ANTIAMERICANISM IN GREECE, AN IRON CURTAIN BETWEEN GREEKS

AND GREEK-AMERICANS


By Professor Michael C. Geokas


Published: The National Herald (NY), January 26-27, 2002

 

The negative reactions from a significant section of Greek society to the tragic events in New York, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania, carried out by Islamic Fundamentalists on September 11, 2001 constitute an absurd and distasteful fact of self-inflicted injury, which necessitates an urgent and fully documented analysis.  This issue concerns the 11 million core, of the 17 million Greek origin people, who are living under pressure, in the worst neighborhood of Europe and are adjacent to the tectonic line separating them from Islam.  Furthermore, the schizophrenic and painful dichotomy of perceptions and understanding of the tragic events, between many of the Greeks and the Greek-Americans, represents a significant milestone in the history of Hellenism, because unfortunately it demonstrates conclusively the fact that many people in Greece have been misled by daily propaganda, emanating from some of the frothy Media outlets.  Many people have apparently lost the compass of political orientation, leading to deliberate refutation of Western values which are actually based on the achievements of our illustrious ancestors.  Thus, many of the Greeks disavow their heritage today and delude themselves by sleepwalking at noontime. The 400 years of servitude to the Ottomans and the nightmare of Turkey, 170 years after the year 1830, the constant threats of war and brutal occupation of 38% of Cyprus, does not interest these Greeks at all.  Their outrageous attitude against America, indicates conclusively that an Iron Curtain, due to an unbridgeable gap of political culture, has started to separate the Greek-American Community from Greece, and has made almost impossible all attempts for intellectual communication.  The causes of this phenomenon are many as shown by the following brief analysis.

ANATOMY OF ANTI-AMERICANISM

1. There exists long-standing, ideologically overcharged, systematically and tenaciously fed anti-Americanism in Greece, promoted vigorously by the political left, but also by many other half-educated elements from the rest of the political spectrum.  Additionally, this psychoneurotic kind of anti-Americanism, is constantly been refreshed by the frenzied verbal diarrhea of an army of pseudo-intellectuals, who use the media for self-promotion, with distortions of the facts, with unfounded lies and conspiracy theories regarding the aims of the United States.  The despicable and atrocious fact of the 4,000 innocent working people from 80 countries (with 30 Greek origin people to boot), who burned alive in New York, has left these Greek ideologists satisfied and cheerful.  And they wake up every morning, these disoriented descendants of Ulysses in Athens, and by necessity gaze at the sunlit Acropolis and Parthenon, the spectacular symbols of our precious heritage.  The ideals of Hellenism include, the inviolability of human life and human rights and specifically the Democratic System of Government, the greatest and matchless achievement of the Greeks.  It constitutes a stupendous irony of fate, the fact that the fanatic Islamists, with Taliban on the lead, whose pronouncements some Greeks adopt and prefer against America, do not have the slightest interest on the ideals of Hellenism which they ridicule instead as ploys of imperialism and as pure hypocrisy of the West.  Today, the disappointment of Greek‑Americans on account of the anti-Americanism of many Greeks is beyond description.


The entire Greek-America, shouts indignantly with one voice: “Shame on you.” The articles, comments and poll results in Greece, demonstrate an aberration and unhinged minds at the birthplace of Democracy.  This is a scandalous coexistence of Shame and Glory, with the political left on the lead, followed by many others, at a time when Greece is frantically preparing for the Olympic Games of 2004, hoping to rekindle and refresh her image and the standing of Hellenism within a humanity of six billion.  The minority of the left, with undisputed talent for propaganda is inflicting  enormous damage on Greece and on world Hellenism.  According to one poll published a few days after September 11(the first reactions are the most genuine) only a puny 18.9% said that they sympathized with America and its people.  In another poll 30% of those who answered, said that the terror attack was justified due to the foreign policies of the United States.  Only 10% agreed that Greece should cooperate with other NATO members on a military campaign against states who support terrorism.  From all citizens of NATO countries only the Greeks disagreed by 60%, with participation of their national forces in a campaign against the terrorists.

