicinity of a police station with a letal supply
dangerous times we are living in!!
That was the worst of what XA does?? a couple of old guy talking and joking about immigrants?? I thought XA was running through the streets beating people up all day and all night, he couldn’t find any of that? I never knew that Hezbollah used the “Nazi” salute, it’s pretty odd that this is never brought up in any news stories about them and they are not called “Nazis” at every turn like XA is, and they hate the Jews more than XA. The double standard from the leftist media is amazing.
@DemetriAZ…”The double standard from the leftist media is amazing.” ISN’T IT?! And yet this woman bleats all day long about how bad things are but licks the hands that beats her with her lies about Golden Dawn. SHE MUST BE A ZIONIST.
Surprise! Greek police Department against racist violence gave this video footage to prosecutor!
Ann, What’s wrong with being a ZIONIST? They have one of the strongest, most powerful militaries in the world (Israel), are friends with the most powerful country in the world (USA) so being a Zionist would be a good thing I’d say.
So, were you complimenting KTG?
lol – the propaganda of simple minds: when one does not agree is zionist, communist, blue with yellow stripes..
Wow! Last time I checked KTG was a private blog, she can post whatever articles she finds fit, and is free to support her views, whatever they maybe. I’m more concerned w/ slant of the sources of these articles, major newspapers and networks, etc. If you don’t like what she posts, dont visit. I think its a wonderful site, very helpful for us who struggle w/ the reading Greek language but want to keep up on what is happening. We may or may not agree on views, but I’m truly happy she is doing what she does!
I never saw her commenting to reports about chronic-ill unable to get their drugs, people living without electricity because they cannot afford paying their bills or people closing down their shops because they cannot afford taxes and social contributions.
It was a big mistake for X.A. to open their schoolkids campaign on Crete just because when antisemits burnt the synagogue in Chania they also destroyed parts of the Cretan Homeland Museum.
Demetri, even in Arizona which has strict immigration procedures, do we not have people like XA supporters without the authorities invervening..
Why allow people to be so mean in Greece. Have some Greeks forgotten what Nazis and Ottomans did to your people, and now some want to be like that?
Sure, people don’t like immigration, but maybe Suleiman the Great said the same about Greeks? Would that be nice?
It’s very hard to compare AZ to Greece. For one we have a smaller percentage or illegal’s then Greece, 6% to 10%+. Our economy is much better both at the state and national levels then Greece and particularly the center of Athens, we have nowhere near the unemployment levels and haven’t experienced the huge drop in real wages. Also in the US we are not homogenous- ethnically, religiously or culturally, like they are/were in Greece, the US has been a melting pot 150+ years, Greece has been 99% Greek until what 15-20yrs ago and now it’s around 90%, this is a huge change in a very short period of time. You also have to consider the immigrants coming into each country. For the most part the immigrants coming to AZ ( and the US) are from other Western Christian Nations and they intend to stay and live in this state/country. These people are also coming into a state and country where there already is a considerable population of their fellow countrymen. In Greece the immigrants are mainly from 3rd World Non-Christian nations and do not want to stay in Greece. Imagine if the people pouring in to AZ and the US were Afghani, Iraqi, Somali, etc. Throw on top of that a US version of Dublin II, where all these people kept getting dumped back into AZ from the other states if they were caught there, and 25%+ unemployment, 50%+ youth unemployment, and I think you’d see some extreme anti-immigrant sentiment here as well. I don’t think the violence against the illegals is acceptable, but I can empathize w/ the sentiment felt by many Greeks and see how this can lead to rage we sometimes see. The rise of XA and its actions are the result of decades of bad politicians and poor governments of Greece. They are the true enemies of the Greek people. The increasing popularity of XA is due to the overall dissatisfaction with the government and this is what gets overshadowed in every story from the Leftist media about XA, by parroting the neo-nazi/anti-immigrant theme. I will never understand why the ideas of wanting Greece for Greeks and Nationalism, are considered to be so awful. Also I’m not sure how the mistreatment of Greek people by invaders, Germany and The Ottomans, is relavant to anti-immigrant sentiment now. If anything helps to make sense of the dislike for outsiders.
“many Greeks”?
That’s why all Euro-Americans in America are illegal aliens. Homeland security keeps on fighting since 1492 and will kick you all out.
Yoghurt man, America wasn’t really America in 1492 now was it? So, if you want to find out the story about America google, “No More Kings” “Schoolhouse rock” to see the true story in cartoon form (it’s a cute childrens video) that explains how America came to be.
