Lessons not learned
One year since the assassination of rapper Pavlos Fyssas by a member of Golden Dawn in Keratsini, southwestern Athens, we now know a lot more about the activity of the neo-Nazi party’s hit squads.
On many other levels, however, progress remains to be done: Authorities have still not fully investigated the murder; the appeal of GD’s violent activism among Greek teenagers – and not only – has not been politically and socially accepted; similarly, we have yet fully understood how the party has been capable of scoring around 10 percent in elections and opinion polls in the face of growing evidence that it is a criminal organization that runs along fascist lines; finally, we have not been able to contain the rise of GD in terms of supporters as well as the ideas it espouses.
The year since the crime in Keratsini has seen numerous testimonies (also by former members of Golden Dawn) and mounting evidence documenting the activity of the organization as well as the evil nature of its ideas and sentiments. Even the police force has had to adopt a more systematic approach toward dealing with GD, although it has fallen short of purging itself of toxic elements.
Meanwhile, the number of cases pertaining to GD’s criminal activity is over 50. Just the telephone conversations between members and deputies of GD – including the bursts of joy following the assault on members of the Communist Party (KKE) in Perama and the verbal abuse directed at the dead Fyssas (as previously happened in the case of Alexis Grigoropoulos) are enough to expose the filthy material of which their “Greek soul” is made: nothing but pure hatred.
The past few months have also seen the undoing of theory about misguided voters that will finally come to light. Many observers took comfort in that theory, particularly those who like to preach that “the Greeks’ genes are anti-fascist and anti-racist.” The European Parliament elections in May showed that no matter what it was that initially led people to vote for GD, they now do so because they identify with it despite having knowledge of its ideology and bloody consequences. They continue to support it although there is absolutely no doubt anymore about the quality of its leaders, its paramilitary structure, its bogus patriotism, and its hatred about all that is foreign, be it race, religion, ideas, color or sexual preference.
In the eyes of GD, the saying that “anyone who is not Greek is a barbarian” is inviolable law. But there are two crucial additions: To be Greek you need to fulfill the standards of GD. At the same time, barbarians need to be reformed, if not eliminated.
