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 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.

According to Turkish daily Hurriyet, Samaras and Erdogan had already discussed about the stalled plans for the construction of a mosque in Athens in a 40-minute summit in Doha, Qatar, a few weeks earlier. Erdogan had then announced that he had offered Turkish help for the building of the house of worship, while adding that Samaras was “warm” to the idea, Hurriyet reported.

However, in Athens, Deputy Foreign Minister Costas Tsiaras has noted in Parliament that the building of the mosque would be done entirely by using the country’s own financial resources.

The issue has been a source of tension and a debate as the Greek government has faced strong criticism for its long indifference to the demands of the country’s Muslims to build a mosque in Athens.

Commenting on the subject Naim el Ghandour, President of the Muslim Association of Greece told Alyunaniya.com: “The Turkish Prime minister is a Muslim worshipper who wants to have a mosque in a country he visits just like any other worshipper. It is something logical. Greeks also built Greek Orthodox churches wherever they go. I know that better than anyone because I am from Egypt. Every major city in Egypt has a orthodox church and cemetery.”

He added: “The Greek government has given the ‘go ahead’ for the construction of a mosque for Muslims in Greece but this is never realized, because it simply fears losing votes from the far-right.”

Last September Parliament voted in favor of the construction of an Athens mosque without minarets. The plan calls for renovating an existing state building –on a disused navy base– in the industrial district of Votanikos near the center of Athens, according to Kathimerini. The plan commits the Greek government (Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs) to pay for the construction of a temporary mosque until the works are concluded.

“If the Greek government doesn’t built a mosque for Greek Muslims then we will have to take the matter in our hands and look for foreign sponsors from countries like Qatar or Saudi Arabia to buy land and get a license to build an official place for worship. The constitution does not prohibit something like that as it guarantees freedom of worship,” Naim el Ghandour said. “But we don’t want it that way, this will be a Greek mosque for Greek Muslims,” he added.

The Greek capital is the only European capital that does not have an official place of worship for its 700,000 Muslim population.

“You can’t in the name of freedom of speech slander a faith of 1.8 billion people. We all have free speech and I respect that. It is something that we had been missing for decades in Muslim countries before the Arab Spring . Actually this movie was a test by the West for Muslims after the Arab spring.

Speaking to Alyunaniya, he said the  reason the Muslim Association of Greece hasn’t planned any demonstrations, is that “even though in a democracy we have every right to protest, we wanted to state our position in a civilized way, we don’t want to create tensions in a country that is also ours suffering from an economic crisis. We respect the hard times Greece is going through.”

It is worth noting that during the press conference eminent figures like known theologians and sociologists stated their positions while a message of the Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Education Giorgos Kalatzis was read.

In his message, Kalatzis stated that even though he was aware of the movie released he is not amongst the people who even bothered to watch it as it was simply an act of provocation aimed at dehumanizing a belief.”

He added, “Muslims and Christians in Greece have been living harmoniously together  in Greece and nobody had the right to insult their religion. We strongly condemn that.”

While the press conference was organized for the purpose of the anti-Islamic film in response to questions concerning problems Muslims in Greece face, Greek-Egyptian El-Ghandour said that Muslims in Greece feel as “second class citizens” then they have no places for worship and no place to bury their dead. “Greek Muslims have no other option but to use basement apartments, garages and warehouses for worshipping,” he said.

As for the phenomenon of the increasing racist attacks, he said that it’s not only the Muslims being attacked but also the Christians from Egypt.”

In a comment already stated a few months ago on Alyunaniya, El-Ghandour called the Greek PM a racist who said should be especially sensitive to the issue since he comes from a family of Greek migrants who once lived in Egypt.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has adopted a tough line against illegal immigration during his pre-electoral campaign referring to migrants as “the conquerors of Greek society”.

The Greek Parliament has approved a controversial plan to build a taxpayer-funded mosque in Athens, the only capital in the European Union without a state-funded mosque. The plan which has been stalled calls for renovating an existing state building  on a disused navy base in the industrial district of Votanikos near the center of Athens.

Since July 20, Muslims have been observing Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, by abstaining from food, drink each day from sunrise to sunset. Eid al-Fitr, which means feast of the breaking fast, marks the end of Ramadan and is usually observed when Islamic scholars see the new crescent moon in the night skies.

“The Muslim Association of Greece (MAG) with the cooperation of the Athens Observatory as every year, marked the end of Ramadan with the traditional Islamic way,” President of the Muslim Association of Greece Naim El Ghandour said.