The headlines of articles in newspapers and magazines are emblematic of an anti-American hysteria. "The Arrogance of Power and the Weaknesses of Arrogance" said one, "The United States is the Contemporary Demon" proclaimed the noted musician Mikis Theodorakis.  This constitutes an extraordinary irony however, in view of the fact that a huge percentile of Americans adore Greece and its people (they consider the country as the Mecca of Tourism and the birthplace of Western civilization) and the biggest dream of their life is to visit the Aegean islands.  An additional tragic irony for Greece, is the certain disappointment of an army of American Intellectuals who are proven and veritable Philhellenes and supporters of Greece, at Universities and Colleges from coast to coast in America, such as Professors: Donald Kagan (with his famous book, "Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy" and his four volume history of the Peloponnesian War), Victor Davis Hanson (with his Books "Who Killed Homer" and "The Soul of Battle"), Stephen Miller, the famous archaeologist of classical Greece with extensive work in Nemea, Mary Lefkovitz (with her seminal book "Not from Africa") and countless others.  I hereby invite the Greek pseudo-intellectuals of anti-Americanism, to explain their thoughtless attitude and pious pronouncements, to 70 members of US Congress who comprise the "Greek Caucus" and also to 1.2 million Armenian-Americans, the faithful allies of the Greek-Americans especially on issues related to Turkey.  I also invite the pseudo-intellectuals of Greece to advise our Archbishop in America and the great Alex G. Spanos of Stockton (personal friend and prominent supporter of the President and his Father), on how to explain their anti-Americanism the next time they will meet, with the President of the United States.

2. After World War II, all big leftist political parties in Europe behaved rationally and peacefully whereas our pride and joy, the leftist Greeks, created pandemonium, first after the retreat of the German Army (during the famous Dekemvriana) necessitating the intervention of the English, and second, with the leftist insurrection (Simoritopolemos) of 1948-1950 which necessitated the American intervention.  The leaders of the left were ignorant of the fact that Stalin and Churchill had already agreed on paper for Greece, to be within the English sphere of influence.

Finally, the decisive defeat of the Greek leftists auspices of the Truman Doctrine (which brought lavish armaments and ammunition, Sherman tanks and the dive bombers-Helldivers), established Greece as a stable member of NATO and valuable partner during the cold war against the Soviet Union.

This dramatic American effort, which precluded the power grab by the left minority, constitutes in effect the root of trouble, and represents an inexhaustible artesian spring of anti-Americanism in Greece.  The statue of President Truman, Greece's great benefactor and savior, has instead become a red piece of cloth, in the eyes of the bull of the left.

3.  However, the greatest and completely unforgivable crime of America in the eyes of the left has been that it defeated the Soviet Union in the cold war, decisively and without frontal attack, a spectacular event which constitutes the utmost and unbearable ridicule and loss of face for the Greek left.  The Soviet Union dissolved due to failure of the economic system and because of the advanced super-computers, developed in the laboratories at Silicon Valley in California, by young Ph.Ds. who actually recorded their mathematical equations on paper napkins, at the restaurant during brainstorming sessions at lunch.  The dissolution of the Soviet Union, which fell like a house of cards, produced the ridicule of the ideology of the left, with additional resurgence of strong anti-Americanism in Greece.  However, I must openly and clearly emphasize at this point, that the erroneous and thoughtless support to the Junta of the Colonel's at the peak of the Cold War between the two nuclear superpowers, and the opportunistic and steadily preferential treatment of Turkey by the United States, coupled with the 27 year occupation of 38% of Cyprus by the Turkish army, and the needless war for Kosovo (which is perceived as an attempt to appease Islam, which in turn paid back America, with September 11 and conspiracy theories, about her real aims for the war against terror), taken all together, constitute palpable and well justified excuses for anti-Americanism among the Greeks.

