DAR AL HARB - GREECE / U.S.A.: THE RETALIATORY STRIKE ON THE U.S. EMBASSY IN GREECE PERPETRATED BY GREEK LEFTISTS KNOWN AS "REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE"

Greek militants claim recent attack on U.S. Embassy
Group assails 'U.S war on terrorism'

ATHENS: A Greek terror group claimed responsibility for the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Athens two weeks ago, saying in a five-page proclamation published Thursday that the grenade attack was an "act of retaliation" against American military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East and Somalia.

The group Revolutionary Struggle also singled out Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni and Public Order Minister Vyronas Polydoras for acting as "praetorians" of the U.S administration.

In addition, the statement warned of an attack against the country's sprawling legislature in the heart of Athens.

"In the case of a popular revolution in Greece, there is no doubt that the American Embassy would be the first building we would wreck," the statement said. "The second would be Parliament."

The attack on the embassy, in which an anti-tank grenade was shot at the building before dawn, "is certain to have made many people happy in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon," the statement said. "It was our response to the criminal U.S war on terrorism."

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and

"Revolutionary Struggle"

Mothertongue Name:
Epanastatikos Aghonas

Base of Operation:
Greece

Founding Philosophy:
Revolutionary Struggle (Epanastatikos Aghonas or EA) is a Greek extremist group that first emerged in 2003 with a bombing attack on the Athens courthouse complex. Since then, EA members have consistently targeted political leaders and institutions in order to express their socialist, and somewhat anarchist, ideologies. Public statements by EA members convey strict opposition to current Greek economic policies and political systems as well as the capitalist nature of the West in general. Even though law enforcement and intelligence agencies agree that EA is most likely operating in a small scale capacity, they remain the most active Greek terrorist organization since the downfall of the infamous November 17 group. While some analysts claim that EA is comprised of former members of November 17, there is no known evidence that supports such a linkage.

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Current Goals:
EA has managed to carry out rather powerful, high profile attacks while avoiding any instances of detection or apprehension. In fact, no information is yet available on the group’s actual size or leadership structure. The fact that prior attacks have not been fatal can be attributed more to luck than to inadequate planning since the locations selected and amount of explosives used have been nothing short of ideal.

It is highly likely that EA will remain active and continue planning attacks in Greece. Not only is the country’s political and economic climate still a source of rebellion for the group, but also their previous success and current underground status serves to solidify their image among other revolutionaries. As a result, we can expect EA to grow in size and strength, particularly in the absence of thwarted attacks.

and

What the future might hold if we fail to deal with the Leftist/Marxist-Islamist Alliance
(specifically the Anti-War Movement Segment excerpted below)

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The Anti-War Movement

The United States has a growing antiwar movement. If one looks under the ‘covers’ we find that that this movement had its origins in the Leftist/Marxist - Islamist Alliance following the Gulf War of 2003.

Today, U.S. military deserters are going to Canada where a small group is growing. Once across the border, a network of Vietnam War-era draft evaders meets them, Quakers and anti-war activists, who are waiting with lawyers, free housing, job offers and organic groceries.

A described in Islamic Economics and the Final Jihad – The Muslim Brotherhood to the Leftist/Marxist-Islamist Alliance, on December 13 and 14, 2003, activist delegates from the West and the Middle East joined at a conference in Cairo to exchange ideas and debate plans for actions. The second Cairo Conference against Capitalist Globalization and U.S. Hegemony brought together anti-war activists from across the world. The conference discussed how best to support the Iraqi and Palestinian resistance movements and how to challenge the United States’ drive for power. (The third Cairo Conference took place March 24 to 27, 2005, sponsored by the Stop-the-War Coalition.)

As the news of Saddam Hussein’s capture spread, delegates reaffirmed their support for the Iraqi resistance to continue against the U.S. occupation. Hamdeen Sabahy, an Egyptian M.P., said, “The resistance in Iraq is not based on Saddam Hussein. It will continue after Saddam Hussein. It is there because there is an occupation. As long as there is an American occupation, there will be resistance.”

This was much bigger than the 2002 conference, attended by four hundred people. Left-wing groups, Arab nationalist groups, and the Muslim Brotherhood organized the conference. It was supported by a number of trade unions.

In the opening session, John Rees from the Stop-the-War Coalition in Britain received loud applause when he said: “We stopped George Bush from launching his re-election campaign in London last month. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people poured onto the streets. People have come from Britain in solidarity with you. This is not merely because we sympathize with your struggle, and that of Iraq and Palestine. We come because your struggle is our struggle; your enemy is our enemy. In the last year we have created an international mass movement. We will not let the rule of profit and arms destroy our world. Only ordinary people can stop the political elites.”

