In the morning of May 20, 1941, Nazi paratroopers began parachuting in from the sky in Crete. The airborne invasion, codenamed Operation Merkur, would become a 10 day long battle that would be studied and commemorated to this day. During the Battle of Crete (η Μάχη της Κρήτης), Hitler's army faced the wrath of Cretans fighting for their land and their lives. Civilians joined in the battle -- women too -- to defend their island. The massive resistence led to heavy German casualties, but eventually, Crete would fall to German hands. Here are some of the most iconic images from that battle:
(source: militaryphotos.net)
(source: militaryphotos.net)
(Illustration by Brendan Heffernan)
(Illustration by Brendan Heffernan)
(Major-General Freyberg, Allied Commander at the Battle of Crete)
(militaryphotos.net)
(militaryphotos.net)
Continue reading →
Yesterday, President Barack Obama
held a press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan following Erdogan's meeting with the president. The press availability provided an opportunity for journalists in the White House press corps to address recent controversies, including the revelation that the government has seized certain phone records from the Associated Press while investigating a national security leak. There was a single question during the Q&A on press freedom, from journalist Jeff Mason, who asked whether that seizure "was an overreach."
The irony of that question is that standing just feet away from Mr. Mason and the president was the world's worst jailer of journalists.
There has rightly been outrage and shock at the idea that the government seized certain phone records from the AP as part of its investigation, but the fact that the White House press corps had little to say to or about Erdogan's track record...
Continue reading →
Not long after HALC was launched, we asked our supporters to define what it means to be of Greek descent. This is a word cloud of their responses:
Today, as we celebrate Mother's Day, I look back at this and think of how many of the things we take pride in --
philotimo, our traditions, our values, and our culture -- are handed down to us or strengthened by the Greek mothers in our lives.
Last weekend, millions of Orthodox families around the world celebrated Easter. How many of you posted pictures on Facebook of eggs dyed bright red or
τσουρέκι braided by expert hands? Of
κουλουράκια that filled the home with the wonderful smell of a Greek holiday?
Greek mothers are special. Beyond possessing the heroic values that are exhibited by all mothers (the balancing of work and family, the steadfast support and unconditional love), Greek mothers form not only the...
Continue reading →
Since 1974, in contravention of international law, Turkey has illegally occupied and colonized the northern part of Cyprus. Despite repeated calls from the international community for Turkey to remove its troops from the island, there are still some 40,000 armed Turkish soldiers in the occupied area, which is about the size of Rhode Island. That makes the occupied part of Cyprus one of the most highly militarized areas on the entire planet.
[caption id="attachment_4145" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Signs warn visitors to keep out of Varosha"]
[/caption]
Varosha is part of a so-called "ghost town" in that militarized area. The area, located in the coastal town of Famagusta, is empty and is surrounded by barbed wire and fence. It is a time capsule for an era long gone -- from airports to homes to buildings, everything is frozen in time. It once a vibrant, thriving beach city. It's now a shell of broken history....
Continue reading →
This week, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom released its annual report analyzing religious freedom in various countries. The Commission has a tiered ranking system. At the top are the most egregious offenders, or "countries of particular concern" (CPCs), so labelled “for ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.” Below CPCs are Watch List countries (now known as Tier 2 countries), “where religious freedom conditions do not rise to the statutory level requiring CPC designation but which require close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the governments.” Finally, the Commission also includes in its reports other countries being monitored whose violations of religious freedom fall below the Watch List threshold.
In 2009, Turkey was first designated for monitoring and placed on the Commission’s Watch List. Last year, in a 5-4 vote, the Commission voted to name Turkey as a...
Continue reading →
From
Reuters:
Angela Merkel tried to contain her irritation when asked at a podium discussion in Berlin this week whether southern European countries could take much more German-ordered austerity.
But the frustration in her voice was clear enough after a week in which several European allies broke ranks, and in a public challenge to Germany, effectively declared the era of deficit reduction in Europe to be over.
"I call it balancing the budget," the German chancellor told her audience at a book presentation. "Everyone else is using this term austerity. That makes it sound like something truly evil."
Angela Merkel is reacting to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso's statement yesterday that
austerity "has reached its limits." "A policy to be successful," he said, "not only has to be properly designed, it has to have the minimum of political and social support." Barroso's statement came on the heels of Olli Rehn, the EU's...
Continue reading →
The story of the marathon is one of a message.
As the ancient Greek tale goes, Pheidippides, a messenger, ran some 40 kilometers from a battlefield in Marathon to Athens to deliver news that the Persians had been defeated. With his last breath, he declared "νενικήκαμεν!" ("we have won!"), before collapsing to the floor and dying.
We run for many reasons. For sport. For causes. For solidarity. Sometimes, we run with colors--pink or red or green or blue. We buddy up or we train alone. We travel mile after mile with numbers across our chests. A sea of branded co-travelers, placing foot in front of foot for personal victory, pounding the pavement to make a point, if only to ourselves.
Less than 24 hours after the bomb attacks at the Boston Marathon, it's unclear how many collapsed and died yesterday.
Sometimes, there is no message. Just senseless violence.
We've reached a template of...
Continue reading →
The great Greek orator Demosthenes wrote that "the easiest thing in the world is self-deceit for every man believes what he wishes though the reality is often different."
Animosity towards the eurozone and the European Union in general has skyrocketed in Greece and among Greeks around the world. Often, the complaints are legitimately based on the wrong-headed austerity strategies demanded by the troika. Those policies have devastated Greece and Cyprus along with other troubled countries.
It's not difficult to understand then why a rumor about the EU demanding that the cross be removed from Greece's flag has gained so much traction online over the last week. The story dovetails perfectly into the caricature believed by many of an evil EU that has no redeeming qualities. However, reality, as Demosthenes said, is different.
[caption id="attachment_3758" align="alignright" width="150" caption="This image of parade decorations is what set off one blogger to claim a conspiracy to remove the...
Continue reading →
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis has had enough.
He won't run for reelection in Germany when his term is up next year, and "declared that he is quitting German politics over his country’s treatment of its European partners."
Chatzimarkakis has been a member of the European Parliament since 2004 and is a member of the Free Democratic Party of Germany,
The Telegraph interviewed Chatzimarkakis, who laid bare the contempt German politicians have for Greeks and Cypriots:
Mr Chatzimarkakis accused German politicians, including his own party, of belittling Greece. He said that within his own party, ideas such as “sell your isles and the Acropolis” had been circulated as measures to pay off Greek debt. "They were so extreme that I couldn't go to the party's convention.” [...]
“It's very difficult to push through messages that don't fit stereotypes - such as that Greeks work very hard, even more than Germans. That doesn't enter the Germans' minds,” he said in...Continue reading →