Furthermore, the present dire need and terribly expensive task for a long fight against International Terrorism, demonstrates vividly and without a doubt, (according to many Greeks), that the War by America and NATO in the Balkans, was in effect an extravagant waste of political and military resources, at a time that the evil of International Terrorism was invigorated steadily, with its final infamous explosion on September 11, 2001.

4.  In 1974 the monarchy was abolished in Greece, the army returned to its barracks and an open, liberal and multiparty Democracy was restored again. Thus, in 1981 the socialist left, with the known charismatic leader at the helm, took its relentless revenge against the past with stubbornness and perseverance, in an attempt to politically integrate all Greeks especially those who had returned from behind the iron curtain.  This inevitably rekindled continuous anti-Americanism and included  a curious third world orientation expressed as follows: the support for Polish dictator Zaruzelski, adamantly avoiding to protest the plight of dissidents in the Soviet Union and the shooting down of the Korean airliner in 1993, claiming instead that it was a CIA operation, the notorious response to the crisis in the Falkland Islands, and the ostentatious relations with Qaddafi of Libya, and Yassir Arafat, when he was branded by many as a terrorist, the refusal to support America for the deployment of Persing missiles in Europe and the constant and persistent vociferations against the American military bases in Greece.  All of these inappropriate doings for a NATO member, in conjunction with a weak civil society in Greece, where everything is treated as a significant political issue and the rampant clientelism among the citizenry, the notorious tendency of the Greeks to attribute all difficulties to foreign interests and their known inability for even elementary self-criticism, when added together, have helped to establish a psychoneurotic anti-Americanism, permanently as a dogma of faith.

This peculiar current is at present so strong that in effect it has permeated and corrupted Greeks of all political orientations, and it is considered to be by many as a tool of self-preservation.  None of the leaders of the two major political parties had the guts, during the last 10 years, to publicly and forcibly speak against the extremely insolent anti-Americanism which is pushed daily down people's throats from a large part of the Media. This rampant Anti-Americanism however has not passed unnoticed by the bureaucracy of the State Department and the Pentagon, the Congress and the White house, where Turkey is considered unanimously to be a very stable and reliable American ally.  The tendency of the Greeks for self-injury is boundless, because they, have even failed to comprehend the significance of the Turkish-Israeli alliance of 1996, which in turn has mobilized the powerful Jewish-American lobby in support of Turkey.

PERPLEXITY AND QUANDARY IN GREECE   

The terrorist attack in America on September 11 produced enormous puzzlement and dilemma within the ranks of the Greek governing elite, which correctly rushed to state loudly its sorrow for the victims and promised support to America on the fight against terrorism, but on the other hand (similarly to several Muslim leaders), expressed serious interest in avoiding victims among the civilian population and the non-expansion of the war against other nations except Afghanistan.  As expected however, the entire political leadership has been completely unable to influence public opinion on this issue, as shown by recent polls.  Due to the fact that the political leadership has tolerated for many years the attacks against America's policies on defeating  terrorism, the global economy, and on human rights in the Balkans (to name but a few), finds itself today in a bad situation, with large numbers of sleepwalking Greeks siding with the fanatic fundamentalists of Taliban and others, who by the way, resemble the age long tormentors of Hellenism.  The bones of Constantinos Paleologos, Androutsos, Miaoulis, Kountourgiotis, Bouboulina, Kolokotronis and Ferreos will crackle in their grave with the behavior of many Greeks of today.

BUT WHO ARE THE ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS?

