Diana R, hello. Good point..

Mr Baldwin, you are apparently an anti-Greek Nation foreign guest (?) professor at Panteion University. You know, it surprises me, the certainty with which you state that there is no way the Greeks can decide to get rid of those that are illegally violating their country’s borders. What, are you an official of some foreign government or some “Organization” that designs Greece’s immigration policy?? If yes, at least let us know. Do you even have the right to vote in this country? I believe you are already aware of it, but need I remind you that THIS IS NOT YOUR COUNTRY? You can say whatever you want to, this is the delightfulness of ‘democracy’, but at best your opinions will be those of a weird tourist who believes he has a say in a foreign country’s national issues, or at worst your opinions are those of a foreign anti-Greek person with extreme leftist and ‘new world order’ ideas and with suspicious goals. Please be kind enough to tell me which of the two is true in your case. What you mention about Greek economy is just another ‘cliché’, the truth is that only a let’s say 5-10% of ILLEGAL immigrants are into heavy duty labour. If they weren’t here, so much for the better, Greeks would HAVE to undertake these jobs and their wages would be of course a lot higher then they are now for the ILLEGAL immigrants who do them. I repeat, Greece is a SOVEREIGN NATION, not a fund raising asylum for the world’s homeless. Immigrants should struggle to fix THEIR country, as we try to do with ours. And non-Greeks should try to apply their political and social ideas to THEIR country, not in ours, because here, OUR will shall prevail.

Regards

No one was comparing the US Govt to the Greek govt. We were comparing the lack of philanthropy shown by the Greek people towards immigrants compared with the obvious years of philanthropy shown to Greeks in years gone by the USA and other caring countries.

Happily for you, there is no way to remove “illegal immigants” so you will not find that out. This, of course, allows you to continue with the delusion that immigrants “steal the bread from our children’s mouths”.

As for philanthropy we have seen many ‘ philanthropers ‘ helping the Iraqis and the Lebanese…after of course they send them back to the stone age!!
So George spare as the sermon and come down to earth….

Plus, remember all those immigrants are not unlike the Greeks of yesteryear who were cleaning the toilets, houses etc of the Americans and other peoples.

But, those Greeks became productive members of America and other diaspora areas.

Let the immigrants in Greece have a chance as America and many other countries gave you Greeks a chance.

It’s your turn to show some philanthropy even though many Greeks don’t know what the word means (and it’s a greek word)

These walls belong to Greeks, as does this soil you re walking on, foreigners/visitors/tourists/whatever you are. So, national Greeks do have the right to write whatever they want on them. Greece, as you PROBABLY have discovered, is not a western economic heaven like America or Britain. We haven’t been exploiting the planet to create such wealth, you see, like your “humane” home countries did. We are simple people. And you DARE to come here and preach to us about “racism”, with your disgusting political correctness, you, the offspring of the world’s worst exploiters and murdererd of whole nations? Have you got NO shame and dignity at all inside you?

Yes it’s god damn right to write such things on the walls, when Greece is a poor country, where survival is the issue. When immigrants come and steal the bread from our children’s mouth, all because International Finance and criminal capitalism decided that all nations must become sources of extremely cheap labor.

These are just hints you see on the walls, soon, most ILLEGAL ALIENS will have to return to their countries whether they want to or not…. they should try to fix them, NOT destroy our own….

Maybe Panayiote Dimitras could give us an update? Apparently the graffiti has been there now over 1-1/2 years.

Stop Human Rights Abuse of Immigrants in Greece

Target:
Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso, Mr. Terry Davis, and other EU officials
Created by:
Peshku Pa Uje (Fish Out of Water), an Albanian community
We the undersigned urge the leaders of the EU to respond to the recent demonstration of appalling discrimination and human rights violation by Greek authorities towards Albanian immigrants. The recent video of two immigrants slapping each other at the orders of a Greek police officer is an unacceptable example of institutional violence against the rights and dignity of human beings in Greece. We call on European institutions to act and stop this abuse!

Please visit this site to sign a petition

I am urging all members of Greek Indymedia to sign up: one wise Greek man has written these words: “I hope you all understand that this is NOT greece. THESE ARE THE AUTHORITIES. pigs do not have ethnicity. It is now our responsibility to fight crime made by the law.”
I am also a victim of torture by the Greek authorities, and I absolutely endorse these words- the brutes who torture and the politicians and lawyers who protect them bring shame on the Nation. They are so different from the ordinary Greeks who I have met and many of whom I count as friends: but it is the police and the coastguard who meet the unfortunate foreigners who are tortured. DO YOU WANT YOUR COUNTRY TO BE REPRESENTED BY THESE THUGS??? Please demand action and call for an end to torture!
Many thanks,
Necati

necati zontul

I agree it is frightening that some people whose ancestors died to keep them living in a free country are acting in such a blinkered, stupid and moronic way. Because Greece is still a democracy they are allowed to deface the beauty of their country in the most foul and ignorant way.

