The "Thessaloniki 7" were arrested in Thessalonika in June 2003 during the anti-EU summit demonstrations. They have been subject to a variety of denials of their rights including torture. Five of them have been on hunger strike for periods ranging from 39 to 56 days, and some refused water for a period of two days until they were given access to telephones, their lawyers and paper. Anarchists and anti-capitalists in Dublin called a demonstration at short notice to protest this critical situation.

WSM newswire report Anarchist Prisoner Support (Dublin) Anarchomedia Thessaloniki support pages original demo call A-Infos report IMC-Athens - motorbike demo photos WOMBLES info on Thessaloniki Greek solidarity actions IMC Thessalonika IMC Global Feature Evidence at FreeSimonChapman.org

On Friday Nov 14^th, a number of demonstrators gathered at the Greek Embassy in Dublin. They brought a large black coffin with them which they laid on the steps of the embassy as a symbol of the impending death of those on hunger strike. As one of the demonstrators put it, "Yeah this was a mock funeral but at the end of the day its not a joking matter. There are five people locked up and any of the five could die any day. Our action was sombre and a little morbid but when the situation is so serious there is little room to be upbeat. We will be back here again very soon if things do not improve."

FROM THE NEWSWIRE:

"Focus Ireland claimed today (Nov 14th) that the new changes to the SWA rent allowance system bought in by Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Coughlan could actually act to increase homelessness as the safety net of private rented accommodation is removed as an option for thousands of families and single people. Focus Ireland Chief Executive Declan Jones said: “We could now have the crazy situation where a person who is working and has been renting accommodation for less than 6 months loses their job they could find themselves homeless under the new rule where Health Boards have the power to refuse rent allowance to people who have been renting for less than 6 months.”

Mr. Jones added: “With average rents running at least 800 euro a month for a 1-bed apartment this means people could be expected to pay nearly 5,000 euro in rent over 6 months before they qualify for rent supplement.” Mr. Jones added while the Minister has said there will be provisions for exceptions in relation to people who are homeless or where there are “other compelling reasons” these have not been specified and could vary significantly across different health board areas.

Focus Ireland also maintains the private rented sector has provided a “safety net” for many people nationwide (Even though rents have rocketed in recent years) to prevent them from becoming homeless while waiting for years as one of the record total of 48,413 households on the housing waiting lists.

Mr. Jones said: “This new rule could see more people in this situation being forced into homelessness if they are refused rent allowance under these new changes. It could also mean many people (Vulnerable women and children in particular) could be stuck in an abusive relationship/household or in a very unhappy relationship as they will have no other option but emergency accommodation or living on the streets if they try and leave.”

"The leaders of the various leftist groups have decided not to participate in a site they regard as beneath their dignity. They know that they will be attacked by ireful posters in disrespectful and probably vulgar and abusive terms. The rank and file of the various vanguard revolutionary parties are obviously discouraged from going to have a look-see. Those who do speak-up for their parties usually (though not always) sign on anonymously.

Comment on content is mostly sect-ish point scoring. This can be entertaining, though more often boring and obscure. There are sometimes vigorous and illuminating debates. Even these, however, tend to be very limited in scope. The median Indymedia contributor despises the market, barely accepts that democracy exists, and assumes that the most malevolent motives move all 'bourgeois' and 'imperialist' politicians.

It's a pity that the project was not much more broadly based politically, but I suppose the zealots are always going to colonise these fora and drive out the less committed.

In all, though, I think the evolution of written word publishing has had interesting effects on the far-left, with potentially far-reaching effects. I’ll elaborate . . . . ."