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Athens Greece: Cops murder a 16 year old

yesterday on 20:00 at Syntagma square (outside the greek parliament central Athens)

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On the same time yesterday at Propylaia (central Athens)

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There were 2 "events" going on yesterday. The known gathering at Syntagma square, that is continuing every day and is not going to end, and some members of the academic community and artists (like the well known left greek song writer Mikis Theodorakis) who were giving speeches at Propylaia. After the end of the speeches the majority of that crowd left and joined the others at Syntagma square.

Some politicians though and staff of the parliament building got trapped inside as the people this time were not just standing outside the parliament at the square, but they had actually surrounded the building. Some politicians tried to reach the parking area of the parliament in order to leave with their cars, but they were confronted by the gathered crowd, and returned back to the building. Finally the police and the fire brigade units managed to make a way using a back door and the politicians together with staff members of the parliament fled from the area around midnight.

Day after day the feeling that you get in the square becomes better and better. The gathering has stopped being just a gathering of random people and it seems that it is taking characteristics that will lead to general strikes and a more targeted confrontation against the system.

We all expect that on the coming days starting from this weekend, the movement will grow dramatically and to be completely honest I do not know exactly what to expect and how the situation will unfold.
 
TomUS said:
Yep it's responsibility is to it's citizens. And of course they didn't do that in the past. Time to start. Countries, boundaries & borders mean something. Anyone who sneaks into another country knows they will be living in the shadows & in a period of economic distress will come under pressure to leave. I'd say many Greeks would very much like those "dishwasher jobs" about now given the horrible state of their economy. Greece with all it's economic problems should employ, give benefits to & grant citizenship to illegals? Crazy. But, the Greeks will decide in the upcoming elections.
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Yes they will. It won't be anyone deluded enough to speak on their behalf and who probably owns a dishwasher.
 
Live feed of outside parliament. The plan is to surround parliament. Water cannons have been spotted, reports of "unprecedented police presence in Athens", a few minor scuffles and around 10 people getting arrested. from what I heard around 10 in the morning.

Now, tear gas, some violence and reportedly someone has been seriously injured.

Twitter - #m25gr

Occupied london is keeping an updated blog entry of the goings on.

edit: thanks for the link dylans
 
very very quickly, the situation is chaotic, more details later. Keep posting info as you see it on media as there is a general strike in Greece and no news circulate.
 
'
'This is democracy in action. The views of the unemployed and the university professor are given equal time, discussed with equal vigour and put to the vote for adoption. The outraged have reclaimed the square from commercial activities and transformed it into a real space of public interaction. The usual late-evening TV viewing time has instead become a time for being with others and discussing the common good. If democracy is the power of the "demos", in other words the rule of those who have no particular qualification for ruling, whether of wealth, power or knowledge, this is the closest we have come to democratic practice in recent European history.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/15/greece-europe-outraged-protests


from the Guardian, if only the views of the unemployed were given the same parity at the University Professor at leftist meetings here
 
treelover said:
'
'This is democracy in action. The views of the unemployed and the university professor are given equal time, discussed with equal vigour and put to the vote for adoption. The outraged have reclaimed the square from commercial activities and transformed it into a real space of public interaction. The usual late-evening TV viewing time has instead become a time for being with others and discussing the common good. If democracy is the power of the "demos", in other words the rule of those who have no particular qualification for ruling, whether of wealth, power or knowledge, this is the closest we have come to democratic practice in recent European history.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/15/greece-europe-outraged-protests


from the Guardian, if only the views of the unemployed were given the same parity at the University Professor at leftist meetings here
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Update on that link:

UPDATE 18:30 The effect of yesterday's huge demonstration and of the peaceful perseverance of the "outraged" was immediate. Prime Minister Papandreou has accepted the failure of his policies and asked the rightwing opposition leader to form a government of national unity – offering, according to media reports, to stand down. Whatever happens next this is the greatest success for the anti-austerity opposition in Europe so far. The test will be the policies of any new government, however, and not its head.
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Of course is not a victory. The fact that Papandreou in a way accepted his failure is something but the coalition government that he was trying to form yesterday was not really accepted by anyone as a form of solution. We are outraged with the whole political system in Greece, with all political parties and especially the 2 leading ones that created this situation, as they are the ones that were governing this country since 1974. So a coalition of these 2 does not really interest us. Finally the coalition government did not happen, Papandreou and the rightwind leader mr Samaras were discussing on the phone yesterday but they did not agree. So the prime Minister Papandreou yesterday announced that he will reform the government himself and today we expect to see new persons in ministries and so on. Of course this is not a solution again, we are talking about a change of persons but not about a change of politics.

The chaos in the greek political scene though, was accompanied with an even bigger chaos at the streets of Athens. Yesterday a general strike was arranged in Greece and a gathering was announced at the parliament square (Syntagma square). The idea was to completely surround the parliament building and close all possible entrances so the members of parliament would not be able to approach and enter. Yesterday they were supposed to talk about the NEW austerity measures that they want to pass forward. Since early in the morning thousands started gathering at the parliament square but also forming blocks at the perimeter of the building in order to surround it. Police presence was MASSIVE, they had put big barriers and plexiglass walls at streets in order to prevent the surrounding. The police tried to have at least one route open so the MPs would pass from there and enter the parliament There were a lot of confrontations against the police at different locations at the perimeter of the square. The police had orders to attack if it was necessary so they were answering with chemicals even to verbal confrontations of harmless middle aged women ! Soon enough the people gathered in the middle of the square realized that there was a need to create an area in order to comfort people who had breathing problems or were injured because of the police attacks at the perimeter of the square. Quickly a passage way was formed and people volunteered to take the injured or anyone with problems via there to a location more safe in the square. Doctors and people with paramedic skills volunteered to help and give first aid to the wounded. Also Red Cross had a tent there and had created a small "emergency area" and were helping as well. The level of self organization and solidarity in the square is really remarkable. For days all the people who gather there after a number of assemblies and discussions have managed to organize themselves in a very good way. There are people who are "guarding" the gatherings, other who collect garbage, other who help wounded and generally a very big number of people is volunteering to do a number of jobs so the people can be gathered there without problems.

