By Jan Egeland and Judith Sunderland, Special to CNN
Editor’s note: Jan Egeland is the Europe director of Human Rights Watch. Judith Sunderland is senior Western Europe researcher and author of the new Human Rights Watch report, “Hate on the streets: xenophobic violence in Greece.” The views expressed are solely those of the authors.
“I realized it is so easy to die here. We came from so far away and it is so easy to get killed here,” Ali Rahimi, an Afghan asylum seeker, told us after he was stabbed five times in the torso in September 2011.
Ali is just one of many victims of violence in Greece. Amid the economic crisis and rising social tension, migrants and asylum seekers have become the targets of xenophobic rage. While researching our latest report we spoke to dozens of foreigners, including two pregnant women, who had been beaten, kicked, dragged off buses, and chased down the streets of Athens in recent months. Since late May alone, the media have reported seven brutal attacks. But many, like our Somali interpreter Saleh Ibrahim, whose hand was broken in an assault in late June, never report the violence.
Ali’s experience is a depressingly familiar story. He and a group of fellow Afghans were attacked in the Agios Panteleimonas neighborhood of central Athens by a large mob wielding bottles. This is a neighborhood known to migrants and asylum seekers as a place to avoid, where a “citizens group” formed several years ago to “protect” residents. Human Rights Watch documented numerous attacks in this location.
The only unusual aspect to Ali’s story is that his alleged attackers were arrested. Most victims face significant obstacles in seeking justice. The police discourage many victims from filing complaints, telling them it’s not worth it, to fight back themselves, or, in the case of undocumented migrants, that they could be locked up themselves. Those who insist face a 100 euro fee to file an official complaint. Arrests for several attacks in June stand as a stark exception to the rule of police inaction.
Despite being put on a fast track, the trial of two men and one woman for Ali’s stabbing has been postponed six times – it’s now scheduled for September – and it’s still unclear whether the prosecutor will argue that the attack was racially motivated. To date, no one has been convicted under the hate crime law Greece adopted almost four years ago.
There’s no excuse for vigilante violence, or for the failure of the police, the courts and government to take the problem seriously. There are, perhaps, some explanations.
There is no doubt that Greece faces migration pressure. An estimated as many as 300 undocumented migrants enter Greece every day from Turkey. Though most migrants and asylum seekers hope to travel to other European countries, EU rules mean that Greece is obliged to prevent that travel and to process all asylum claims. With its dysfunctional asylum system unable to cope, Greece has become for migrants what one Sudanese man described as “a very large prison.”
This ancient civilization shouldn’t be allowed to regress into institutionalized violence against migrants. The EU needs to do more to guarantee basic human rights for those who enter the continent in its southeast with hopes of a better and safer life.
An influx of destitute migrants living on the streets has brought disconcerting change to Greek cities, particularly in Athens. Concerns about rising crime and urban degradation were high on the agenda in the lead-up to recent national elections. Nationalist, far right-wing parties such as Golden Dawn have in recent years gained strength and popularity largely because of their exploitation of anti-immigrant sentiment, winning enough votes in the May and June 2012 national elections to enter parliament for the first time in its history. It now has 18 seats.
There are indications that Golden Dawn members or sympathizers are involved in attacks on migrants and asylum seekers, although nothing to indicate the party is organizing or directing them. The woman standing trial for Ali’s stabbing ran – unsuccessfully – for office in the recent national elections on the Golden Dawn ticket. Three other party members were questioned in early June in connection with violence against migrants on the margins of a Golden Dawn demonstration although none was charged. Party member have been implicated in other attacks.
Widespread suffering amid deep economic hardship and unfair EU asylum rules do not, however, let Greece off the hook. The new government led by Antonis Samaras needs to take forceful steps to counter xenophobic violence. That includes ensuring that police take preventive action, diligently record and respond to reports of xenophobic attacks, and guarantee that victims have genuine access to justice. The EU also has a role to play by helping Greece with technical and financial assistance.
Violence has become such a part of daily life for migrants and asylum seekers in Greece that an Afghan community festival in May included a skit about a man being brutally beaten in a park by Greek racists. We hope at the next festival time we see a play about justice being done for the victims of hatred.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Historically, the economically disenfranchised, routinely and erroneously ,seek solace in hating anything presumed foreign.
Animals when they feel threated they always exhibit an aggressive behavior to other animals not of their kind. this is instinct (i.e animals' primitive behavior). Greeks now feel threatened due to their present economic woes so its no wonder to see then becoming xenophobic. Racists everywhere are people who are still primitive psychologically they lack self confidence, or deep down they have a feeling of inferiority complex, they will also exhibit a xenophobic behavior.
well if you don't live in Greece you can't really judge us ......first of all nearly 2 million illegals have entered our country ......crime rate has gone up sky high .....health risk due to no shots ......why do you think thatv the rest of Europe have shut down their borders !!!!!!!!!! maybe human rights should come down south roam around Athens for a couple of days and then call us racists !
