A poll this week of the Greek electorate (by Pulse) gave far-left Syriza a narrow lead over centre-right New Democracy with neo-nazi group Golden Dawn continuing to make gains in 3rd place.
“If elections were to take place today, which party would you vote for?” 20.5% of the people participating in the survey selected SYRIZA (compared to 21% in July), 19% said they would vote ND (same as in July). Neo-nazi Golden Dawn followed with 13.5% (13%), PASOK with 7% (6.5%), the Communist Party with 5% (5.5%) Independent Greeks with 4% (same) and Democratic Left with 3% (same). credit Greek Reporter
Golden Dawn is more than just an elected group of thugs prone to street beatings, homicides, police infiltration and attacks on supposed foreigners. They are image-conscious and undertake exercises such as soup kitchens in the guise of benevolence – in fact their recent mass food-distributions are used to reinforce their membership and a hatred for ‘foreigners’. One very large food distribution in July was banned as a political rally, they went ahead anyway and checked the queue for national identity cards before addressing the hungry from a balcony in a fiery racist political rally.
Invoking early Greek dramatics with a weird mixture of medieval Christian symbolism and proto-fascism is standard fare for the neo-nazi party and this week saw them on display in Thermopylae. Thermopylae is a strange one in itself. One of Europe’s most famous battle sites, known to many younger Europeans only from the motion picture 300, it is arguable that it was neither the site of a pyrrhic victory for the Persians nor anything but a loss for the Greeks, however the nazis love the rage of it all.
More from Thermopylae: