Incitement of Hatred
Logo of the party "Golden Dawn"
Nationalist and neo-Nazi media, as well as media belonging to forces in opposition to the current government, are engaged in inciting hatred in Greece. Splitting society, trying to impose their stereotypes, these organisations usually accuse their opponents of two “terrible sins” - in the Zionist conspiracy and in the intention to Islamise the country.
The main newspaper distributing xenophobic and neo-Nazi materials is the one published the party “Golden Dawn” and is of the same name. Since 1993 the motto of the newspaper states: “Every foreign worker means an unemployed Greek citizen: the deportation of all illegal immigrants means hundreds of thousands of new jobs for the Greeks”.
Despite government actions, Golden Dawn party continued its extremist activities. In 2014, for example, the party campaigned under the slogan “Turks, get out of Thrace”. In April, its activists attacked a medical clinic for migrants in Athens, shouting “Foreigners – go home”.
On May 22, 2013, Association of Muslims in Athens received a threat letter in Greek, Arabic and English languages with the official logo of the “Golden Dawn” party. Greek neo-Nazis wrote an ultimatum to Muslims of the country, demanding the “leave the country before June 30, otherwise from July 1 they will be cut like chickens”.
In August 2013 members of the “Golden Dawn” demanded to repeal those benefits that are offered to the university students from the Muslim minority.
There is evidence of Anti-Semitic statements also taking place. On October 2 the “Golden Dawn” published a hostile statement, according to which the Jews were behind the pressure on the party, and it was suggested that the Jews “should not interfere in the Greek affairs”.
And in December the website of the “Golden Dawn” featured an article alleging that the Prime Minister of Greece A.Samaras received an acknowledgement award from the European Jewish Congress for his pursuit of the party.
On July 15 the Metropolitan of Kalavryta Ambrossios published a blog article accusing the Jews of supposedly behind-the-scenes ruling over Greece and the world. He also referred to a number Greek politicians that he disliked as Jewish.
A group of government officials have also took the liberty of making xenophobic statements. On January 30, Prime Minister of Greece, Antonis Samaras in talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that he would not cancel the amendment to the Education Act, which prohibits the teaching of the Koran in schools of Thrace, densely populated by Turkish diaspora. On July 25 Minister of the Interior Giannis Michelakis addressed the parliament with the idea that the problems of the Roma passportisation were reduced solely to the attempt of the Roma immigrants to pass off as Greek citizens. In April 2013 during a visit to an immigration detention facility in Corinth a senior police officer referred to the detainees as “rats”. On December 19 it was reported that the chief of police of Greece Nikolaos Pappayanopulos said that illegal immigrants should be detained for as long as possible, to make their lives “unbearable” during a meeting with his subordinates.
In addition, the police has actively spread claims of a certain enormous Roma criminality in order to justify their anti-Roma actions. In October 2013 anti-Roma campaign was launched in the media in connection with the discovery of a girl at the Roma settlements in Pharsalus who was considered kidnapped. The commotion, however, ceased as the DNA test established that it was an abandoned daughter of the Bulgarian Roma.
The year 2015 was characterized also by anti-Semitic cartoons printed in leftist and centrist dailies, demonization of Israel in the name of “anti-racism”, Holocaust trivialization, desecration of a Jewish monument & a cemetery, homophobic- and religiously-inspired antisemitism& BDS calls. On the bazar of books in Aiolou street in Athens, on December 29th,hand in hand with Eleftheri Ora, the newspaper of conspiracy theories and balderdash, the Apostolic Ministration of the Church of Greece headed by the Archbishop Hieronymus trades in those most eminent books promulgating conspiracy theories, antisemitism and extremist nationalism.”The Secret Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, Giannis Fourakis’ “Zionist Conspiracies”, Kostas Plevris’ “Viglatores” [Sentinels], and the “Patriotic People’s Will” by Christos Goudis, the Golden Dawn member of the Athens Municipal Council. Members of a far- right group”Team Epsilon” have published on their website violent diatribes against the Greek political system, “the Jews” and “the Zion-Nazis” (they suggest in their texts that even Nazism is a creation of Zionism), but also against the Orthodox Church and “the Free Masons”, while they glorify the “purity” and the “independence” of the Greek nation.
Matseopulos became the second Greek parliamentarian related to Nazi rock scene. The first one George Germenis became known in the market destructions in Rafina. He was elected in May 2012 and then confirmed his status in the June elections. His stage name Kiades is a reference to the name of the place in which the Spartans killed their children if they were born with defects.
