Debunk, don’t trivialize

There is one thing that is constant in the annual march marking the November 1973 student revolt against the junta: extra police measures. About 5,000 police officers were deployed in 2018 and around the same number will be on duty again this year.

However, such security measures to contain the violent ritual are not the only thing to recur every year on November 17. This year is the 46th anniversary of the revolt. Will it be different, in any substantial manner, from the 45th, the 44th or the 43rd? Furthermore, the statements by official figures can hardly be described as original. Being original is impossible, perhaps. Elevating an incident into an anniversary inevitably entails a certain degree of stereotyping.

Ahead of the commemoration, the heart of the capital comes to a halt. Athens turns into a battlefield: helicopters scan the city from the sky to prevent...

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