Multilingual Exarcheia the New Refugee-Housing City-State of Greece
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Better World Multilingual Exarcheia The new refugee-housing city-state of Greece Emily deTar Gilmartin Exarcheia dirty looks while they hold heavy semi- Emily deTar Gilmartin is a freelance writer living automatic weapons and occasionally wear riot gear. in London. She has spent the last several years ey know me now, always in the same coat and fundraising and volunteering for refugee charities work boots, always walking as fast as I can, always in Europe. Prior to that she was the senior adminis- taking a left as soon as I pass them to walk uphill trator of a political office in the House of Lords, and into Exarcheia while they watch me. a fundraiser for various nonprofits and charities. To the average tourist who does not know about Ohi Day, Exarcheia, the recent rise of fascism in Greece, or the Four times a day I pass an armored van parked decades-long war between anarchists and the police in Ath- outside the Archeological Museum of Athens, ens, this is any other busy street in the capitol and the police headphones in, my hands in the pockets of my look as though they have been called there due to a particular parka stinking of campfire smoke and souvlaki. threat of violence. ose who don’t live in this part of Athens ere is a sort of game we play, the police and I. don’t realize the police are here every day, 24 hours a day, and ey stare me down, nudging one another as soon that they are here because they are not allowed to set foot as they spot me walking quickly down a wide street in Exarcheia. ey are meant to appear as though they are protecting the Athenians from the anarchists, refugees and named 28th of October, the day that the Greeks drug addicts in Exarcheia, and the Greek media’s political defied Mussolini and began their resistance against rhetoric works tirelessly to bolster this illusion. fascism. e irony is not lost on me that they stand e borders of Exarcheia do indeed not look promising, here, of all places, giving those walking in and out of with no people in sight, boarded-up windows and a burnt out 48 March 2017 Better World kiosk. Used needles lie on the ground under orange trees still bearing fruit in December, a December so cold that I lose feeling in my hands on the 15-minute walk between my Airbnb and the squat I volunteer in every day. But wander in even two blocks and the view changes. ere are taxis lin- ing up near the platia, cafés busy with students and volunteer coordinators on their laptops, refugees playing football in the platia while old Greek men smoke and play chess and a man with dreadlocks wearing a dress Children sleeping in a room in the squat. practices juggling. Within a few minutes of walking into Exarcheia’s heart, I begin to see two hours tiptoeing into the bound- in Exarcheia’s platia as my friends people I know, and they always smile aries to snap some Instagram photos and I walked to a bar that also gives and a few come to kiss me, promising of graffiti. free Greek language lessons during to swing by the squat later that eve- is was not the Exarcheia I rec- the day. e five of us that first night ning, sometimes asking if they can ognized, that I worked in 12 hours a were all working as volunteers in the bring me coffee or a snack. It feels day, that I played cards in with other same refugee camp south of Ath- like a village scene in a Marcel Pagnol volunteers. I searched for an hour ens, and this overnight break in the film, and even the baristas wave at and found nothing that accurately capitol was a rare treat. One of us, a me through the windows, although could describe life in Exarcheia. I also young German man, had lived in the I only have enough money to go in didn’t find any media mention of the most famous anarchist squat of all, once or twice a week. ey know that fascists from Golden Dawn sending an abandoned hotel called City Plaza, if a young American woman is here death threats to us, planting a bomb at and he told us he knew where to go more than once and not by accident, the squat closest to ours or attacking for some relaxation after the stress that she isn’t a tourist and that seems refugees with machetes. No, Golden of the camp. Most bars I had gone to inspire some respect. Most Ameri- Dawn doesn’t get mentioned in any into in Athens charged 20 euros for cans who come to Greece won’t set articles about Exarcheia, but there a double bourbon, but in Exarcheia foot here, but I didn’t know that for are accusations against anarchists the mafia is in charge of the liquor. I a long time. aplenty. I ask a Greek friend about get a whiskey for four euros and by When I tried through a series of this, and she says the government the end of the evening, I have made WhatsApp messages to describe to decides what is printed about Exar- Iranian and Greek friends and have my parents where I was staying and cheia, and that they plant agitators at the number of a Spanish language what I was doing in Athens, I strug- demonstrations. It is a well-accepted teacher who would like me to come gled to come up with the right words fact here that the police and govern- to Christmas Eve in a squat to cook that would illuminate the incredible ment start riots so they can have an with refugees and other volunteers. language and economy forged by excuse to raid the anarchist proper- It was this Spanish volunteer who basic human need and self-organi- ties and “purge” the people they see introduced me to the anarchists zation. Growing frustrated that they as undesirable. running the squat where I eventually could not absorb the full picture, I did began volunteering full-time. a cursory Google search of Exarcheia Arriving in Exarcheia Many buildings in Exarcheia have and I was shocked at the results: only I knew absolutely nothing about been abandoned for years. Some used a handful of articles from the Greek Exarcheia the first time I crossed its to be schools, others were places of media slandering the anarchists, no small borders, and so I felt no appre- business, and a few are apartments mention that their work day in and hension, only curiosity and excite- whose tenants died and the proper- day out was on behalf of refugees, ment and the pleasure of seeing so ties were never claimed. At any rate, and only a few blog posts from tour- many refugees socializing outdoors, they were empty when the anarchists ists mentioning their nervous one or their laughter traveling from the fires decided to appropriate them to turn March 2017 49 Better World them into refugee housing. Some are smiling at me hugely only inches ese assemblies can take three hours, very small; the squat I spent Christ- from my face, her eyes warm. depending on the concerns discussed, mas Eve cooking in houses only three It takes me a while to figure out and there is a vast amount of time dedi- Kurdish families who are especially the ins and outs of anarchy in the cated to just translation. Every issue is vulnerable. e father of one of the squats. For one, the concept of anar- discussed in English, then translated families has had five botched surger- chy to me used to be different from into Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi and Greek ies on a clubbed foot and now needs seeing its ideology in action. Here in simultaneously in different corners of to use a wheelchair, and his oldest the squats, anarchy is basically noth- the room. en each language group daughter is here after escaping an ing other than self-organization with has an opportunity to comment, to abusive marriage. ey are kind and no hierarchy. I am 100% accountable raise concerns themselves, to ask ques- social and help a gaggle of Spanish, for only myself. ere are no bosses, tions. It is efficient and seems tribal, as French and Greek anarchists reno- and children are just as expected to a representative from each family gives vate the abandoned apartment one assist in the ways they are able as we their earnest opinions. I find I spend floor at a time. When I meet them adults are, helping sweep the stairs or quite a lot of these meetings wishing on Christmas Eve there is only one providing translation now and then. I the rest of the world were organized on habitable floor. By the time I will come when I want and leave when I such a small scale, watching 50 people leave Exarcheia several weeks later, want and so does everyone else. We speaking five languages and patiently there are two floors finished, another do not accept funding from non- working through security scheduling family is about to move in and self- profit organizations or governments, and a shortage of heaters as they roll defense classes are being taught only from individuals, and those one another cigarettes and sip sweet there. e daughters are close to my come mostly from Western Europe, black tea. age, both chatty and giggly and they America and Canada.