What Goes On When Nothing Goes On?

Slavoj Žižek: 'What Goes On When Nothing Goes On?'

By Slavoj Žižek / 23 November 2012

http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1180-slavoj-zizek-what-goes-on-when-nothing-goes-on

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So should the Palestinians stand idly while the West Bank land is taken from them day by day? When Israeli peace-loving liberals present their conflict with Palestinians in neutral “symmetrical” terms, admitting that there are extremists on both sides who reject peace, and so on, one should ask a simple question: What goes on in the Middle East when nothing goes on there at the direct politico-military level (i.e. when there are no tensions, attacks, negotiations)? What goes on is the incessant slow work of taking the land from the Palestinians in the West Bank: the gradual strangling of the Palestinian economy, the parceling of their land, the building of new settlements, the pressure on Palestinian farmers to make them abandon their land (which goes from crop-burning and religious desecration up to individual killings), all this supported by a Kafkaesque network of legal regulations. Saree Makdisi, in Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, described how, although the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is ultimately enforced by the armed forces, it is an “occupation by bureaucracy”: its primary forms are application forms, title deeds, residency papers, and other permits. It is this micromanagement of daily life which does the job of securing the slow but steadfast Israeli expansion: one has to ask for a permit in order to leave with one’s family, to farm one’s own land, to dig a well, to go to work, to school, to a hospital ... One by one, Palestinians born in Jerusalem are thus stripped of the right to live there, prevented from earning a living, denied housing permits, and so on. Palestinians often use the problematic cliché of the Gaza Strip as “the greatest concentration camp in the world”— however, this designation has come dangerously close to truth. This is the fundamental reality which makes all abstract “prayers for peace” obscene and hypocritical. The State of Israel is clearly engaged in a slow, invisible process, ignored by the media, a kind of underground digging of the mole, so that, one day, the world will awaken and realize that there is no more Palestinian West Bank, that the land is Palestinian-frei, and that we can only accept the fact. The map of the Palestinian West Bank already looks like a fragmented archipelago.

At times, the State of Israel has tried to contain Israel’s excesses, as when the Supreme Court ordered the evacuation of some settlements in late 2008, when illegal West Bank settler attacks on Palestinian farmers had become a daily occurrence. But, as many observers noted then, these measures cannot but appear half-hearted, counteracting a politics which, at a deeper level, is the long-term politics of the State of Israel, which massively violates the international treaties signed by Israel itself. Netanyahu is proceeding full steam ahead with plans for new illegal settlements, despite widespread international condemnation. The reply of the illegal settlers to the Israeli authorities is basically: We are doing the same thing as you, just more openly, so what right do you have to condemn us? And the answer of the state is basically: Be patient, don’t rush too much; we are doing what you want, just in a more moderate and acceptable way. The same story seems to continue from 1949: while Israel accepts the peace conditions proposed by the international community, it calculates that the peace plan will not work. The wild settlers sometimes sound like Brünnhilde from the last act of Wagner’s

Die Walküre, reproaching Wotan that, by counteracting his explicit order and protecting Siegmund, she was only realizing Wotan’s own true desire, which he was forced to renounce under external pressure. In the same way, the illegal settlers only realize the state’s true desire that it was forced to renounce because of the pressure of the international community. While condemning the openly violent excesses of “illegal” settlements, the State of Israel promotes new “legal” West Bank settlements, continues to strangle the Palestinian economy, and so on. A look at the changing map of East Jerusalem, where the Palestinians are gradually being encircled and their space sliced up, says it all. The condemnation of non-state anti-Palestinian violence obfuscates the true problem of state violence; the condemnation of illegal settlements obfuscates the illegality of the legal ones. Therein resides the two-facedness of the much-praised non-biased “honesty” of the Israeli Supreme Court: by means of occasionally passing a judgment in favor of the dispossessed Palestinians, proclaiming their eviction illegal, it guarantees the legality of the remaining majority of cases.

And—to avoid any kind of misunderstanding—taking all this into account in no way implies any “understanding” for inexcusable terrorist acts. On the contrary, it provides the only ground from which one can condemn the terrorist attacks without hypocrisy.

[In this extract from The Case for Sanctions Against Israel, Slavoj Žižek inspects the stark reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict. As the world takes notice when missiles are fired, no liberal defence can excuse the actuality of the situation—that the Palestinians will not stand idly by while more and more of the West Bank is taken from them each day.]