The fanatics of Taliban and all others for whom many Greeks express sympathy and support, instead of America, are against modern societies and their eudemonism and pleasures of everyday life (..the famous pleasure seeking of contemporary Greeks), and believe themselves to be the last defenders of God, and that they alone offer the only panacea, for the corrupt societies of today.  The only aspect of modernity which interests the Islamists is modern technology, because they see it as a weapon that can be turned on its makers.  Their core and key dispute with the West is the philosophical view of life itself and the way of viewing the world: theirs, which adheres to values in the timeless scriptures, inviolate laws and unchangeable morality and the other, which believes in strong expansion of scientific knowledge and the technological transformation of society, which vastly augment the options for learning and for living.  An additional strong contention of the fundamentalist-terrorists is the sustained support of Israel by America and the EU, and the presence of American forces in the Persian Gulf,  the continuous sucking of oil, and especially the presence of Americans in Saudi Arabia, the country with the sacred cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina. Additionally, the openness and transparency of Western Societies, as well as the prominent position and equal rights of their women are abhorrent and unacceptable to Islamists.

And here comes the crucial and notorious double standard of Islamic Fundamentalists, who call all Westerners, especially Americans, non-believers (infidels) and wish to expel them completely from the Middle East, but at the same time, arrogantly and with no restrain whatsoever, appropriate all technology and the invaluable scientific discoveries which have been paid for by the taxpayers of the West. However, the sky-high insolence and bottomless effrontery of the Islamists and other Anti-american Muslims, is the continuous invasion of millions of Moslems immigrants, into the EU, America and Canada, literally by taking their people for a ride and using them as suckers.  Moreover, there are about 800 Mosques or other places of worship in France and 900 in Germany and also a huge Mosque between Rome and the Vatican, from all places, build after years of negotiations and paid for by Saudi Arabia.  The largest Moslem city in the EU today is Berlin.  In sharp contrast, Christians are leaving the Middle East in droves (..The Vanishing Christians).  Christians represent now only 2% of the population in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza strip, down from about 10% in 1948.  Because the majority of Christians have left Bethlehem and other cities Pope Paul II convened a special conference at the Vatican on the issue.  Furthermore, Christians are under pressure and are abused in many Islamic countries, and they are strictly and forcibly forbidden to visit Mecca and Medina, as well as to celebrate Christian Holidays in Saudi Arabia.  Finally, in America not only we have about seven (7) million Muslims and a large number of Mosques and other places of worship, but Islam is the fastest growing religion in our country.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

Most Americans believe that France is a beautiful country and admire Paris as the city of light and many young people study French Literature and speak French as a second language.  Many French though have a distaste about the title-Superpower-for America and on cultural issues they make it abundantly clear, that they strongly oppose American "Cultural Imperialism." Internationally, the French have vivid frictions with America in the Persian Gulf due to the fact that their interests are at variance with American security imperatives.  The French are depressed about their role and their status in the new post-Cold War world.  There are actually four problems that the French are faced with.  First is globalization, which they believe to be responsible for the devaluation of French culture, as well as for their high unemployment.  The struggle of the French people against globalization is intertwined with their high standard of living.  The majority of the French suspect, that they have very little to gain and much to lose from globalization, such as their gorgeous and picturesque countryside, the high quality of their food and wines and their highly valued traditions.

Second, is the international system, which is now unipolar with the United States as undisputed and powerful leader and the once upon a time proud France, obligated to follow.  On issues of security, America and France appear to be both allies and also competitors and the French believe that expansion of NATO to the East will further augment and consolidate America's hegemony.  In Africa the French are in need of America's power in order to maintain their influence and America needs France's long experience in that continent.  Third, is the homogenization and fusion of Europe, which has the potential to silence France's voice.  It would appear that the only way for France to counterbalance American hegemony could be through the EU, but the French will have to abandon a considerable part of their sovereignty.

Many French believe that Paris is in great danger of becoming like a new Rome, a spectacular and sophisticated metropolis, but one that will resemble a huge museum of its glorious past. Fourth, and infinitely the more difficult problem in France is the French people themselves. French society is tightly shut, rigid, and conservative and dislikes change.  The work force is much less mobile than Britain's or America's labor and many people prefer to remain unemployed instead of moving to another city or village to find work, which is completely opposite to American society, which is bigger, open, movable and flexible and with the remarkable ability to attract new talent from all over the world.

