Tuesday 17 May 2011

Conflict in the Cradle of the West

More and more it is becoming clear that the root causes of the financial collapse in parts of the Eurozone such as in Ireland and in Greece is not quite as the media would have us believe.  Yes, it is true, especially in the case of Greece, that unrealistic social policies and the payment of benefit levels which the country can not afford has been part of the problem.  However, other factors have also been at play, in particular the countries whose economies are now collapsing, have been exposed to unprecedented levels of mass Immigration in recent years resulting in major social and economic problems. All of this has been cheered on by left wing anarchists whose goal is to see the collapse of Western Nations, and cynically supported by socialist parties, who anticipate gaining electoral advantage as a result of the demographic change.

Whilst the IMF (in the absence of their head, who is currently retained in Rikers Island) and the EU debate extending a further bail out to Greece, the following article at the Alternative Right  gives a troubling account of what is currently going on there:

Conflict in the Cradle of the West

By Demetris Demopoulos

The University of Athens, in the heart of the city, is a building of great emotional significance to Greeks. It was built in 1837 during the reign of King Otto (1815-1867), to celebrate Greece’s liberation from almost four centuries (1453-1821) of Turkish occupation and oppression.

Designed by the Danish architect Christian Hansen, it has an imposing Ionic portico of great beauty and simplicity. The Austrian painter Carl Rahl (1812-1865) executed a large patriotic composition inside the portico representing the regeneration of arts and sciences under Otto. In front of the gateway are statues of two national heroes—the Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V, hanged by the Turks on Easter Day in 1821, and the poet-martyr Rigas Ferraios, strangled in Belgrade in 1798 on the orders of the Ottomans. At the top of the external staircase is a statue of the Greek-French scholar Adamantios Korais (1746-1833, whose linguistic work bolstered Greek self-awareness), in the garden a statue of the British statesman William Gladstone and nearby a pillar in memory of the young students who died during the liberation struggles.

But on 16 November, this iconic setting was marred by a strikingly incongruous sight, as over 1,000 Muslims held public prayers inside the portico on the first day of the Muslim festival of Eid.

Continue reading at the alternative right

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hat tip: JP

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarah, glad to see that you are back, Missed your blogs.