7,000-8,000 protesters gathered at Parliament Square (Syntagma) again tonight, while in the parliament PASOK government’s parliamentary majority together with the extreme right-wing party LAOS were approving their own (and IMF’s) new austerity package.
At about 21.30 GMT+2 and without any obvious reason, riot police attacked the protesters: Some of the protesters are currently (22.00 GMT+2) gathering at the Polytechnic School building in Patision avenue, while smaller gatherings have regrouped around Syntagma Sq. at the same time police violence in the streets of Athens still carries on with protesters being beaten up.
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Can anyone post links to live video streams of greek tv channels covering the protests please?
Dow Jones plummets at record rate amid violent clashes in Greece
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Violent clashes between Greek police and protesters has predicated a massive plummet on the Dow Jones in the past hour. It fell around 900 points in response to events in Athens, which followed sharp losses in European markets fearing contagion from the Greek financial crisis.
Brutality-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6pOMcy9hB8&feature=player_embedded
Of course, the “peaceful protestors” could all go home, become responsible citizens and accept that their country is an economic basket case and that a major overhaul of the bureacratic and social framework of the only 3rd world country in Europe is long overdue. As a 2nd generation expatriate I look on in disgust at the behaviour of all sides in this farce and consider that the “barbarians” that Herodotus spoke of were all time-travelling modern Greeks wallowing in their selfishness and arrogance. They might learn their lesson when they are jettisoned by the EU. And they will have deserved it.
and how much money do you earn, George?
I was there last night at Syntagma. Since when is throwing a full bottle of water at someone considered peaceful protest?
The crowd of people maybe 1000-1500 at most, had gathered in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier and were cursing the row of riot clad police guarding the parliament.
From the crowd a number of protesters were shouting at the police and pelting them with full 500ml bottles of water. At one point a couple of the protesters rushed the police line and attacked them. At that point the police fired tear gas and began to ran in unison towards the crowd. The crowd then quickly dispersed.
There was really nothing unprovoked about the actions of the police.
@IQ “above 60″
I was at Syntagma as well last night and the crowd was at the very least 6,000 strong, and that was after many thousands more had left in successive waves. Maybe you could only see 1,500 people in the square below the stairs from the McDonald’s you were sitting at on the west side of the square?
As far as the police attacked being unprovoked, the point is that they attacked a crowd full of pensioners and high school kids who were throwing plastic water bottles at fully armored riot cops. The cops made a huge mistake: it seems likely that next time more normal people will come ready for more violence and the cops’ jobs will be that much harder. You need to go back to North America, where the threshold of accepting police attack is much lower and your pathetic, pro-police liberal logic would be better received – although that situation will surely be changing as well in the next few years.
And stop trolling this blog, seeing you get called out for being a fucking idiot all the time is making me embarrassed for you.
@ ADEN: I was right at the front of the crowd watching mostly teenage kids throwing the water bottles. I was there for about fifteen minutes. There was a gap of about 10 metres between the the police line and the crowd. There was a light brown dog in the gap barking. I moved towards the side where there was a a larger dude with a motorcycle helmet in his hand shouting profanities about the police’s mothers and asking the journalist there to film the cop talking on his cell phone. This was the side heading away from Vas. Sofias. From the Macdonalds at Syntagma you can’t see anything. I am somewhere in the videos that are posted. The videos show the scene only after the police began to move into the crowd. The police did not go after the crowd once they dispersed, as the crowd did not really persist once the police moved.
Also, don’t feel embarrassed because I believe that when something NEEDS to be said, there is no emberassment in saying it. It takes some balls to do it though, keep that in mind before you try it.
HOLY SHIT 500ML BOTTLES OF WATER! THOSE TERRORISTS!
you are an idiot. i will laugh when you get smashed in the head by a riot cop for no reason.
