We've been told that the ongoing riots in Greece were prosecuted by anarchists as a reaction to the Greek police's shooting of a 15 year old boy on Saturday. But is this really what lies behind such an outpouring of civil unrest? Is the official reason for the rioting just a cover to paper over some real problems facing the Greek government? Take a look at the common thread in all of these reports:
Associated Press: Burning barricades stretched across streets in the capital Athens. And as night fell, gangs again torched stores and smashed bank branches in the city center, and clashes broke out in the streets near Parliament.... Violence often breaks out between riot police and anarchists during demonstrations in Greece. Anarchist groups are also blamed for late-night firebombings of targets such as banks and diplomatic vehicles.
Xinhua: Fires were burnt in the center of Athens and hundreds of people were wandering through the streets, some attacking banks, businesses and vehicles.
Reuters: Protesters angry at the boy's shooting late on Saturday clashed with police and rampaged through Athens, destroying banks, shops and torching cars. There was no official estimate of the damage, expected to come to millions of euros.
Torching banks? Clashes near Parliament? Attacking diplomatic vehicles? Yesterday, I heard that ten banks had been attacked, and it seems strange that all of this is happening solely over last Saturday's shooting. Indeed, it is a perfect pretext for the Greek authorities and the media - not to mention their counterparts over here - who fear that their cosy relationship with the international clique of banking criminals may result in them hanging from shiny lamp-posts from Washington to Dublin to Sydney.
The funny thing is that the recent headlines in Greece are similar to those in Ireland:
All of Greece's major Greek lenders will participate in the government's bank support plan aimed at ensuring the continued flow of credit to the economy, the country's finance minister said on Thursday.
"It was confirmed that all large banks will participate in the plan fully," Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis told reporters after a meeting with major bank CEOs and the central banker.
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