I’m a native New Yorker who has been living in that exact neighborhood for the past 5 years and I can tell you for a fact that while it is true that ignorant people like those seen talking in the video DO exist, the problem with immigration is not for the majority of Greeks that they don’t like the immigrants, it is that due to the fact that Greece as everyone knows has many problems it does not have the resources to support these immigrants the way a country like the United States can and due to this, crime in these neighborhoods has gone up dramatically and they have become very unsafe especially for the elderly who are afraid to leave their homes for fear of being mugged or stabbed for the little money that they have. This has either caused the majority of people to sell their homes and move to a better neighborhood, or to turn to Golden Dawn for help. If the government wasn’t so corrupt and dealt with issues such as immigration the way it should, groups such as Golden Dawn, and at the other extreme, the extreme left Communist party Syriza, who are clearly using these circumstances to their advantage would not be getting any support whatsoever.
People like DimitriAZ are no ounce better than these thugs. “Joking about immigrants”? I saw the piece this afternoon and it was one of the most sickening things I have seen in a long time. The language and way they behaved, but also the obvious impunity with which they could walk and shout on the streetmarket was just utter shocking. What shocked me most was that the images were showing places and people so recognisable, for anyone who has lived in Athens. And most of those people were talking and looking like anybodies neighbour. These were no skinheads. These were not the guys we see hitting women on television. These were not the black dressed thugs that beat up sellers on the market in Rafina. No, like I said, these were you and me… and they were sounding like most people in the kafeneios and on the plateias around the corner.
But although talk can be rough there, I have never, ever heard so openly so shocking and degrading language. A language one only heard about from guys in the 1940s who were talking about the ‘Endlösing’.
Yes, DimitriAZ, you think it is joking talking about killing of people? Selling their hair? Making lampshades of their skin? Making jewellery of their teeth?! Hope you are not really a Greek, because guys like you make everybody who has the name Dimitri ashamed of having to share that with you.
Antonis, the ‘joking’ is also the official party position, Kasidiaris used the same ‘excuse’ on TV yesterday. members know it before non-members hear that something had happened lol
One interesting difference also between Greece and the USA. What Goldend Dawners said was obviously atrocious, but in the USA hate speech is protected.
But, before you get too upset, in the USA we have other ways of fixing people who use Hate Speech. For example, if this was in the USA, it would have been galvanized in the USA media like here, but the difference would be also that people would say “Where does this guy work” and ultimately there would be so much pressure that the company this guy works for would find a reason to fire him and/or he’d lose his customers if he was a private busiinessman.
I wonder why the Greek media doesn’t take that angle? Case in point, you can google an incident that happenend recently on a Delta Airlines flight where a racist indiviudal called a child a “deragatory term” for an African American, and after a few days in the media, he was let go from his high paying job as a CEO in a company.
Again, I wonder why peer pressure in Greece doesn’t do the same with people like this?
Antonis/KTG/Ephilant anyone have any thoughts?
the simpliest reason coming to my mind: they lack experience of how to deal with such a phenomenon. it’s new in the Greek society. of course, other reasons (like for example gov’t line not to fuel the situation or not give publicicty to GD, other priorities) are not excluded. Do not forget the Troika is currently here and negotiations on 1. priority fiscal issues are taking place.
a question is to whom do you refer when you talk about “Greek media” – mainstream? tv? newspapers? websites? the media landscape has changed in the last 2-3 years and there are enough alternative media.
So, you make good points KTG. I appreciate the discussion.
So, in the case of the CEO in the USA who used a pejorative against the African-American child, the first thing was that the media identified the man who was arrested (and in this case he also did slap the child) but when they identified him, they also told where he worked. This was in print media as well as TV stations.
So, then obviously the company where he worked made a statement distancing themselves from him and he was eventually fired after being suspended. I read this on CNN and have provided the link here and after you click I understand if you’d like to remove it and edit part of my comments:
But the concept is the same. They identify the person who did the horrendous act, his company is pressured by peer pressure of good citizens everywhere and then fires him, or they just fire him based on their own intrinsic values.
But, in a way, it keeps people from being overly racist towards people for fear of losing their jobs? This I don’t know, but of course if someone doesn’t have a job and nothing to lose, then I suppose this won’t work.
In Greece though (correct me if I’m wrong) it seems a lot of the people commmiting acts of violence are also people with resources and not necessarily poor people.
But, it would be a good start for Greek media to play this way and that would be to identify the workplace where the individual works and then let the general public put pressure on them to fire him.
First example in Greece could be individuals who have actually attacked someone, or other hate crimes against Greeks or immigrants.
But, I understand what you say that this is a new thing to Greece. I will have patience and wait then.
do you have any statistics “it seems a lot of the people commmiting acts of violence are also people with resources and not necessarily poor people.” ?
No, unforutnately, it was just my perception of scanning the news over the last year. As I said I could be wrong.
There are very few statistics available on public violent behaviour, and in the case of GD violent behaviour, virtually none would exist because there is nothing to compile the statistics on. Unless somebody gets hold of a membership list and cna work out the social status from there.
After the London riots of 2011, the British did collate some statistics, mainly because they had a few thousand arrests and it would give them some insight into the psyche of “a rioter”. The bottom line, from the report by the British Ministry of Justice, and based on the social status of some 5000 people arrested was quite clear: