I found a great post about the demonstrations in Greece and I'm posting it, as I found it here:
Let’s think things through for a minute
First of all, Greece is not burning.
Granted, lately demonstrations have become more frequent and they tend
to turn nasty, but this happens in just one place: the square in front
of the parliament. Would you cancel your trip to the States or even New
York just because of “Occupy Wall Street”?
Second, the riots are true, they are
happening and they are a fact of daily life here in Athens. Yet here I
am, an Athenian born and bred, who works downtown every day, showing
people around the historic centre, and yet not once have I had any
demonstration or riot trouble.
The truth
I understand that anyone who watches the
news on TV, the Internet or the papers, may get the impression that the
entire country (or perhaps just the entire Athens) is on fire, but it’s
not like that at all.
After all, one must not forget that news
agencies are in the entertainment business: the more viewers/readers
they get, the more money they get from advertising. So it is only
natural that they seek sensational news (and spectacular images to go
along with them), even if that may mean that in the few seconds (or
little space) available for a piece of news, the rest of the story gets
cropped away.
What is a Greek riot like?
Most people hear riots and think of Los
Angeles, when an entire area of the city was into chaos with property
destroyed and lots of casualties. Things in Greece are quite different.
All riots here evolve pretty much the same way (it’s almost a ritual by now):
First a whole lot of people gather in
Syntagma square, right in front of the parliament, to protest
peacefully. They hold pickets and banners and may shout slogans, in the
vain hope that their elected representatives will hear the voice of
their electorate…
From here.
Of course, the said representatives want
nothing of the sort. Instead, they give the police the order to surround
the building and prevent the loud plebeians from disturbing their wise
leaders.
The police cordon off the parliament but
the crowd stays and may become a tad too loud or impolite. Angered by
this show of disrespect, the parliamentarians order the police to shoo
the crowd who are preventing them from concentrating on voting their
country-saving austerity measures.
The police eagerly obey, by throwing tear gas canisters at the crowd…
From here.
Who quickly run away.
From here.
Only the most determined remain, but they
soon will be gone too, because another factor shows up: it’s a group of
angry young men, who seem to be in every demonstration waiting for this
very moment: they quickly put on full-face gas masks and produce empty
beer bottles, petrol and rags from their backpacks. Once the Molotov
cocktails are ready, they are hurled at the police.
From here.
The police see this as ample provocation
to charge at the few stubborn demonstrators who have not yet
disappeared, using even more teargas. Once the “civilians” are well
away, the “combatants” (ie the police and rioters) may continue throwing
their ammo at each other undisturbed. Since the police’s supply of
teargas is inexhaustible, while the youths can always find new
projectiles by breaking chunks off the pavement or adjacent buildings,
the battle may well continue until the wee hours of the morning. This is
the time when reporters get their most spectacular shots, of flames
against the night sky.
From here. Demonstrators often use trashcans to make huge bonfires, because heat makes teargas dissipate faster.
When does it all end?
By six o’ clock the next morning, the
city crews may start cleaning the square from the debris and people can
go about their business as usual. There may be a lingering acrid smell
if the police have been too enthusiastic in their use of tear gas (they
usually are), but this usually evaporates as soon as the sun is up.
As for the youth? None of them has ever
been apprehended, which raises some very interesting questions about who
they may be, or about the competence of Greek police, but these are not
for me to answer. I’ll simply move on to describe what happens in the
rest of the city, during the night when the police and rioters are busy
with each other.
A few blocks away from the riots
For the rest of the Greeks, riot night is a night of anger or entertainment, depending on who they are.
Those who are political, are always angry
at how the demonstration has again been hijacked by the same
mask-wearing youths and how it will be discredited by all news media the
next day.
Those who are not, will sit back in their
sofas and get ready for a steady stream of entertainment with
spectacular videos and breathless reporting that will last until well
after midnight.
Those who shun the “box”, go out as
usual, taking walks, chatting at cafés or sitting down at taverns in the
historic district, just a few squares from the riots. The only
inconvenience is that one must take a detour to avoid Syntagma square
and that bus routes that cross the centre do not – of course – work.
What about the tourists?
Greece may not be a huge country, but it
is certainly larger than a city square. As a prospective visitor you are
faced with three options:
- Avoid Greece entirely
- Avoid Athens
- Avoid Syntagma square for that night.
It is not my job to tell you which one
you should choose – pick the one you feel most comfortable with. After
all, it’s your vacation.
If you have already paid in advance, then
think twice before wasting all that hard-earned money. If you feel the
capital is too hot for you, you may want to stay in the provinces –
there’s plenty to see and do in Greece besides the Acropolis.
If however you feel that the Acropolis is
a must you simply can’t miss or you can’t change your plans without
losing a considerable sum, then rest assured that, even in downtown
Athens, the most important sites are and have always been away from
centres of power and therefore have not been disturbed by riots nor
clouded by teargas.
If you happen to be so unlucky as to be
in Athens on a day of riots, then steer clear of Syntagma square and the
nearby blocks (see a map here). The rioters will not target you, nor
will the police, but you will get a nasty lungful of smoke or teargas –
or both. So play it safe and keep away from that area. You’ll miss
nothing more than the changing of the Guard, which you can easily watch here.
Go to the Acropolis, see the Museums and take your meals in Plaka
instead of Syntagma. If in doubt, ask a local – your receptionist, a
friend, your guide. They should be able to show you where to have a good
time while keeping your lungs full of nothing worse than a little smog
or barbecue smoke.
Now, if you worry that taking a wrong
turn may accidentally put you into the path of a petrol bomb, rest
assured that such a mistake is impossible, even for the most uninformed.
The acrid smell of tear gas wafting from the scene is ample warning to
anyone that the area should be given a wide berth.
Whatever you do, enjoy your holiday.
A personal experience
Once, a few years ago, on a cold winter
night, I was out with a friend. We had just sat down at a nice tavern
and were getting ready to order, when my wife called. “Are you all
right?” she said. “Of course I’m all right,” I answered, a bit testily,
wondering if recent motherhood had changed my wife into another version
of my mom. “Where are you?” she asked again. “I’m in Plaka with
Giorgos,” I answered, worrying whether it might be jealousy after all.
“There’s rioting downtown, it’s all over the news, don’t you know it?”
she asked. I didn’t. Neither of us had heard nor smelt anything out of
the ordinary, as if the rioting were miles away, not a mere five
minutes’ walk from where we were sitting. Yet the rioting was bad, they
said, and it was all over the newspapers the next day.
