Huge antiwar demonstration in Athens on February the 15th. Medium-scale clashes with the police and 24 arrests.

A huge anti-war demonstration took place in Athens, Greece on February 15th. Estimates for the number of people that participated are still floating, with no clear estimate given by the police, neither by the organizers . It was clear however to anyone that has experience in attending demonstrations that the crowd was well into the hundreds of thousands, with the 200.000 reported by many corporate media being a reasonable estimate. Sintagma Square was filled to capacity with people listening from 12:00 p.m. to anti-war speeches and music. Tens of thousands were also filling the nearby streets, carrying hundreds of anti-war banners, balloons, signs, t-shirts etc.

The march started at about 1:00 p.m., with the people assembled in (occupying practically the whole length of ) Stadiou street (Greek Communist Party's many initiatives, trade unions and students) begun the route towards the American embassy. The last demonstrators reached the embassy at about 5:30, as endless blocks of people chanting antiwar and antiamerican slogans were passing for 4 hours in front of the - very much hated in Athens - building. Many bands and some music vans were raising the spirits of the demonstrators, while some blocks insisted on the walk-and-shout traditional style.

Early in the day, in Sintagma square, activists from the Virus collective threw quite a few yogurts (the Greek equivalent of throwing a pie) to Kostas Laliotis, the General Secreatry of PASOK (the governing party). It was an act of anger over the government's hypocrisy: supporting the demo on the one hand, allowing the U.S. military to use military bases in Greece on the other. People from the same group "attacked" with red paint-bombs the Italian and British Embassies, as well as covered with toilet paper a military airplane exhibited in the War Musuem.

More violent activism was adopted by hundreds of anarchists, which from 2:30 p.m. engaged in sporadic clashing with the police forces. The headquarters of the newspaper "BIMA" and a police car were also attacked, even before the march has started. The police responded with frequent and abundant use of tear-gas, causing severe irritation and anger to the mass of the demonstrators as the skirmishes continued for hours along the route of the demo. At about 4:30 p.m. the clashes were escalated in the area near the American Embassy, with the police using indiscriminately tear-gas on the whole demonstration. Hundreds of people responded by throwing stones at them, and for about 30' a larger scale scuffle broke out. Tensions were afterwards relaxed, as rock-throwers were no match for chemical agents. The police made 24 arrests, almost all of them random and particularly brutal.

Photos [1, 2, 3, 4]

According to IMC-Thessaloniki, more than 40.000 people took part in a powerful antiwar demo in the city. The anarchist block there, some 1.000 people strong, attacked the police forces guarding the American consulate and clashes followed. Demonstrations also took place in almost every city in Greece, including Patras (), Volos, Giannena, Kavala, Aleksandroupoli, Orestiada, Komotini, Irakleio, Rethimno, Rodes, Mitilini.

www.southerncrossreview.org/Ebooks/ebcaesars.htm