Monday, December 08, 2008

Days of rage

Greek riots enter third day

Tomorrow I'm going to be interviewed by the BBC about what is happening here in Greece.

I just spent the evening taking part in a protest march and the situation seems out of control here. I have never seen such rage and frustration in all the time I've lived here. the city aapears to have been abandoned by the police they haven't even bothered closing off area where the riots are taking place, so letting hapless drivers wander into the hot zones.

All I saw them do is fire off round after round of tear gas and then wait for people to leave. The thing is that they didn't. They regrouped and then marched.

The state run media which is about as reliable a source of information as my mate down the pub is spinning the events across the country as some kind of conspiracy which has to be put down. The truth is that the situation is not so simple and much of what we see is the result of years of anger over what has been going on in the country over the last few years. Rising unemployment, galloping inflation, lack of opportunities and a seemingly endless list of government scandals have left many Greeks feeling that there are no more choices.

2 comments:

Martin Belam said...

Great photos (as ever) and keep the commentary coming, but please take care.

Gia said...

I agree with you, but I'm not sure if it is just feeling that there are no more choices, or if this is the reality that we are now facing. Great blog...