Spot on. Human behavior mirrors animals when intelligence is not present. There are no excuses and damn anyone for making them.
Wait. Greeks are ignorant and racist for not liking it when crime rates rise because of illegal immigrants? Why are you blaming the victims for retaliating?
Actually, the Greeks have every right in the world to be xenophobic. After all, since their so-called "victory" over the more liberal faction in their civil war in 1950, Greece has been virtually under foreign rule and even more so after it joined NATO. This proves just true the old Irish adage can be, "If you shake hands with the devil, you may not get it back". Then again, the same thing happened to many other countries, too.
On the other hand, after some proper research, I realized that my previous statement was incorrect. I now understand that Greece is a Small European nation who has the right to be upset at this point in its history. Not only does it have problems employing and taxing its own people but now a bunch of M.E. genuine businessman have arrived and they are sending all their money home to whatever M.E. country they come from.
Patrick did you ever read the roots of civilization past wheels? Please do to have an insight into how democracy was created. I do hope that will give you an insight and wish to learn how mankind is created. " I now understand that Greece is a Small European nation who has the right to be upset at this point in its history". Do not feel comfortable on the thought that USA has survived for 250 or so years. Dinosours survived much longer. And cochoraches are better evolved than humans. But we, the humble humen had to go through some though tests to learn to live together. Some of it was done in Greece. If you can not learn to respect your root you will have no value or your future.
I dont feel the need to read anything, I know everything already.
Gee Phunnie boy, I see that you just hijacked my second screen name too. Now I'm using a third one but I guess that you'll hijack it too, sooner or later. I only wish that that you'd quit spewing all that right-wing manure under any of them!!! Above all, please never use any that nasty Tea Party lingo!
Is Islam the religion of “ Shaitaan “ ? Answer: No doubt about it at all. There is no reason to have doubts or feel uncertain about this fair assessment. Islam is a chilling-chain of 1400 year old curse of barbarism & brutality upon Kafirs ( Non-Moslem Infidels ), whom Islam wants to behead or stone to death. Nearly all acts of terrorism, suicidal bombings, all manner of crimes of hate are carried out by, followers of Islam, to reach their goal of Kufr ( and Kafir ) eradication from the world. To achieve this nefarious & nauseating objective, Moslems have appointed themselves, as God’s ( Allah’s ) police force on earth.
The Greeks have also suffered holocaust at the hands of Muslims. In an effort to complete the Islamization of Turkish dominions, efforts to destroy or drive out the mostly Orthodox Greek populations were begun in 1913. That year, 16,000 Greeks were murdered in Eastern Thrace (on the European side of the Dardanelles). In 1914, Greeks were ordered to vacate the city of Pergamum, and were massacred in Erythrea and Phocaia. That same year, 400,000 Greeks died from malnourishment and mistreatment in forced-labor battalions, and 120,000 Greeks were driven from their homes in Eastern Thrace, fleeing as refugees to the Kingdom of Greece. In 1917, 23,000 Greeks were deported from Cydoniae, and in 1918, another 8,000 Greek families were expelled from southwestern Asia Minor. In 1922, 300,000 more Greeks were forced out of Eastern Thrace, and at Smyrna, 150,000 Greeks and Armenians were massacred by Turkish forces.
Jihad is still alive and well today, and is not just the province of a few militant radicals. The forcible advancement of Islam, coupled with a contrived hatred for the Western world, appeals to the hearts and minds of millions of disaffected Muslims worldwide, many of them young and eager to give their lives in the cause of Allah. Many well-educated Muslims, in the Middle East and in the West, have taken hold of the intellectual cause of Islamism and support this jihad wholeheartedly. Witness the exultation of Muslims worldwide at the destruction of the World Trade Center towers...not only in Palestinian, Pakistani, and Egyptian villages and slums, but also in more well-to-do North African neighborhoods in France and on many college campuses in North America.
Agamissu re malaka
Keep trying to convince yourself.
Noone believes you.
@ the genuine Patrick-2. I totally agree. Greece has been under the rule of Washington since 1950 just like neighboring Bulgaria has been under the rule Moscow during the same period. Now the right-wing thugs in Washington want to rule all over!
Islam has no use for the stupid system of democracy. Islam’s law ( the Sharia ) has fondness for inflicting pain & torture, upon the violators of Sharia:
Drinking one or two beers, can get you 100 lashes
Going out on a date, can get you torture or death or both
Expressing your opinion, can get you death or flogging.
The fields of battle where radical Islam is instigating trouble range all across the globe. In Mindanao, the large southern island of the Philippine chain, Muslims are murdering Roman Catholics and Christians in an effort to establish an Islamic state on the island. Spearheaded by the terrorist organization Abu Sayyaf, Filipino Muslims have waged a terrorist war of shootings and bombings against both civilian and military targets. For example, one such attack was made against a shopping mall in Manila on 9 October, 2007 in which eight people were killed. Abu Sayyaf has also engaged in assassinations against Filipino leaders who oppose their movement. On 13 November, 2007, a bomb killed Wahab Akbar, a member of the Filipino Congress and former Muslim radical who turned from violence and began to lead the charge against Abu Sayyaf's violence. In all, over 400 civilians have been killed by Muslim terrorist violence in the Philippines since 2000.
