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January 13, 2013

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Is Greece In Threat Of An Extremist Islamist Attack? - THIS IS A MUST READ


In our quest to uncover who, what and why is behind all the violence in Greece, we discovered this article on Justice For Greece, which should definitely be read by all. This section of the article, which is part of a greater analysis on immigration to Greece, looks at all the efforts authorities have made to combat illegal immigration to Greece, the possible rise in radical Islam groups, the possibilities of attacks in our country, their connection with the far-left, their affiliation with radical Islam groups and at the same time gives some answers as to how this new phenomenon can be dealt with. All the facts stated by the author are argued well, -and include all the relevant links-. The author's views are very similar to our own here on HellasFrappe, in how our country should now face this new phenomenon.
We are not authorities on this subject, but nonetheless we now understand why the Greek government is focusing its energies on fighting back and we definitely applaud them for doing so and wish that they continue with determination and much success. All the garbage you hear on television, or read about on various news sites by some groups who claim that the State is trying to turn public attention away from more important issues might be true to some extent  and we do not exclude the possibility of them exploiting the subject, but certainly we live in this society and believe that the State has to occupy itself with everything and not just concentrate on balancing the budget. Basically those who insist on this -as we saw over the last few days with the case of Villa Amalia and the attacks against Greek journalists- fail to realize is that we still have to go about our daily lives and deserve to live in a healthy and organized society that is free of such terrorism and violence. We do not deserve to live in lawlessness and cannot accept public disorder.
All those who present themselves as being "humanitarians" and advocates of "democracy" refuse to address the reality of it all, and never speak about the shocking facts mentioned below in this article. In fact when questioned, they turn the subject around and talk about the violence of having your wages cut. Indeed, this is a type of violence, but we ask... what is worse, getting 20 Euros slashed from your paycheck, or getting your throat slashed by a radical maniac? Also we have come to realize that behind the innocent titles of their organizations -such as the "rainbow organization"etc.- there could be more sinister plans in the works, and after reading this article we are convinced that there are. We just want to emphasize one quote in this article "as terrorism is the ideology and the ‘weapon’ of the weak in ideas and causes, proper education can amplify the urge for such behavior." We totally agree. Take a look at the groups who say they advocate for the rights of these people. They only speak of misery, they do not want Greece to focus on development but rather live in a Soviet type of democracy, they are usually the ones that are incriminated as being the trouble makers in protests and are known to even be the ones that literally terrorize young minds in universities.
If they were really what they claimed to be then they would not spray paint national monuments so as to erase the cultural importance of our society, they would not take part in violent riots so as to have a reason to preach about the importance of going against the law, they would not bash religious expression because religion inspires hope in the masses, they would not ridicule family values because this would generate integrity in people, they would not pretend to advocate for the poor when they themselves are very, very wealthy, and most importantly they would not want our society divided by talking about racism and pointing the finger at one side but rather speak about unity so as to highlight our country's ageless sophistication in character. Most importantly they pretend to be advocating for these immigrants but in all reality -and given the facts below- they themselves are the ones exploiting all these immigrants and creating a climate of chaos because it is clear that by doing so these people will not want to westernize themselves and follow the laws of our country but rather enforce their own laws and beliefs, advocate for lawlessness next to groups who will applaud them for this.
Learning is knowledge, and knowledge is education and certainly people who have an ounce of education cannot advocate for misery or violence but most importantly they are harder to control. These groups and all these voices should be viewed with a careful eye because their agendas are clearly of a sinister nature, and from what it seems, very, very dangerous. Enjoy the article... It is definitely an eye opener.
Although no verified Islamist terrorist attack has ever occurred in Greece, the latter years have seen an increased, mainly background activity. This activity has so far been on logistical, recruitment and accommodating basis as many experts in Greece and abroad agree the current situation regarding immigration combined with the existence of the illegal immigrants has created a hub of uncontrollable, ‘loose’, individuals who act and operate freely making the transposing of people from Asia and the Middle East through Greece easier while also looking to recruit Islamic radicals for operations beyond the Greek borders.