All delegations from Muslim communities gathered to look in the telescope with their own eyes the birth of the new moon, with the assistance of Dr. Dapergolas based on the astronomical data of Greece and not from abroad. We wish all Muslims a Happy Eid and may God accept their good deeds and prayers,” he added.

In a statement to Alyunaniya, President of the Muslim Association of Greece thanked the Secretary-General of Religious Affairs, Mr. Kalatzis and all the relevant ministries for granting muslims in Greece the Olympic Stadium of Athens OAKA and making this eid prayer possible one more year.

Ahmed El Sharkawi, born in Athens to Egyptian parents said: “On the first day of Eid, we wake up we eat a small meal, a symbolic act that reminds them that Ramadan is over. Then we gather to perform the Eid prayer. Unfortunately, until we get an official mosque in Greece we are forced to pray in stadiums or different makeshift mosques.”

“We later disperse to visit our families and friends, give gifts to one another and convey good wishes for the holiday,” he added.

Muslims in Greece are left to pray in basement apartments, garages or underground basements, as the Greek government has stalled for over a decade in building an official mosque.

All Muslim Communities of Greece are beginning Ramadan on Friday July 20, as identifying the start of Ramadan is like a waiting game where Islamic scholars must see the new crescent moon in the night skies before the holy month officially begins.

“The Muslim Association of Greece (MAG) with the cooperation of the Athens Observatory as every year, calculated the beginning of Ramadan with the traditional Islamic way,” President of the Muslim Association of Greece Naim El Ghandour said.

“All delegations from Muslim communities gathered to look in the telescope with their own eyes the birth of the new moon, and have the chance to know more about this natural phenomenon with the assistance of Dr. Dapergolas who honors us every year and gives us the chance to calculate Ramadan based on the astronomical data of Greece and not from abroad. We wish all Muslims a blessed Ramadan and may God accept their good deeds and prayers,” he added.

This year, Ramadan in Greece occurs during one of the hottest stretches of the year, and a time of a great amount of sunlight. As a result, the fasting period each day is sa couple hours longer than it would be in the winter.

“It is the Islamic month where muslims don’t only refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours but also an opportunity for inward-looking, purification of the soul and  body, and promoting assistance to the poor,” Lina, Syrian living in Greece says.

Egyptian Rabab Hassan says, “I am looking forward for Ramadan in Greece. During this holy month we volunteer to bring meals each evening to break the daily fast at the mosque next to where I live in Keratsini. Ramadan in Greece is a time to bring all communities closer. Muslims Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, everybody.”

Ramadan is the month in which the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.

Mahmoud Abou Hamed says,  ”We here as Muslims in Greece, we have a lot to be thankful for. We are prosperous and we can’t help but look at Muslims and non-Muslims who are suffering,” he said. “We pray for the peace and prosperity for everybody. This is what we pray for at this time.”

With jubilance and optimism for the future of their country, Egyptians in Greece gathered under the rain on Wednesday in Syntagma Square to do three things: commemorate their revolution, memorialize the people who died and demonstrate against the country’s ruling generals.

“Down with military rule” and “Revolution until victory” chanted the crowd.

Since February 11 last year when Mubarak was driven out the military council has assumed power and is led by the man who was Mubarak’s defense minister for two decades, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The army has promised to relinquish power to an elected civilian government. In this time there have been a growing number of military trials, new anti-protest laws and protesters have been detained. In response, protests have continued in Tahrir Square.

“Definitely, the revolution has not achieved its goal. The revolution continues until it realizes its goal; that’s when we will really celebrate,” says Egyptian and president of the Muslim Association of Greece Naim EL Ghandour.

The words “freedom”, “Democracy” and “revolution” punctuated all talks in Syntagma Square. There was a sense of bewilderment that went along with the words, but most of all joy.

The Anthem of the Egyptian Revolution “Ya Beladi” meaning “My country” played over the loud speakers and people started singing some with tears in their eyes while others waving their flags and chanting “My country”. Suddenly, everything went dark and hundreds of candles lit to remind the world of the souls that have been lost.

“A great victory has been achieved. A victory of dignity. The victory is not only ours but of all oppressed people around the world. It is time to celebrate. Long live the Egyptian revolution” says Egyptian Taghrid in an interview with Postnews.

But underneath the jubilation there seems to be a sense of responsibility. What will become of Tahrir square where thousands of people lost their lives in clashes with security forces before Mubarak stepped down? With elections underway, how does the future of the Egyptian people look and what are the challenges that lie ahead?

The events in Tahrir Square indubitably mark the beginning of a new era for Egypt. But while the future holds many big questions for the Egyptians, the revolution continues.