America and Americans in the News in Greece

Jeff—Saturday

Two bits of news caught my eye this week in Ekathimerini, Greece’s equivalent to The New York Times.

The first is the take of its executive editor, Alexis Papachelas, on what he sees as the American system’s efforts to protect itself amid the nation’s current political maelstrom. He titles his article, “House of Trump.”

The second is a story about student journalists from Princeton University who happened to be on the Greek island of Lesvos interviewing migrants at one of Greece’s more notorious refugee camps, when fires and rioting broke out inside the camp.  It just so happens that my new Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis novel, coming in January (An Aegean April), centers upon that very subject, on that very island, at that very camp…down to fires set for the very reason reported in the article.

Here are those articles, one on the looming fate of a blatant self-promoter, and the other just simple BSP.

HOUSE OF TRUMP

The American political scene will soon resemble the hit television series “House of Cards,” as revelations of contacts and deals between Donald Trump’s election campaign and others keep coming in.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is moving ahead with his investigation and has set his sights on the president’s relations and close associates. The Republican Party leadership is at a loss and time is running out for Congress to vote on any important legislation promised by Trump before the elections. The American “system,” however, is protected by its checks, balances and antibodies.

For example, it is impressive to see how it is trying to shield Vice President Mike Pence and keep him out of the whirlwind of revelations. Pence is considered very conservative, perhaps even extreme, on certain issues, but he is predictable. He has undertaken the de facto management of many issues of national security, which explains his recent telephone conversation with the Greek prime minister. Pence is close to the team of “grown-ups” who run American foreign policy and is playing an important role. As one Washington observer noted of Pence, “you can get a clear, tangible answer from him.”

When Trump raised doubts regarding his devotion to NATO, it was Pence who went to the Munich security conference to reassure the European elite. The vice president seems to sense the possibility that he may be called on to replace Trump in case of an “accident.” That is obviously why he spends so much time raising money from traditional backers of the Republican Party.

It is, of course, very early to talk of a possible “accident.” The special counsel’s investigation will take months. The Republicans’ insecurity will come to a head just before the congressional elections in November 2018. That is when the president will be abandoned, if he has become toxic by then.

As regards us here in Athens, the excessive unpredictability and domestic crisis in Washington raises serious obstacles to finding high-level people to talk with. The bureaucracy is doing its job and Greece, as well as Cyprus, is on the radar. On crucial issues, however, it is most likely that others and not the president will play a decisive role.

As we noted, what is happening in the US capital is unprecedented and resembles a television series rather than reality. This is why from Athens to Berlin and Beijing everyone is wondering who is actually running things in Washington.

Now on to Lesvos.

Princeton Students Capture Photo, Video Footage of Moria Migrant Camp Riot

Three weeks ago, student journalists from the US’s Princeton University began visiting migration camps and interviewing residents about their new lives in Greece. On Monday afternoon, they were working on the island of Lesvos outside the camp at Moria when they heard an explosion.

More followed, as did flames and an immense plume of black smoke. In the distance, they saw migrants inside the camp throwing stones. Then hundreds of migrants began pouring out of the camp. At least two collapsed in the street and were carried away for treatment.

Talya-Nevins photo

The students, enrolled in a journalism class on global reporting led by Ferris Professor of Journalism Joe Stephens, realized they were the only reporters at the scene and sprang into action by videotaping, shooting photographs and conducting interviews. They asked fleeing migrants to share images from within the inflamed camp.

Over previous days, residents of the Moria camp had complained in interviews about what they described as bad food, crowded conditions, violence at night and their inability to plan their futures because of their indeterminate status in Greece. Some residents reportedly lacked medication and were sleeping on the ground.

As the riot roiled, some migrants told the students that residents set the blaze to protest the dismal conditions and the sluggish asylum application process. One claimed that tensions erupted between residents and the non-governmental organization Euro Relief.

Waseem-Alkatreb photo

“They burned the camp because (authorities) don’t want to let people” leave, Dandeen Matoko, a migrant from the Congo who has lived in Moria for eight months, said in a videotaped interview as the riot raged in the background.

“People are suffering,” Dandeen said. “They are giving us dry rice. No meat, no soup. How can you survive? Back there [at the camp] it’s so difficult that we can’t really stand it. People are so tired of this place, they don’t want to live,” he said.

Talya-Nevins photo

At one point, a squad of uniformed men bearing clear riot shields marched into the camp. Fire trucks approached the gates of the camp, which is circled by coiled razor wire, but did not enter. One migrant collapsed just outside the gate and others splashed her face with water. A man groaned on the ground before being carried away down a two-lane access road.

The camp houses more than 3,000 refugees, well beyond the capacity it was built to hold.

The Princeton journalists on the scene were Talya Nevins, Alice Maiden and Jack Lohmann. Their work was supported by student journalists Ethan Sterenfeld, Chiara Ficarelli and Andie Ayala, who helped with reporting and editing.

Their work at Moria was underwritten by Princeton University’s Global Reporting initiative, under the direction of Professor Stephens, a veteran investigative reporter for The Washington Post. Students will be reporting in Greece for two more weeks, and their work will be published at commons.princeton.edu/globalreporting2017.

And, yes, sadly there’s a third story in the news about an American. Twenty-two-year-old Austin, Texas resident and recent University of Arizona graduate, Bakari Henderson, was tragically beaten to death outside a bar on the Ionian island of Zakynthos by a pack of men.  Events are still unfolding, so I’ve chosen not to write about it just yet, but rather simply offer my prayers for his soul, and ours.

Bakari Henderson of Austin, Texas

—Jeff