Saturday, November 18, 2006

17th November march, Thessaloniki


Despite all the trouble afterwards, yesterday's commemoration of the student uprising on 17th November 1973 (see here about the event)went off without incident. Indeed, it was a good - natured affair and I had the chance to speak to many of my old students that I bumped into as I followed the march's progress. I thought I'd post a few photos and a some video that I took.

I saw several student groups that had volunteered to protect the university's building from possible vandalism by more violent factions. I saw them arguing with a group of masked anarchists who'd been stopped carrying empty retsina bottles (apparently, they make for more reliable Molotov cocktail containers than beer bottles).

Inside the university there was a party atmosphere as students listened to rembetika music and generally celebrated the anniversary of the fall of the junta in a relaxed, laid back manner (see here for other reports).








And see here for the video I took of the march which wound its way through the centre of the city and ended up at the Aristotelian university of Thessaloniki.

2 comments:

José Luis Cabello said...

It seems Greek students feel interested in political matters (not as in some other places).
Apologies for cross posting, but
I have just created a new esl superblog where your blog has been included for its quality and pedagogical interest.
http://eslblog.suprglu.com/
(I hope you don't mind. If you do, please tell me)

teacher dude said...

Some, not all. Still, it was a big turn out and the students tried hard to make sure the march was peaceful.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it soon.