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Greece: Asking for...hope!

I think it is clear, even to a foreigner, that what is happening these days in Athens remarks that ''en era is about to finish.'' The government of the country, in a desperate effort to proof that...exists, tries to take measures. It is clear from what happened that PM Karamanlis is incapable of taking any political initiative for the country to escape the crisis. This can be witnessed from the way Karamanlis is taking decisions. After 2 days of Athens being in flames, Karamanlis asked to see his ministers and the President of the Republic in order to find a way to handle the situation. These 2 days, the political parties of the Parliament weren't capable of making a single statement about what is currently happening in the country. These measures should have been taken earlier. The assassination of little Alex in Exarcheia was not the cause, it was just the occasion for a whole generation to protest. This generation was shot in Exarcheia... It is this generation, which is the most educated of all which work without insurance and labor rights for only 700 euros. ''This generation has to pay the bill for all the depths of the greek economy.'' The ruling class of our fathers, who protested against the military junta in 1974 asking for democracy, established a ''prime minister's dictatorship'' in the country. It is this generation, which burnt and continues to burn forests in order to build illegally, which practices corruption and is corrupted and which managed to gain all the labor right for itself. The country demands changes, our society demands changes! I refuse to accept that we stick to the so-called anarchists and we don't face the problem. Day after day, people are getting poorer, the prices are skyrocketing while the wages are the lowest within the EU. At the same time the political system of the country is full of corruption scandals between politicians and companies such as Siemens as well as real estate businesses, between the State and the Vatopedion Monastery... This government must resign not because a child was killed. It must resign because it failed to fulfill the demands of its citizens. It failed to protect their lives and their properties and because this government attested in the cruelest way, that we miss essential political proposals. So we ask for hope ... a new political approach is demanded. We ask for politicians who will make changes in the state, politicians who is about to implement real social policy. Furthermore, we want politicians who will be capable to find solutions for those Greeks who suffer from unemployment, poverty ... and believe me, we aren' talking about just one or two. It is a whole nation! We ask for politicians who end all the bribing and nepotism, who fight those Greeks stealing taxes, those who vote only because of their personal interest. These are not just people. It is our very own nature that we ask to fight. We ask for a leader, who will attack this bad side of us as citizens and as a state... So we ask for hope...

photo by courtesy of Mariana (murplejane/flickr)

Rioters burn and plunder Athens

The centre of Athens looks like a conflict zone, probably the worst seen in Greece since the restoration of democracy in 1974. Dozens of shops, banks, businesses and cars are being destroyed by the rioters on Athens main shopping streets and business centre. Incidents started on Saturday night, soon after an officer who was patrolling shot dead a teenager (Alexis Grigoropoulos) in Exarchia district, an area where they often take place clashes between self-styled anarchists known as “known-unknowns” and police. The circumstances surrounding the death are still unclear. According to the officer’s version of events, his vehicle was attacked by a group of some 30 people and he fired three times with his service gun (twice in the air and one on the ground) for self-defence. His version is contradicted by several witnesses who claim there was simply a verbal exchange between a small group of youngsters and the two officers who got out of their car to pursue the youths. The two officers have been arrested and charged with murder and illegal use of gun. In Athens, rioters set up burning barricades across downtown streets, hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails, torched the capital’s massive Christmas tree in central Syntagma Square, smashed windows, burned and robbed shops and ATM machines causing millions of euros worth damage. Massive riots spread across Greek cities and towns including Thessaloniki, Patra, Ioannina and Crete in the third day of rioting. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has called an emergency Cabinet Meeting Monday night and the Rector of the University of Athens has resigned.

photo: Third day of violence

Thousands of protesters battled police in central Athens, smashing the windows of shops and banks with Molotov cocktails, and sending three officers to hospital, said police, who used tear gas to disperse the rioters.

By courtesy of Mariana (murplejane/flickr)

The ''Banana Republic''...

Athens is on fire..Greece is on fire..and I am really afraid that nobody can bring an extinguisher..I feel really upset of what happened in Exarcheia. No matter if the child attacked or not to the policemen it is unacceptable for a policeman, who knows the sensitivity of this certain district, to shoot. No public force has the right to shoot any civilian, let alone a 15 year old child. If the child is regarded as a criminal then they arrest him..After all nobody believes that a bullet in the heart and and the stomach can happen by mistake. What is really important to me is first of all that the civil society, through blogs and through the facebook is fully aware of the event and want to react. However, those anarchists-who apparently seem to not know what their ideology is all about- for another time burn Athens and there are so many people, students, professionals and civilians who will pay for all this mess. The government and personally the PM Karamanlis are totally ABSENT and seem incapable of protecting the people who are in trouble. Also the rest of the political parties are also ABSENT and only after 48 hours later Papandreou (PASOK party) makes a statement. Our society demands changes, the political system of the country seems incapable (not to say dangerous) to handle the situation and we are waiting to see what is going to happen..The Hellenic Republic became the Banana Republic

Riots in Greece: Shame!!



Shame! This is what we felt all passers-by who witnessed yesterdays battle scene at the centre of Athens. Riots that have broken out after police shot dead a 15-year-old boy who tried to throw a firebomb (!) at a patrol car in Exarchia district. At least that seemed to be the motive-reason which I doubt facing myself the extent of the damages, the fires and the vandalism at the central streets, shops, banks and about 20 cars. Police responded by firing tear gas, evacuating some restaurants in the area, and closing several streets to all traffic. But what I don’t understand is the Government apology. Several hours after the incident, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the interior minister, apologized for the incident and expressed his sorrow for the death of the young boy. "There will be an exemplary punishment and measures will be taken so that such a thing will not be repeated", he said! But why there were no arrests? Why they leave those people hurling Molotov cocktails and vandalizing undisturbed businesses in central Athens? Who controls and organize those rioters? These are the concerns of the simple citizens like me, like the cab driver who took me home last night, of the terrified passers-by, forced to find their way out of the centre whispering “ok! Once again we are going to pay for all that” or the small business owners of the destroyed and burned shops and cars. Shame to the "professional" rioters, they loose the right –if they have any- over the public opinion who witnessed speechless such damages, such chaos and proving for once again how easy is to destroy than create and contribute to the society

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