Indonesia, long viewed as a "moderate" and "tolerant" Muslim country, has seen Islamic extremist become more prevalent as well. Indonesia was the country where the infamous Bali bombings occurred, an attack directed against the country's premier tourist center on 12 October, 2002. In the attack, 202 people were killed, including 164 Australian and other foreign vacationers. Bali was also the site of a second, less deadly attack on 12 October, 2005. The attacks were part of an ongoing campaign of violence by Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic terror group in Indonesia. In addition to these high profile bombings, Indonesia has also seen a string of violent attacks against the Christian minority in the country – attacks that have included the abuse, murder, and beheadings of Christian schoolgirls. In East Timor, a country which obtained its independence from Portugal in 1975 only to be invaded and occupied by Muslim Indonesia later that same year, Muslim militias murdered and displaced hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholics before the UN intervened with Australian troops.
If the is there is such a crisis... Then why do they still arrive in record numbers?
It's the doorway to the EU but what the illegal immigrants don't know is that no other EU country will accept them and they are stuck in Greece.
I think we are looking at this through North American eyes. We in the US, Canada and the Americas in general are mostly immigrant nations. So anyone can 'become' an American, Canadian etc. But Greek,German, French etc are not just nationalities, but ethnicities.
Consider if the situation were reverse and hordes of Westerners were pouring into Middle Eastern and African nations – would the local populations just stop at racist violence? No. There would be government sponsored discrimination (like in the Gulf where kids born of foreign parents can NEVER acquire local citizenship) at the very least or mass expulsions and genocide as was the case with the Pier Noirs in Algeria and Indians in Uganda.
Both the above mentioned policies by the way are/were not merely the acts of dictatorial governments, they had and continue to have mass appeal amongst the native populace – just look at the few national polls conducted on the subject and you will see that this sort of xenophobia is more prevalent amongst nations of the 'global south' than it is in the West.
Hi Reg, "Greek" is not an ethnicity, it is a Nationality (like the term "American"). Modern Day "Greeks" are the Byzantinzed children of Ethnic Albanians (Arvanites), Slavs, Turks, Vlachs, and Roma.
You underestimate one concrete condition here. There has been a rise of 5-8 degrees Centigrades in temperature hereabouts. (I live in Istanbul). The sudden rise in temperature was enought to get anyone irritated. Temperament of Northern and Southern Europeans are different. While up farther nourth tends to be depresive, down here in the south we may be temperamental. Putting up with sudden heat changes in the environment as well as economics may be too much to digest. But off course the underdog will get the blame. When did it not?
I must also admit that such hot temperature may cause disconnections, faullts and inturruptions on even the cutting edge technologies. You call that the Act of God. İnşallah.
Presently, Sudanese Muslims are waging a war of jihad against Christians and animists in the southern part of that country, killing thousands, and taking thousands as slaves, who are then sold to the Arab Muslims of the north. Sudan was also the location of the recent "Teddy Bear Jihad", in which thousands of Sudanese Muslims rioted and called for the execution of a British teacher in Sudan – all for the crime of allowing some little children to name a teddy bear after Mohammed.
Of course, there is also the continual intifada which the Palestinians continue to carry out. Thousands of Israelis have been killed or maimed through cowardly Palestinian terror bombings. Many of these bombs have been specifically targeted at children, as have rifle and mortar attacks on schools and homes in Israel. Perhaps the most notorious Arab crime against Israel was the murder of eleven Israeli athletes taken hostage by Fatah terrorists (Yassir Arafat's terror organization) at the 1972 Olympics in Münich, Germany. Muslim jihad has also launched five wars against Israel, that have all failed to drive the Jews from the Holy Land.
Its this goofy analysis that creates even more problems. Opinions wrapped in psuedo-fact.
Hey, so what you are saying is islam kills a few non believers – so what?
Way to show your lack of humanity,
I just learned "psuedo-fact" and I love using it. I have no idea how to spell it but I really try to sound as smart as the true Patrick–the one whose moniker I stole. Allahuakbarh!
Patrick-22.2
Hey, so what you are saying is islam kills a few non believers – so what?
Way to show my inhumanity!
This is a very biased and one sided article. A lot of this violence is, also due to illegals murdering and rapping and stealing from Greek citizens. Greece is not to be responsibe for all of the immigrant trash, that have mostly helped to destroy Greece. Unfortunatelly innocent people get hurt too, but it must be better than Mumbai, or
Islamabad.
Whatever incidents of violence against immigrants have occurred in Greece pale in comparison to the levels of violence inflicted by illegal immigrants against Greeks on a daily basis.
Hordes of third-world immigrants from all over the world make the crossing to Europe on Greece's borders. No one has invited them, they didn't apply to get here, and no one wants them, especially not in the current economic environment. The Greek state gives them free education for their children, and health care in public hospitals.