The social crisis in France is due to high unemployment, the loss of international prestige, the unavoidable corruption and the subsequent enhancement of the right wing (LePen's National Front) in the provinces.  The French are very disappointed today and are envious of the power, influence and vitality of America, all of which are expressed with fervent anti-Americanism, that in turn is inescapably exported to Greece, with the power of a tornado.

The influence of French intelligentsia on Greek society is powerful.  Generations of Greeks have studied in France and many Greek intellectuals are living and have made successful careers there. The Greek Media establishment draws news, ideas and analyses of events from the French Media and the French cultural and linguistic impact on Greece is immense.  Many members of the Greek political elite have studied in France, whose left leaning  intellectuals enjoy high degree of participation in French political circles which traditionally maintain close ties with the leadership in Greece.  Even the late Constantine Karamanlis went to self-exile in France.  On the other hand, relatively fewer political figures (5% of the members of 1966 Greek Parliament), scientists and members of the Mass Media have studied or lived in far away America.  Thus, the majority of leading figures in Greece is definitely Eurocentric and most of them are not familiar with the culture and intricate ways of thinking in the United States.  In sharp contrast, the Israeli Jews know American ways very well indeed, speak perfect English and walk through the corridors of Congress, the Pentagon and the Department of State with self-confidence and a sense of purpose.

AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

America is a multicultural experimental society of 285 million, which has the biggest economy on earth, is fourth in size after Russia, Canada and China, and third in population after China and India.  Our country contains  a mosaic of nationalities and immigrants from about 115 nations take the oath of citizenship during emotional and spirited ceremonies every year.  America differs from other industrial nations because its society is more religious, more optimistic and patriotic and very sensitive to human rights.  We have the highest crime rates, the largest number of people locked in jail, the lowest voting record among eligible voters, and the highest number of citizens who work as volunteers.  America is first in promoting its young into all professions and other elite occupations, and is the last among first world nations to support, the equal distribution of wealth, the lavish provision of welfare benefits and is last in big savings, has the lowest rate of taxation and the majority of our workers when asked, prefer to go to work instead of taking a vacation!

America intervened in World War I and II in Europe (helping Europe enormously with the Marshall Plan) and by herself defeated Japan from Island to Island in the Pacific and subdued the Soviet Union in the cold War, thus remaining the only superpower on this planet.  There is an impressive and spectacular infrastructure (about 4,000 Colleges and Universities and many Nobel prizes every year).  Scientists from all over the world come to America to work and make distinguished careers.  Our educational system is superb and thousands of foreign youths study in the United States.  Scientific advances in many areas of endeavor are phenomenal, such as in Medicine (victory against Malaria and Tuberculosis) with drug discoveries galore, progress in organ transplantations, sequencing of the genetic code, basic research and progress in treatment of AIDS, and the breathtaking technological advances in communications, with cellular phones and satellites, beyond description.  The American war machine today is unrivaled and can be projected at any remote corner of the earth.  Americans have great interest in space exploration and our astronauts have already gone to the moon.  In a nut shell, America represents a unique phenomenon in the history of humanity, as a giant Scientific, Military, Political and Financial Democracy and the Home of the United Nations.  The Constitution and Political System are also unique, with distribution of power to the President, Congress and the Judiciary.  Americans are profound patriots (since September 11 the country is awash with the Stars and Stripes from Coast to Coast), they are law abiding citizens and have great interest mainly in solving the internal problems of their country, in contrast to a low interest in foreign affairs and entanglements. 
However, the international obligations of the United States are enormous and this dichotomy constitutes a problem of the first magnitude.

