People flee from a burning Christmas Tree in Syntagma Square in Athens. (AFP: Aris Messinis)
Posted on 12/08/2008 7:39:25 PM PST by Blackyce
Posted
Updated
People flee from a burning Christmas Tree in Syntagma Square in Athens. (AFP: Aris Messinis)
Rioters have torched a large Christmas tree in central Athens at the end of a third day of violent demonstrations in Greece.
The tree, in Syntagma Square, was set on fire amid riots in the Greek capital in protest over the death of a 15-year-old boy who was shot by police three days ago.
The windows of the five-star Athens Plaza and Grande Bretagne hotels were smashed. More than 130 shops have been destroyed and police have detained dozens of people.
Two policemen have been arrested in connection with 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos's death but the widespread nature of the protests is seen more as a display of frustration with the increasingly unpopular conservative government.
Separately, about 10,000 protesters from the Communist Party of Greece and another left-wing party are now marching through the centre of Athens.
Earlier Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis appealed for calm ahead of the Athens demonstrations.
Elsewhere in the country, rampaging youths took to the streets in Thessaloniki, Greece's northern capital.
They hurled rocks at police and smashed shop windows. There were also reports of looting. Demonstrators threw petrol bombs and rocks at Government buildings and at random shop fronts and cars. Police retaliated with tear gas.
Mr Karamanlis said his conservative Government would take immediate steps to compensate all those whose property had been destroyed by self-styled anarchists who have gone on the rampage.
Scores of people, including 37 policemen have been injured in the civil disturbances.
In a televised address, Mr Karamanlis said the emotions that followed the tragic shooting would not be tolerated.
Confrontations also broken out between protesters and police in Berlin, London and Cyprus as youths occupied Greek diplomatic missions and burned Greek flags.
Protests have spread to more than 10 other cities in Greece, including Salonika and the tourist islands of Crete and Corfu.
Melbourne lawyer Eleni Bertes is working in Athens and described the scene on ABC2's News Breakfast program.
"We're talking about major mayhem," she said. "You have the riot police in front and them which is like a herring for them, they literally break anything in their path, literally."
- ABC/Reuters
They must not have the Christmas spirit.
Idiots.
How brightly burn your branches.
Um. *\;-|
Last night, on the news, there was also a police officer with his clothes on fire - likewise burning brightly.
Purttttyy...marshmallow time!
Cleanup in breaking news....
Looks like Burning Man!
Talk about your grinches!
Left wing hate filled pieces of filth. When do the book burnings start?
Gee, how refreshing. A riot, destruction of personal property not of Islamic origin. Meanwhile, back at the ranch … Moslems are throwing stones at Satan in their yearly religious trip to Mecca.. What a crazy world we live in. ;-)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2145346/posts Violence, Riots in Greece - Islamic Immigration - Eurabia
Islamists calling themselves Anarchists and waving Communist party flags, and burning things in protest of the death of a 15 year old kid named Alexandros Grigoropoulos?
Alrighty then.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2145364/posts - Chanting Allahu Akbar, they wreak destruction in Athens
“It was an ugly tree anyway.” ~ Uncle Lewis
Mmmmm. Wonder if all these “youths” have anything in common? You certainly can’t tell from the article.
B.S. Look at the pictures. They are full of communist signs in Greek, not green banners and signs in Arabic.
Please, lets remain truthful and not lie about facts on the ground to fit into our preconceived notions. The one article that everyone is sighting as proof of Islamic involvement was published in EARLY OCTOBER. The Muslims did have a march in October, which is what the chanting took place at. It is not connected with the anarchist riots going on now.
Here is pic from today's riots. There are lots of them out there. There is no visible Islamic component to the signs. This is the so-called black-block anarchists. They are a huge problem in Europe. This needs to be well understood by everyone at Free Republic.
Note: motorcycle helmet, man with video camera. Not penniless refugees and the don't look African or Middle Eastern.
I know these people. They are variously referred to as "anarchists" "black-block" "autonomous" and "anti-authoritarians". We have them in the USA too. They were the instigators at the Seattle riots a few years back.
They come ready to fight police, all in black, masked with motorcycle helmets.
Here is video, their anarchist banners (black and red) are clearly visible. The BBC reporter mentions that this is escalation of frequent clashes between anarchists and police; VIDEO
note: black & red flag in right background
note: worldwide anarchist symbol grafitti
LET'S TRY FOR ACCURACY PEOPLE!!
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