Instead of criticizing Greece from your high horse, you should realize that Greece has been left alone to deal with a problem that is not of her own making. These third-world immigrants want to go to Europe because they think that there's plenty of opportunity for them there. Trouble is: no one wants them, and if they want to immigrate, they should follow the rule of law. Also, European treaties force other nations to send us back all immigrants that crossed into the EU at the Greek border.
Greece cannot and will not be a storehouse of all the poor people in the world, and the superlative tolerance of the Greek people cannot go on for much more. Imagine if 60 million Mexicans came to the US over a couple of decades, or 10 million Russians came to Germany, or 5-10 million Moroccans came to Spain. That is the scope of the illegal immigrant problem faced by Greece.
When an illegal immigrant crosses from Greece to Italy, then Italy sends him back, and Greece accepts him because Greece follows the law. When such a person crosses from Turkey to Greece, then Turkey pretends ignorance and does not accept him back. The immigrant population rises and Greece can do very little about it.
The bottom line is: Greece is in a depression, has not asked for labor, and does not need labor. All those "peaceful immigrants" that complain about how awful we Greeks are, can apologize for violating our borders and pack up and leave; we'll even pay for their travel expenses. But, no, mooching off the Greek state, even in its current state is much more preferrable to them than going back to the hell they came from.
Dimitris: Great comment! It describes the situation in Greece much better than the article. As a Scandinavian I have had the privilege to visit Greece more than 10 times as a turist and before the illegal immigrants started crossing the border Greece was one of the most peaceful and safe countries. The rest of the EU should help Greece to protect it's borders.
Citizens usually take matters into their own hands if they don't get support from the authorities, or if the authorities are dysfunctional. It's doubtful if the Greek government had done enough to secure its boundary. They had received financial aid from Brussels and could have installed high-tech sensors along their borders. The question is, where did the money go to? These xenophobic resentments and attacks are publicly staged with an underlying message of a blackmail: we need funds, more funds!
If you think that Greece, OUR Greece, will be like Brooklyn or other cities similar to this then you have a huge misake.
We will get our Greece back, with any cost.
http://www.arhontiko-aristis.gr
RIght now Golden Dawn is the only movement which is inspiring Greeks to take control of their destiny and empowering them to regain their pride!
Well said, George. The Golden Dawn would be far better for the Greeks than their current, useless pro-NATO polticians!
As the muslim thief of my moniker, all you are capable of doing is parotting what you read.
As a true monkey, all you can do is ape others.
Right on George! I have an aunt that lives in the Agios Panteleimonas neighborhood of central Athens and she's been there for over 50 years, intimidated and threatened on a daily basis ever since these "xeni" invaded. Why should I lament "Ali's experience" and not my own family?!
This article is ridiculous. You speak about Greek violence against illegal immigrants, but you don't say a word of illegal immigrants being violent against Greeks. 10 years ago you could leave your windows/doors open during the day even in Athens and feel safe, but with the swarms of illegals coming in you can't. Some of you will all this a 'racist' comment, but it's really not. It's the truth whether you like it or not.
Now, I completely sympathise with the illegals who want a better life for themselves, they are Humans and they deserve some respect, but the EU HAS to help Greece monitor the situation or be prepared to take some of these illegals themselves (Hello Germany).
What the Greeks need to do acousticguitarmania, is to bolt the Eurozone altogether and stem the flow of immigrants into their country. They would do well to try Maoism to straighten out their shattered economy. Unfortunately, these self-serving bureaucrats would never think to do that!
Bukhari:V6B61N550 "The Prophet said, 'It is a bad thing some of you say,"I have forgotten such-and-such verse of the Qur'an." For truly, I have been caused by Allah to forget it. So you must keep on reciting the Qur'an because it escapes faster than a runaway camel.'"
Tabari I:275 "Satan wanted to meet them in Paradise, but the keepers prevented him from entering. He went to a snake, an animal with four feet like a camel. Satan tried to persuade it to let him enter its mouth and take him to Adam. The snake agreed, passed by the keepers, and entered without their knowledge, because that was Allah's plan."
Tabari I:267 "And Allah taught Adam all the names as follows: He taught him the name of everything, down to fart and little fart."
Tabari I:367 "The Apostles said to Jesus, 'Would you send us a man who saw the ark and could tell us about it.' He took a handful of the earth in his palm and asked, 'Do you know what this is?' 'Allah and His prophet know best!' they replied. Jesus said, 'This is the grave of Noah's son, Ham.' He struck the hill with his staff and said, 'Rise with Allah's permission!' And behold there was Ham, with gray hair, shaking the earth from his head. Jesus asked him whether he had perished in that state with gray hair. Ham replied, 'No when I died, I was a young man, but I thought the Day of Doom had come, and my hair turned gray.' Jesus said, 'Tell us about Noah's ark.' He said, 'It was 1,200 cubits long [nearly 4,000 feet] and 600 cubits wide. It had three stories, one for domestic and wild animals, another for human beings, and a third for birds. When the dung of the animals became excessive, Allah inspired Noah to tickle the elephant's tail. He did, and a male and female hog fell down and attacked the dung. When the rat fell down into the seams of the planks of the ark and gnawed at them, Allah inspired Noah to strike the lion between its eyes and a male and female cat came out from its nose and attacked the rat.'"