It is obvious that America alone, cannot salvage every other faltering nation and every other failing government in the world, it cannot pacify every civil war or stop all frictions and clashes among other nations.  America cannot reverse the immigration crisis and cannot elevate the standard of living in all third world countries, by performing a miracle with a magic wand, because the world's population is now six (6) billion strong.  American taxpayers are interested most and foremost, in solving local problems in America, and do not wish to finance populations that are not relevant to their country.  In the case of the fanatic Islamists the problem is that they refuse to play ball with modern societies.  The Muslim societies are utilizing extensively the technology of the West, yet adamantly refuse to follow its rational way of thinking and reasoning, and are unable to develop truly democratic governments and institutions, and deprive their women (50% of the population) of their equality with men.

CATASTROPHIC ANTI-AMERICANISM

Specifically for Greece, the long standing anti-Americanism with the left leading the charge, but with the participation of many others as well, has been exceedingly harmful, despite her solid membership to the EU and has exposed to great danger her national interests, especially in regard to the rivalry and constant frictions with Turkey.  The evil of anti-Americanism has come into sharp focus and has now been magnified with the tragedy of September 11, 2001 and the struggle of America against the scourge of terrorism.  It constitutes a permanent injury to the prestige of Greece despite the obligatory cooperation with America due to the NATO connection.

Whereas America has now mobilized vigorously against International terrorism many Greeks continue to harp on the same string (similarly to many Muslims) to the effect that the Americans themselves masterminded the tragedy of September 11 and other conspiratorial non-sense.  To the contrary, Turkey is playing the game admirably and an eleven member Congressional delegation called Turkey recently, "the most faithful ally of America and the Jewel of the Crown."  Furthermore the Turks rushed to offer 100 soldiers for Afghanistan and continue to permit the use of the Irsilic air base for American flights over northern Iraq.  And all of these favorable comments are heaped on Turkey, despite her purely "Military Democracy," the serious violations of human rights, the illegal occupation of Northern Cyprus, the incessant frictions with Greece, her insolent behavior towards the EU, the notorious mistreatment of the Kurds and imprisonment of members of the Turkish Parliament who dare to disagree with Government policies.

On the other hand, we have seen frequent demonstrations by members of the Greek left in front of the American Embassy with five (5) thousand disciplined professional agitators (I witnessed them in Syntagma Square last June shouting rhythmically and in unison against the terrorism legislation under discussion in Parliament).  The bitter truth is this: there exists complete denervation of the silent majority in Greece, which has been effected by some of the frothy Mass Media.  This explains its remarkable apathy towards the glaring mischief of the left wing, which maintains good rank cohesion and dexterity in propaganda.  However, the greatest injury to Greece from thoughtless and unopposed anti-Americanism is that, it represents the "coup de grace" against the vibrant Greek-American Community, whose work in Congress and the White House on behalf of the old country, will soon go up in flames.  The noisy verbal diarrhea of support and sympathy for the Islamists against America constitutes a grave insult and ultimate ingratitude to the Greek-American Community.  The Turks are thrilled because the Greeks have destroyed by themselves the effectiveness of Greek-American support for the rightful causes of Hellenism, right here in America, where it counts most.  Additionally, with the help of the American Jews, due to the Turkish-Israeli alliance of 1996, the success of Turkish goals  in the United States, it is now much easier to achieve.

 

CONCLUSION

The long standing anti-Americanism in Greece represents an instrument of self-inflicted mortal injury and will have extremely serious consequences regarding the interests of Greece and of world Hellenism.  Responsible for this miserable and abhorrent situation are the entire political leadership and the country's intelligentsia.  The United States is the superpower that defeated the Soviet Union in the cold war and will continue to play a strong and dynamic role in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean.  Specifically, the leadership of all political parties in Greece, with the exception of the far left, share enormous collective blame for their apathy and inaction towards the extreme anti-Americanism.  Greece is in serious danger of irrevocably losing the dynamic Omogenia in America, because an "Iron Curtain of anti-Americanism" will soon be solidified from coast to coast in our country.  The far left in Greece has hi-jacked and usurped the scepter and the initiative on key issues of the National Agenda, through the Mass Media, thus exerting a strong and decisively negative influence on public opinion and the polls.  The obligatory assurances to the United States, by the rest of the political leadership, are interpreted by many outside of Greece, as insincere and hypocritical.