Golden Dawn: Fascists Feeding on Greece’s Misery

http://www.solidarity.net.au/51/golden-dawn-fascists-feeding-on-greece%E2%80%99s-misery/

November, 2012

The Greek economy is in a depression. The austerity measures demanded by the troika have made it worse. Nationally one in four Greeks are out of work. Those with jobs fair little better: Greek bosses are determined to trash conditions and drive down pay.

Greek workers are not just passive victims—they have been fighting every step of the way. Greece has been rocked by massive general strikes, rallies, and occupations. The crisis may be deepest in Greece, but the resistance is fiercest.

But progressive struggle is only one of two twins that are born in crisis. Reaction, too, has reared its head in Greece. Amid deprivation and social decay, fascism has found new momentum.

In the June elections the Nazi party Golden Dawn won eighteen seats and 7 per cent of the vote. In a poll published in November they are now the third most popular party. Their electoral rise has been rapid—in 2011 Golden Dawn polled at less than 1 per cent of the national vote.

Officially, Golden Dawn presents itself as “nationalist”, rather than fascist. But it puts little effort into maintaining this illusion: their banner resembles a swastika; they make Nazi salutes at meetings and rallies; and their leader—Nikolaos Mihaloliakos—praises Hitler and denies the Holocaust.

Canadian Greeks Disavow Golden Dawn Extremists

By Christina Flora on October 20, 2012 In Politics

http://canada.greekreporter.com/2012/10/20/canadian-greeks-disavow-golden-dawn-extremists/

Greeks living in living in Montreal say they are worried and disturbed by the recent appearance of the Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party in Canada, shortly after it opened an office in New York as part of a plan to reach out to the Diaspora for support for its racist, anti-immigrant, anti-gay, anti-Semitic, anti-bailout, ultra-religious agenda.

Nicholas Pagonis, President of the Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal, made his opinion clear: “Golden Dawn is a neo-Nazi party,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s a racist party. It’s anti-immigrant and (the party in Greece) has adopted violence as part of their activities.”

He said that his organization, which runs Greek educational, religious and charitable institutions across Montreal, will be reserving a special part of next week’s meeting to discuss the city’s chapter of Golden Dawn.”Golden Dawn has no place here,” he said.

At the same time The American Hellenic Progressive Association (AHEPA) disavowed Golden Dawn’s appearance in Canada. “Fascism has no place in Canada, where people including Greeks fight against violence and Fascism during Second World War,” it stated. AHEPA was founded 90 years ago to protect people from rascist actions and conflicts caused by the racist Ku Klux Klan in the U.S.

Golden Dawn takes advantage of recession ravaged Greece

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/9651505/Golden-Dawn-takes-advantage-of-recession-ravaged-Greece.html#

Fascist gangs are turning Athens into a city of shifting front lines, seizing on crimes and local protests to promote their own movement, by claiming to be the defenders of recession ravaged Greece.

The undisguised extremism promoted by Golden Dawn is a chilling watershed in Greece's post-war democracy 

By Damien McElroy, Athens

7:00PM GMT 02 Nov 2012

Thugs wearing the black T-shirts of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party are carrying out attacks on immigrant markets and in public squares, according to the United Nations, with victims speaking of areas in the capital which are now strictly off limits.

Malik Abdulbasset, an Egyptian-born shopkeeper, found himself the target of one of the mobs on Wednesday night after the barber across the road was stabbed during a robbery.

Golden Dawn members led a crowd of enraged locals in a protest on Mikhail Voda St that turned violent despite the presence of riot police.

While no one witnessed the attack on the barber, residents were adamant the assailant was black.

After battering his Egyptian assistant, the mob turned on Mr Abdulbasset, who had defied police to keep his shop open.

"I had to turn and point to my Greek children and my Greek wife and say, look I am Greek, we are Greek, if you want to kill us we cannot stop you but you are killing your own."

The riot police watched on but did not intervene and threats of more protests were pasted on nearby doors.

"I will not close my shop because it is not my fault. But at the same time if something was to happen to my shop I will leave Greece because I am not protected."

Ilias Panagiotaris, an MP for Golden Dawn, and a leading party figure in Athens, was unapologetic about his group's methods.

"Most nations, well, not the US or Australia, have a single nationality that defines its culture and Greece must return to this ideal," he said. "The Golden Dawn is a very well organised party that is intervening to support and help people. Without us in a country

where two million of ten million people are illegal, there would be chaos."

Support for his party has doubled from the seven per cent it received in the last Greek election, according to an opinion poll this week.

One of its main claims is it would dragoon immigrants on to flights to Islamabad and dare Pakistan to shoot the aircraft down.

Mr Panagiotaris added the 'papers' of every Greek who had acquired citizenship would be thoroughly vetted. "Everyone should have their documents inspected and those that bought their papers expelled."

