Panhellenic day of action for Palestine

This blog is not about politics, not my views, and not my activism - it's about art, travel, and the things I generally do and see. I did, however,  write extensively about the Greek economic crisis which was triggered in 2009 and which led to a decade of recession, austerity and social upheaval, but this was inevitable, as the signs of this crisis were everywhere we went in Greece. 

What is happening in Palestine and Gaza are extremely important to me, but I have not written about it. I will do so today however, as the 9th of August was quite an amazing day in Greece and this is where I am at the moment, after all.

For the last two years, on the last Sunday before August the 15th,  Greek people have been demonstrating against the ethnic cleansing and genocide that Israel, with the help of the US (and other Western countries), is perpetrating on the people of Gaza.

Panhellenic day of action on islands, mountains and towns against the continuing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine.

On this map of Greece are marked the 106 locations where on the 9th of August people demonstrated, marched, held vigils or picketed, in solidarity with the people of Palestine. 106 locations is quite amazing for a country the size of Greece. There were for instance, 11 locations in the Cyclades, 7 in Crete, 12 in the Peloponese, 3 in Athens.

looking closer at a small section of the map.

We joined the demonstration in one of the Athens locations, Monastiraki Square, which is in Plaka, at the foot of the Acropolis.

We arrived at 7:00, the starting time, even though we knew that we would not start marching for at least 45 minutes. Greeks hold the rally at the beginning of demonstrations, rather than at the end, which is what we're used to in the UK. There were a few short speeches, but mainly a lot of chanting, which was spot on, given that there are a lot of tourists around this area.

When we were about to start marching, the Palestinian flag was unfurled

So many people, they must have been waiting all around the side streets around the square. This was going to be a big demonstration, which surprised me in a way, because Athens empties out in August, everyone goes away on holiday or to their villages - I really did not think there were that many people still here.

And we were off. I knew where the march was heading,  so I could not understand why we went up Athinas Avenue

We then saw the first police - we had noted the fact that around Monastiraki there had been no police, but here they were

We arrived in Omonia Square, and then the route became clear to me: we were marching through all of central Athens. First Athinas Avenue, then Omonia Square, then Stadiou Street, finishing at Syntagma Square. It could not have been better.

We could not understand why the police were guarding this hotel, and why they thought we might attack it? Is it popular with Israeli tourists? Is that what they thought we were about?

More police stopping entry into this street. Again, why?

We eventually arrived at Syntagma Square and standing at this corner it became clear how large this demonstration was

We arrived at the top of the square, where the Parliament building is situated, and then, people started dispersing.

The police forming a line in the middle of the road to prevent the marchers from going to the Parliament building.

A bit further down the square we could see the tram that would take us home, ready to depart, so we boarded it. We had to change at Pikrodafni, and when we got on to the tram there, with our keffiyeh, our watermelon bracelets, our flags, two young blokes excitedly greeted us, telling us they are from Gaza. We had a lovely chat with them and it was such a great end to the day.

                                                                    *   *   *

I have since, seen photographs or videos of most of the 106 demonstrations/vigils around the country.  All looked impressive. A very successful day of action.

I also saw reports and videos of Israeli tourists, who were apparently IDF soldiers, who were aggressive and abusive towards the demonstrators on the island of Agistri. One eye-witness said: 'wherever they go, they take their settler colonial mentality with them'.  This does not surprise me. I was aggressively verbally abused in Thessaloniki because I was wearing a keffiyeh. But we saw my attacker off very successfully, as I don't think he thought I would stand up to him.

The art trail

One of the first things we do when we get back to Athens is go to Kolonaki and look at some of the  private galleries.  Not that much to look at this time, as everything closes down in August, and some of the galleries had already closed in late July.