Anti-Americanism, taken together with the low fertility rate, the serious immigration crisis, and the widespread corruption, completes the ugly four-heads carrying Lernaean Hydra of Greece. The country is now boxed in and compressed between Turkey and the Albanian Moslems, within and outside Albania.  Moreover, Greece is slowly dissipating with a fertility rate (TFR) of 1.3 and 200.000 abortions per year, illegal immigrants reaching up to 260,000 for 2001, and a population bomb ticking in the Middle East (by 2025 pop. 343,000,000, with little water, plenty political turmoil and joblessness), promising a tsunami of illegal immigrants. The Albanian minority will generate huge problems, for which the Greeks are totally unprepared to handle effectively.  Greece should not lose the support of the Greek-American Community.  The Council of Greeks Abroad, which  has just convened  in Thessaloniki, represents a meeting of  well meaning but uninformed Hellenes of Diaspora, who unfortunately were unable to comprehend the size of the disaster in progress, produced by self-induced injury of the Greeks. The silent majority in Greece should counteract and discard loudly and permanently, the intimidating propaganda of the left, by mobilizing for peaceful, albeit vocal street demonstrations (Passalos, Passalo Ekrouete).  Thus an enthusiastic demonstration is needed by 200,000 people from the silent majority ranks,  in front of the American Embassy, emblazoned by a sea of Greek and American flags, in close cooperation with the Church of Greece.  Such a demonstration, will amount to a powerful statement that will neutralize the tyranny of the left in Greece, and will be a decisive victory for the rightful causes of the old country.  The Greek people should side with vigor and without reservations with the assured victors against international terrorism, the United States and its allies.  The Greeks need America on their side, despite their EU membership, because otherwise, they will be with the vanquished and Turkey will triumph again in America, auspices of  the Israeli-Turkish alliance.

Finally, the United States is a great nation and at times makes policy mistakes.  In 1885, the greatest Greek historian, K. Paparigopoulos, wrote the following: "This is the characteristic of the truly Great  Nations. Due to the fact that they are made of humans, they too, are not immune against committing sin.  However, they do have an inherent repugnance for nastiness and an overpowering respect for virtue."  This is the hour and this is the moment for the Greeks, to discard the shackles of the revengeful propaganda of the left and the miasma of the Islamist Fundamentalists, because Greece is the birthplace of Democracy and not of the extreme ideology of the left.  The first Democratic Constitution was developed in Athens 10 years before 500 BC and was carried to its classical form by Pericles, 50 years later.  Thus, as the architects and deputies of Democracy, the Greeks cannot, under any circumstances, side with the Islamist Fundamentalists.  The Greeks should be on the side of the EU and the United States of America, and thus completely in step with the spotless and dynamic Greek-American Community, because "the Blood does not become Water, and even if it becomes, you cannot drink it."


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  12. Geokas M. C., Papathanasis A. T.  The Worrisome Ankara-Jerusalem Axis.  The National Herald, December 4-5,1999.

  13. Michas T.  Is Greece a Western nation? The Wall Street Journal Europe.  October 23, 2001.

  14. Allison G. T. and Nikolaidis K.  The Greek Paradox. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA 1997.

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  16. Shiloh D.  Christians leaving West Bank.  San Francisco Chronicle December 24, 2001.

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12-30-2001

 

Michael C. Geokas, M. D., M. Sc., Ph. D.
(Em) Professor of Medicine and Biological
Chemistry, UC, Davis School of Medicine

PRESIDENT
DEMOKRITOS SOCIETY OF AMERICA
A THINK-TANK

TEL: 925-946-1985
FAX: 925-946-1987

WEB: WWW.DEMOKRITOS.ORG