Teach me to dance.

Did you say... dance?

Come on, my boy.

System Fail

Oh hello, welcome to system fail

the show where the past casts

its long shadow upon the present .

My Big fat Greek citizenship!

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are now citizens of Greece.

How do you feel being a citizen?

Well, as long as I don't have

to serve in the army.

Do I have to serve in the army?

in the army?

Ah! Something bit me!

Wilson!

My name is Dee DOS

and it's often said that Greece

is the birthplace of democracy.

Democracy was invented

by the ancient Greeks, so was the idea

of being a citizen with the right to vote

Overrated.

Malaka!

And to this day, the Mediterranean nation 
continues to serve as a laboratory

for new methods of social control.

Over the past decade, Greece has 
found itself on the frontline

of multiple crises converging 
on the European subcontinent.

And the liberal democracies 
of the so-called West.

The Greek crisis began in late 2009...

- 25% contraction in the economy...

- limits on bank transfers 
and daily cash withdrawals...

- suicide rates increased dramatically...

The biggest migrant crisis 
Europe has faced since the Second World War

hitting the country which is
least equipped to deal with it.

The referendum to vote 
'yes to Europe' or 'no to austerity.'

Many members of Tsipras' left-wing 
Syriza party see it as a betrayal.

These crises and their prescribed solutions

have taken a significant

toll on the Greek population.

In July of 2019,

Greek citizens expressed

their disillusionment with 
the broken promise of Syriza

selecting the far-right Néa Dimokratía
or New Democracy into power

with a significant parliamentary majority.

The country's current Prime Minister, 
Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Comes from a multigenerational political dynasty.

He's the son of the former Prime Minister 
Konstantinos Mitsotakis.

Mitsotakis ran his campaign 
on a law and order platform

promising to take Greece back from
ts famously combative anarchist movement.

Once in power, he quickly sought 
to make good on that promise.

In Athens, Mitsotakis launched a direct attack
on the anarchist stronghold of Exarchia.

Evicting a number of long term squats, 
beginning with those housing refugees.

He was aided in this campaign by his nephew, 
Kostas Bakoyannis, the newly-installed mayor of Athens.

And his so-called Minister of Citizens Protection 
Michalis Chrysohoidis

- a longtime foe of Greece's anarchist movement

who survived an assassination attempt in 2010.

In the year and a half that has followed.

More squats and anarchist spaces 
have been raided elsewhere in Athens

as well as in Thessaloniki

and Chania, on the island of Crete.

This repression has only increased 
since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Democracy has cynically 
used the public health crisis

as an excuse to impose a wide-ranging
state of exception upon greek society.

This has included an expansion of state powers
under the guise of public safety.

Along with some of the most punishing 
lockdown conditions in all of Europe.

With schools closed, Mitzotakis has moved

forward with plans to develop 
a new university police force.

Building on earlier efforts to revoke 
the so-called University Asylum Law.

Which had long barred police 
and security forces from University campuses.

The asylum law was originally implemented 
in response to the 1973 massacre of dozens of students

at Athens Polytechnic

by the Greek military junta

and was widely understood as 
a symbol of the country's transition

from dictatorship to democracy.

Greece has now been under
full lockdown since November,

with the exception of a month-long
easing of conditions in December

in order to allow for Christmas shopping.

The current lockdown order includes
a strict ban on public protests of any kind.

Anyone leaving their house for one of
the six officially approved justifications

has to first text the state for permission

and then show their confirmation 
to police when stopped.

On top of this pass system, 
there's also a nationwide curfew in place.

Which has been rigorously enforced
in working-class, Roma, and immigrant neighborhoods.

From November to March 22nd, 
the curfew was 7:00 PM.

It is since being extended to 9.

♫ Screamin’ Fuck Curfew!

Fuck a Curfew!

What the world comin to? What it comin to?

Screaming fuck curfew ♫

Fuck You.

Amidst this backdrop of simmering social tensions,

several events have combined to produce a wave of outrage
that has swept across Greek society.

The first has been a series of
high profile sexual assault scandals

that have been aptly described
as the Greek Me Too, movement.

This long overdue reckoning began on January 20th, 
when former Olympic gold medalist Sofia Bekatorou

shared her experiences of being sexually assaulted 
by her former coach Aristidis Adamopoulos.

This scandal soon spread to
Greece's political and cultural elite.

When a steady stream of actors began coming forward
to announce that they'd been sexually assaulted

by the director of Greece's National Theatre, 
Dimitris Lignadis

- a man with direct ties to the Mitsotakis family

and other prominent members of the Greek ruling classes.

Several of these actors had been
children when Lignadis raped them.

It took two weeks after the allegations
were made public for Lignadis to be arrested.

Ample time for him to destroy any 
incriminating evidence in his possession.

