Greek nationalists protest against Bilderberg Group in Athens, Greece on May 16, 2009

Dozens of Greek nationalists protested against the ultra-secretive Bilderberg Group. The Bilderberg was meeting at a luxury seaside hotel in Athens, Greece. For more details on the meeting click here.

Athens, Greece Diary – After the December riots

Palestinian supporters sit in front of a row of police guarding the Israeli embassy in Athens, Greece on Jan. 9, 2009.

In November I found out that I would be going to Greece for a four-month journalism internship at a foreign news organization. I was very excited. Little did I know what would happen in the coming weeks. 

As I prepared for my trip to Greece, the December riots erupted.  The police shooting of a 16-year old boy in Exarchia lit a fuse throughout the Greek anarchist community and extended to major cities throughout Greece. 

I watched from Toronto as the riots raged throughout December and wanted to get on the next plane. In retrospect, I should have.

While I missed the worst rioting in Greece in decades I was there for the aftermath. If the December riots were an earthquake then the following months were the aftershocks. 

Jan. 9 was my first full day in Greece.  Tensions were still high over the December riots. The Israel-Gaza conflict was also arousing passions among many Greeks and the large Palestinian refugee population.

Finding a protest in Greece is easy. On my first day I headed to Syntagma Square where people were gathering. Over a 1,000 people were. The crowd denounced the U.S. and Israel for harsh treatment of Palestinian civilians during this latest conflict. 

 The protesters marched towards the U.S. and Israeli embassies. It was mostly peaceful with the exception of a few stones thrown at both embassies by masked kids. Many people in the crowd were peaceful marchers and they were successful in getting the the sling-shot toting kids to stop.

Children were front and centre in the march wearing clothes with red dye, a bloody reminder of  civilian casualties.  Other children carried mock rockets on their shoulders.

A child carries a Hamas flag during a protest in Athens, Greece on Jan. 9, 2009 against the Israeli-Gaza war.

One masked child was carrying a Hamas flag as he marched at the front of the procession.

In Greece, marching with the Hamas flag was not controversial.  If the same thing happened in Canada or the U.S. some people would be outraged. 

Protesters burn an Israeli flag in front of the Israeli embassy in Athens, Greece on Jan. 9, 2009.

At the march I witnessed my first flag burning as protesters lit up numerous U.S. and Israeli flags. It’s really crazy because lighter fluid is flying all over the place. I even saw one guy catch on fire.

Passion and burning flags are a fairly normal occurrence at Greek protests. It’s safe to say that if protests were a sport than Greece could field the best team. 

A week later I went to another protest which was quite different from the Palestinian protest a week earlier.

The Greek police staged a demonstration in Syntagma Square. It was an effort to improve their image in the aftermath of the December riots. Hundreds of officers, many in uniform attended the rally.

Loudspeakers blared ‘Let it Be’ by the Beatles in an effort by police to create an atmosphere of reconciliation after weeks of violence. 

Police stage a demonstration against violence in Syntagma Square in Athens on Jan. 16, 2009. They wanted to improve their image in the aftermath of the December riots.

While police were rallying in Syntagma Square, students at Athens University in central Athens were preparing for a protest later in the day against government education policies.

Over 1,000 students marched on Parliament and briefly faced off with riot police guarding the entrance to the building. No clashes occured between police and protesters.

Youths stare down police at a student protest in central Athens on Jan. 16, 2009.

On Jan. 22 I went to cover a protest which began at Athens University, the starting point for many demonstrations in Athens.

Students, unionized workers and anarchists attended the event. They were there to protest police inaction in the case of union activist Konstantina Kuneva. She was viciously attacked with acid in late December. Kuneva is still in hospital with serious injuries to her internal organs and the loss of sight in one eye.

The march led to the Labour Ministry in Omonia. Protesters were met by riot police at the building entrance. The two sides stood face-to-face with for about a half hour before marching away.

Supporters of Konstantina Kuneva march on the Labour Ministry in Athens on Jan. 22, 2009. Kuneva. a union activist, was attacked with acid by unknown assailants in late December.

In the rear guard, anarchists, armed with molotov cocktails and rocks geared up to attack the police. Mayhem broke out. A wave of anarchists ran up and pelted police with stones and bottles along with a couple molotov cocktails. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades in response.

The clashes went on for well over an hour before the crowd finally dispersed. This was one of many clashes between police and Kuneva supporters during January and February. 

 

to be continued…

 

 

 

  

Olympiacos beats AEK in wild shootout for the Greek Cup on May 2, 2009

I had the pleasure of going to the Greek Cup final featuring Olympiacos and their cross-town rivals, AEK. The fans on both sides were full of energy easily putting North American sports fans to shame. The game was described by many as the most exciting match for the Greek Cup. For the complete rundown of the game click here.

