Article 16 of the Greek constitution should not be changed

It all started at the beginning of November 1973 when a memorial service for George Papandreou turns into a massive demonstration against the military junta in Greece, which ends in beatings and arrests.

On November 14th the students at the polytechnic occupied the school. With them are lawschool students, workers and other civilians. The activist Nikos Xilouris went into into the occupied polytechnic to give courage and hope to the students. The police are present, but more and more civilians are entering the polytechnic and standing alongside the students. The students put together a radio transmitter and soon receive the help of radio-pirates so that the signal reaches all of Athens with anti-dictatorship messages, calling the people to fight with them.

It's Thursday November 15th 1973 and students have occupied Universities in Thessalonica and Patra. On Friday 16th of November the people around the polytechnic exceed 100.000 and are constantly increasing. Later in the afternoon Papadopoulos gives order for the police to strike. The police use teargas and bullets and kill many unarmed civilians and students. Builders and workers fight the police using whatever they can find in building sites, turn over heavy vehicles and set up roadblocks in the area.

At midnight on November 17th tanks fill the streets of Athens. Cranes remove the obstacles that had been left by the civilians. The polytechnic's radio station calls out to the soldiers saying: " Our brothers, how can you shoot at us? How can you help spill Greek blood when we all believe in freedom?" and sang out the national anthem. " People of Greece, you must know! You must know that right now your children are fighting! All of greece is fighting, and especialy the people of Athens are in the streets, in front of the tanks! The students request negotiations but the dictator is preparing a demonstration of power to silence the protestors.

The tanks and military close off the polytechnic.at 3 a.m. on Saturday 17th November the order is given and a tank demolishes the entrance of the polytechnic flattening whatever obstacle the students had left. Soldiers, police and secret agents storm the polytechnic. Thousands were arrested and tortured, but the message had got through, the days of the jounda were numbered. Many students and civilians escaped in any way they could, disappeared in alleys and sought refuge at the homes of friends and relatives. These are the fights that the students before us fought so that we could have the education we have today.

Now the goverment is trying to take back what is rightfully ours, and it's time to claim it. Article 16 of the Greek constitution should not be changed!