Tabari I:360 "The first animal to be put aboard was the ant, and the last the donkey. When Noah brought the donkey in, Lucifer attached himself to its tail, so that it could not lift its legs. Noah started to say, 'Woe to you. Go in.' The donkey rose but was unable to move. Noah said, 'Woe to you. Go in even if Satan is with you.' It was a slip of the tongue, but when Noah said it, Satan let the donkey proceed. It went in, and Satan went in with it. Noah said, 'How did you get in here with me?' Satan replied, 'You cannot escape from having me on board. Satan stayed in the rear of the boat. Noah also carried along Adam's corpse, making it a barrier between the women and men."
hey moron, google the Sumerian tablets.and get the original story of the flood fro the proper source, not the one redone some 4k years later and delivered to you by jews.
Tabari II:106 "Allah sent gnats against the Babylonians, and they ate their flesh and drank their blood, and nothing but their bones were left. But Allah gave Nimrod a single gnat which entered his nostril and went on beating the inside of his head with hammers for four hundred years. The most merciful of his friends was he who bunched up his hands and beat Nimrod's head with them."
Tabari II:107 "Nimrod vowed to seek out Abraham's God. So he took four eagle fledglings and nurtured them on meat and wine so that they grew up tough and strong. Then he tied them to a chest and sat in it. He suspended a piece of meat over them and they flew up trying to reach it. When they had risen high in the sky, Nimrod looked down and beheld the earth. He saw the mountains crawling below like creeping ants. When they had risen still higher he looked and saw the earth with a sea surrounding it. After climbing still higher, he came into a region of darkness and could not see what was above him nor what was below him. He became frightened and threw the meat down. The eagles followed it, darting downward. When the mountains saw them coming near and heard their noise, they became afraid and almost moved from their places, but did not do so. As Allah says in the Qur'an, 'Verily they have plotted their plot, and their plot is with Allah, even if their plot were one whereby the mountains should be moved.'"
I see that Phunnie boy wasted no time in stealing my screen name here to ridicule me, too! Gee whiz!!!
As a true muslim, we are closest to apes, all we can do and say and repeat over and over and over again is the meanest, nastiest lies we hear.
HINDU KALI – GODDESS OF VIOLENCE/TERRORISM
A recent report by United Press trust of India (UPI) stated that during the past three years more than 2,500 young boys and girls were sacrificed to goddess Kali in India. Another of AFP's recent reports say: hundreds of young boys and virgin girls are sacrificed every month for the deity Kali. In one case Rama Sewak hacked his eight year old son to death in broad daylight in Delhi because goddess Kali had told him he would come back to life and bring him good fortune. Bloodthirsty Kali is worshipped openly the length and breadth of India. Kali's statue stands naked astride the inanimate body of the Hindu deity Shiva, tongue stuck out with blood dripping from fang-like teeth. She holds a noose, a skull-topped staff, a blood-encrusted sword and a severed head. She is also known as Durga, Devi, Shaktima, Uma and Parvathi in other manifestations. The priest of Delhi, Kali Bari, says that a child sacrificed to Kali ensures a man the birth of a son. Human sacrifices are also made to these gods or goddesses, either to appease them or to ask favours of them.
Everytime some smart aleck paints me in a corner, I come back with the worst insult I can drum up–I call them Hindus.
Of course I have no idea what a wonderful religion Hinduism truly is because I am blinded by the hate that Islam has taught me. My p1cker is so small that I am embarassed at myself.
Hindus are clowned by the Jews who pit India v Pakistan
Ben Gurion was quoted in The Jewish Chronicle in 1967 on his view of Pakistan:
The world Zionist movement should not be neglectful of the dangers of Pakistan to it. And Pakistan now should be its first target, for this ideological state is a threat to our existence. And Pakistan, the whole of it, hates the Jews and loves the Arabs. This lover of the Arabs is more dangerous to us than the Arabs themselves. For that matter, it is most essential for the world Zionism that it should now take immediate steps against Pakistan.
Whereas the inhabitants of the Indian peninsula are Hindus whose hearts have been full of hatred towards Muslims, therefore, India is the most important base for us to work from against Pakistan. It is essential that we exploit this base and strike and crush Pakistanis, enemies of Jews and Zionism, by all disguised and secret plans.
Hinduism has through out the history encouraged incest, and even to this day incest (cross-cousin, father-daughter, mother-son, brother-sister, etc.) is extremely common amongst the Hindus. No other race on earth has ever recorded such a prevalance of this practice. Incest has its home amongst the Hindus.
Just read what I writ!e and see for yourself how much of an ignorant biggot I truly am
lol you do not need to prove your ingnorance and racism-we know!
