BY GEORGES MEHRABIAN
THESSALONIKI, Greece - Up to 2,000 demonstrators blocked the
port in this city in northern Greece for nearly four hours May
22, in protest of the NATO assault on Yugoslavia. The symbolic
closure followed a march through the downtown area.
Participants came from several other cities and towns, the
largest contingent from Athens, some six hours away.
The downtown area rang with the chant, "Americans - murderers of peoples!" which has become one of the favorites in all the antiwar demonstrations. But other chants, such as "Turk, Greek, Serb, and Albanian we are brothers not enemies!" and "People of Balkans unite. Against imperialism resist!" were also heard.
The action was called by an ad hoc coalition, the Pan Greek Initiative, with the aim of having a national day of mobilizations at the Thessaloniki port and a protest march in the farming town of Larissa in central Greece.
The central demands were "NATO out of the Balkans!" and "No to any Greek participation in the war!" The ad hoc coalition consisted of various antiwar committees with links to different extra-parliamentary leftist organizations.
Thessaloniki has been the main port of entry for NATO forces and equipment headed for the nearby Republic of Macedonia. The city of Larissa is the location of a NATO air force base. The Greek government announced May 24 that it was demanding NATO halt the deployment of troops and supplies through the port at Thessaloniki through at least June 15, the date of the European Parliament elections.
At the rally here there were no chants, banners, or speakers supporting the right of self-determination for Kosova Albanians. The action was marked by a general absence of the Greek nationalist slogans that have been common at many "antiwar" demonstrations here. Addressing the crowd at the shut gates of the port, a representative of the Pan Greek Initiative coalition read a statement saying the action was aimed against NATO's bombing, against NATO domination of the region, against the so-called ethnic cleansing by the Belgrade regime, and against any Greek participation in the war.
On May 20 the newly formed Anti-War Internationalist Coalition held its first activity, a forum at the Athens Polytechnic University. The event was entitled, "Their humanism is barbarism. No to the bombing! No to ethnic cleansing!" One hundred people attended.
Bobbis Misailides, who took part in the three-week Militant reporting team to Yugoslavia and Albania, was the first speaker. He described how the central target of the NATO bombings is the working people of all Yugoslavia. "The NATO bombings gave cover for the ethnic cleansing being carried out in Kosova," he added, outlining why working people should champion the right of self-determination for Kosova to build unity among toilers.
The second speaker, Dimitris Belantis, an attorney and political activist, took issue with Misailides's comments. "In general it is correct to support the right to self- determination," he said. "But each case is concrete. Strategic questions involving the role of imperialism must be taken into account. That is why I question the wisdom of supporting self- determination in Kosovo. It is a way to support imperialist intervention."
The final speaker, Panos Kosmas, a leader of the Anti-War Internationalist Coalition, took aim at the Greek nationalist character of many "antiwar" actions. "These patriotic so-called anti-imperialist actions strengthen the rightist and nationalist forces. The extreme right is also against NATO and through these activities is building bridges with the left. In this we lose." He continued, "We should not forget that Greece is part of the imperialist bloc and considers the Balkans its zone of influence. Whatever strengthens Greek nationalism strengthens this war drive."
Such a march, billed as an antiwar action, took place May 14. Several hundred cops, organized by the Pan Greek Federation of Police Employees, marched through central Athens to the U.S. Embassy chanting "Americans - murderers of peoples!"
The war continues to be the major question working people are discussing. "Every day at the airport, members of the Pan Workers Struggle Front (PAME) faction of the civil aviation union leaflet the workers and passengers with antiwar flyers," said Natasha Terlexis, herself an airport worker in Athens. PAME is the union faction led by officials of the Communist Party of Greece and organized the largest contingents at the May Day march of 20,000.
"Where I work about 20 co-workers contributed some 150,000 drachmas ($500) in donations for food to be sent to Serbia via the Greek Serbian Friendship Society," Terlexis said. "Folks were willing to contribute money to also go to the Albanian refugees but could not figure how to do it."