Greek Police Arrest Leaders of Far-Right Golden Dawn

The action that the Greek state has taken against Golden Dawn has the potential to either strike a significant blow to the fascist movement or to indirectly help build its constituency. The outcome is really contingent upon how well organized Golden Dawn is and where public opinion stands at the moment. Those familiar with the history of German fascism should know that such measures are ultimately inadequate in dealing with the spread of such doctrines. Unfortunately, the contemporary left lacks the foresight and courage necessary to counter the growing popularity of reactionary nationalism.

We must not forget that the real fascism comes from the political center (as it did in Germany and Italy before). The killing of the antifascist Pavlos comes in handy for the centrum coalition in Greek parliament.

As long as the far right and far left are in conflict and fight each other, the Greek government, the banks and Trojka remain safe. By persecuting the Golden Dawn as a criminal organisation they get rid of a potential political competitor. Furthermore as long as the extraparliamentiary opposition of the radical left wastes a lot of its effort on "antifascism", it compromises the anticapitalist struggle against the corrupt elites and corrupt Greek government.

With a civil war between the two political "extremes" on hands, the fascists of the political centre (who are the ones who are responsible for the Greek crisis and the austerity politcs) will be able to save their beloved "democracy' and to set themselves up as the "saviours" of Greece. This "strategy of tension" is a Greek tradition that goes back to the military Junta of 1967-1974.