A second letter, referring to a previous note sent via post on May 17 to the Muslim Association’s head offices in Neos Kosmos informs Muslims that this is not a provocation, that this is an actual threat and Muslims will see the results soon.

“The Muslim Association of Greece as always will take all the necessary legal steps and will cooperate with all relative authorities in order to deal with this blind direct threat against citizens of Greece by anonymous groups,” MAG said in a statement.

“The Muslim Association of Greece has no intention to get involved in any criminal conflict that has as its target to destroy the relations between Greek, Arabic & Islamic World for some filthy political interests,” it added.

On May 17, a letter sent to MAG threatened Muslims with bloodshed giving them month ultimatum to evacuate the country.

Naim El Ghandour, president of the Muslim Association told Alyunaniya.com at that time concerning the note that the letter is “99 percent a provocation but who can guarantee the remaining 1 percent?”

The hard copies of the letters obtained by Alyunaniya.com were typed in Greek, English and Arabic. Both letters were unsigned but carried the emblem of the extreme-right Golden Dawn party on it.

Alyunaniya can’t verify the authenticity of these letters.

Golden Dawn, whose logo is reminiscent of a swastika, gathered enough votes to win almost 20 seats in the Greek parliament. Members of Golden Dawn have been accused of carrying out acts of violence and hate crimes against immigrants.

Meanwhile HRW called on Greece’s government to move quickly to adopt measures to combat hate crimes and protect victims, Human Rights Watch said today.

A bill on hate speech and racist violence has yet to be submitted in parliament because of disagreement among the three parties in the ruling coalition over its scope.

According to media reports, the bill would outlaw incitement against people because of their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, and impose jail sentences of up to six years on offenders.

MPs would not be excluded and parties that receive public funding would see it suspended if their leaders publicly denied the Holocaust, took part in racist attacks or used Nazi salutes or symbols in parliament.

“With people being attacked on the streets, Greece urgently needs to beef up its criminal justice response to hate crimes,” said Judith Sunderland, senior Western Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“This draft law contains some good provisions and should be improved in parliament rather than delayed further.”

According to media reports, the bill would outlaw incitement against people because of their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, and impose jail sentences of up to six years on offenders, according to reports.

MPs would not be excluded and parties that receive public funding would see it suspended if their leaders publicly denied the Holocaust, took part in racist attacks or used Nazi salutes or symbols in parliament.

Parliament’s Lawmaking Committee convened earlier this week and found that that anti-racism law is not in conflict with the Constitution. However, it was noted that certain essential terms regarding the law need to be better defined and clarified (such as “hate”, “genocide” and “ethnicity”).

According to protothema.gr, PASOK and the Democratic Left support it as it stands and SYRIZA agrees with it but it stumbles upon strong reactions by ND, Golden Dawn and KKE. ND and Maximos Mansion disagree with the bill and the arrangements for dealing with the racist action of Golden Dawn.

The ND’s argument is that the very harsh provisions may result in the opposite effect and reinforce Golden Dawn. Also, according to enet.gr, New Democracy officials concluded during a meeting that Greece has had anti-racism legislation since 1979.

PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos said that the country has an international obligation to vote for the anti-racism bill, which is “an essential measure to protect a democratic state ruled by law”, criticising the delay in submitting the bill to parliament and stressing that “any outstanding issues must be immediately dealt with by the three coalition leaders”.

Democratic Left officials have called on New Democracy to “leave the procedural tricks and agree to submit the bill to parliament for approval”.

“If a mosque is constructed for Islamist criminals in Greece, a front of 100,000 Greeks headed by Golden Dawn will be created,” Ilias Kasidiaris, spokesman for the far-right party, told supporters at a rally late on Sunday, AFP reported.

The threat came as a letter sent via post to the Muslim Association of Greece last which threatened Muslims in Greece with bloodshed giving them a month time to evacuate the country.

Police said they were examining the note, written in Greek, Arabic and English and on its backdrop carried the logo of the far-right party.

