User talk:Scream!!/GD

Greece for the Greeks Test.

Golden Dawn is a extremist Greek party that has absolutely nothing to do with Nazism or fascism (in the same way Ted Haggard is completely heterosexual). The primary objective of the Golden Dawn is to "rid the land of filth." Of course, they assure the media that filth stands for the economic crisis, not non-Greeks (and non-sufficiently-Greeks), probably. After the 2012 elections, the party got 18 of 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament, the first time they've ever been in it.

Anarchists have repeatedly tried to kick Golden Dawn's ass, and on some occasions succeeded in driving them away.

Their leader
The Führer president of Golden Dawn is Nikolaos Michaloliakos, a Holocaust denier and a fan of Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas, who was (ironically) simply disastrous for the Greek economy. He once met the leadership of Greek military junta, which probably inspired him to be such a gigantic authoritarian fuck. Michaloliakos is one of several Golden Dawn MP's arrested following the murder of anti-racist musician, Pavlos Fyssas by a Golden Dawn supporter.

The party also includes luminaries such as Ilias Kasidiaris, who actually beat a woman live on national television. He then proceeded to sue her.

Violence
Over the course of their 20 year history, the Golden Dawn has been associated with at least 5 acts of hate crimes against Jews, immigrants, and political activists. These attacks include the partial, permanent blinding of a singer from a socialist band; attacks on three different synagogues that Golden Dawn has claimed responsibility for; and possession of weaponry in their offices.

In 2013, another violent clash with anti-fascists that left another musician dead was the final straw for the Greek government, and is moving to ban Golden Dawn from politics. Whether or not this will lead to them becoming even more violent remains to be seen.

Blasphemy prosecution
Golden Dawn brought a young atheist named Filippos Loizos to the attention of the authorities, for publishing a Facebook page ridiculing a deceased Elder of the Greek Orthodox Church responsible for many alleged miracle claims before and after his death. This was considered an act of blasphemy, Loizos was prosecuted and sentenced to ten months in prison. Some Greeks, including several atheist groups have come forward demanding repeal of blasphemy laws and the prison sentence which is currently under appeal lead to renewed demands that the blasphemy laws should be repealed.

England's Golden Dawn
There is a group in the United Kingdom which refers to itself as BNP UKIP England's Golden Dawn and has adopted the logo of its Greek counterpart. EGD is not a political party, however, but a small organisation which currently appears to exist as little more than a Facebook group founded in November 2012. Postings at this group are predictably dodgy: "Pity we cant [sic] just carpet bomb every Muslim area in the country I say," opines the page's administrator. The website EDLNews claims that the group is run by Eddie Stampton and that he uses the pseudonym of Mark Pringle on Facebook; Stampton denies this.