Cruel Irony: Street Violence

German Tourists Dept: The jibe also embodies a cruel irony. The situation in Greece, expressed in street violence and raucous, inconclusive elections, is provoking such fear among Europe's haves that German tourists are now cancelling their planned Greek beach vacations in the thousands, according to CBC. For the Greeks, that means a key source of their national income is drying up, at a time when the country is desperate and euros are flowing out of Greek banks in rivers and a German banker alights at Athens airport. "Occupation?" the immigration officer asks. "No," the response comes, "just visiting." It's a bad joke, and a bitter one, calling up echoes of the Nazi occupation of Greece during the Second World War while reflecting the ongoing Greek anger at what is seen as German-imposed austerity. In the weeks after the May 6 election, which saw the collapse of Greece's two main parties and the rise of far-right and left parties denouncing the austerity measures, more than 50,000 vacation bookings were cancelled, mostly by Germans. Debt crisis Greece weakened by falling GDP, rising unemployment (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.