The undisguised extremism promoted by Golden Dawn is a chilling watershed in Greece's post-war democracy.

Dimitra Xirou, the mother of Argyris Argyropoulos, the stabbed barber, seethed with anger at the nearby hospital, while holding vigil for her son.

The 43-year-old Mr Argyropoulos, came within an millimetre of death when he was robbed for just 10 euros, with the knife just missing his heart.

"It is us who have no one to protect us," Mrs Xirou said. "We are hungry, we have no jobs, there is crime everywhere.

"It used to be one of the best districts of Athens and now it is slum that we can't escape because the Pakistanis all come here when they arrive in Athens."

While the attacks have not specifically been backed by the powerful Orthodox Church, some priests have reportedly been involved in the protests.

Metropolitan Omyotis Moiysides, the local priest in Mrs Xirou’s Panteleiomon district, said the crime wave sweeping Athens as the economy disintegrated was forcing residents to fight back.

“I understand why the people are crying for help. I was pulled from my car and robbed,” he said. “The police do not come and stop these crimes, so the people have to defend themselves.”

 

Greek heroes fight fascist and police thugs

http://thefreeonline.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/greek-heroes-fight-fascist-and-police-thugs/

October 10, 2012

SONS OF ANTIFASCISM

On Sunday (30th) night anti-fascists clashed with police during an anti-fascist patrol which resulted in 15 people injured and 23 arrested.

Around 9pm the easy riders crossed paths with far-right members of Golden Dawn in the Athens neighbourhood of Agios Pantalaimonos. Unsurprisingly a heated political debate ensued with two fascists requiring hospital treatment as their oratory skills were found lacking. The Greek mainstream media reports residents being present during the incident and one local producing a gun but not using it. Afterwards the anti-fascist motor division was followed and ambushed by Greek police motorcycle units.

On Monday (2nd) an anti-fascist demonstration was called for outside the courthouse. Around 300 people attended the solidarity demo. As the anti-fascists exited the courthouse to be escorted back to the police vehicles and driven to the cells the police attacked the demo dispersing those gathered to the nearby streets. This led to another 20 people being detained with four arrests who were promptly taken to court next day.

Fifteen anti-fascist protesters arrested in Athens during a clash with supporters of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn have said they were tortured in the Attica General Police Directorate (GADA) – the Athens equivalent of Scotland Yard – and subjected to what their lawyer describes as an Abu Ghraib-style humiliation.

Members of a second group of 25 who were arrested after demonstrating in support of their fellow anti-fascists the next day said they were beaten and made to strip naked and bend over in front of officers and other protesters inside the same police station.

There were several reports posted on Athens Indymedia of anti-fascist patrols burning rubber on Athenian streets. These patrols have mirrored the increase in racist attacks in Athens and across Greece in general. Last week a Tanzanian community centre was attacked by members of Golden Dawn who damaged the building and shops in the area belonging to non-Greek citizens. In a separate attack two people were assaulted with knives after attending an anti-fascist demo, both needing hospital treatment.

Earlier during September racist factions stormed foreign stall holders at open air markets. The fascists destroyed their stalls and filmed the event as they were doing it. As if to dispel any doubts of the links between far-right groups and police in Greece on one of these occasions a police man was caught on camera joining in during the attack on the stall holders. The 44 year old officer (whose name has been withheld by the justice system) was playing personal body guard to Golden Dawn MP, Kostas Barbarousis. The officer took an active rôle in the attack. He has been suspended and is facing dismissal from the police force.

In the words of one local anti-fascist, “People are getting organised, the police and the fascists here are the same. We need to protect ourselves and others from racist attacks. If we don’t, who will?”

Greek anti-fascist protesters tortured by police

Greek anti-fascist protesters 'tortured by police' after Golden Dawn clash

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/09/greek-antifascist-protesters-torture-police

Fifteen people arrested in Athens says they were subjected to what their lawyer describes as an Abu Ghraib-style humiliation

Fifteen anti-fascist protesters arrested in Athens during a clash with supporters of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn have said they were tortured in the Attica General Police Directorate (GADA) – the Athens equivalent of Scotland Yard – and subjected to what their lawyer describes as an Abu Ghraib-style humiliation.

Members of a second group of 25 who were arrested after demonstrating in support of their fellow anti-fascists the next day said they were beaten and made to strip naked and bend over in front of officers and other protesters inside the same police station.

