[ALBSA-Info] Reactions on the War on Terrorism

[Agron Alibali]

NATO-member Greece has mixed feelings

TIME MAGAZINE

Wednesday, November 7, 2001

The View From Athens
NATO-member Greece has mixed feelings about the U.S.-led bombing in
Afghanistan
BYANTHEE CARASSAVA/ATHENS



Four weeks after military strikes began in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Costas
Simitis insists that his country still fully supports the U.S.-led campaign
against terrorism. Greek public opinion, though, suggests the opposite.

While the Greeks allow U.S. fighter jets to use their airspace as part of the
antiterror campaign, more than 86% oppose the bombing, according to a poll
last
month in the Athens daily Ta Nea. In another poll—this one carried out by
state
television in September—18% of respondents said the U.S. "deserved" the
September attacks because of Washington’s "unjust" and "bullyboy handling" of
world affairs. And, even more alarmingly, 57% of those surveyed in a
separate Ta
Nea poll confessed to "having negative feelings about the U.S." Why are the
Greeks so anti-American?

Part of the animosity is historical. Many Greeks still resent Washington’s
tacit
support for the brutal military dictatorship that ruled the country from
1967 to
’74. After that Andreas Papandreou, the late socialist pasok party leader,
turned Greece’s grudge against America into national policy. Vowing to evict
nato forces from the country, Papandreou forged ties with U.S. foes like
Muammar
Gaddafi and refused to recognize Israel as a sovereign state. But
anti-Americanism didn’t die with Papandreou in 1996. Many Greeks are still
incensed about the U.S.-led attacks against their fellow Christian-Orthodox
Serbs during the Balkan wars.

Now, the strikes against Afghanistan have filled the anti-American contingent
with fresh ardor. In the words of Makis Mailis, who co-organizes anti-U.S.
protests for the Communist Party, "It’s America’s policies that amount to
terrorism. Greeks have suffered dearly as a result of U.S. and nato policies.
This war . . . is not about freedom versus terrorism, it’s imperialism versus
the people." Other Greeks, even those from less extreme political camps, share
this view, shouting "American assassins!" at marches and burning American and
Israeli flags. Not all Greeks feel this strongly. Only about half a dozen
demonstrations have taken place since Sept. 11, with the largest attracting
2,500 people.

Some believe there’s a hidden agenda. "It’s obvious that while the
government is
making all the right noises in public, some of its members, in private, keep
feeding anti-American stuff to the media," says one diplomatic envoy. "Greeks
may have to address that issue in the future."

Another issue the Greeks might want to address is anti-Semitism. Last month a
news bulletin from the Technical Chamber of Greece, which represents 80,000
engineers, featured a viewpoint calling for resistance to the forces of
"Zionism, the foremost satanic conspirator and global terrorist." Israel’s top
envoy in Athens, David Sasson, issued a letter of protest warning both the
press
and the chamber of the dangers of allowing anti-Semitic remarks to
masquerade as
free speech. The viewpoint did not reflect the opinions of the chamber, an
official concedes, "but to have spiked it would have amounted to censorship."

Prime Minister Simitis hasn’t yet spoken out publicly on these incidents.
He may
be pondering another viewpoint, this one less fevered, published recently
in the
Athens daily To Vima, which asks the question: "Can a country both abhor
America
and remain its ally?"





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