Ireland Requires Political Actions Such as These....

I have always been an admirer of the KKE (The Communist Party of Greece), I encountered the KKE and the KNE when at University in Britain in the early 1980's and was always impressed by their combination of militancy, imaginative political actions, and a sound theoretical grasp of complex political situations.

Far from being cowed by the enormous intimidation being applied to the people of Greece by the forces of international finance capital, they have reacted in a truly heroic and imaginative manner which points the finger of blame squarely at those responsible for the economic collapse since 2008.

In common with here in Ireland, in Greece strenuous attempts are being made to make the ordinary working people pay for the crisis created by the greed of the bankers and property developers. Now it is 'the markets' and 'bond investors' who must be heeded at all costs. Who are these if not the investing arms of the same financial structures which wrought this havoc in the first place.

Here in Ireland, I was depressed to see that Sinn Féin had mounted a nationwide campaign against mass unemployment, which consisted of Sinn Féin activists attending job centres and getting jobless workers to sign post cards of protest to the Government. That deluge of post cards is really going to have the gombeens leading Fianna Fáil and the Green party quaking in their boots...

We need militant and imaginative street based campaigns of the sort undertaken recently by the KKE and depicted in this video. There is no shortage of anger out there but the much commented upon passivity of the Irish public's response has been determined by a complete absence of any imaginative and colourful means to focus that anger. Instead the anger in Ireland is being internalised, with the repetition by the right wing media and the corporate media pundits of the mantra 'We are Where we Are' (WAWWA), which is a bit like the sort of thing yu might say to a toddler that has'nt quite made it in time to the potty...'never mind love ,we' ll clean it up, sure nothing can be done about it now', the subtext of which is that it IS in fact your fault. As psychologists tell us, internalised anger merely prompts depression. This is taking the form here in Ireland of sullen resentment and resignation. Which is precisely the response that our corporate masters would wish for.

Organisations such as Sinn Féin and the Labour Party should be devising ways to channel the anger that exists, or seem increasingly irrelevant as the 'WAWWA' brigade dominate the public discourse here in Ireland. Hats off to Dr Chris Sparks of Sligo IT in the 'Ghost Estates' RTE documentary last night for articulating the sort of sincere anger and exasperation that spokespeople of Sinn Féin and the Labour Party need to be expressing.

Though small this action recently by Eírigi is to be congratulated for its imaginativeness and its militancy, if anyone doubts that it was supported just listen to the car horns hooting as Dublin motorists voiced their approval..


What has happened here in Ireland is the biggest treason ever committed against the people of this country since the Civil War. It demands an adequate political response, Sinn Féin has the organisational capacity, why not mount a national three pronged cross country march of the unemployed from the South, North West and South East along the lines of the Unemployed marches of the 1930s and 1980's in the UK?

THE RESTORATION OF CAPITALISM IS " NEITHER DEFINITE NOR IRREVERSIBLE...."

A powerful statement issued by the impressive Aleka Papariga, General Secretary of the CC of KKE ( Communist Party of Greece)

On November 9, 2009, in the rifle range of Kesariani, KKE honoured the communists and other militants who gave their life for the cause of Socialism, as a response to the anticommunist events that take place in Berlin.

With a simple event, filled with messages and symbolisms, KKE honoured in the rifle range of Kesariani the 200 communists and other militants who withstood the forces of fascism, recognizing in their example the heroism of all those who were not frightened, did not retreat, did not relent in view of the difficulties and the setbacks of the confrontation with imperialism.

The time and place of the event has its own symbolism and has been chosen as people’s response to the anticommunist events of lies and calumniation that take place these days on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the overthrow of the socialism in the German Democratic Republic.

The course of history cannot be stopped

Shortly afterwards, the General Secretary in her statement regarding the anticommunist events in Berlin noted:

“We felt the need to be here today, in this sacred place for our people, where Greeks turned in to the Germans, unrepentant communists loyal to the struggle for the liberation of their homeland, knowing that they would be executed, or that they would be sent to the known camps in Germany. They preferred the unrepentant and fighting communists to be dead than alive struggling for freedom.