The new politician is known as the bass guitarist and vocalist in an explicitly neo-Nazi band “Πογκρόμ” (“Pogrom”). The band members consider themselves “black metal” and believe that their songs are of “national patriotic” style. The most famous song was the anti-migrant “Μίλα Ελληνικά ή Ψόφα” - “Speak Greek or die”. In particular, it has the following lines: “You came to our country / You have no job / You are hungry, you are tramps and you eat your own children / You speak Russian, speak Albanian / But now you have to speak Greek / speak Greek or die!”. In addition, the Pogrom has anti-Semitic songs, such as «Άουσβιτς» - “Auschwitz”.
In 2018-21, racist rhetoric at the central and local political level contributed significantly to xenophobia and intolerance. In this way, the phenomenon of institutional racism has continued to develop, either through policies that limit access to basic rights or through inappropriate behavior by public officials that results in the exclusion of people of different ethnic, cultural, religious, or linguistic backgrounds from services and goods. It is no coincidence that asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants make up the majority of victims of incidents involving law enforcement officers or civil servants. Growing racist rhetoric in the public sphere has often been aimed at discrediting the work and services offered by human rights organizations, while the lack of special protection for human rights defenders worsens the environment in which these organizations are called upon to operate.
Disinformation, aimed at sowing hatred and irritation among certain social groups, has become a new tool for developing hatred in 2018-20. For example, the spreading of misinformation to create new tensions on the Greek island of Lesvos led many refugees and migrants to rush to the port in the capital, Mytilene, one fall day in 2019, believing that they would be allowed to travel to the Greek mainland. According to local website Sto Nisi, unknown individuals intentionally or unintentionally spread fake news that ferries were waiting at the port of Mytilene to ferry them to Piraeus and other port cities on mainland Greece. Many people packed their clothes and walked to the port, believing that they would somehow be transported to the mainland, where they would be free to go wherever they chose.
The dissemination of misinformation on Lesvos seems to have been twofold, as locals also listened to information indicating that angry migrants carrying stones were on their way to the city to cause chaos, which was not true. It is still unclear who is behind this disinformation campaign, calculated to sow chaos, fear, and hatred from locals and refugees alike.
However, it must be recognized that in recent years right-wing organizations have been spreading hatred. For example, the political program of the "Greek Solution" party, which went to parliament on the "immigration issue," said: "Integration programs for illegal immigrants have already been prepared, which means that, unfortunately, they came to stay! European countries will not open their borders, which means that hundreds of thousands of illegal Muslim immigrants will settle in Greece. Changing our language, our religion, our traditions, our values, and Hellenism in general, is a matter of time. As long as this dangerous coalition government remains in power, that time is coming!" Through a detailed description of the implementation of a series of security measures necessary to confront the immigration waves, the party asserts that "we Greeks must take back our country and preserve our language, civilization, and religion!" Thus, we see how xenophobic ideas are used in Greece for electoral purposes.
Another party using Islamophobia as an electoral tool, mostly through Twitter and Facebook, is the neoliberal party of Thanos Tsimeros. Among the many comments, texts and tweets that actually summarize his views are the following: "[...] Islam is inherently fanatical, aggressive, committed to diversity, and [the Europeans] must move on to the next step, which is its FULL BANK within the EU. As I have written in dozens of articles, it is [Islam] not only a religion, but a regulatory, legislative framework that ALLOWS the basic values of Western civilization. Just as we do not accept the association of pedophiles, men beating their wives, children of oppressors and seeking to murder other followers of the faith, it is impossible to accept within the EU having a "religion" with exactly the same values as what we realized after they managed to gain power by growing their population and after they began to show their real face. Europe is NOT going to avoid a clash with Islam. The sooner the better. It's already too late."
In general, overt Islamophobia is evident in the far-right and other minor political parties, although it may also be present in covert forms in other parties and politicians. An interesting conclusion can be drawn from interviews with Muslims in which they argued that covert Islamophobia can also be found in the state apparatus, a form that can be characterized as "institutional Islamophobia. The control by the police and secret services over houses of worship, especially in Athens, was mentioned as an example, as was the delay in the construction of the first official mosque in the Greek capital. It has been argued that the constant delays and obstacles encountered with regard to the mosque may imply an implicit Islamophobia on the part of the state, which does not really want the mosque to be built.
