More than 100,000 people marched in central Athens today against the freshly-voted labour relations law and the austerity measures imposed by the government and the EU/IMF/ECB troika. One of the most mass demonstrations the city has seen in recent times was met by brute police violence; the police, nevertheless, proven unable to quell peoples’ anger. A former conservative minister, Kostis Hatzidakis, made the unfortunate decision to be present at Stadiou Street at the time of the demonstration and felt the anger of the demonstrators, quickly leaving the scene injured. Street-fighting erupted across the city, which saw chaotic scenes for hours. Barricades were erected across Patision Avenue, which leads to the Polytechnic School; waves of demonstrators arriving at Syntagma square, outside Parliament, fiercely fought with the police. An – eventually unsuccessful – attempt by demonstrators to occupy the building of GSEE (the country’s mainstream trade union) saw people fighting off the notorious Delta motorcycle police and two of their bikes were set ablaze.
From reports coming in so far, 23 people were detained in Athens today and of those 10 are arrested and face charges. There will be an update on the arrested tomorrow.
One of the most empowering elements of today’s demonstration was peoples’ sheer anger and their willingness to fight back at the police repression and to defend their right to be on the streets. New tactics, including the incredibly successful use of fire extinguishers in keeping police away from demonstrator blocks, is surely a legacy for the struggles to come.
A good selection of photographs on Athens IMC: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
This man’s placard reads: “They are bringing us the [Axis] Occupation, 1940-1944″
A man is fighting police of the DIAS motorcycle force. This specific unit, spotted by readers of Athens IMC, carries an imprint of an ancient Greek helmet on the back of their helmets – this is a predominantly fascist emblem.
12 Comments
We must fight on through the imprisonments, the beatings, and the despair. We shall not surrender. We shall being the international kleptocracy to it’s knees. Like thousands of foreign fighters did during the Spanish civil war we must join the countries at the forefront of the struggle, especially Greece and Ireland and unleash a wave of revolution against the criminal elite. The interconnected global banking system will shudder and fall with the first coup.
Compañeros
We have published an updated report on yesterday and today strikes in Greece, with translations from occupiedlondon. It is on http://www.lahaine.org/index.php?p=50041
Solidarity from Prague!
Solidarity from Brasil! The movement greece is a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. Working on a translation of some articles here, keep up the good work of publicizing the struggle so well.
solidarity from london students!
A video that shows how the ex minister gets the attention of the crowd which then hunts him.
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1239209
How I long to see workers in the UK give the same affectionate ‘attention’ to our Conservative ministers!- pimps,thieves, murderers and liars that they all are.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by LibertarianSocialist, Lucas Godoy Ch. Lucas Godoy Ch said: Mais de 100 mil pessoas marcharam nas ruas de Atenas: http://bit.ly/hmgES1 Celebram o dia de greve geral: http://bit.ly/hbdQgw #Greece [...]
[...] Thursday, December 16, 2010 [...]
[...] From the Greek Streets reports that An estimated 100,000 demonstrators took the streets of Athens Wednesday during the nationwide general strike called in protest of that nation’s IMF- and EU-imposed austerity program. [...]
[...] in the UK, the same is definitely not true over on the continent. In general, Italy Calling and Occupied London are the best sources for info on the ongoing struggles in Italy and Greece respectively, although [...]
[...] From the Greek Streets has put together an amazing collection of photographs taken from the December 17, 2010 protests. [...]
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