Hard to make out IQ_above_60 because of his helmet, shield and gasmask…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW4RMahYzYM
The videos show the scene only after the police begin their march to disperse the crowd, failing to show the protesters provoking the police. How convenient?
@ MILTON KEYNES: I am not a police officer. I am just someone who loves his country.
@ ANYONE WHO READS THIS BOARD Up until Wednesday, May 5th 2010, the so-called anarchists were simply an annoyance to me. Since then however I can not sit by and let the actions of this fringe element of Greek society go on without doing whatever I possibly can to find out and understand what made something like that happen and so that in whatever way possible within my own means I can help prevent it from happening again.
IQ watherver you want. Definitely the people from the Anglo-Saxon part of the world prove to be utterly incapable of seizing the slightlest meaning on what is going on now. Perhaps you should get rid of all the “progressive” righteousness so common among idiots educated in the shitty framework of protestant mentality.It is not the anarchist the ones that are really annnoying in here. Neither the ones to blame about anything. It is people like you, who refuses to understand absolutely anything and comes up with patriotic shit about “loving ones own country” what is least needed at the present moment. Half of the country is nearly in flames, the entire European continent braces itself in this HISTORICAL MOMENT and your only worry is not to be able to sit down and enjoy your fucking Big Mac because of a bunch of noisy anarchists?… are you coming from bloody Mars or what?…
Pay attention at what is happening, try to learn something new for a change, show some humbleness and respect, wake up for fuck sake…
Otherwise fuck off…
Footage of pigs on a rampage from last night — commentary worth a listen too…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8666272.stm
“I am not a police officer. I am just someone who loves his country.”
Is there a difference?
@IQ over 60
“doing whatever I possibly can to find out and understand what made something like that happen”
you *know* why the people throw the bottles of water at the police. the reasons are obvious.
but you refuse to *understand* this reason, because it doesn’t apply to your own life in a bubble. you are a narrow-minded coward.
perhaps you should try living in their situation, before making any judgements.
Yeti, you are the martian. The people, the working class, in these planet, don’t want the banks on flames, much less the demolition of the state. They want better salaries and pensions to keep going with their lifes. That’s what they are begging. In Mars you don’t need the banks or the state, I’m sure. But they do.
I re-post this from one of the other discussions on the site at
http://blog.occupiedlondon.org/2010/05/07/what-do-we-honestly-have-to-say-about-wednesdays-events/#comments :
“The victory of revolution is not won in a mass uprising but by one convert at a time. Love, compassion and a true spirit of brotherhood is what one is converted to. We are dedicated to a better world for all. The capitalists are dedicated to a better world for themselves. That is the fundamental divide.
Love,
John Kaniecki”
@YETI: maybe you should try to understand what Mr. Kaniecki is trying to say. Also when you talk about “Anglo-Saxon” ideals, you should try wording it a little differently, something a little more tolerant, people might think you are a proponent of Adolf Hitler. Also I really think Big Macs suck and would prefer a spanakotyropita any fuckin day of the week. Lastly YETI, the ideals of anyone that supports or appeases the actions of the idiots that molotoved that bank on Wednesday are not common with the 200,000 people that were protesting in Athens that day. Those idiots wearing the hoods that threw the molotovs into the bank and slaughtered those innocent people had NOTHING to do with the peaceful protesters. Don’t try to spin this for the so-called cause of the rioters. That movement consists of a handful of punks, and if you seriously believe that its a start of a revolution, I suggest you stay off the street and keep playing your Playstation.
@PSEUDONYM If the movement you support has anything to do with the above words of Mr. Kaniecki that I quoted, it includes police officers. I have no problem whatsoever loving my homeland, Greece. Do you believe that the majority of Greeks feel otherwise? If you do please enlighten me as to why.
Sorry but… I can see the dog AGAIN ! 1:15 of the first video.
Greek protestors should do whatever they
think is right.
http://thecuriousmail.wordpress.com/2010/05/08/greeks-beware-a-world-bearing-loans/
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