Most of the illegal immigrants going to Europe (app. 90%) come through Greek territory.

The pinnacle of effective security measures in Greece was the period leading up to the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. Systems such as C4I and special surveillance including small airships with telecommunications monitoring capabilities were floating over the greater metropolitan area of Athens, not without claims regarding personal data security by several groups and mostly left- wing political parties.

Alert levels were high and there was close cooperation between the Hellenic intelligence and anti-terrorist units with European and US agencies. Due to constitutional concerns however and under the pressure from many social groups and NGOs and also with the fear of political cost the conservative government (which was elected in March 2004, several months before the games begun) ceased the operation of many of these systems including surveillance cameras on the main arteries of Athens as well as the C4I system which later became part of the Siemens scandal which still constitutes a great debate within the Greek political establishment.

For the purposes of inter-agency cooperation regarding the games and the period following 2004 Greek and foreign authorities had under surveillance and monitoring several individuals and organisations as they had also intensified their efforts to dismantle any remaining links to extreme leftist organisations. However, as years went by this close cooperation between Greek and foreign agencies was gradually amplified although certain links existed primarily with regards to the re-emergence of some leftist terrorist groups (such as the Revolutionary Struggle and the Nucleus of Fire) but also regarding the emerging situation with Islamists who were coming or passing through Greek territory.

Starting from 2003 the most prominent incidents or information regarding direct or indirect Islamic activity in Greece are: • An authoritative article54 reported that as early as 2003, even before the organisation of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, a Muslim association with the name ‘El Rahman’ associated (at least at that time) with islamforgreeks.org website was set up which today numbers approximately 1500 members, mostly Greek converts to Islam.

The founder and President of the association is Mohi Eldin Ahmed Ali along with his son Ahmed Eldin who had studied Islamic Theology in Cairo as well as journalism in a private college. The organisation, according to the article, active since 2003 has been promoting radical Dawa and operates mainly through the net. Other people related to this organisation include two Greek converts who in 2011 joined Ahmed Eldin.

Those are Abu Jassur and Hamza who follow Salafi-Wahhabism along with another Greek convert Abu Alia who according to Radio Free Europe has also been active in the Balkans possibly linked with an organisation named Poziv u Raj (Invitation to Heaven) launched in Bosnia in 2010.

In 2005 on 13 September Greek authorities arrested a Muslim terrorist from Morocco, Anwar Mazrar who was wanted by the French and Moroccan authorities for involvement in an extremist muslim organisation allegedly affiliated with Al Qaeda, active in North Africa. According to French intelligence he was initially active in France, where he was recruiting operatives in order to set up a network. He then left France and re-entered the EU through Turkey (with a fake French passport) by bus where, after a signal from the French intelligence, was arrested by the Greek authorities.
Following the arrest of Mazrar, Europol requested by the Greek authorities to intensify their efforts to locate more extremists who could possibly use Greece as a safe haven or entrance point to the EU. According to sources two Imams were under monitoring for recruiting people at some of the illegal mosques and centres described earlier on.

There have also been arrests of ‘Hellenized’ Arabs in Britain, Italy and Holland.

Finally, according to the same sources in 2007 an important signal from BIA, the Serbian Intelligence Agency, indicated the possible operation of Salafist-related extremist groups in Greece, most of them coming form Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo where they were active during the wars of early-mid 1990s and 1999 NATO bombardment against Serbia in combination with UCK’s activities against the Serbian forces56.

A more minor incident of Muslim violence erupted in 2009 after the arsonist attack by extreme right-wing groups against an illegal (lower ground) mosque/centre in central Athens on 23 of May. About 700 people participated in angry demonstrations clashing with the police. While the president of MAG, El-Ghandour heavily criticised those clashes as well as the arsonist attack (possibly by ‘Golden Dawn’ or Chrysi Avgi affiliated members), he insisted that these phenomena were a result of the absence of a major Mosque in the Greek capital.