We felt the need to be here because today in Berlin the elite of the imperialists and their second class executives and allies, among whom the Greek prime minister, have met for the celebration of the Fall of the Wall.

In reality they are celebrating the capitalist restoration, the overthrow of socialism, because they believe that this overthrow is final and irreversible. However they understand that the course of history cannot be stopped and that sooner or later the timeliness of socialism will become reality. We do not forget the great contribution of socialism nor its achievements that benefited the humanity as a whole. No one can erase the fact that the overthrow of socialism made imperialism even more aggressive against peoples.

Freedom has class content

They celebrate and we understand why. They celebrate because freedom and democracy for them are consolidated in an exploitative class society; freedom and democracy for them means to violate people’s rights, plunder the working class, divide peoples, fragment and forcibly annex states. Freedom and democracy for them, are synonymous with the war of the capital, with the war of arms. All those who gathered in Berlin have forgotten their responsibilities and obligations regarding the wall raised by the Israelis in Palestine.

However, I would like to remind some facts in order to make it clear for the people and particularly the youth: Both West and East Berlin were in the centre of the German Democratic Republic. The erection of the Wall was imposed by imperialism when the NATO troops threatened to invade Berlin, especially the East part, in the territory of the German Democratic Republic. So I’m asking you: don’t the people, the workers’ power or any government have the right to respect their borders and erect a wall in their territories? For example, if there were 3 or 4 municipalities in Athens that belonged to the occupation army would people be free to come and go? At that time West Germany, with NATO and the Americans, was like an occupation army. On one hand it was responsible for the division of Germany and on the other it tried to forcibly annex it.

We will never abandon the struggle for Socialism

Once more we underline that we are on the side of socialism. We defend socialism we have known due to its great contribution to the people who experienced it and for the humanity as a whole and we have the courage and boldness to deepen and highlight the causes that led to the restoration of capitalism. That’s what we are fighting with all our strength and we won’t give up struggling for socialism. Socialism in Greece will include the contribution of socialism we have known and the lessons learned from the negative experience.

If those who gather today in Berlin think that the peoples will reconcile with the imperialist reality they are mistaken. Sooner or later people will rise even higher than in the 20th century.”

ITS THE COME BACK COMMIES...KKE GAINS IN GREECE...

Congratulations to the KKE (Communist Party of Greece) for demonstrating that a consistent class analysis of the problems facing a modern society can, and evidently does, result in an increase in the mandate which can be achieved by serious Left parties. Both the Communist Party and the Coalition of Radical Left look like they are going to gain seats. At this point , it looks the final outcome will be like this, ( 99.37 % of the votes counted):ND (conservatives): 152 seats 41.84 % Pasok (socio-dem) : 102 seats 38.11 % KKE : 22 seats 8.15 %Coalition of the radical left: 14 seats 5.03 % Extreme Right (LAOS) : 10 seats 3.79 % . This KKE result is the continuation of a trend dating back to previous elections,In the Parliamentary Elections of 2004 KKE rose in its share of the vote (from 5,5% in 2000 to 5,9% in 2004), in the number of votes received and MPs elected (12 MPs compared to 11 in 2000). This positive result took place despite the intence polarization among the two big establishment parties, (the rightwing ND and the social democratic PASOK) and the inevitably negative role of the right wing dominsted media.

Its a pity that the ND have got back into power , but the KKE's strong showing suggests that this is not a crisis of the Left, more a crisis for ostensibly socialist parties who shift into the centre too readily forgetting what they were established to stand for in the first place. One curious snippet is that the far-right party's (LAOS) leader, according to a claim made in Wikipedia has "pictures of Fidel Castro and CheGuevara in his office as "anti-American symbols" , presumably this particular fruit cake can move his pictures to his parliamentary office now, since he has been elected to parliament for the first time. He campaigned during the election brandishing a boxing glove, suggesting that the people of Greece must form 'one fist', he was also supported by a scantily clad female Greek celebrity.These are not harmless eccentrics however, the LAOS have been credibly accused of harbouring some deeply unpleasant anti-semitic tendencies.