A brutal truth is that xenophobic violence always spikes during hard times. And Greece is in for a DECADE or more of very very hard times. When people are scared that there won't be enough for themselves or their kids, they look for reasons why this is so... preferably easy answers that they don't have to think about too much... like it would be all better if "those folks" just left. And if they don't leave maybe should "make them leave" or "take care of it".
It doesn't make it right. Never has never will. But it's unfortunately very human. Look for a war in Greece if it stays this bad for this long. War is simply the struggle over resources when people decide that times are desperate enough.
Greeks have always been racial purists. In ancient times, do you know what barbarian meant...anyone who did not speak Greek. They will not even admits the number and existance of many of the ethnic minorities that have lived in the borders of what is modern greece for a thousand years.
well Ben ......Greeks were not barbarians.......northern europeans ...yes.... you just can't get over the fact that western civilization was born in GREECE.......and one more thing ....MACEDONIAwas and always will be GREEK. no matter what lies ....you can not steal another countries HISTORY.....arrange a trip to VERGINA .....and then give us a history lecture !!
I translate-I am muslim and the Cooooorun wants me to invade all Kafir lands and convert the people forcibly or to kill them in the most brutal ways.
Everytime I am called upon to explain myself, I scream "islamaphobia".
Allah and moorhamed has taught me well.
Bukhari:V6B60N8 "Umar said, 'Our best Qur'an reciter is Ubai. And in spite of this, we leave out some of his statements because Allah's Apostle himself said, "Whatever verse or revelation We abrogate or cause to be forgotten We bring a better one."
In India, millions of girls are strangled, slowly starved or simply tossed in the trash. Moreover, in India, at least 1,370 girls are aborted every day. As a comparison, some 250 Indians die every day in road accidents. Terrorists killed about six people, on an average, every day in 2009. In the last two decades of economic progress, 10 million girls have died as such in India.
SHAME ON INDIA AND ITS BARBARIC AND MEDIEVAL CULTURE !!!
Indians have killed more human beings (girls particularly) than Al Qaeda and Talibans put together.
I think Greece can help its economy by helping other countries who need help in developing it's defenses like Asian countries.
May I ask a simple Question and would love for you, Farid, to seriously consider it [ and maybe even write an article.]
Why is the assumption that every country needs to be supportive of illegal immigration.. even asylum seekers. Greece as a long tradition of welcoming people, but this as so many wonders of its culture has not become impossible. Clashing of cultures [ not races.. very different cultures, values on crime, family etc] is the root of these issues. People are not coming to Greece to become Greeks but to have a better life aND maintain their own culture. This is the US approach to creating its country. Greece has a culture and survived 500 years of slavery .. but now is being overrun by not military oppressors but by other cultures. Why , when it does not want to have them.. why is it required ? Greece was and is a poor country. Violence is not the answer but the destruction of the Greek culture is not the answer either.
this is one of the first times, I feel your analysis is one sided. I watched crime come to Greece with immigration, I see it on the islands, in the cities.. What is bubbling up now in violence is the complete resentment of a poor country with a deep culture being overrun.Thank you
My family were Macedonian Slavs from the north of Greece. hundreds of thousands lived there. in the early 1900s, the greeks outlawed the speaking of the language, deported tens of thousands, murdered thousands and changed the names of hundreds of cities from their slavic names to greek names. In the 1940s and 50s, the slavs were branded as communists and tens of thousands of more were killed or forced to flee. Now, they don't even admit that Macedonian slavs exist and state the region has always been greek. What do you expect?
@ben... perhaps if FYROM ultra nationalists like you (and your apologists) bothered to mention "slight" details like this we might be able to say a word you say seriously.
"This (US) Government considers talk of Macedonian "nation", Macedonian "Fatherland", or Macedonia "national consciousness" to be unjustified demagoguery representing no ethnic nor political reality, and sees in its present revival a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece" – US State Department Dec, 1944 (Foreign Relations Vol. VIII Washington D.C. Circular Airgram – 868.014/26)
http://tinyurl.com/nel46d
As it stands, you come across as just exploting racism in Greece to cover up your own facism.
That's it, that's all you got, a quote from 1944.
pfffft!
Romney vs. Frankenstein (Obama)
Put simply, better the devil you don't know. Vote Romney.
Why would you vote for a "Offshore account hiding", "tax evading", "liar". You know........anyone with (R) behind their name.
After reading only the coooooorun all my life, all I can do is repeat the same thing over and over and over again no matter how inane it sounds.
We, muslims, believe that repeating things over and over and over again is a good thing.
allahuakbarh!
Communism and Globalism can not change human nature.
Economic globalization like free trade are good things. Political globalization, like continental governance, on the other could be disastrous.
Free trade allows goods to be produced from the most efficient nations and brings down the cost to all consumers. Nay sayers believe that it costs the local economy jobs as things are being imported rather than developed internally. History has shown that overall, the economy benefits from free trade from cheaper goods more than it losses from job loss.
