PHOTO: The General Consul of Greece at NYC, Mr. Konstantinou, proudly sits next to the artist Georgia Lale and her pink flag.
By Nick Stamatakis
As the Greek Consul at NYC, Mr. Konstantinos Konstantinou, explained to the media, at 4.30 am Sunday morning, one day and a few hours after the end of the infamous “Pink Flag” exhibition, someone tried to start a fire by dropping fuel on some bushes outside the Greek Consulate with danger of the fire expanding inside the building. The Police and Fire Dept. managed to put out the fire immediately. A camera caught the arsonist’s face, and an investigation has started… Below a photo of the Greek Consulate on 79th Street and the small bushes outside the building…
Meanwhile, more photos and statements about the art event on Friday night at the same building came to light. Mr. Konstantinou kept pushing the argument that it was an artists’ right to use the flag to attract attention to her ideas… What a sick mentality of anyone to suggest that the sacred symbol of the flag could be reduced to a weapon for the promotion of any “social causes.”… It is despicable… It is evident to all who have half a brain that desecrating the flag or a religious symbol (and many national and religious symbols have been desecrated especially in the last few years but also in the past) is an easy way to attract attention by otherwise untalented artists or it can also be a clear political act. Helleniscope reported early on Tuesday evening on the nature of this event (link here).
An uproar – but not yet in most mainstream media (because they are bought by the Mitsotakis government with millions of “subsidies”) – ensued in Athens, Greece. Dimitris Natsios, president of the patriotic NIKI party, brought the issue to the Parliament, abd issued dire accusations against the government and its Foreign Minister, already known to have bowed in front of “Sultan” Erdogan during his recent visit.
As for the rest, please look at some photos from the Consulate with Mr. Konstantinou sitting proudly nest to the artist and the pink flag. Judge for yourselves if this is how any country, government, and consul should treat a national symbol. Any foreign ministry worth its name would have forced the resignation of this consul without delay. But not (yet) Mr.Gerapetritis and the Mitsotakis government…
December 18, 2023, 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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While it is the right of an artist or any human being to say whatever they want but it’s the duty of the Consul and any other diplomat to protect the national symbol against ANY parochial use, and protect it and definitely not promote its desecration, mutilation, alteration regardless what the intention of the individual who is doing it is. The flag belongs to all of us and NO INDIVIDUAL should be given supremacist precedence over anyone else on how to manipulate and use that symbol. So the Consul violates basic rules and tenets of Democracy and governmental representation and behavior. The Consulate is NOT a private Gallery it’s a space that belongs to represents all Greeks. Finally I cannot help but point out the failure of the Consul to be faithful to his oath as a diplomat and a government official which is to promote Hellenism and not become the useful idiot that slanders Hellenism, Christianity (not how the symbol of the cross was also vandalized on the hate piece exhibited at the Consulate) and the Greeks and aid and abett in collective punishment, slandering and villification of all Greeks and of the Greek Nation in its totality by creating the false notion that crimes committed by few individuals characterize us all. The Consulnis guilty of the collective stereotypical defamation, slandering and discrimination all Greeks will face by him assign to all of us collective guilt for individual personal crimes by displaying the hate exhibitional piece. The Consul should publicly apologize, request apologies from both the so called “Independent Cultural Committee” demand their immediate resignation, and he himself should resign immediately from his diplomatic post. He is incompetent and unworthy. As for the artist a universal boycott by any Greek should go without saying so that she will be only supported by the enemies of Hellenism and expose her as the enemy of Hellenism and Christianity that she is
Nothing to add to the brilliant response above by “the voice of one calling in the wilderness.” Hearty Congratulations as well to MP Mr Natsios for bringing this sordid event to the attention of patriotic Greeks.
Hope they capture arsonist but is fire serious if it’s only in the bushes?
Nonetheless,
what Konstantino did allowing lame artist to denigrate Greek flag is not acceptable!
I also agree. The position of the Consul is not that of a politician promoting his agenda. He is an administrative clerk who serves all his constituents with administrative matters. By adopting Ms. Lale’s radical political campaign, he made her movement his own and his own government’s. As an employee of the Greek government, he speaks for that government.
He desecrates our flags, both the U.S. flag and the Greek flag, in the name of a radical movement. This has nothing to do with an artist’s First Amendment right. Any fringe psycho has the right to express herself, but here her actions are RATIFIED and SPONSORED by Mitsotakis’ representative. They did so in the American metropolis that has the greatest population of Greek Americans. Through his consul, Mitsotakis assaults our flags, our most sacred symbols whose purpose is to keep us united. If Mitsotakis’ consul is insensitive to that, as he obviously is, he occupies the wrong position. Mitsotakis should take him back and let him host more guilt-ridden tea parties in Kolonaki. There he can wear pink ties and pink underwear to his endless delight — so long as he does not offend us with sacrilege. Our community and our country are the wrong place for him to import his divisive politicking. He must go!
Thank you Nick for bringing this to our attention. It’s further proof of how much we need your investigative reporting.
Mr. Konstantinou HAS TO GO!!!! Period.
Expel Mr. Konstantinou now! He does not represent Greeks!