Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Greek anarchists pay for senior's torched kiosk
http://greeceriots.blogspot.com/2009/01/greek-anarchists-pay-for-seniors.html
THESSALONIKI, Greece - Two months after her kiosk was torched in
local riots an elderly woman from Thessaloniki has received an unlikely
cash gift from anarchists to rebuild her life, a press report said on
Tuesday.
"As anarchists, we felt we should support a fellow human victimized by
blind violence," an organization calling itself Anarchist Initiative
said in a statement sent to Eleftherotypia daily.
The anarchists set up a special bank account to support
74-year-old Harikleia Ananiadou and collected 13,000 euros ($18,000 US)
for the cause.
"We gave what we could, even beyond our means, because we know that it
would be difficult for her to make a new start at her age," initiative
member Panagiotis Papadopoulos told Angelioforos daily.
"It was an act of solidarity to a woman who could be our mother," he
added.
Ananiadou's kiosk burned down in November during clashes
between youths and police on the sidelines of a street demonstration.
The government recently announced compensation packages for business
owners who suffered damage in the wave of violence that swept the
country in December following the fatal shooting of a teenage boy.
But Ananiadou says she missed out because her kiosk was gutted a month
earlier.
"I received only empty promises (from the state) ... I feel very
fortunate that these boys came along to help," she said.