While these were happening though, and at the perimeter of the square people and comrades were clashing against the police, suddenly trouble started at the middle of the square. Fascists, members of the Golden Dawn (Xrisi Avgi) far right political organization, together with other agent provocateurs and plain clothed police started attacking and fighting against the gathered people. Some of the demonstrators threw stones to the police forces in front of the parliament and this group of fascists who were in front of the parliament tried to prevent the stone throwing. Clashes erupted then between anarchists and the fascists in front of the parliament. The anarchists alongside with other demonstrators managed to push back the neo-Nazi scums. Extended use of gas bombs against the demonstrators by the cops. The fascists were all dressed up as "anarchists" with full face masks and clubs and were hitting the gathered outraged citizens. One of them was surrounded by people who started searching him and a police ID was found on him. Also there are witnesses who say that they listened the riot police members talking on their wireless and saying to "let the Golden Dawn to break the demonstration". Of course there is also this video that clearly shows people on plain clothes together with police to "organize themselves" carrying clubs BEFORE THE GATHERING STARTED. ( )

This is the excuse that the police was waiting for in order to attack at the gathering itself. Riot police (MAT) in big numbers started spraying chemicals in the middle of the square, where people of all ages and political backgrounds were gathered (some being at a gathering for the first time in their lives) and a chaos was created. A number of people tried to confront the police and defend this attack, others had to flee from the square to nearby roads and avenues in order to keep away from the chemicals. For quite a while the whole parliament square area looked like a big warzone, as there were riots at the perimeter of the square but also in it.
Some photos of the attacks in the square can be seen here : http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1305826

On the following video you can see how the police treat a person who have arrested. This guy is just a journalist who was there doing his job and his only "crime" was his long hair :
Finally after the clashed ended in the afternoon people returned to the square and the gathering continued up to late at night. A concert was also organized at the square with famous greek rock singers and so on.

In total if my information is right, 16 people were arrested and 25 were detained. I have no clue how many were finally let free though. There were 33 injured, 30 men and 3 women who were all transferred to the Red Cross hospital. 8 of them received first aid and left but others need to be hospitalized and 1 of them may also need a surgery.

http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1305794
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1305826
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1305565
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1305986 (videos)
 
Newsnight just ended with some footage of the Athenian riot dog back with the music from The Littlest Hobbo.

That's put a smile on my miserable face.
 
Btw, my late dad was a POW who shared erm, accomodation with other servicemen from all around the world, he loved the Greeks and said of all the nationalities he encountered, ''they were the finest'', not agreeing or disagreeing, just thought i would post that now Greece is on its knees financially if not otherwise..
 
treelover said:
away from the battles, this is a great blog and explains a lot about the roots of the crisis, apols if already posted


http://sturdyblog.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/democracy-vs-mythology-the-battle-in-syntagma-square/
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That is a very informative blog. I hadn't heard that the IMF and the bankers had suggested to Greece that they sell some of their islands to private owners, and that it had been recently discvered that there was natural gas under the Aegean Sea. I particularly liked the opening paragraph:-
What is going on in Athens at the moment is resistance against an invasion; an invasion as brutal as that against Poland in 1939. The invading army wears suits instead of uniforms and holds laptops instead of guns, but make no mistake – the attack on our sovereignty is as violent and thorough. Private wealth interests are dictating policy to a sovereign nation, which is expressly and directly against its national interest. Ignore it at your peril. Say to yourselves, if you wish, that perhaps it will stop there. That perhaps the bailiffs will not go after the Portugal and Ireland next. And then Spain and the UK. But it is already beginning to happen. This is why you cannot afford to ignore these events.
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My emphasis.
 
Greek communists storm the Acropolis.

Acropolis-protest-007.jpg


In a dramatic start to a week dominated by one of the most crucial parliamentary votes in modern Greek history, communist militants stormed the Acropolis on Monday morning unfurling huge "power to the workers" banners from the monument's ramparts.

As tourists ascended the hill to the fifth-century BC site, they were greeted by gigantic protest banners proclaiming: "The peoples have the power and never surrender. Organize – Counter attack."

"We call upon working people, youth, women to join our popular uprising," the All Workers Militant Front (PAME), an adjunct of the powerful Greek communist party, the KKE, declared in a statement. "We will strengthen our struggle with people from all over the world against capitalist brutality in order for the brutal measures that bankrupt the people not to be applied."
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Also a two day general strike has been called for tuesday

Upping the ante, unions have declared a 48-hour general strike starting on Tuesday – the first two-day walkout since the collapse of military rule and the return of democracy in 1974 – to coincide with parliament's debate on th measures. Mass rallies have been scheduled in 65 towns during the two daeys that Greek politicians will discuss the belt-tightening policies.

"It will be two days that have never seen before," said Stathis Anestis of the General Confederation of Greek Workers, the country's largest labour force.
Click to expand...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/27/greek-communists-storm-acropolis-bailout
 
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