The years 2010 and early 2011 have seen the most activity regarding Islamist related incidents and information coming out of the Greek media and that fact has put the Greek authorities on the highest alert since the period of the 2004 Olympic Games due to constant information flow from, primarily, western agencies and authorities regarding increased activity of Islamic extremists.

In more detail:

The incident of the 14 parcel bombs sent from Greece in late October/early November 2010 to the offices of Nicola Sarkozy in France, Angela Merkel in Germany and Silvio Berlusconi in Italy as well as several embassies within Greece (such as the embassies of the Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico and Switzerland) and agencies abroad such as Interpol, the European Court of Justice and other institutions has been denied any links to Islamist terrorism by the Greek government and authorities.
At the time, government spokesman Petalotis (under the Papandreou government) said that“it is our (Greek government’s) own strong conviction that international terrorism is not involved with all these actions that generate a bad image for the country at a time when we are struggling to show our international partners and worldwide public opinion that Greece is moving on, that it is a country of security and a country of stability” (quote from the same article).

Foreign leaders who had the bombs sent to them, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel also denied involvement of international Islamic terrorism and disconnected the issue with similar incidents like the parcel bombs sent to the US from Yemen, as the wave of the parcel bombs was attributed to Greek leftist and ‘anarchist’ extremist groups.

The most important incident to date involving Islamic terrorist activity in Greece was the arrest of Ghaleb Taleb by the Greek police after an important article by the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera in early 201159. Ghaleb Taleb, or “the boy”, a Lebanese-Palestinian member of Fatah-al- Islam was arrested in the northern suburb of Pendeli in early February 2011 (possibly on February 12).

The police acted swiftly after the publication of the Italian daily, however as police sources say Taleb was under surveillance for several months as he had applied twice, as the first application was rejected, within 2010 for a permanent residence permit and the anti-terror unit of ELLAS (Hellenic Police) as well as EYP (Intelligence Service) had information from foreign agencies regarding his activities.

Information states that Taleb had not acted so far in terms of conducting an attack, however, he was sent to Greece in order to finance, equip and accommodate other operatives and was using Greece as a base to provide fake IDs and information to several individuals (some of them entering Greece as illegal immigrants) who were then sent to western and northern European countries.

While officially ELLAS has been reluctant to provide more information it has become known that Taleb or “the foreigner”, who was arrested along with another individual about whom there is not much information (possibly Greek), had come to replace an earlier operative of Fatah-al-Islam in Greece, Muhammed Musa, who left after he was detained for a short period in 2009 as the situation was deemed “dangerous” by his ‘superiors’. Taleb was in charge of a group of individuals dispersed throughout northern Europe as well as France and Bulgaria. Some of them including two other Lebanese individuals had tried in 2006 to place a bomb in a train in Germany.
As there was no sufficient evidence by the Greek police with regards to his terrorist – related activities, Taleb was officially charged with illegal residency and possession of false documents. Information is not yet clear on whether Taleb and Fatah-al-Islam were actually planing a hit within Greece but, taken the relaxed state of Greek society in general and the absence of serious Islamic terrorist activities in the past, experts say that the organisation found a ‘safe haven’ in the country for further activities in Europe.

The above incident is linked to a wider situation involving other suspects under surveillance during the last years by both ELAS’ anti-terror unit and EYP. It has become known62 that during the past decade Greek authorities had under surveillance some 40 individuals about whom there were assumptions by their home authorities that were somehow linked to Al Qaeda affiliated cells. According to the same sources there are around 500 individuals under relaxed monitoring by the authorities in Greece for suspicious activities without however evidence they are affiliated, in one way or the other, with Islamic terrorism.