The chemistry between the conference’s left wing and Islamic currents was a revelation to many. Making a rare appearance in such a socialist-oriented gathering, Ma’moun El- Hodeibi, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme guide, spoke at the opening session. Slamming “the authoritative imperialist and aggressive capitalist systems,” Hodeibi hailed the “new [anti-globalization] global movement.”

Since this conference the Muslim Brotherhood achieved significant victories in Egypt through the election process.

Stop-the-War’s Yakoub described the anti-war movement as a “bridge between East and West. From Cairo to Birmingham, Muslim and Jew, we have more in common than we have differences, and it’s unity that gives us the potential to be the other superpower.” British M.P., George Galloway called the conference itself a bridge between East and West. “Across the bridge, in two-way traffic, should come experience and support. We learn from here and here will learn from us.”

Sona’ Allh Ibrahim, a famous Egyptian writer who turned down a major award recently in protest at the Egyptian government, also addressed the conference. Other speakers included former Labour M.P. Tony Benn, former United Nation’s humanitarian coordinator for Iraq Denis Halliday, Salma Yaqoob from Britain and Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general. The Leftist/Marxist - Islamist Alliance was in full attendance.

The conference released the second Cairo declaration, calling for opposition to capitalist globalization and U.S. power. It also urged support for the Iraqi resistance and the Palestinian intifada against Israeli occupation.

Ashraf El Bayoumi was one of the organizers. He is a campaigner based in Egypt who was arrested recently for joining an anti-war protest. He spoke to Socialist Workers about the importance of the event. The conference came from the belief that imperialist globalization must be met with people’s mobilization. The people who attended the conference in 2002, especially those who were invited to speak, gave an anti-imperialist flavor to the conference. There were some professors and academics who were irritated by the injustice in Iraq and Palestine, such as Thomas Nagy, a professor at George Washington University.

The Al-Ahram Weekly gave a picture of the events of the third international Cairo Anti-War Conference held March 24-27, 2005.

Perhaps it was not totally ironic that the third international Cairo Anti-War Conference ended on the same day that dozens of members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood were arrested for organizing a peaceful protest calling for constitutional reforms and the lifting of Egypt's 24-year-old state of emergency. For four days, almost 1,000 Egyptian, Arab and international activists representing anti-war and anti- globalization movements, had been arguing that the liberation of Palestine and Iraq should start with changing undemocratic regimes in the Arab world.

Activists from Islamist, secular, communist and socialist currents from across the globe sat together sharing their views, and absorbed in friendly conversation.

According to comparative literature professor, Abdel-Wahab El-Missiri, the author of many works on Zionism and Jewish thought, globalization is no more than a U.S. dynamic for hegemony. “Globalization reduces people into consumptive beings with no identity or history,” El-Missiri told the Weekly. “It is no wonder that the proponents of globalization are also those who invaded Pakistan and Iraq, and blindly support the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”

That rhetoric provided a new dimension to resistance in Iraq and Palestine as “the front-line” of fighting against imperialism and globalization.

According to John Rose, author of Myths of Zionism, “the Palestinian flag has come to symbolize the dispossession of the poor peoples of the world.”

“The flag adorns the great anti-globalization and anti-war mass demonstrations on every continent,” Rose said.

The general mood of the conference was one of defiance, where passionate speeches inspired a general spirit of hope and enthusiasm. John Rees, from the U.K.-based Stop-the-War Coalition, boasted of the fact that the global anti-war movement had forced many countries, including Holland, Poland, Hungary and Spain—and perhaps now Italy—to withdraw their troops from Iraq.

But there was also general consensus that resistance was the only way to liberate Palestine and Iraq. Most delegates seemed to share Galloway’s opinion that U.S. troops in Iraq would be destroyed between “the hammer of the anti-war movement and the anvil of resistance.”

Sheikh Hassan al-Zorqani, of the Sadri Shia resistance movement in Iraq, told the Weekly that the Iraqi resistance “still has a long way to go before it liberates Iraq.” He expressed enthusiasm, however, that the conference gives him “a platform to clear misconceptions about resistance.”

The conference again demonstrated the Leftist/Marxist - Islamist Alliance.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Greek militants claim recent attack on U.S. Embassy

2) "Revolutionary Struggle"

3) What the future might hold if we fail to deal with the Leftist/Marxist-Islamist Alliance