Posted on 12/06/2008 10:54:52 PM PST by fishhound
The rioting began in Athens late on Saturday soon after the shooting in the central Exarchia district, where youths threw petrol bombs at police, burnt dozens of cars and smashed shop windows. It quickly spread to Greece's second largest city of Thessaloniki and other towns in northern Greece.
Cities on the holiday islands of Crete and Corfu also saw protests at the shooting, which prompted Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos to offer his resignation. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, whose fragile government has been rocked by a series of scandals, rejected it, a ministry spokeswoman said.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.news.yahoo.com ...
Oh, hold on; I think I've found the problem!
It starts with "democracy".
Now if they would have had a republic...
Greek ping
They are hard working and do very well once they get out of Greece. That was especially true in the past during the great exodus of peoples from the Balkans.
But that’s true for just about every European ethnic group I can think of.
The problem we are seeing in the streets of Greece now is unrelated to this however.
There is absolutely an opportunity for a “law and order” candidate who is also anti immigrant—another horrible issue plaguing Greece.
It is the Laikos Orthodoxos Synagermos. (LAOS). the Popular Othodox Rally party led by Georgios Karatzaferis. One can only hope he can grab the reins of power.
The kid was the child of a married well off couple. I believe a professor and civil service worker.
I think he was just rolled up with the left wing student crowd who were rushing the police car. (see wilding)
Most likely the kids were yelling at the cops and things just escalated.
Of course you have to think in terms of that part of the world. The streets in the other parts of the world are not as soft and fluffy as the USA.
they have a republic...
they even had a form of republicanism in the ancient athens where leaders were elected.
They also had a form of term limits where a person who was too powerful could be exiled for 10 years via a vote.
with all the minor parties, it is amazing they even function.
I just look to greek political parties as a BAD EXAMPLE when we hae the kooky third party advocates here at freerepublic.com
LAOS is the party I support - essentially a true conservative right party.
“There are riots in Greece basically once a month or so. Last year a guy got killed at a riot after a Women’s volleyball match. Rioting is just part of their culture for whatever reason.”
Usually they riot, at least in Athens, on Tuesdays. It goes back to the days of the Colonels’ junta. Its something that happens in Greece. Students, with assorted anarchists and communists, go on a rampage smashing windows and firebombing cars. The media seems to be making a big deal out of this one, in part I think for the American public/media who have no understanding at all of anything in the Balkans but never miss an opportunity to spout off about how those folks should start acting like Americans.
Here’s an observation for all. In Greece, people are really free, free to say what they want, free to, for all intents and purposes, give the finger to authority and get away with it and they do it every day. The trade off is stuff like this but as a group, they’d never want to live in the sort of police and order enamored state we here in America live in. We’ve made our choice, they’ve made theirs.
I was in Athens in 2000, right around the elections. As a matter of fact, some political rally was actually going on at the hotel we were staying in. It was very passionate, but not the least bit violent, which given what you just said, is surprising.
I do recall being in Syntagma square where there was this big videoscreen set up for one of the candidates. We were on the corner waiting to cross the street when out of nowhere, this older man next to us screams really loud at the videoscreen, "F**king Crook! Criminals! All of You!", accompanied by various insulting hand signs. Surprised the hell out of us. He looked like somebody's grandfather. After this guy's short tirade at the videoscreen, he just kept walking & on with the rest of his life. I guess it was just a public release of frustration which no one seemed to notice except us.
I wasn’t assuming anything. I don’t know anything about Greek politics.
A fifteen-year old who is rioting is not a “boy.” He is a dangerous criminal.
Well, there you go, then.
Any time I see a mixed up kid, I blame the parents.
The liberal parents.
The socialist parents.
Parents who have no clue.
Too bad about the cops, though. I feel sorry for them and their families.
Riots Throw Greece into Deep Democratic Crisis
There's violence on the streets and distrust is growing: The serious riots are merely the visible manifestation a far deeper loss of faith in the government. Many normal Greeks share the same views as the Black Bloc anarchists: They consider the country's elite to be corrupt and incompetent.-- snip --
It's the daily dose of anarchy in Athens, that entered into its fifth day on Wednesday.
The Greek riots are a textbook example of how deep a country can sink if it lacks democracy's most important element, the support and acceptance of its people. The scales of democracy have tipped here, and one inevitably gets the impression these days that there are few left who still trust the government to find the right path. Their experiences with its scandals, cronyism and corruption are too deeply seated. And it is in their unanimous rejection of the elite that both business people and the Black Bloc anarchists have found common ground.
-- snip --
At noon on the streets, though, the calls were "Pigs, swines, murders!"
Danke.
Bitte.
Those guys look like, uh, Greeks, balaclava notwithstanding.
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