The Muslim Association condemned the letter saying that: “Every Muslim is any time ready and fearless to defend his faith, not caring for his life. Human dignity is challenged along with the sense of mutual respect and coexistence.”

Naim El Ghandour, president of the Muslim Association told Alyunaniya.com concerning the note that “even if we hypothesize that the note is 99 percent a provocation who can guarantee the remaining 1 percent?”

Golden Dawn, whose logo is reminiscent of a swastika, gathered enough votes to win almost 20 seats in the Greek parliament. Members of Golden Dawn have been accused of carrying out acts of violence and hate crimes against immigrants.

Meanwhile, the Greek government has stalled for over a decade the building of an official mosque leaving its 700,000 Muslims to pray in more than 120 basements and garages in Athens.

Earlier this month, the Greek Ministry of Education announced that it will allocate the sum of EUR 946,000 to the Ministry of Growth to fund the construction of the controversial mosque in Athens.

The mosque will have no minaret, in order to adopt to the surrounding environment and it will be built in the Athens neighborhood of Votanikos.

Athens Mayor George Kaminis, a supporter of the controversial mosque that some critics such as the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party are trying to block has said that the pending opening of the first official mosque in Greece, being built in Athens by the government, will pave the way for more, as many as two or more in each district of the city.

According to the hard copy of the letter obtained by Alyunaniya.com, Golden Dawn gives Muslims of Greece until June 30 to evacuate the country or else they will start ‘butchering Muslims like chickens’. The threat appears authentic as the logo of the party was printed on the letter.

The Muslim Association of Greece in a statement condemned the letter stating that Muslims are ready to defend their faith.

“Every Muslim is any time ready and fearless to defend his faith, not caring for his life. Human dignity is challenged along with the sense of mutual respect and coexistence,” the Muslim Association said.

The Association called on the state to take action and ensure that all citizens of the country share equal rights under law.

Golden Dawn, whose logo is reminiscent of a swastika, gathered enough votes to win almost 20 seats in the Greek parliament. Members of Golden Dawn have been accused of carrying out acts of violence and hate crimes against immigrants.

In a related development, the Greek Ministry of Education announced last week that it will allocate the sum of EUR 946,000 to the Ministry of Growth to fund the construction of the controversial mosque in Athens.

The Greek government has stalled for over a decade the building of an official mosque leaving its 700,000 Muslims to pray in more than 120 basements and garages in Athens.

The mosque will have no minaret, in order to adopt to the surrounding environment and it will be built in the Athens neighborhood of Votanikos.

Earlier, Athens Mayor George Kaminis, a supporter of the controversial mosque that some critics such as the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party  are trying to block has said that the pending opening of the first official mosque in Greece, being built in Athens by the government, will pave the way for more, as many as two or more in each district of the city.

Researcher, author, and professor Philomena Essed wrote that: “Racial oppression is inherent in the nature of the social order…the real drama is not racism but the fact that racism is an everyday problem. …racism is transmitted in routine practices that seem ‘normal,’ at least for the dominant group, this can only mean that racism is often not recognized, not acknowledged-let alone  not considered a problem by the dominant group.”

Some of the roots of racism are economic. When people are scared, desperate and frightened, they scapegoat people and allow latent feelings of racism to surface. Another is the attitude of superiority that individuals and groups feel over others.  Race and racism are socially constructed.  We are not born racists; it is learned behavior based on lack of exposure to diversity, ignorance, and/or fear.  Racists focus on what they perceive as differences among people, when in fact there is very little.  Instead of the word “differences,” let’s use the word individual uniqueness.  Scientists have shown that there is little genetic difference between people who have been grouped as belonging to different races.  In fact scientists have proven that 99% of the human genome is the same in everyone.  Genetic differences are more within groups than between groups.  We are all one coming from the same African ancestry.

Prejudice, discrimination stereotyping are all elements of racism.  The term race in itself is non-specific.

Stereotyping anyone because of their race, ethnicity or color and based on those assumptions commit acts of discrimination, prejudice and/or violence against others; is unacceptable and should never be tolerated.

