When those who think words can change the world meet those who know that weapon will.

When those who think words can change the world meet those who know that weapon will., a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.

A leaflet for the "I won't pay" campaign lies on the pavement outside parlaiment in Athens, next to a used tear gas grenade, a particularly vile weapon that once lit fliesoff in all directions leaving a trail of disabling gas.

I saw several of these used by riot police last Wednesday by riot police and was always relieved when this hunk of metal which travels in the air at 50-60 kph managed not to hit anyone.

I thought the juxtaposition of the leaflet and the grenade encapsulates so much of what happened later that day. In essence a peaceful protest movement was drowned in a wave of violence and tear gas by a government terrified that it would develop even further and threaten their pwer.

Using a violent actions of a few demonstrators the police launched a sustained and savage attack on all sections of the rally leaving in its wake over 500 injured and the centre of Athens looking like a war zone, an especially damaging image for a country as dependent on tourism as Greece is. In contrast to most riot situations when the police use about 100 tear gas cannisters police sources admitted that 2860 cannisters were used on Wednesday alone.

The sense of outraged felt by those witnessing the casual brutality of the Greek police was paliable and goaded many , normally law abiding citizens to pick up whatever came to hand and fight back.

With the Indignant movement shattered, or at least geatly weakened, a false feeling of calm has decended upon Greece as people no longer take part in mass demonstrations. This is partly due to the time of year (Summer is traditionally a slow period politically) and partly a sence of futility as people have been unable to stop the austerity measures. But do not count on such emotions lasting indefinitely, with the coming Autumn the Greek government is likely to be faced by a large number of political challenges both from within and without parliament.

Already rage against the ruling PASOK party and politicians in general has lead to a series of over 90 attacks on MPs, a number which is set to rise as they return to disgruntled constituencies for the summer recess.

Welcome to the Greek economic miracle.

Welcome to the Greek economic miracle., a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.

The Battle of Syntagma Square

The Battle of Syntagma Square, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.

Coming to an economic crisis NEAR YOU!

Syntagma Square, Athens - Wednesday 29th June 2011 - Video

The Battle for Syntagma Square in pictures. A Flickr slide show

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

The Battle for Athens. The day after.

Greek police getting ready to attack protesters in Syntagma Square, Athens, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.

When I got back from Athens the first thing I did was take a shower to wash away the stench of tear gas, Maalox and fear that had hung around me since the morning. Although I have seen my fair share of violent clashes here in Greece, including the uprising in December 2008, nothing had prepared me for the sheer level of savagery shown by the Athens riot police. More than once I saw them act like wild animals, pouncing upon anyone foolish enough to stop to plead or remonstrate with them

Time and time again the police sent vollies of tear gas into packed crowds and it's only by a miracle that no one got crushed under foot as thousands of people ran panic striken from the gas and flash grenades. Nor did this stop throughout the day, from the moment the trouble started at 1pm till after midnight Syntagma Square smelt and sounded like a war zone with an almost continous series of loud explosions and renewed tear gas attacks on the Los Indignados encampment.

Even as far away away as Monesteriki (a neighbourhood about 1km from parliament) rampaging motocycle officers created havoc as they attacked peaceful protesters in cafes and tavernas and gunned their bikes along narrow streets packed with tourists drinking coffee outside.

At no point did the level of police response correspond with the threat they were facing, instead of calmly dealing with a small group of stone throwing trouble makers they launched an all out attack on five fronts against demonstrators which succeeded in provoking a furious reaction from a much larger section of the rally who had outraged by the scenes of uncontrolled police violence they were witnessing.

If such violence had been restricted to an handful of officer or units then perhaps you could talk about rogue officers acting unlawfully, but the scale and the duration of the operation left no doubt that police were under direct ordrs to do everything in their power to break up the demonstration and make sure those taking part would not regroup. In that way the country's political leadership and ultimately, prime minister Giorgos Papandreou took the decision to surpress the anti-government protests in manner more befitting the brutal regimes of Egypt and Tunisia than any EU member.

This is a decision that may buy the ruling PASOK administration some time as people reel in shock from the violence but in the long term has severely damaged, perhaps irreparably the credibility of Greek parliamentary democracy and probably will be the final nail in the coffin of PASOK as a viable political force in future elections.

In a country where folk memories of previous state violence run deep, sometimes going back generations the events of the 28th and 29th June are not likely to remain fade any time soon..

Greek protester recovering from effects of police tear gas attack.Syntagma square, Athens

Greek protester recovering from effects of police tear gas attack.Syntagma square, Athens, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.