The Greek mainstream media, 
which is almost entirely

owned and operated by fawning supporters
of Mitsotakis and a New Democracy,

tried their best to bury the story,

and when that failed, they turned to 
attacking the credibility of the accusers.

This sleazy and clumsy attempt at a cover up

provoked a massive backlash in popular opinion,

leading to a growing crisis of legitimacy 
for the media and the New Democracy regime.

As this was all unfolding, fury was also growing over

the government's handling of a hunger strike

launched by political prisoner, 
Dimitris Koufodinas on January 8th.

Following his transfer to 
the high-security Domokos Prison

in violation of Greek law 
and the terms of his sentence.

Koufodinas is considered the 
primary executioner of the 17th of November.

An armed Marxist group named after the date 
of the 1973 massacre at the Athens Polytechnic.

The group was active from 1975 to 2002.

During this time they carried out a series of 
assassinations, bombings, and attacks against Greek banks,

politicians and businessmen, 
former officials of the military dictatorship

and American, Turkish, and British interests.

It's well known that Mitsotakis 
and his entire family hate Koufodinas.

Back in 1989, he assassinated 
Mitsotakis’ brother-in-law,

and the father of the current 
mayor of Athens, Pavlos Bakoyannis.

Among the group’s other victims 
were Athens CIA station chief, Richard Welch.

The first time that any CIA station chief 
in the world had been assassinated.

And a number of prominent members of the Greek military junta
including its primary torturer, Evangelos Mallios.

Unsurprisingly, the 17th of November was declared 
a terrorist organization by the US State Department

and a number of other governments.

The United States does not negotiate with terrorists. 
Its been our bedrock principle for 25 years.

Nevertheless, the group has long enjoyed a considerable level 
of popular support - particularly from the Greek left.

Soon after announcing his hunger strike, 
Koufontinas was joined by high profile

anarchist prisoners, 
Nikos Maziotis of Revolutionary Struggle.

Giannis Dimitrakis,

Polykarpos Georgiadis

and Vaggelis Stathopoylos

who all coordinated limited hunger strikes in solidarity.

As the days and weeks dragged on

and it became clear that Mitsotakis 
was happy to let Koufontinas starve to death.

Demonstrations, international solidarity actions, 
and clandestine attacks began to pick up steam.

Within this context, on March 7th 
police were filmed beating

a peaceful student in the neighborhood of Nea Smirni.

The incident wasn't reported on by Greek media,

but it went viral on social media

where more and more people 
were now turning for their news.

Anarchists called a demo for the evening of March 9th.

5000 people responded to this call.

Kicking off some of the most intense rioting 
that Greece has seen in years.

In the midst of the chaos,

a member of Greece is notoriously brutal Delta Squad 
was dragged from his motorcycle

and savagely beaten by an angry mob.

The next night, two anarchists 
were snatched off the street,

black bagged, 
and taken to the Attica General Police Directorate

- the Central Police Headquarters in Athens -
where they were viciously tortured.

On March 14th, after 66 days and at death's door,
Koufontinas called off his hunger strike.

Since then, the pace of demonstrations 
and attacks has slowed down.

But the situation in Greece is still quite dynamic,

and there's a palpable sense 
that things could kick back off at any moment.

So to get a better understanding 
about the situation, I recently sat down

with Athens based Anarchist 
and member of the Void Network, Tasos Sagris.

Hey Tasos How's it going?

Personally, I'm closed in the house for a long time now

and we are not allowed to work because 
I work as a theater director, so the theaters are closed.

So we are in the process of playing the Metamorphosis 
by Franz Kafka... and we are not allowed to play it.

That all sounds pretty Kafkaesque.

Could you briefly explain the context for 
the hunger strike waged by Koufontinas and why their struggle

has resonated with many anarchists in Greece?

The 17th of November is a group of ultra-left 
that appeared after the dictatorship of '74.

They are not anarchists, so for us 
it's not a strictly political solidarity,

but it is mainly like 
a human solidarity towards a prisoner.

For a political prisoner, the last tool 
to attack the state is the hunger strike.

So in that way, he used the final tool to 
attack the state and to expose their state brutality.

And this attracted a solidarity movement 
that came from the anarchists,

but also from the leftists.

These small demonstrations, in the beginning, 
were attacked very brutally by the police.

And then, slowly slowly, more and more 
people were coming to the demonstrations.

And this situation attracted the focus of the people,

and made visible the situation in the prisons 
and the situation of the political prisoners.

So no matter if he's a comrade or not, for us the most important 
thing is that he started a struggle against the state,

and he succeeded somehow, to expose the state brutality.

New democracy has now been waging a concerted war on Greece's 
anarchist movement for the better part of two years now.

How has this affected the character of the social war in Greece, 
and what effect has this had on comrades there?