A form of this is what is commonly known as racial profiling; in the United States it is called  “driving, walking or shopping while black.” In other words the crime; being black. Generally, racial profiling, is associated with people in authority, like the police and government but anyone who sees individuals be it refugees, immigrants, or other people of color or different ethnicities and based on some preconceptions about these individuals determines that it is their right to attack, insult, threaten harass, detain, arrest, etc., when that person has done nothing to warrant this kind of attention except to be “unique” in appearance.

Many who are people of color, refugees or immigrants including myself are constantly being stopped on the streets or at the boarding pass checkpoint at the airport and harassed when nothing has been done to raise suspicion.  The only factor is that the person being stopped is ethnic or of color.

I would like to recount a story published in the New York Times about everyday racism, recently, well known actor, producer and director Forest Whitaker of The Last King of Scotland, one of his popular films, was at a deli on the upper west side of Manhattan near Columbia university when he was approached by an employee and accused of shoplifting and then searched by this employee, of course nothing was found, for he is not a thief.  The owner of the deli said it was a sincere mistake made by a decent man who was just doing his job!

Minorities are subject to these accusations and indignities and to even more devastating attacks of violence daily.   The media glare comes when the victim is Forest Whitaker, an Oscar winner. But it does not matter if you are wealthy, professional, a student, a worker, unemployed or a refugee you are seen and treated as someone different because of your color or ethnicity and not as a valued and unique human being.

Racism is insidious; it eats at both the perpetrator and the victim. It exists everywhere; it is attitude, behavior, feelings that take root within each of us from experiences, family, and socialization.  Racism is not innate; people are not born with racist feelings, these are learned!

When you hear someone say I am not racist or I have no racist feelings, unfortunately, they seem to have forgotten we live in a world where we are taught hatred or we feel threaten and we blame others for that fear and others become the target or recipient of these feelings.  The financial crisis, the loss of jobs, becomes the excuse for allowing these dormant feelings of racism to be exposed.  The world is diverse and the majority of the world’s populations are people of color. We live in a world of globalization where people are moving and immigrating from country to country. Yet racism is alive and well around the world.  It is subtle and overt such as calling people derogatory names, refusing to rent or sell to immigrants or foreigners, telling people to go back where they came from, that they are all dirty or that they are filled with disease or criminals.  And another confirmation of harboring racist feelings is when a person say that they don’t have racist feelings because “my best friend is African” or worse yet, to be told I don’t see color and you are different not like the others! We blame the victim for causing the oppression or being responsible for the racist behavior of others.

People move to another country, live and work in that country, have children yet cannot get residency let alone citizenship despite their contribution to their new homeland.

Each of us is responsible individually for the continued perpetuation of racism unless we decide to do something about it.  Ending racism begins and ends with each of us.  We all must become aware of and acknowledge these toxic attitudes and behaviors and stop denying their existence.  Because until we all make this acknowledgement, we cannot and will not do anything to change or confront this plague on our society and culture.

Racism is not new for it has existed for centuries around the world.  Unfortunately, today in the year 2013 in the 21st century because of racism we are still experiencing a world where men, women and children continue to be excluded from living fully as human beings, actualizing their dreams, achieving their goals and contributing to improving this world.

The doctrine of racism is not on the wane, it is getting new recruits and gaining increased popularity and acceptance. We can’t allow racism to continue to grow and take root in our society. There is no excuse or justification for racism of any kind anywhere.

We must all work to end its existence, and everywhere we find it, we must condemn and defeat it.

What is clear here is that racism and I repeat is universal and is in the minds and hearts of “good people”.  Those who continuously state and insist they are not racists or have racist feelings. Good people, who do nothing, good people who remain silent in the face of racist behavior.

Let’s confront racists; let’s do our part to change not only our attitudes but also those of others to the damaging effects of racism in our world.  We must all take responsibility for its continuation we have a duty to do our part to end the nightmare of racial discrimination and to change history.