All democracies have this problem. It is the essence of a democracy that people are free to hold opinions which sometimes seem out of step with the majority. That is their prerogative. There are websites and publications where their points of view may be aired and debated. This is the course of action used by real intellectual, thinking antagonists. Putting their point of view where it can be answered or argued. The cowards way out is to cover their beautiful cities with garish unartistic swathes of car paint. Well done to all those anonymous graffiti soapboxers, you are announcing just how ignorant and cowardly you are.

Time will change the majority of these aerosol happy anarchists to respectable businessmen, some will drop by the wayside and others will be misfits to the end of their days, if that is what they desire. Life has so much to offer but some people follow the course of denying themselves much of the pleasure of life because of self inflicted stubbornness. In a democracy that is their privilege no matter how sad their time on earth is made by this but rebelliousness does not have to go with destructiveness.

There is a blight on Greece now and many people are returning home after a holiday with no wish to return. They have seen what they want to see, all the past treasures and beauty of days gone by and the contrast of today’s citizens (albeit a minority) who have ruined the beauty of their heritage.

This is not only a problem in Greece. In Brisbane, Australia, graffiti-ists have been rounded up and fined $A1000 for defacing railway sidings. Most countries of the world have this problem to tackle, not least the UK. But the Greek authorities seem not to take it seriously and yet they have some of the most beautifiul architecture in the world.

Singapore does not have the problem of graffiti. The government is not oppressive but sensible and everyone can walk the streets of Singapore in safety no matter what time of night without looking at monstrous swathes of garish paint over their buildings which for the most part are not a patch on Greek architecture. They have one of the most thriving tourist industries in the world despite the smallness of the country and are rich in multiculture and tolerance of many different religions.

The graffiti blight has reached the beautiful Greek island where I live and the tourists have dropped off dramatically because of the sense of seediness it gives. The sad thing is that it is one boy who is responsible and the council know who it is. It could be nipped in the bud but they choose to do nothing. Why? I do not know.

Please Greece, treat this matter seriously and bring the culprits to book for their vandalism.

Yours truly
A lover of true art, modern and ancient.

“The only thing necessary for the persistence of evil is for enough good people to do nothing.”

Of course “anonymous” is a classic example of people not responding to pressure. Maybe, he should start looking at the European business landscape and see that Greece is in the same category with Albania, Bulgaria and Romania. Why? Maybe because Greece is not reliable enough in so many fronts including human rights. Hell, when my packages stay in customs for 8 months or when EU companies refuse to deliver to me because I am in Greece it is bad. Maybe “anonymous” and every “anonymous” should stop bitching about their own government further eroding the education system, keeping salaries down etc and get out. Or.. not, no other country in the world has φραπέ! We cannot leave!

Anyway. Diva is trying to drum up some energy about the crap graffiti. Maybe we should also find some examples of “έξω οι βλάχοι από την Αθήνα” to complete the picture so Greeks are also included. This graffiti started appearing in the late 80s and it means “kick the bumpkins out of Athens”. As most of you probably know, the original Athenian families were very few. Most people living in Athens have come from villages from all over Greece. Considering that back then each village had a very strong identity and culture, the people who moved to Athens moved to a different country. Ask anyone from Crete who lives in Athens and they feel as displaced as any migrant. Should we do what the graffiti says to bring Athens back to some “glory days” of refinement and whateverege? Of course not. That was an era and like every era it get replaced by another. Some eras we find more appealing some we don’t. In the end it is what we make it. Now, what would you prefer this era to be? One remembered for its unresolved racial tension or one remembered for how this tension got resolved and everyone lived happily?

You get my point.

I do not allow links from people who run blogs that I find racist, misogynistic, homophobic or just plain offensive. That means, if your blog falls into that category, do not fill in your URL or I will delete it without hesitation. I do not care about the content of that comment. I do not want to be linked to, or associated in any way, to the aforementioned blogs

is racist ?

I am so sick of you nationalists coming over here and spouting your drivel. How about you find something more constructive to do with your copious amounts of free time. Go and spend your time scribbling on blogs that are more suited to your views. There are plenty of them. Most of them have managed to find me easily enough so I am sure it wouldn’t be too taxing for you to find them.