Bloody Attack by Greek Police on Palestine Demonstration

The Communist Liberation (Komounistiki Apeleftherosi – KA), an organization that has played an active role in organizing anti-government and anti-Israel protests in Greece, was subjected to a sudden and violent police attack after the demonstration welcoming the delegation that included two of its comrades who had been detained by Israel as part of the Sumud Flotilla.

KA, which is one of the constituent organizations of ANTARSYA, the coalition of radical left groups, reported that on Tuesday evening, after the welcome demonstration for the comrades returning from the Sumud Flotilla, it was attacked by the police under the direct orders of the Mitsotakis government.

According to reports from KA, the police carried out a premeditated assault on KA members as the demonstration was dispersing. Many KA members were hospitalized, and numerous people were detained. The Mitsotakis government is reportedly preparing to bring the detainees before a criminal court on Friday, October 10.

KA, which has been actively involved in the socialist left movement, had previously taken part in one of the largest island-wide protests in Greek history, after learning that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were being sent to Greek islands for vacation. The movement successfully blocked the arrival of IDF soldiers from cruise ships and has repeatedly organized demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine.

Here is the full report by KA regarding the attack and the arrests:

Riot police attack on Palestine march
Dozens of protesters in hospital with injuries from the attack
Arrests of members of trade unions and student associations

The police carried out a terrorist attack on the Palestine demonstration on Tuesday 7/10, after it had ended, while the formed blocks were leaving. The march was attended by the Palestinian Community, Palestinian organizations, numerous political organizations, and members of the Greek mission of the international flotilla for Gaza who returned yesterday from Israeli prisons.

With a coordinated and particularly violent assault by riot police from the sides and then from all directions on the body of the demonstration, throwing stun grenades and many chemicals at the same time as a massive assault with batons, the police, under the orders of the political leadership, rushed to the blocks of the organizations and associations.

The massive block of the "Communist Liberation" was attacked with particular fury, resulting in several injuries and arrests. A total of 20 demonstrators have been arrested. Among those arrested are 4 members of the Communist Liberation organization, members of  labor unions and student associations. Several protesters after the brutal attack went to the nearby "Red Cross" hospital with head injuries, broken arms and blows from truncheons, among them 6 members of the Communist Liberation. The attack was premeditated, because it took place without any reason and after the march had passed by the Israeli embassy and had ended. The riot police attack began at the bridge on the blocks that were leaving.  In fact, in the videos that are already circulating on the internet and that show the unprovoked police attack, the riot police platoon can be heard repeatedly shouting “make arrests!”, “arrests”, “catch them all” and the riot police forces - in clouds of chemical agents - surround the demonstrators and after beating them with batons, attempt to arrest them.

The attack by the government and the state aims to strike the solidarity movement in Palestine. The targeting of the Communist Liberation by government ministers and ANTARSYA by the state of Israel seems to find ground in the operational plans of the police. The ND government acted once again as a long arm of the genocidal state of Israel, striking at the solidarity movement of the Palestinian people. Shame and disgrace to those who gave the slogan for an attack on the march that also included the fighters of the Solidarity Flotilla, who had just returned from the hells of Israel, after their abduction by the Zionists.As announced 24 hours later, most of the arrested will be held until Friday where they will be questioned, while the charges against 18 of the 19 are felony charges!  Although the arrested comrades were expected at the CourtHouse in the morning hours of Wednesday, the Police Department decided to transfer them at 16:00, while pushing the hundreds of solidarity protesters away from the building!

This specific development constitutes a dangerous escalation on the part of the government and state. The mockery of the arrival time of the activists and the making of harsh accusations point towards a direction of political revenge! The voices of the riot policeman to his colleagues “Make arrests”, “Catch people” showed from the first moment the real orders of the police. Today, the provocative decision of the authorities comes to confirm exactly these orders.

The march was not attacked by chance! Not even the activists are being prosecuted with harsh accusations because they have actually done something!  The police attack on the October 7 march  was a political decision aimed at attacking and suppressing the movement, especially its most militant segment. The massive participation of Greeks in the Sumud World Fleet, their militant reception by thousands at the airport the previous day and the mass marches that had preceded it while the Fleet was at sea, did not please the Mitsotakis government. The government, during the illegal detention - which was accompanied by mistreatment by the Israeli authorities - of the members of the Fleet, was forced, after great pressure, to submit a written protest to Israel about the unacceptable stance of Itamar Ben-Gvir. Therefore, because the government is not used to “protesting” in Israel and has even “swallowed” an entire genocide in order not to spoil in the slightest the “strategic alliance” of Greek and Israeli capital, it decided to give even more clearly new oaths of allegiance to the Zionist entity. With yesterday's attack, it is trying to show that although the overwhelming majority of the Greek people are for heroic Palestine, the Greek state will do everything it can to prove to the Israelis that it supports it in every way.

Furthermore, the targeting of the Left, and especially its most radical section, is not just a coincidence! On the morning of the march, a well-known media outlet had targeted the Communist Liberation by name, following an earlier  political attack by the far-right Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, who had attacked doctors (Hospital Union leaders  and members of Communist Liberation) with vulgar lies and suspicions. That same evening, the Communist Liberation bloc counted 4 arrests (3 of them of a criminal charges) and 8 injured people in the hospital (several with open heads)…