“Silence in the face of racists assaults are acts of complicity” and finally a quote by Maya Angelou “we all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”

Manifestations of Islamophobia include discrimination and violence towards Muslims, criminal damage to Islamic buildings, and protests against the building of mosques even in countries, such as Poland, where some Muslim communities have been established and integrated for centuries. Muslim women and girls are particularly affected, facing an extreme form of double discrimination on the basis of both their religion and their gender. In France for instance, 85% of all Islamophobic acts target women.

In addition, anti-Muslim and anti-immigration discourses, promoted and exacerbated by both extremist and mainstream political parties, are fuelling discrimination and preventing ethnic and religious communities from participating fully in the European society and economy. This scapegoating is used as a deviation from the ‘real issues’ by many politicians to cover up a lack of vision and leadership in contributing as much as would be expected of them in steering the recovery of European societies.

Based on data collected by anti-racist civil society across Europe, the Shadow Report also highlights that discrimination continues to affect the lives of many ethnic and religious minorities throughout Europe as regards their access to education, employment, housing, goods and services as well as how they are treated by the police and criminal justice systems. For instance, Roma children form approximately one third of the ‘special needs’ school population in the Czech Republic. In Ireland, a study was conducted whereby fictitious CVs were sent to recruiters, half with recognizably Irish names and the other half with African, Asian and German names. It found that candidates with Irish names were twice as likely to be invited to interviews as non-Irish candidates with comparable levels of skills and qualifications.

ENAR Chair Chibo Onyeji said:  ”The current climate of rising xenophobia and racist violence reflected in our Shadow Report findings should not obliterate the fact that, whatever our skin colour or our beliefs, we all strive for a better life, a better future, with better chances for our offspring. No special privileges are expected, but a clear political commitment to equality and inclusion for all people living in Europe is.”

“Sport is a universal activity that can reaffirm our fundamental human rights,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message for the Day.

He noted that despite much progress, racism remains a pervasive menace to individuals and ethnic and religious groups worldwide, a threat to stability and a grave violation of human rights.

The Day is an opportunity to highlight the “sharp contrast between the positive values of sports and the despicable incidents of racism that scar even some professional competitions,” he noted.

“The international community has an obligation to work for equality and non-discrimination, and we can advance progress by promoting these values through sports,” Ban added.

In addition, a group of United Nations independent experts urged governments to declare zero tolerance to racism expressions and discrimination in sport.

“We call on States and sports authorities in different parts of the world to intensify the fight against racism through awareness creation, and by imposing appropriate sanctions on clubs and individuals who propagate racial hatred, abuse and violence,” said Mutuma Ruteere, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

The head of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Alexei Avtonomov, said it is also up to local communities to counter racism when fans use racist slurs, gestures and even violence to demean and attack their opponents or players of the opposite team.

“When such an incident occurs, swift action must be taken, not only by public authorities to condemn it and to hold those responsible to account, but also by the community at large to stand in solidarity against all forms of racial discrimination,” said Avtonomov.

The Day is marked annually on 21 March on the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, during which 69 unarmed demonstrators were killed when South African police opened fire on a protest against the country’s apartheid laws.

“Racial discrimination, xenophobia and stigmatisation faced in particular by people of African descent must be addressed at the community, national and international levels,” said Verene Shepherd, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.

She added that people of African descent should be recognized for their contributions not only to sports, but also to the development, diversity and richness of world civilizations and cultures.

Independent experts are appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back, in an unpaid capacity, on specific human rights themes.

The 19-year-old died in hospital on Sunday after being repeatedly stabbed near an unofficial mosque in Anaxagora Street in central Athens by a gang of five people riding four motorcycles, police officials said.

The gang had earlier tried to assault a Romanian and a Moroccan national before the attack, but the pair managed to escape, witnesses told police.

“Such attacks are unacceptable and the authorities must do all within their power to stem their rise,” said Jezerca Tigani, Deputy Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International.

Attacks by unidentified groups and individuals against foreign nationals and places of worship have also been reported in the past week in Athens, Pireus, Crete and other towns.

In one attack last Thursday in Pireus, flares were reportedly thrown into a prayer room for Muslim worshippers by some 15 members of an extreme right-wing group riding motorcycles as 10 migrants were praying inside. 