Several of the protesters arrested after the first demonstration on Sunday 30 September told the Guardian they were slapped and hit by a police officer while five or six others watched, were spat on and "used as ashtrays" because they "stank", and were kept awake all night with torches and lasers being shone in their eyes.

Some said they were burned on the arms with a cigarette lighter, and they said police officers videoed them on their mobile phones and threatened to post the pictures on the internet and give their home addresses to Golden Dawn, which has a track record of political violence.

Golden Dawn's popularity has surged since the June election, when it won 18 seats in parliament; it recently came third in several opinion polls, behind the conservative New Democracy and the leftwing party Syriza.

Last month the Guardian reported that victims of crime have been told by police officers to seek help from Golden Dawn, who then felt obliged to make donations to the group.

One of the two women among them said the officers used crude sexual insults and pulled her head back by the hair when she tried to avoid being filmed. The protesters said they were denied drinking water and access to lawyers for 19 hours. "We were so thirsty we drank water from the toilets," she said.

One man with a bleeding head wound and a broken arm that he said had been sustained during his arrest alleged the police continued to beat him in GADA and refused him medical treatment until the next morning. Another said the police forced his legs apart and kicked him in the testicles during the arrest.

"They spat on me and said we would die like our grandfathers in the civil war," he said.

A third said he was hit on the spine with a Taser as he tried to run away; the burn mark is still visible. "It's like an electric shock," he said. "My legs were paralysed for a few minutes and I fell. They handcuffed me behind my back and started hitting and kicking me in the ribs and the head. Then they told me to stand up, but I couldn't, so they pulled me up by the chain while standing on my shin. They kept kicking and punching me for five blocks to the patrol car."

The protesters asked that their names not be published, for fear of reprisals from the police or Golden Dawn.

A second group of protesters also said they were "tortured" at GADA. "We all had to go past an officer who made us strip naked in the corridor, bend over and open our back passage in front of everyone else who was there," one of them told the Guardian. "He did whatever he wanted with us – slapped us, hit us, told us not to look at him, not to sit cross-legged. Other officers who came by did nothing.

"All we could do was look at each other out of the corners of our eyes to give each other courage. He had us there for more than two hours. He would take phone calls on his mobile and say, 'I'm at work and I'm fucking them, I'm fucking them up well'. In the end only four of us were charged, with resisting arrest. It was a day out of the past, out of the colonels' junta."

In response to the allegations, Christos Manouras, press spokesman for the Hellenic police, said: "There was no use of force by police officers against anyone in GADA. The Greek police examine and investigate in depth every single report regarding the use of violence by police officers; if there are any responsibilities arising, the police take the imposed disciplinary action against the officers responsible. There is no doubt that the Greek police always respect human rights and don't use violence."

Sunday's protest was called after a Tanzanian community centre was vandalised by a group of 80-100 people in a central Athens neighbourhood near Aghios Panteleimon, a stronghold of Golden Dawn where there have been many violent attacks on immigrants.

According to protesters, about 150 people rode through the neighbourhood on motorcycles handing out leaflets. They said the front of the parade encountered two or three men in black Golden Dawn T-shirts, and a fight broke out. A large number of police immediately swooped on them from the surrounding streets.

According to Manouras: "During the motorcycle protest there were clashes between demonstrators and local residents. The police intervened to prevent the situation from deteriorating and restore public order. There might have been some minor injuries, during the clashes between residents, protesters and police."

Marina Daliani, a lawyer for one of the Athens 15, said they had been charged with "disturbing the peace with covered faces" (because they were wearing motorcycle helmets), and with grievous bodily harm against two people. But, she said, no evidence of such harm had so far been submitted. They have now been released on bail of €3,000 (£2,400) each.

According to Charis Ladis, a lawyer for another of the protesters, the sustained mistreatment of Greeks in police custody has been rare until this year: "This case shows that a page has been turned. Until now there was an assumption that someone who was arrested, even violently, would be safe in custody. But these young people have all said they lived through an interminable dark night.

Dimitris Katsaris, a lawyer for four of the protesters, said his clients had suffered Abu Ghraib-style humiliation, referring to the detention centre where Iraqi detainees were tortured by US soldiers during the Iraq war. "This is not just a case of police brutality of the kind you hear about now and then in every European country. This is happening daily. We have the pictures, we have the evidence of what happens to people getting arrested protesting against the rise of the neo-Nazi party in Greece. This is the new face of the police, with the collaboration of the justice system."

One of the arrested protesters, a quiet man in his 30s standing by himself, said:

"Journalists here don't report these things. You have to tell them what's happening here, in this country that suffered so much from Nazism. No one will pay attention unless you report these things abroad."