Globalization also strengthens international relations. China and the USA were bitter enemies; however, our economies are tied together and force friendly relations.
zionist nonsense./
Greece needs to start by immediately fixing its dysfunctional asylum system.
Turkey is prospering economically and Greece is failing - a big turn of events.
Attetion: .rightospeak
"Communism and Globalism can not change human nature."
Right – only Jesus can. He changed mine. Give Him a chance at your nature. Ask Him. His nature is love. Pure love.
But unlike Muslims, He wil never force Himself on you. But Jesus will change you if you ask Him – humbly – sincerely.
Take your Jesus and walk across a lake. See how far you get.
And another thing, Greeks should be going after the Jews that cause the problems, not after the people the Jews are bringing in to destroy a nation. F the world banks and their Zionist pwners.
You sound like e truly educated man. I hope you can read labels on bottles, but I doubt that very much. You should add hot chilli sauce to Preparation H. The result will be explosive and it will help to clear you mind. And everything else. The God Tapu is the only one.
Jesus will never force himself on you. You are right. The Sulpicians, Franciscans, Jesuits, Conquistadores, politicos and many more, did force Jesus down our throats. Pachamama was our Mother, then you came. To save us in the name of the Lord. Millions of us died getting saved.
And let us not forget the Evangelical pastors, who threaten you with Hell unless you give them money.
Attention: Black Widow, you said, "I am blinded by the hate that Islam has taught me." See answer to Rightospeak. If you are Jewish reading this, consider – Israel's recognition of their Messiah, He says
Therefore My people shall know My name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am He that does speak: behold it is I. Jeshua. And they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son. And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in your hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends. They pierced My hands and My feet. Is. 52:6, Zec.12:10 & 13:6, Ps. 22:16.
Is. 48:16. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and His spirit has sent Me
Zec. 9:12. Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope; even today do I declare that I will render double (blessings) unto you. The Stronghold is Messiah Jeshua.
It is by now, very obvious how you spend your free time. Too many coca leaves is no good. All you do is quote. Not a single original thought. No need, right? The Lord will provide. You are lucky, living in the US. Your vast personal fat reserves impede the blood from circulating efficiently to your brain. Instead, the methane you let go every once in a while, is clouding your reasoning. Oh, the Epiphany!
White genocide not going to planned?
No. grenofried not be pranned. Wattsammattafohyou? We ar not Bribarians. I always wanted to be an educated ma. Now, I ar won.
The only solution is to live like Incas. Chew coca leaves all day, while working in the mines for the Yanqui dollar. After work, coca leaves with beer, then blissful sleep. Then again for more next day.
Ever see the movie 300? It's a lot like this.
The greatest mistake was admitting Greece into the EU. Now the Europeans have to deal with this bitter pill which they have already swallowed.
But if the current situation is causing nightmares, one can only imagine the impending disaster that is threatening to strike Europe with the exploding immigrant population.
As the LONG TERM HEALTH & PROSPERITY OF A COUNTRY is a TRUE REFLECTION OF ITS FUTURE CITIZENS, with the steady decline in Europe’s local white Christian population and the increase in immigrant Muslim population whose VALUE SYSTEMS are DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE to that of everything that Europeans hitherto believed in, there is no hope that Europe will ever recover from the current economic and social decline. This is disregarding the fact that at least a part of the current economic crisis is as a result of large scale welfare funds distributed to these new immigrants by the already hard hit Europeans.
Having said that, Mr. Zakaria can never convince Europeans or Americans on his honesty & fair analysis, given that he has been tirelessly propagating his co-religionists all over the world, and in Europe’s case specifically Turkey's admission into the EU, literally opening the floodgates for greater Muslim migration into Europe and eventually America.
Given the current bitter experience of the EU with the Greeks, inspite of its fairly diversified economy Turkey can only be a much bigger liability both economically (with the yawning gap between Turkey and EU nations), and ofcourse demographically.
Unfortunately the naïve & extremely liberal Europeans are missing this much bigger threat while taking a myopic view of the current crisis. Greece as a conduit to large scale illegal immigrants (from the ME, N.Africa, Pakistan & Bangladesh) who eventually make their way into rest of Europe is only making matters much worse…….on all counts!
When will we get to see/hear CNN's Mr.Fareed Zakaria and others urging the Saudis and other oil rich MErn nations to open up their borders for their long suffering CO-RELIGIONISTS, rather than urging naive Europeans to accept such unadaptable alien cultures?
This article is extremely bias. Note to authors: Seeing as you are researching human rights, perhaps you should consider to view the problem at its root: the reason(s) these immigrants left in the first place from their home countries. Why don't you write an article about the dangers those countries hold?
The media ought to stop bullying Greece all the time. Greeks welcome people from every part of the world, but when illegal immigrants create trouble and violence (and of course I know that not all do), then they will protect themselves.
A last note, that picture you have put is deceiving and not applicable to the article.
