Minds corrupted by rust and inertia
The normalization and tolerance of politically motivated violence in Greek universities reflects a broader societal and institutional failure driven by ideological rigidity and governmental inaction.
This op-ed for Kathimerini was published (in Greek) last Sunday. The newspaper selected it for its international edition. It was translated in English by the editors of Kathimerini. The original Greek text can be found here.
Two bullies barged into the Greek National Gallery just a few weeks ago intent on destroying certain pieces of art they found “insulting.” Their actions were almost universally condemned (you can read my op-ed on this incident). It was followed just last week by another two similar incidents.
The first was at an Athens bookstore, where a group of bullies tried to break up a discussion because the speakers had the audacity to express opinions the bullies disagreed with. How dare anyone think differently from them? Unconscionable! Doing so, they seem to believe, gives them every right to threaten and castigate, to stop these thoughts from being expressed at any cost. The very thought makes their blood boil.
The second incident was much more serious, because the bullies who disrupted an event organized by students at the Athens Law School were armed. As Kathimerini reported, they barged into the venue with their faces covered, wearing helmets and brandishing fire extinguishers and bats, and attacked the students, sending one to hospital.
I cannot stress enough how serious these incidents are, and especially the one at the law faculty of Athens University. In any country with a modicum of democracy such an incident would provoke a storm. The same would have happened in Greece too, but only if things were a bit different. Imagine an event at the Athens Law School organized by the youth faction of some left-wing party being disrupted by far-right attackers wearing hoods and masks and wielding bats. Need I go on?
The worst thing about all this is not the bullying itself, but the silence, the desensitization to such incidents, the evasive attitude toward them. With few exceptions, the academic community will carry on, cowed and silent. Greek society will be indifferent, because it has become so accustomed to such incidents that it tolerates them. And, of course, any discussion about addressing the problem will stall where it always stalls: with those who have something to gain from the existence of “assault squads” or those who are simply ideologically fixated. They will do whatever they can to ensure that violence and the threat of violence are never eradicated from the country’s universities.
Is exorcising violence from our universities easy? No, it is not, but it is not impossible either. All it takes is for Greece to adopt any model of a liberal democracy that we admire. I have no idea what the situation is like in Denmark, the Netherlands or Switzerland, but I’m pretty certain they’ve found ways to protect academic freedom and to prevent universities from turning into havens for common criminal activity.
Visit the Kathimerini website to read the rest of the editorial.