Finally, a more long-term issue with possible national security concerns is the increased administrative power the Muslim minority is getting in northern Greece. After the major reshaping of Greece’s administrative divisions by the ruling PASOK government with the introduction of elected governors (the Kalikratis Program which became during the past year the topic of many debates leading to local and regional elections of Autumn 2010), the region or “peripheria” of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace has become the one with the largest (after Greater Athens and Piraeus region) Muslim minority primarily due to the existence there of the traditional Muslim community.

The regional elections were won (with a clear majority after the second round) by the government- supported alliance called Kinoniki Symachia (‘Social’ or ‘Community’ Alliance) led by the now regional governor Aris Giannakidis.

Giannakidis’ alliance won the elections largely supported by the local Muslim minority of Thrace. Representatives of the self-described Turkish minority in an article published in the Turkish-speaking daily Birlik now demand that some of its members are put in specific positions in the regional government and in particular to fill in the position of the regional administration’s spokesman.

The interesting as well as worrying part of the story is that this particular group is supported by the Turkish consulate of Komotini and self-describes itself not only as a religious but as an ethnic minority as well, mirroring the rhetoric of the Turkish consulate there and the Turkish government overall during the past decades.
The newspaper specifically states in its article “we wish Mr. Giannakidis’ a good term in office and we hope that he clearly displays his stance and logic regarding the Turkish minority of the region”64.

The is a clear danger that in order to sustain his majority and secure future elections Mr. Giannakidis and his alliance may give in to the pressures of the extremist (i.e. clearly pro-Turkish) elements of the community hence creating a completely legal and ‘within-the-state’ framework for a friendly, towards other Muslims and possible Islamists, administration which can possibly, in due course, provide safe haven for various individuals and organised groups of unknown origin or intentions towards Greece.

Conclusion

Recent, still unfolding developments in the MENA region constitute a serious challenge for the Greek as well as other regional governments which must not address the problem of immigration and subsequently the emergence, establishment and build up of extremist Islamic elements and terrorist cells within European countries. As we have seen, given the trends of immigration and the current situation in the country, Greece has come to a state that must now face a problem that has gone largely unnoticed during the course of (at least) the past two decades. Old norms and beliefs of both the Greek political establishment as well as the people and society at large need to be reexamined and reevaluated and new, bold and long-term strategies must be put in place before the problem expands deeper into the often conservative yet rapidly changing Greek society.
Although there has been some increased activity and a number of warning signs of the existence and organisation of radical Islamic elements in the country, Greece has so far been excluded as a target by Al Qaeda or other terrorist organisations. A recent essay by Tech Central Station65 has alarmed many analysts as well as the Greek MFA and the Intelligence Service. This essay, known to US decision makers such as Donald Rumsfeld as early as 2005 (that is before its completion) indicated that indeed Al Qaeda and similar organisations are using Greece as a base for further activities in Europe and that they indeed take advantage of the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who until last year faced little resistance or obstacles by authorities as the latter were simply unable to decisively react. The numerous illegal mosques and ‘centres’ have become hubs of Wahhabism and Salafist elements. The now permanent Frontext team in Greece and the building of the fence in Thrace have been met with a general consent of the Greek public and so far have somewhat improved the situation, at least as far as that particular entry point is concerned. The geographic proximity of Greece to the Arab world and Asia, the reluctance of Turkey to react (if not her unofficial ‘accommodation’ of the infiltrators) and the ongoing conflicts in MENA, Central and South Asian regions are problems and facts that cannot and will not change single-handily nor will they end in the foreseeable future. It is a fact that despite all the above Greece has not so far been a target of Al Qaeda or similar groups. The reasons for this has not been the preparedness of the Greek State but rather a number of other factors; Greece has not participated actively in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, although in the latter case there are some units for supporting and medical purposes. Greek culture and Greeks in general (as a nation and people) have a positive reputation in the Arab lands from Central and South Asia to Morocco even deep in sub-Saharan Africa. Hence, as experts like Panos Kostakos of the Jamestown Foundation argue a strike against Greece lacks the symbolism Al Qaeda needs as cultural ties and heritage go as far back as Alexander the Great and Al Qaeda uses historic and cultural elements to justify and link its activities with its rhetoric and goals66. However, this does not anymore immune Greece as developments in the wider regions are rapid and the country offers a fertile ground, a ‘soft base’ for background, supportive activities by several groups affiliated with Al Qaeda or extreme Islamic ideology in general.
  • Strategy Report “Danger for Islamic Terrorism due to high immigration influx”, (Greek), 12/11/2010, http://www.strategyreport.gr/?p=5029  
  • Kostakos A. Panos (2007) “The Threat of Islamic Radicalism to Greece”, Terrorism Monitor Vol. 8, Issue 37
The geographic proximity of Greece to MENA region and Asia, the soft (even non-existant until recently) anti-immigration policy and the public sentiment in correlation with the political cost (as few, if any politicians and political parties even recognise this specific problem) have provided a futile ground for making Greece a soft base as we saw in the case of Ghaleb Taleb and the existence of several illegal mosques and centres. Even the absence of a central mosque in Athens and the delay of its construction have had negative effects in that respect. Recent demonstrations and public prayers have shown that the ‘ticking bomb’ of fanaticism and violent reactions can go off at any time and with any cause.

