From NATO to Antifa: One Afghan’s journey to Greece
May 23, 2017
One Afghan refugee’s journey from his war-torn homeland resulted in him fighting Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party.
Athens, Greece – Around a thousand people march through the streets of the Greek capital, Athens, with flags and banners, eventually stopping in front of columns of baton and shield-wielding police in riot gear.
On this gusty afternoon in mid-April, the police block the anti-fascist demonstrators – or Antifa – from continuing their march to the offices of Golden Dawn, the neo-fascist party with 17 seats in the Hellenic parliament.
The Antifa activists – comprising anarchists, communists and other anti-racists – shout slogans against Golden Dawn in Greek. “Not in parliament, not anywhere,” chants a group of demonstrators carrying red flags. “Smash fascism everywhere.”
On the frontline of the protest stands Masoud Qahar, a 40-year-old Afghan refugee. Wearing a black T-shirt and a threadbare olive baseball cap, he is holding one end of a large banner that reads in red: “Close the Golden Dawn’s offices. Send the neo-Nazi killers to prison.”