The fact of the matter is that Greece has been one of the poorest countries in Europe for the last 100 years. Following the Pontian genocide and forced population exchange in WW1, Greece was then the most destroyed country by the Nazis and more citizens died than any other nation (in ratio to population). The Civil War began after WW2 before the rise of a military Junta. The former Turkish Primeminister, Mesut Yilmaz, then admitted that Turkish agents set forest fires in the Greece in the 1990's in a bid to destroy the country's agricultural industry & to destablise it. Despite all that Greece had the lowest crime rate in Europe, it was a place that was safe to go for everyone! In recent years though there has been an influx of illegal immigration through Turkey (mainly from Afghanistan, Nigeria & Pakistan). Balkan Analysis, an independent group, studied crime stats in Greece & have found that this has coincided with a drastic rise in crime. Stats from the Greek police & Interpol show that almost 80% of crime committed in Greece is by non-EU illegal immigrants, who now equate to an estimated 1.5 million in Athens alone, a city of only 4.5 million (that's 30%!). When visitors enter into one of the world's safest countries & engage in violent crime there's bound to be a backlash. This is what has caused a rise of anti-immigrant sentiment in Greece. The EU's immigration policies have been imposed on Greece & the Greeks are suffering as a result. Anybody interested in politics, crime, Greece or the EU MUST read this following article. http://www.phantis.com/blogs/ioannis-michaletos/special-security-report-illegal-immigration-greece-and-domestic-security
Please help us, but not with your money. People here seem to be more and more aggravated. fearful and so full of hate. Eager I would say to find an escape goat. Someone to blame. Xenophobia and attacks based on it are going through the roof.
I live in one of the most crowded places worldwide. Kypseli. The percentage of foreigners is high, yes we do have thefts, but all in all it is quiet. So quiet that I take my dog out after midnight and feel safe enough to walk him to Fokionos Negri and back. But, as a foreigner I am trapped here. See, I grew up in this country. I learned to love and hate it like all feel about their hometown. This is the country that I took my first steps, this is the city that housed my memories, my friends and family, and right now, I hate it.
People seem to judge me by the colour of my skin, not a shocker I know, but I remind you I grew up here. This kind of behaviour is not what I am accustomed to. It just changed the past couple of years. Most frequent comment when you point this out is "I am not a racist, they are just not human. They are beasts."
So apparently, if your colour does not fall within the range they find acceptable you are immediately branded as a criminal, a wildling. You will tell me that it is normal because of the influx of illegal immigrants and the crimes they commit. I agree, to a point.
See, xenophobia is the new drug on the streets and it is officially administered by both government and media. One so-called blog reporter went as far as reporting images of African illegal immigrants mocking the presidential guard (a symbol of national pride, representing the heroes). PS. The images are those of Kevin Durant during his visit in Greece!!!! http://www.kar.org.gr/?p=1237
Far right supporters are now officially and PUBLICLY admitting to hate crimes knowing that no-one will bother to arrest them, since 50% of the law enforcement has voted for the far-right party of Golden Dawn.
http://moronwatch.net/2012/08/greek-man-admits-racist-murder-on-facebook.html
seems like should I get arrested, I am already guilty of a crime; none you will find in any law book though.
PS. yes greece has an immigration issue, but the claim THEY are taking our jobs is invalid. Most of the immigrants go for the menial jobs accepting lower wages and no insurance. Most crimes are commited by Greeks, according at least to the official Greek Police site statistics.
Maybe xenophobia is a Natural human response when a certain group feels threatened by other, a response as an attempt to protect a system or values or a financial income for personal survival, or it is a psychological response when a group feels mentally or physically inferior to another group that has better dna and mental capabilities, or they just feel over run by too many of the threatening group. Yes we must try to curb such action but that is reality that lurks in any society, anywhere on earth. Even the pope will start attacking muslims if the Vatican is over run by them. Greece will have to be avoided by groups that may pose a threat for the next,- say 7 years.? Even the muslim show a kind of xenophobia towards Christians and Christians are not tolerated in most muslim countries. They feel "threatened" by it although Christians would normally be kind and forgiving and have this life quest to do onto others, as you would do to yourself. I have sympathy with the Greeks and this xenophobia will be slightly positive and grossly negative. They will have a few more local jobs for themselves but foreign investment may be curbed and tourists will spend their money elsewhere, that will lead to far greater losses for the country and eventually for the individuals. Look at Zimbabwe- Greece can learn from the xenophobic racist Mugabe. By chasing most whites away and destroying the economy for xenophobia's sake, he turned his nation and himself into a nation of beggars. He must beg money from South Africa to allow his wife to do shopping in the East. Even in South Africa, whites are targeted by the racist police and farmers are tortured and killed because they are supposed to belong in Europe. North Korea hates Americans and a plea must also be sent to that government to stop what they are doing. Xenophobia will destroy countries and Greece better stop it now.
Itˇs really a great and helpful piece of info. Iˇm satisfied that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing. christian louboutin new york
Excellent website. A lot of useful information here. I am sending it to some pals ans also sharing in delicious. And of course, thanks in your sweat!