Greek anarchists march against police and banks

 Over 1,000 Greek anarchists marched to protest proposed laws stiffening sentences against masked protesters caught damaging property and attacking police. Another proposed measure is the lifting of asylum laws that ban police from entering Greek universities.

The rally, held on April 28, began at a parking lot turned park on Navarino Street in the Exarchia district of Athens.  The makeshift park resembled a open-air rock festival. Music blared from loudspeakers as anarchists waited for the rally to begin. Government and police are the focus of anarchist anger. Anarchists also target banks who they blame for causing the current economic crisis.

The march winded through the streets of central Athens towards the densely populated neighbourhood of Kypselli.  Along the way, anarchists, closely followed by police, smashed bank windows, security cameras and ATMs with sticks and metal rods. 

The rally ended, without any clashes, at the corner of Pattision and Cyprus, the site of a park that the city wanted to convert to parking.  Anarchists and area residents were furious when the city cut down dozens of century-old trees. They have occupied the park for weeks to prevent construction of the parking lot.

Tensions between police and anarchists have been high since the December Greece riots.

Good Friday celebration in Iannina, Greece

Easter known as “Paska” in Greece is a huge event eclipsing even Christmas. In Iannina, a city in northern Greece, various churches represented by a distinct altar marched to the main square to hear Good Friday mass. Thousands of people attended the ceremony holding lit candles as the procession from each church converged  on the square from all directions. In attendance was the Greek President Karolos Papoulias who is from Iannina.

Greek anarchists demand release of prisoners from December riots

Several hundred Greek anarchists marched on Korydallos prison in western Athens on Saturday, April 11, 2009 to demand the release of dozens of prisoners who were arrested during the December riots.

The protestors gathered at Liberty Square just a few blocks away from the prison. From there they marched down the narrow roads leading to Korydallos prison, the city’s main detention centre.

Riot police met the crowd at the prison gates. As residents looked on, police and protestors faced each other for about an hour. The protestors shouted slogans of support and freedom for their imprisoned comrades. They  also taunted police who were lined up against them. Many of the protesters wore gas masks in the event of a clash with police.

The sizable police presence and remoteness of the area discouraged clashes which mostly take place in the city centre by Athens University.

 After the standoff, the crowed made its way back to Liberty Square in order to catch the bus back into central Athens.

In the last few weeks, government officials have proposed new laws to deal with clashes between anarchists and police.  The main measures included lifting a ban on police entering university campuses and harsher punishment for masked protesters.

Public frustration with the police’s inability to handle unruly protesters was evident during the December riots and the subsequent clashes in January and Febuary.

The situation came to a boil last month when masked attackers smashed windows, cars and ATM machines in the city’s upscale Kolonaki district during broad daylight.

Since the Kolonaki incident there have been few clashes between police and anarchists on the street. Arson attacks on banks and government offices, often at night, have continued.

Push to remove police ban from Greek universities strikes a nerve with political activists

About 1000 people showed up at Athens University to protest against proposed changes to a law that bans police from entering university campuses.

After the December riots and continued social unrest, the Greek government has been trying to crack down on unruly protesters. The government says a small group of extremists have abused the asylum law and have used the university as a base from which to launch attacks against police.

The asylum laws, which bar police from entering campuses without permission, have been in place since the fall of the military junta in 1974. Talk of lifting asylum strikes a nerve with protestors who still remember the massacre of students at Athens Polytechnic University in 1974 which contributed to the toppling of the military dictatorship.

Instead of clamping down on violence, activists believe repealing asylum is a way to stifle political dissent which is often prevalent on university campuses.

The peaceful, but loud protest, started at Athens University and proceed to the Greek Parliament.

Greek dairy farmers give milk away in downtown Athens to protest low prices

Greek dairy farmers handed out thousands of bottles of free milk in downtown Athens on Monday, April 6, 2009. About 100 farmers stood by Syntagma Square and handed out bottles to surprised motorists and pedestrians.

The farmers argue that they are paid about 0.30 cents per litre of milk while the supermarket charges 2 euros. They blame the cartel system for shortchanging farmers and overcharching consumers.

Greek milk prices are among the highest in the European Union.

Anti-NATO protest in Athens, Greece

While anti-NATO protestors were getting tear gassed in Strasbourg, France, the site of the NATO summit to mark the organization’s 60th anniversary, protestors carried out a peaceful anit-NATO rally in Athens, Greece.

About 700 people participated including members of the country’s left-wing movement along with radicals and anarchists.

The march began at Athens University in downtown Athens and made its way to the US Embassy.

20,000 march in peaceful general strike in Athens, Greece

Workers from the public and private sector unions, along with students and anti-war activists staged a national strike on April 2 to protest the government policy in reaction to the global economic meltdown including spending cuts and wage freezes. Over 20, 000 people showed up. They marched peacefully to the Greek parliament without any incident.