Current and future threats that can swell the problem and in fact ‘blow it out of proportion’ include the illegal immigration and the weak control of borders, especially eastern and southern sea borders, the ongoing revolutions and new waves of immigrants from MENA region, the Macedonian name dispute with FYROM in conjunction with extremist Albanian claims (by groups such as UCC as well as the predominantly Muslim Albanians living in FYROM) on Greek territory, the radicalisation of ethnic Turkish Muslims of Northern Greece (although the threat of that is extremely low at least as the situation currently stands) and the equation of the emerging Greek- Cypriot-Israeli relations and cooperation especially with regards to oil and natural gas extraction from the Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean.

Beginning from the latter, what Greece should now do within the overall framework of regional security is to materialise this trilateral rapprochement within the geopolitical theatre of Eastern Mediterranean. Without creating enmities with the Arab world at large, something that will have a rather negative effect for all parties involved, Greece should become part of a positive ‘axis of the willing’ that will work as a political, diplomatic and security embankment against Islamic terrorist activity in Greece and subsequently Western Europe.

Within the framework of an honest and pragmatic dialogue between Greece, Israel and Cyprus the respective governments should press the moderate and secular regional states of the wider region for a positive cooperation. That includes the regimes that are currently emerging in North Africa and other states where developments have been rapid during the last months.

Turkey’s role in this can also be crucial. As terrorism and extremist Islam have now acquired a transnational character, the contribution and cooperation of respective agencies and governments is deemed as necessary as, even when referring to Greece, the overall problem cannot be dealt single-handily and goes beyond the boundaries of a single state. Without Ankara willing to contribute in order to put a halt to the ever increasing hordes of various Muslim nationalities transposing its territory to end up in Greece and Western Europe, the problem of illegal immigration of potentially radical character can never cease to exist.

The Greek government should now use its cultural appeal and diplomatically cooperate with the respective countries (such as Pakistan, Gulf States, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Egypt) where most of the immigrants (especially of radical Islam) originate from in order to clarify the situation and bilaterally take the necessary measures ‘putting’ them into a general framework of cooperation and making them part of the solution rather than the problem.

The importance and role of Turkey cannot be left aside especially if Ankara wants to have a positive role and pursue its European future. Greece should directly link this issue with the neighbouring country’s aspirations not only for an EU membership (a distant prospect as the situation currently stands with the AKP government in power) but for a wider positive role as a stabilising factor rather than the opposite.

International cooperation aside, the greatest and boldest steps must be taken within Greece and by the Greek government with the greatest possible support of the society given the currently very fragile relations between the populous and the State in view of the harsh economic measures and the economic situation.