There are no official mosques in Greece. Muslim worshippers pray in rooms, flats, warehouses, and any space that can be turned into a praying room. So far, plans to build official mosques have failed.

Two Pakistani nationals were taken to hospital after being beaten by a group of unknown men who entered their house in Vonitsa in Western Greece last Sunday evening.

Two Egyptian nationals also told the organization in July that they were attacked by around 20 members of an extreme right-wing group as they slept in a house in Pireus with four fellow nationals. One of the two men, a young fisherman, had to have two operations on his face and remained in hospital for days after the incident. Five men and a woman were arrested after the attack.

“The number of attacks is worrying and it shows how much rage and hate there is in the society. It is time for the Greek society to stand up against such shameful attacks and reassert its condemnation of racial and ethnic hatred,” said Jezerca Tigani.

The attack against the Iraqi man on Sunday came days after Amnesty International called on the Greek authorities to halt a police crackdown launched last week on “irregular immigrants”, in which more than 8,000 foreign nationals were arrested in the Greek capital. Of those, 1,660 individuals were found to be without official documentation and were placed in administrative detention, according to Greek police today.

“Recent police operations against immigrants have raised serious concerns that people may be discriminated against on the basis of their perceived ethnicity, and such actions fuel xenophobic sentiment.”

Amnesty International, while recognizing the Greek authorities’ right to control immigration, has previously stated they “do not have the right to treat people in the street like criminals purely because of the colour of their skin”.

“Greek authorities must prioritize and build up the confidence of minorities and foreign nationals in the ability of the authorities to protect them from the threat of racist violence by sending a strong message to all those who carry out these attacks – they will not be tolerated and will be fully and vigorously investigated, with perpetrators brought to justice,” said Jezerca Tigani.

Volunteer members of the party dressed in black gave milk, pasta, olive oil and patatoes to Hundreds who stood in line at Athens’ main Syntagma Square, showing their ID cards to validate their citizenship in order to receive assistance as the country’s poverty and unemployment rates continue to soar.

Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris said the food came from Greek firms and Greek producers only. The party ignored a local authority ban on allowing the food handout in the square.

In July, the far-right Golden Dawn party was accused of organizing a racist blood drive. The party was trying to get Greeks to donate blood exclusively to other Greek-born citizens.

Golden Down, which many say is neo-Nazi, is known for constant assaults on immigrants.

In mid-July, the Greek Human Rights Watch rang an alarm, saying migrants were being attacked all over the country. Although there was no direct evidence of Golden Dawn’s connection to those attacks, Human Rights Watch said some facts suggest that the extremist party was involved in the attacks.

Anti-immigrant sentiment in Greece is largely fueled by the economic crisis the country faces. Greece has always been a gateway for immigrants coming from Asia and Africa to Europe in large numbers.

Public support for the party has dramatically increased, twenty-fold, since elections in 2009, according to AP. This May, Golden Dawn gained 7 per cent of the vote at the parliamentary elections, managing to pass the threshold for the first time.

The decision came despite a statement issued earlier on Wednesday by Papachristou in which she apologizes for a “joke” she posted on her Twitter account on Monday referring to the West Nile virus and immigrants in Greece.

Her tweet which was referring to reports of mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus in her home country read: ‘With so many Africans in Greece, at least the West Nile mosquitoes will eat home made food!’

The Hellenic Olympic Committee said Papachristou is “placed outside the Olympic team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement.”

“It’s the same as violating fair play,” Isidoros Kouvelos, head of Greece’s Olympic mission, told SKAI. “We are not here just to get medals, but to promote the Olympic ideals, to show our character.”

Shortly after the incident, the Hellenic Olympic Committee announced that it had banned all Greek athletes from using social media to express any personal opinions not related to the Olympics and to the preparation for their competitions.

Papachristou’s Twitter account  contained several retweets and links to sites and YouTube videos promoting the views of Golden Dawn, an extreme right party that entered the Greek Parliament in the June elections winning almost 7 percent of the vote. She has since erased those links and retweets from her account.