NY Parade Committee: “Yes” To Marinakis, “No” To Karystianou!!

ΠΑΤΗΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΑΤΩ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΘΟΝΗΣ ΣΑΣ ΓΙΑ ΜΕΤΑΦΡΑΣΗ

It is apparent to the naked eye that the (corrupt to the core) Mitsotakis government interfered to cancel Karystianou’s presence in the NY Parade.  Athenian press is full of such reports (link here and here), suggesting that the Greek Foreign Ministry intervened to stop Karystianou’s invitation to our parade in NY!! Philip Christopher should be ashamed for finishing his 50-year career in our community’s affairs in such a disgusting way… And all those supporting him publicly and behind the scenes… They are not part of the future of this community!

By Nick Stamatakis

The NY Parade Committee announced the Grand Marshalls and other honorees, trying to put “lipstick on a pig”: They covered the invitation of Vangelis Marinakis – who is CURRENTLY under criminal investigation – under the flag of “Olympiakos” (half of Greeks are Olympiacos fans), and they insisted on his invitation.  At the same time, they reversed the invitation of Maria Karystianou, the social movement leader seeking justice for the 57 rail accident victims and reforms to control and eliminate corruption (you can read the full announcement below).

• The Parade committee pretends that they care for the “unity” of our community, yet they have already caused a vast divide. Their decision to disinvite Maria Karystianou is bound to deepen the divisions and not heal them – demonstrations are already being planned in New York…
• They refuse to accept the ethical position that “any person under criminal investigation should be automatically disqualified from being honored in our Parade.”  If a proposed honoree was investigated for murder, would you invite this person? Their answer is yes!!  Marinakis is investigated for racketeering, only one little step below murder…  Yet they cover this under his donations to the poor of Pireaus!! John Gotti donated millions to the poor of his Queens neighborhood – yet we all know he was still classified as a mafioso and a criminal!! 
• Let me refresh your memory here: In 2002, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg wanted to come to the Columbus Day Parade accompanied by the actors of the famous series “The Sopranos.”  The Italian organizers threatened to go to Court to prevent this negative portrayal of Italian-Americans as criminals.  In the end, neither Bloomberg nor the Sopranos paraded!! (link here)... But we Greeks “honor” the Mitsotakis mafia family and their thousands of “Godchildren” in Crete, along with their investigated former associates like Marinakis!! Make your comparisons and hide your shame – if you have any left!!
• Until a few years ago, our Parade Committees regularly invited and honored the corrupt politicians who sold out our “national causes” such as the “Name of Macedonia” and everything else. This atrocity stopped after 2016 by popular demand from the grassroots of our community.  The Parade Committee now pretends their “politicization” problem is Maria Karystianou. No, gentlemen, Maria Karystianou is not the problem; she is the solution!! Greece will be reborn from its ashes only when its citizens rise and do what Karystianou is doing now: take their fate into their own hands, away from the mafia political families who have destroyed the country!!
• 
• And yes, corruption and lack of accountability are “national causes” like the other ones we showcase in our parade. Philip Christopher uses the term “national cause” like a candy, any opportunity he has. Yet, Greece has the shortest “statute of limitations” for crimes committed by government officials on Earth!! The Justice System does not treat government officials as regular citizens!! Even Uganda has better anti-corruption laws than Greece!! In front of all these facts, some want to convince us that Maria Karystianou’s “Tempi Struggle for Justice” is not a “national cause”!!
• Can someone explain to us why our Parade and our Community should follow the directions of the corrupt Greek Foreign ministry? Who told you that we should follow anything from a corrupt political system? We are American citizens of Greek descent and have our dreams about Freedom and Hellenism!! And you, the “agents of corruption” around the Parade, are not part of our dreams!!
• If the last few months taught us anything, the Parade Committee is on a losing path.  Last Sunday of January, with less than 24 hours to prepare, 200 people showed up in a demonstration for the 57 dead of Tempi in Astoria’s Athens Square. How many will they show in future protests in the following weeks and months – with hundreds of thousands demonstrating in Greece? Here is the first one outside Stathakeion (the meeting was canceled for tomorrow, but there will be plenty of chances to demonstrate…)

• Maria Karystianou’s struggle is supported by right-wing and center and left-wing; it’s above political parties, and it’s the struggle for reform of the corrupt political system, very much similar to the populist struggles that are now sweeping the globe from America to Italy, to Hungary to Romania and Greece…  This tsunami is unbeatable and will drown all swimming against it!!  

PS. “Nomiki and the orangutans” (I nicknamed them orangutans because they are uselessly and cowardly thumbing their chests: Karagounis, Meidassis, and the rest – one of them called me up to threaten me with violence…) for the second time in a month, they illegally sent a “proposed invitation.”  The first time was to Yiannis Smaragdis, and the second time to Maria Karystianou.  The first time may have been “excusable,” but the second is not.  Whoever signed these invitations should be sidelined, and Nomiki Kastanas should be included. The parade does not need their services; they sabotage unity.  

PS 2.  The Archbishop quickly jumped on the “social justice” bandwagon and marched with BLM in Brooklyn a few years ago.  But he is deaf to the call for “social justice” from Greece… Which is a very Christian cause!! Is the Archbishop Christian enough to support this cause? Or even make a statement?

PS3. If I hear one more time that Ambassador Tsu-Tsunis proposed honoring Marinakis and therefore we should respect his choices I will vomit. Tsunis has an IQ lower than a cow and listening to him is absolutely a waste of time. Should I remind you – along with everything else – his statement supporting Turkey? P-lease…

February 5 2025, n.stamatakis@aol.com   www.helleniscope.com

DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.

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