While the international mainstream news media appears determined to cast the Greek riots as “subsiding,” “waning,” and “easing,” reports from the protesters themselves paint a very different picture. Today, for example, Greek protesters seized state run television and interrupted a broadcast of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis’ speech to parliament — watch:
The youths who are the driving force of this non-stop series of protests have proven to be expert handlers not just of social media, but of producing spectacular actions, creating what (I hate to say this for how it can be misunderstood) possibly the most photogenic series of riots yet seen. On 1D4TW I have showcased some of the photo and video collections, created and uploaded in many cases by protesters themselves, as examples of the spectacularity of Greek resistance. The ability to capture popular imagination, echoed by the capture of state television, is certainly one of the more profound impacts of the Greek uprising, and no wonder that solidarity actions have spread to dozens of cities worldwide already (in fact, I have been unable to keep track and provide regular updates of the latest actions).
Stay tuned for more.
UPDATE: Statement from those who organized the seizure of the television station:
ABOUT THE INTERRUPTION BY PROTESTING CIVILIANS OF THE NEWSCAST AT THE GREEK NATIONAL BROADCAST STATION, 16 DEC, 2008, 3:10PM
Our action is a response to the accumulated pressures that ravage our lives, and not simply an emotional outburst in the wake of the murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos by the Greek police.
We are yet another spontaneous collective that forms part of the social uprising in progress.
In a symbolic move to prevent the media from subduing us, citizens & civilians, we interrupt the newscast of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (NET). We believe that the media systematically cultivates a climate of fear, promoting misinformation as information, and portraying a multi-faceted uprising as an outburst of reckless violence.
The explosion of civil unrest is explained in criminal rather than political terms. Crucial events are selectively brushed under the carpet. The uprising is served up as entertainment, something to watch until the next soap opera comes on. The media are being used as a means of suppressing free and original thought on a daily basis.
Let us organise ourselves. No authority can provide solutions to our problems. We must rally together and turn our public spaces – streets, squares, parks, and schools – into areas of unhindered expression and communication. Let us come together, face to face, side by side, to formulate our cause and our course of action as one.
Let us overcome the fear, switch off our television sets, come out of our houses, continue to assert our rights, and take our lives into our own hands.
We condemn police violence and call for the immediate release of all protesters held in custody.
We stand for emancipation, human dignity, and freedom. (source)
ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY 