“Yesterday night Baba Noel arrived to our refugee squat…”

Athens, Greece 29 December 2019

The photograph and following text comes from the refugee housing occupation Notara26. Baba Noel visited the refugee children living in the occupation. The occupation is threatened by the Greek government with eviction.

“Yesterday night Baba Noel arrived to our refugee squat. He didn’t came from North Pole but from Chile’s barricades, from the strikes in France, from the demonstrations for life and freedom in Iran, from the smokes of Lebanon, from the revolted communities of Chiapas and Rojava.

He traveled in every corner of the world, that people are struggling against the oppression and exploitation, to manage to arrive to our house. He is not christian, neither muslim. He detest fascism, racism, sexism, homophobia and every condition that segregates, classifys and evaluates our lives. He is not recognizing borders and nationalities. He only recognizes children’s smiles and stares of disobedience. He was carrying with him a sac full of gifts, that was not made from the fabric of commercialization, consumerism and philanthropy but from a fabric of coexistence and love from the below. He distributed his gifts and for a while we all became children again.

We said goodbye to him by shouting No Pasaran all together. This community of self-organization and solidarity that we created 4 years ago, is our own miracle that we will let no one destroy”.