Solidarity for the Community of Squatted Prosfygika in Athens
Wanneer: 30/11/2023 - 01:01
Dear Comrades,
There is urgent financial support needed for the Community of Squatted Prosfygika in Alexandras Avenue in Athens.
The current situation has been bad and will change for the worst. Imperialist wars, fascist regimes and global capitalism are growing stronger in different territories, millions of people on the move get trapped and killed by the Greek and European Border regime, exploitation of landscapes and natural resources are pushing the climate catastrophe. These forces are the same that oppress and criminalize everyone and everything that we are struggling for. This situation leads to the need of self-organisation and social self-defense to build upon a ground of resistance.
The Community of Squatted Prosfygika is home to more than 500 people. As a result, Prosfygika has managed to sustain a politically unified neighborhood, numerous squatted apartments, communal structures covering the needs of dozens of people, a constant participation to local and international struggles (Struggle against Gentrification, Defense of Squats, Solidarity with political prisoners, Struggle against border policies and pushbacks, Riseup4Rojava...) and a holistic revolutionary perspective.
„For more than ten years, the "Assembly of Squatted Prosfygika" has been demonstrating that the existence of a self-organized community in the centre of a European metropolis is possible, signaling hope for the societies of the future. The struggle for the salvation of the Prosfygika community is a struggle for freedom, life and humanity, which inspires and gives strength for the collective demands of the future. A future based on solidarity, freedom and companionship.“ (Konstantinos, member of the Committee to #SaveProsfygika).
We will remain and defend what we are. For this we need local and international solidarity. Next to the exchange of experiences, workforces and the creation of wider networks, one of the most important needs is financial support.
We need to cover:
Basic needs of the community: The Community is composed of a mosaic of people of the oppressed class from various political, cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds from around the world. Families, refugees, political militants are living and fighting together. The members of the community need money to fix their papers (for asylum procedures, work permissions...), for health care, court expenses or for any kind of upcoming emergency.
Basic needs of structures and infrastructures: The community-life is organized through structures and infrastructures to answer to the basic needs of the people. Financial and practical support helps them in growing and keeping a sustainable base.
Health Structure: The health care in Greece is privatized heavily. This and the absence of health insurances makes it very difficult to access health care for refugees and is really expensive for everyone else. The idea of the Health Structure (which is already supporting people with appointments, payments and escorts) is to renovate and open houses for hosting family members of the patients of the cancer-treatment hospital close by. Moreover the costs for special treatments of community members with serious illnesses need to be covered.
Women Structure: The Women Structure is renovating and opening a house; a common space for the women of the neighborhood to connect and organize, also to produce goods to create a financial income answering to the basic needs of the femininities of the community. In this house there are sleeping places for women in serious emergency situations. Financial and technical support to install water, electricity, electric devices and furniture is essential.
Children's house and Self education structure is operating on the basis of self-education, aiming to achieve a communal education confronting the individualistic capitalist reality and replacing it by our common culture and communal values. For many years now, children from the community and the neighborhood, aged 2-12 come to the Children Structure, where they participate in creative activities, they do their homework, learn the greek language, meet each other, do their own assemblies and in general have their own space. Also, along with the parents and the rest people of the community, the Children Structure supports with medical, health and school issues of the children and also intervenes when the children or their families face exclusions.
Recently, a self organized Kinder-garden started to operate every day for children aged 2-4 that are not able to participate in state education. The goal is to have a safe and creative place for the toddlers to discover their environment and accomplish their autonomy.
The financial needs of the structure are always high. We need the money in order to create a real school with a libertarian educational environment (furniture, toys, fabrics, pillows, carpets, plants, books, creative material). Also, we need to cover the money for activities outside of the neighborhood, as well as to cover the expenses for the works needed to be done in the space, hygiene materials (diapers, baby nutrition, toilet papers) and school material.
Technical Structure: The technical structure is answering to the needs of the buildings that are more than 90 years old. Besides money for construction materials and tools there is need of comrades with skills of plumbers, electricians and construction work,... to support the maintenance.
Basic needs of self-defense and counter-attack: The community has faced numerous attacks/ invasions by repressive forces, damaging buildings, trying to terrorize the neighborhood and penalizing the defenders of it. On the basis of the political choice of the community to resist and defend the ground of our struggle and our values, materials, tools and knowledge are needed to strengthen our doors, windows and rooftops.
Repression costs: By the participation in international and local struggles, the community members are facing court cases. Two court cases followed the police attack against the neighborhood that happened on 22/11/2022: Comrade Kostas Dimalexis was violently arrested and accused of made up charges, later on 79 members of the community (including one pregnant women and 4 underage persons) and solidarians were arrested for defending the neighborhood. Other court cases are for example: Members of the women ́s structure of the community have been arrested for an intervention against the plan of gentrification, court cases for our participation in the demonstration in solidarity with political prisoners and several others are still open.
We, the Neighborhood, the Community of Squatted Prosfygika of Alexandra Avenue, are a community of struggle counting 13 years of collective action. We are not going to give up a single inch of land from the liberated ground. We will continue to defend our diversity, our collective memory, our values and ethics.
Organize international solidarity with Prosfygika through financial support, support the resistance through network & barrication and spread the call!
Solidarity is the weapon of the people.
More infos: https://www.firefund.net/internationalsolidarityforprosfygika
Tags: squatting