Building fences or strengthening border control can be but one of the solutions and certainly it neither tackles the problem of the already existing communities in Greece nor the issue of radicalisation. Whereas the influx of refugees or immigrants is an international and regional issue the amplification of radical Islamist sentiments and behaviour within the country can only be dealt with long term and parallel policies in the political, security as well as social and economic spheres and education.

As many experts argue and as previous policies have indicated67 the first step the Greek government can take once has created fair control of its borders and has increased proper and effective security measures, is to gradually include those who obtain papers and legally reside in Greece into the country’s free market structure.

In other words, capitalism and the liberal economy can be a first step towards amplifying and eventually limiting extremist behaviour.

Unless specific individuals come solely for the purposes of conducting terrorist attacks or to use Greece as a soft base for further activities in Western Europe (in which case it is up to the country’s security services to take action), the rest of the people who eventually acquire legal documentation should be guided towards economic and social participation and get involved in economic activity that will eventually create burdens and make them “think twice” should they desire to be part of any radical groups. That said, the free market is not panacea, it creates however opportunities which can be taken advantage of by the usually young Muslim populations currently living in the country who can constitute a dynamic working force.
  • For an example of policies of assimilation in Turkey see: Tugal, Cihan (2009) “Passive Revolution: Absorbing the Islamic Challenge to Capitalism”, Stanford University Press
Although Islam teaches a measured and moderate way of life, considering that immigrants usually seek a better life and turn to radical behaviour if they are denied one, opportunities for economic activity can work as an opportunity for most of immigrants currently in Greece before they turn radical.

Those individuals must integrate and be assimilated into the Greek society and economy at large. The building of a major mosque for example is deemed necessary in order for the Greek authorities to legitimately hunt down and close all the illegal ‘places of worship’ where radical teachings including Wahhabism are taking place.

It will arguably take several years before people who have recently came feel even remotely part of the Greek society (especially outside metropolitan areas). Policies of assimilation can take years. The examples of bigger and more cosmopolitan countries such as Germany, France or the United Kingdom are good examples although those countries’ history and imperial past is obviously substantially different from that of Greece.

It is obvious that many of the illegal (Muslim and not only) immigrants currently residing in Greece should be deported. Nevertheless that is all but easy. Also, monitoring or tracking down half a million people is also practically impossible.

While the ratio of people who enter the country and those who are forced to leave should very quickly change ‘in favour’ of the latter, the State should in the same time slowly start with identifying and checking all the illegal mosques and other ‘unidentified’ cultural centres.

Simultaneously the security services and the police should start identifying any religious leaders and “preachers” since it is through their own activity and propaganda that extremist Islamic ideologies are propagated and spread.

With regards to the general framework of immigration policies it would be wise for the Greek government not to discriminate or classify those on religious merits.

Illegal or legal Muslims in Greece come from various ethnic backgrounds and countries. Their attitude and religious culture can differ considerably and this is something that should be exploited by the authorities as religion usually offers a safe haven to anyone who otherwise fails to become an active part of society. Although minds cannot be controlled, the State should make efforts to educate them.

Authorities and the State in general including the educational establishment must tackle the very roots of radicalisation and shake the very foundations of this kind of ideologies and behaviour by proving them unfutile while proposing a more liberal and ‘western’ way of life. In the long run, we have to win the hearts and minds of those who initially come for a better life than simply intimidate or isolate them. Improving the situation in their home countries is also a long-term, cooperative and important step.

As terrorism is the ideology and the ‘weapon’ of the weak in ideas and causes, proper education can amplify the urge for such behaviour. Embracing the rich Greek culture and becoming, or at least feeling part of a free and liberal society one has less reasons to resolve to violence and terrorism. Those who do, should obviously be punished. Although assimilation efforts and educating people are long-term policies, they can possibly be the only true remedy for Greece and Europe at large in the fight against radicalisation.

Read more at Justice for Greece - http://justiceforgreece.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/islamic-radicalisation-processes-in-greece/
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