If you are one of the multitude of new readers who have visited us here recently then welcome back, we are prone to 'loony left' behaviour here quite frequently, sorry if it offends,we really did try to give it up, but you can only get marginally excited by lives revolving around the likes of gardening and the peculiarly vacuous sense of ennui and purposeless drifting from taking too seriously terribly clever people who informed us all that we had reached the 'end of history' ...
There is a video on YouTube which appears to support the KKE election campaign, whether or not it is an official effort is unclear, sadly my Greek is too weak to be able to determine this information for certain, on reflection however simply because the images are striking and the accompanying songs sounds pretty good its going to appear below, some particularly unrepentant 'unrepentants' will be intrigued by the closing shots, which will warm the heart of some of you (perhaps).

Communist Party of Greece (KKE) General Secretary Aleka Papariga said her party's supporters "feel satisfaction" over the KKE's performance in Sunday's general election. Addressing reporters in the early morning hours of Monday, Papariga said her party was on an upward course, adding that voters who "made a bold step in voting for the first time for KKE were many", while adding that Communists should not be carried away by the result. "The two mainstream parties still maintain high percentages, which however, are not in accordance with the levels of popular dissatisfaction," she said. The KKE leader said her party would be on the workers' side to "prevent the anti-popular measures that this government will present," adding that KKE would not disappoint young voters. Well Aleka you have'nt disappointed this voter, keep that up and a good few readers here will begin to feel younger to boot!

Greek Fires- Land Speculators in the Frame..?

Communist Party of Greece (KKE) General Secretary Aleka Papariga on Monday rejected theories that the destructive fires that have engulfed Greece and claimed 63 lives in the past days constitute an "asymmetrical threat" and pinned the blame on land policy.
During a press conference, Papariga reported the conclusion of KKE's Political Bureau that the government's attempt to present the tragedy in terms of "new order imperialist dogma of asymmetrical threats" sought to "terrorise the people so as to divert their reaction in the wrong direction, both during the electoral contest and afterward".
Regarding the cause of the fires, she said that these had not arisen suddenly but were created over many years by a series of reactionary laws and measures taken by the governments of the ruling New Democracy and main opposition PASOK parties.
According to Papariga, the road to the present inferno was opened by a policy that commercialised forests, rewarded land grabbers, undermined prevention and created huge deficits in equipment and facilities for fire-fighting and forest protection services, culminating in the revision of the Constitution and especially article 24 for the protection of forests.
"We are faced with an organised plan, whether this existed beforehand or arose on the way," Papariga claimed, adding that the profits from arson primarily benefited large economic interests whose "appetite is opened by land commercialisation".
She also turned her fire on the government for failing to put up an effective, organised response that might have mitigated the repercussions of the disaster, through prevention and forest protection measures.
Regarding PASOK, she said the main opposition of seeking only to cover up its own responsibility and to benefit from the justified popular displeasure at the polls, while she lambasted the left-wing Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) for "failing to display political autonomy" during the crisis and supporting PASOK.
Listing KKE's proposals for the aftermath of the fires, Papariga called for a full and in-depth listing of the destruction wrought and the areas burnt, without any changes in land use, full compensation to farmers for lost crops and livestock, one year's exemption from insurance contributions and taxes and a freeze on loan payments, full compensation for burnt homes and farm infrastructure, detailed and binding plans for reforestation, free housing for fire victims in nearby hotels, immediate hiring for vacant positions in the fire brigade, forestry services and national health service with permanent rather than seasonal staff and work to limit subsequent damage from erosion, flooding etc.

IS IT REALLY CREDIBLE THAT PEOPLE PAID BY PROPERTY SPECULATORS SET THESE 200+ FIRES DELIBERATELY?....IS IT A REALISTIC ASSESSMENT OR A CONSPIRACY THEORY?? WHAT DO YOU THINK?...HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE COMMENTS SECTION.....