KKE holds major political-cultural event at Athens Polytechnic ahead of 53rd anniversary of uprising

Under the slogan “The Peoples Speak Through the Streets of Struggle – The Flame of November Remains Alive”, the gathering was organised ahead of the three-day anniversary commemorations and the major anti-imperialist march to the US Embassy scheduled for 17 November.

According to 902.gr, the event took place in the historic Polytechnic complex, where the 1973 student uprising became a landmark in the struggle against the military dictatorship. The KKE presented the gathering as a meeting point between the historical experience of the anti-dictatorship movement and contemporary struggles. The party highlighted the recent student and school student mobilisations, the international dockworkers’ strike involving 113 ports, and the protests taking place across Europe against governments’ policies and preparations for war.

Nikos Ampatziellos, member of the Political Bureau of the KKE Central Committee, addressed the gathering. He said the event was an answer to those seeking to bury the memory of November 1973, its heroic uprising and its enduring message of “Bread, Education, Freedom”. He stressed the continuity of the struggle for a world without exploitation, wars and oppression, and called on the people and youth of Athens and Piraeus to participate massively in the anniversary events, culminating in the anti-imperialist march to the US Embassy.

A large delegation of the KKE Central Committee attended, headed by General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas. The event was also attended by Theodoris Kotsantis, Secretary of the Central Council of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), as well as numerous veterans of the anti-dictatorship struggle. Earlier, the Athens University Organisation of KNE marched from the Law School to the Polytechnic, recalling the student mobilisations of early 1973 that paved the way for the November uprising.

The political event was followed by a concert entitled “These Trees Cannot Be Satisfied with Less Sky”, a line from the poetry of Yiannis Ritsos. Under the artistic direction of singer Natassa Bofiliou, the concert featured Michalis Atsalis, Ilias Vamvakousis, Yannis Dafnos and Vasilis Prodromou. Songs associated with the anti-dictatorship struggle and the history of popular resistance were performed in the courtyard of the Polytechnic, with the audience joining in.

The KKE also connected the anniversary mobilisation with the forthcoming nationwide general strike on 25 November, called under the slogan “No Sacrifice for Their Wars and Profits”. The party argued that the interests of working people stand in opposition to those of capital, insisting that popular needs must not be sacrificed to military spending, imperialist competition and corporate profits.

By bringing together veterans of the anti-dictatorship struggle, workers, students and younger generations at the Polytechnic, the KKE sought to underline that the legacy of November 1973 is not merely a matter of historical remembrance. For the party, its anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist messages remain a call for continued popular mobilisation and class struggle. The commemorations will culminate on 17 November with the march to the US Embassy, around the historic slogans “Out with the USA” and “Out with NATO”.

(Photo: 902.gr)