The bus dropped us off at Syntagma Square, We walked past the Houses of Parliament, in front of which the shrine for the victims of the Tempi rail disaster has been .set up

First stop, the shop of the Gikas-Hatzikyriakos wing of the Benaki Museum

This platter on the window -  I could not tell who the artist is

bowl by Yannis Zois

print of the face of a young boy in the Fayoun style by Yannis Moralis

Fani Skoulikidi-Boukovala

Iosifina Kosma

Zoumboulakis Gallery:   Paintings by Knesse Douglas - Dreaming was not Enough

Vessels of Fruit, 2026, (oil, acrylic on canvas)

Untitled, 2026, (acrylic and oil on canvas)

A Vessel to Carry the Ocean, 2026. (oil and acrylic on canvas)

Athens Gallery of Art: Various artists

Stathis-Alexandros Zoulias, To the Castle, 2021

Vanessa Anastasopoulou,  Shardroot, 2025

Kez, Nyra, 2025

Oh dear! I did not record who this is by and I really like it.

Kalfayan Galleries, Konstantinos Mouchtaridis, The Earliest Winds

Vardaris, 2026

Lyvas, 2026

Zephyros, 2026

Windward, 2026

We then went to Philippou, our favourite taverna in Kolonaki, to have lunch

We sat on the terrace

but, as we sat by the window, we had a good view of the inside.

Picket of our beach

A few days ago we were on our way to take the tram to go to Athens when we saw that there was a picket outside the entrance to our beach. So, of course, we went to investigate. It was a picket by the youth section of the Communist Party of Greece, demanding free access to our beaches.

The situation on Greek beaches is becoming unbearable as it is in other parts of the world. There's been quite a lot in the press about Italian beaches, as in the Guardian recently. Exclusive beach clubs, bars and restaurants are taking more and more of the coastline in the Athens Riviera, but also all over the mainland and the islands, Paros for instance. 

Until quite recently, beaches remained open to the public for free. Now, 'free' beaches are becoming rare. Privatisation of the beaches means you have to pay:  to get in; for sunbeds; for unbrellas; and for the use of other facilities. Our beach is one of the most 'reasonable' in terms of prices. You pay 10 euros to get in and 6 for a sunbed. You can do the maths of what this means for a family of four who are also likely going to want to have a drink and maybe something to eat. Fortunately, we get in free because we are residents, all we have to do is show our resident's card.  A sunbed costs us 1 euro. But, most people are not so lucky. In other parts of the country the prices are much higher and we feel this every time we go to one of the islands. A luxury lounger on Paros can cost up to 120 euros.

According to the leaflet that the protesters were handing out, the profit of these privarte enterpreneurs on the beaches was 23,6 bn euros in 2025.

This situation leaves people who cannot afford these prices on a limb. Sometimes you have to wallk for a very long distance to find a free beach where you can put your towel on the sand and maybe, plant your own umbrella. These 'free' beaches are invariably in remote and less attractive areas, they often have a litter issue, and no facilities, things like showers,  toilets or a lifeguard.

 

Open and Free Beaches for the People and for our Youth.

As we were leaving we saw a part of the protesters walking towards the other entrance of the beach to picket there.

Sailing club

As I wrote a while ago we are back in Greece and will remain here for a while. We are totally bewildered by the weather, which alternates between  heatwave, followed by a drop in temperature coupled with strong winds, back to heatwave, etc. We're on the strong wind phase at the moment, and they fuel fires which are becoming a real issue, as they are most summers.

But, we are trying to get on with living, despite everything, which of course, includes the world situation which is unbearable to even think about. One of the places we like to go to in the evenings for a meal and a drink, is the Sailing Club in the Marina of Floisvos. It's one of our favourite places for lunch when we are here in the winter - we come here approximately twice a week. Not that often in the summer in the evenings, but we do like it a lot.

We arrived here last week just as the sun was about to set

And then it was gone, and we had the glow

It's a very popular place and you have to book to get a table

The lit up mast belongs to a war ship anchored nearby which is a museum nowadays

We like to view so we always make sure to book a table on the front row.