First we have to understand: 
What is New Democracy, as a political party, you know?

New Democracy was a political party created 
from the right wing after the dictatorship in '74.

The creator, Konstantinos Karamanlis, 
succeeded to unite in the same political party,

the main core of the party 
(he was a part of it also)

the populistic right, and also 
the liberals - the neoliberals of that time -

and also the patriotic right.

So you have to understand... 
in Greece we have a peculiar situation.

Like, for example, in France the bourgeoisie 
tells you to vote for Macron,

because otherwise Le Pen 
will come into the government.

Here, Macron and Le Pen 
are in the same political party.

So when this party is united, it's very difficult to fight back
because all the elements of the right wing are united.

The difference is that it is the first time in Greece 
that the neoliberal side of this party is governing.

And they are affiliated with the far right 
- the patriotic side of the party.

This produces a very difficult 
situation for the anarchists,

because for the first time we have 
a very strong neoliberal and neo-fascist government

fighting the anarchists 
- without the existence of people in the streets.

Without being in a period of 
social uprising or social movements.

New Democracy attacks our social centres; attacks our squats; 
attacks the squares; attacks public space.

And at the same time, 
this New Democracy government

takes advantage of the lockdown
to change the law about work,

change the law about syndicates [unions],

change the law about 
how you start a general strike,

change the law about how you 
organize demonstration in the streets.

There are some demonstrations 
together with the left - with the ultra left -

we had some big demonstrations. 
And I hope that they will be stronger and bigger.

But the general society is feeling scared because of COVID.
So it's not like a normal situation, you know?

You have the worst-case scenario government, 
enforcing the worst case measures and laws.

In a period where the people feel afraid to be 
in the streets and to mobilize and to demonstrate.

What are your thoughts on Mitsotakis' repeal of the University Asylum Law 
and his plans to implement a new University police force?

The law that we had in Greece

was that there was an asylum against the police. 
That the police could not go inside the universities.

And first they destroyed this law.

The police now have the right to come into the university

if there is criminal activity or something like this.

But now they've gone further, and established a 
permanent presence of the police inside the universities.

It is the first European country that we will have police 
- official police - inside the universities.

This gives the right to the riot police to go fight 
against the students inside the universities.

So in the next weeks we will have
an intensification of this struggle,

and we are expecting like the revolt of the students.

This measure also doesn’t have the support of 
the teachers and the presidents of the universities.

Because the presidents and the teachers understand
that the the permanent existence of the police

inside the universities produces 
a chaotic situation every moment of every day.

You know, you can have riots or fights between 
the students and the police inside the universities every day.

So this destroys the educational process.

I don't know if we're going to succeed, you know, 
to defend the universities as public spaces.

But it is a main struggle that will 
take place over the next year in Greece.

It's also very important to us
to defend anarchist groups,

and also the spaces of 
anarchist groups inside the universities.

These are areas of struggle, and of course they will be the first 
target of the presence of the police inside the university.

Anything else you'd like to add?

I Think that we've come to a point where 
the social crisis is so strong all around the world

that somehow we have to find an anarchist way to unite.

Because as long as we stay in our small circles 
with only people that we agree with,

it's not possible to produce anarchist revolution.

And if our planet is to produce global emancipation - and 
to produce conditions of social revolt and social revolution -

I think that we have to produce parallel movements.

This means that we have to end the dogmatism,

and we have to end the sectarianism and to find ways to coordinate. 
To produce situations of resonance of the movement, you know?

And also coordination. And to respect 
the difference of the methodologies.

To come to a point where we sincerely feel comradeship with 
anarchists who don't have the same methodologies.

I think that the big moment for anarchists is now. 
Because all around the world people face the same problems.

Neoliberalism is a global movement that fights against the people.

And so the people need to coordinate 
and organize to fight against the state and capital.

And the anarchists, they are crucial in this struggle.

Because we've mobilized for two hundred years now, okay? 
We've had analysis for two hundred years now.

After May of 68, the anarchist movement 
has become stronger, year after year.

And now it's come to the point to say 
what we're gonna do with our disagreements.

This I have to add. We have to find 
an anarchist way to solve our disagreements.

Thank you very much and I hope we will
meet soon at the barricades. Here and wherever.

Thanks Tasos.

We've now reached the end 
of this episode of System Fail.

You can catch the full interview with Tasos 
on an upcoming episode of the Circle A podcast,

and check out some of his writings at 
the Void Network's website: VOIDNETWORK.GR

To support imprisoned comrades in Greece,

consider making a donation to the Solidarity Fund 
For Imprisoned Persecuted Revolutionaries at TAMEIO.ORG

or via Firefund, at firefund.net/solidarfund

for English language updates

on the social war in Greece, check out 
actforfree.noblogs.org, or EnoughIsEnough14.org.

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Godspeed humans.