From the Magazine: "Ekpedeftiki Kinotita" 65, February-April 2003

PERSECUTION

It takes time for steel to be shaped into a sharp and useful knife

Time too is needed for words to be chiselled and made precise

While you’re working on the wheel

Beware

Don’t let yourself be blinded or distracted by the sparks that fly

Remain focused on the steel

For you must make the knife.

The Knife

by Aris Alexandrou

I started working as a P.E. teacher in primary school at the age of 21,5 and I was paid by the hour. Back then when people used to ask me why I said no to parades I couldn’t provide a long answer. I spontaneously said no without being able to explain exactly why. Now after having come such a long way I can raise my voice and underpin my refusal with irrefutable arguments. As a student I have taken part in parades three times, once in primary school and twice in secondary school.

Let as first look at where parades come from: They are a remnant of Metaxa’s dictatorship. The school parades of the time were based on those of Nazi Germany which made strong and hardened soldiers. In other words, our school parade comes from Germany under the rule of Hitler.

Let us go further back in time…

‘It was the sick mind of Frederick of Prussia that created the marching steps and the mechanical movements. His army of conscripts were forced( at zero cost) to imitate the mechanical movements of expensive dummies constructed by his engineers. This then led to costly parades with many different uniforms, stripes,useless swords and helmets with feathers.’ (Marios Verettas, The culture of Army Barracks, pg.345/ published by the author). We now come back to the present time where girls parade in high heeled shoes and mini skirts like models walking down the catwalk !

Parades are compulsory ,silly, show -off events. They distort the free and spontaneous way young people move. Movement becomes uniform, rigid, machine-like, a leftover of military history which is better suited for army camps than schools.

It is abnormal for a conscript soldier, let alone a boy or girl in school to walk like a robot.

We cannot commemorate the past by making teachers and students perform this graceless task which has nothing to do with events that radically changed the history of our nation.

It is totally absurd to waste valuable school hours on such an institution which is a sad reminder of a long- gone past , something imported, so foreign to us ,so cut off from our own customs and traditions.

“I prefer the tsamiko dance to the school parade”.

This fashion parade with marching tunes requiring blind obedience must be replaced by some other form of celebration. Something that is not imposed upon us, something that will contribute substantively and not just formally to a better understanding by the students of what exactly we are celebrating and will help them grasp the deeper meaning of this event Through theatrical plays,dance performances and music you can easily and effectively convey messages to children about values such as freedom, solidarity, courage, bravery, strength and humaneness. Noone in this world can convince me that this can be achieved through parades or that students are inspired by them.

Parades take place during spare time since they are held on a public holiday. Let me cite here UNESCO resolution No 8/1287 of 1/12/97 on the positive definition of free time which mentions the lack of coercion and the right to making a choice as basic educational principles( there are 6 in total). We cannot force teachers and students to take part in school parades. Noone has the right to do so and take disciplinary action which would lead to the exact opposite result of that which is expected. Noone can deprive teachers and students of the right to choose the way to celebrate the anniversary of an event. Only then could we upgrade the quality of our national holidays and increase the attendance rate. Photos of the parade for the 28th October in newspapers and two television shows on this subject show that we are going through a period where parades have faded in importance and are nothing but a means of showing off.

It is the obligation of our schools to make students into people whose top priority is Peace .They should learn to feel Greek and also be conscious of the fact that they are citizens of the European Union. They should try to build a world where differences are resolved through dialogue, not war.

Schools are meant to educate, prepare ,inspire and offer guidance. The ultimate objective is to make us decent human beings. This of course requires a change in institutions and the introduction of new ones. Are Greek schools and society at large ready for this?

My answer is a thousand times yes! I would even say that in such a television-addicted society full of apathy ,cynicism and irresponsibility it is highly called for. Let us not forget that we are at the brink of a war of unforeseeable dimensions, a war which could within a few minutes wipe every form of life off the planet. Man possesses weapons of mass destruction which could destroy mankind The burning issue is that of survival. The first step on the road to our survival is to abolish all institutions related to the military and to war. I am not only talking about Greece .This applies to all countries that retain military institutions. We will all suffer the same fate for in the event of a nuclear war the winners will not be better off than the losers. As more and more countries acquire nuclear weapons there is an ever greater need for heads of state to meet and carry out peace talks.

However, in order for peoples to be reconciled and to peacefully resolve their differences they must have been properly educated and learnt :

To talk, not fight

To listen, not just obey

To create, not destroy

To fall in love and be loved, not act cowardly or hate

To be active, not passive citizens

To respect nature, not destroy it

To respect their fellow man

TO SING, ACT AND D A N C E AND NOT MARCH LIKE DUMMIES.

I want to believe that this democratic society consists of autonomous individuals who can be involved in the establishment of rules or institutions. Such items should be put on the table and discussed by the competent bodies and all those who are interested.

Those who dare say something different, something new- especially in the sector of education where there is a need for new,fresh voices should be given the possibility to take part in the discussions.

Civil servants do not follow orders blindly. They can speak out and express their views. It was Aristotle who said that “citizens are those who can govern and be governed.”

It is unfair to punish an employee like me. I would have liked and expected ( it didn’t happen but I do hope it might ) a such pluralistic, tolerant, democratic society and state to have an open mind to different views and to engage in dialogue , not punishment. I hoped it would listen, discuss, reconsider and not just punish an employee who for 15 years has put her heart into her work.

I am not a member of any political party nor am I governed by any ideology. On 27 June 2002 , PYSDE Pireaus ruled I was guilty and the punishment was 20 days pay to be withheld from my salary.

On 30-09-2002 I contested the ruling before The Administrative Court of Appeals of Pireaus.ELME Pireaus recently took the following decision:

DECISION BY THE ELME PIREAUS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON 28 NOVEMBER 2002.

The General assembly demands that the competent bodies (PYSDE-KYSDE etc) re-examine the case of Mrs.Frantzeska Romanou in order to revoke the punishment imposed upon her.

The president of the General Assembly Representative of Elme Pireaus

KATRITSIS George The President

The Secretary General

GIANAKOPOULOS P. TSELENTIS S.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank www.omhroi.gr for creating the website www.omhroi.gr/parelash and putting on it all the documents related to my case. I would also like to thank my lawyers, the columnist of “Ios”in Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia ( a Greek Sunday paper), the people who translated various parts of the case and generally everyone who stood by me.

I thank Homer ( the Odyssey), Aristotle, Heraklitus, Socrates, Aristophanes, an anonymous Greek from the Prefecture, Nikos Kazantzakis, Yiannis Skarimbas, Cornelius Kastoriades, Albert Camy, Wilhelm Reich, Osso, Nikos Egonopoulos, Andreas Embeirikos, Aris Alexandrou, Odisseas Elytis, Lili Zographou and Εlias Petropoulos.

Finally, let me thank Pantelis Konstantinakos, Antonis Tossounidis, Marios Verettas, Anna Frangoudaki, George Papazoglou and all my students.

Translation from the greek text: Magda Sotirianou