In this regard, the two-week public discussion of the law regarding the administrative board of the new mosque in Athens, which was established in May 2018, is interesting. Despite the fact that the law was passed by the Greek Parliament, it is very revealing to note the comments made during this public debate. The vast majority of the 148 comments by individuals or organized groups were against the construction of the mosque, while at the same time they openly expressed Islamophobic views. While it is common in such cases for people of the same ideological background to enter the discussion en masse in order for their voices to be heard, the fact is that among all the comments written during this process there was not even a single positive opinion in support of the mosque and Muslims. The main arguments, in particular, were that "building a mosque would create many dangers, Muslims would be radicalized, the mosque is unconstitutional, Muslims are invading Greece, Greece is an Orthodox country, and Islam is incompatible with Greek history and civilization, and this would lead to the Islamization of the country."
In 2020, other newspapers such as Dimocratia, which belongs to the right-wing spectrum, publish opinions and articles that are openly Islamophobic. Throughout the year, Dimocratia published news and articles reflecting Islamophobic views, against immigration, multiculturalism, and arguing that Greek politicians should learn from other countries, implying terrorist attacks that have occurred in recent years. In addition, the articles argue that integration of Muslims in Greece and Europe is impossible and that the mosque that the government has decided to build in Athens is a matter that should not take place for cultural and security reasons.
In addition to media belonging to the right and far-right ideological and political spectrum, one can find Islamophobic opinions and articles in other center-right or even liberal newspapers, such as liberal.gr and the newspapers Golos Athens and Ta Nea. The fact is that these media include articles by specific authors who can be considered important figures in the Islamophobia network, such as former politician and minister Andreas Andrianopoulos and blogger Soti Triandafilla.
Separately, the spread of anti-Semitic attitudes in Greece is worth mentioning. Local Jewish leaders estimate that the Jewish community in the country consists of about 5,000 people. Anti-Semitic rhetoric remains a problem, especially in the extremist press, social networks and some blogs. A December 2018 Eurobarometer poll found that locals did not consider anti-Semitism a serious problem, despite the fact that anti-Semitism was a widespread ideological tool of that party during the Golden Dawn years of activism.
The Central Council of Jewish Communities (CCJC) continued to express concern over anti-Semitic remarks by some journalists in the mainstream media and some religious leaders, including clergymen in the Greek Orthodox Church. On May 13, 2019, the Central Council of Jewish Communities (CCJC) reiterated its concern over political cartoons and images in the mainstream media that mock political controversies using Jewish sacred symbols and comparisons to the Holocaust. He issued a statement about a comment on social media by journalist Costas Vaxevanis, criticizing statements by the then main opposition leader. Vaxevanis, claiming that the former leader supported a seven-day work week, illustrated his comment with a sketch of the entrance to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where the phrase "Arbeit macht frei (work sets you free)" was paraphrased as "12 hours of free labor." The CJI explained that the use of this sign in journalistic commentary is unacceptable, as it trivializes the symbol of horror and Nazi barbarism.
On April 18, the Misdemeanor Court of Appeals in Thessaloniki sentenced a 62-year-old doctor to a suspended 14-month prison sentence for installing an anti-Semitic sign in a municipal practice in 2014 that read in German: "Jews are not welcome here."
Separately, the spread of anti-Semitic attitudes in Greece is worth mentioning. Local Jewish leaders estimate that the Jewish community in the country consists of about 5,000 people. Anti-Semitic rhetoric remains a problem, especially in the extremist press, social networks and some blogs. A December 2018 Eurobarometer poll found that locals did not consider anti-Semitism a serious problem, despite the fact that anti-Semitism was a widespread ideological tool of that party during the Golden Dawn years of activism.
The Central Council of Jewish Communities (CCJC) continued to express concern over anti-Semitic remarks by some journalists in the mainstream media and some religious leaders, including clergymen in the Greek Orthodox Church. On May 13, 2019, the Central Council of Jewish Communities (CCJC) reiterated its concern over political cartoons and images in the mainstream media that mock political controversies using Jewish sacred symbols and comparisons to the Holocaust. He issued a statement about a comment on social media by journalist Costas Vaxevanis, criticizing statements by the then main opposition leader. Vaxevanis, claiming that the former leader supported a seven-day work week, illustrated his comment with a sketch of the entrance to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where the phrase "Arbeit macht frei (work sets you free)" was paraphrased as "12 hours of free labor." The CJI explained that the use of this sign in journalistic commentary is unacceptable, as it trivializes the symbol of horror and Nazi barbarism.
On April 18, the Misdemeanor Court of Appeals in Thessaloniki sentenced a 62-year-old doctor to a suspended 14-month prison sentence for installing an anti-Semitic sign in a municipal practice in 2014 that read in German: "Jews are not welcome here."
