Riots in Greece

Last Saturday, we all decided to go out to celebrate a lot of people’s last weekends in Thessaloniki. We walked down to Kamara to meet up with everyone and were surprised to see a lot of other people there too. Kamara is usually a big meeting place, but that night just seemed different. All of a sudden all the people started chanting “Basti, Gorounia, Dolophoni” which means “Cops, Pigs, Murderers.” Luckily, we were with Vicky and Stephanos so they were able to tell us what was going on. Earlier that day, the police in Athens killed a 15 year-old boy in Omonia, a typically anarchist neighborhood. The entire country was outraged and started riots because of it. Turns out, we were at the exact place at the exact time of a riot in Thessaloniki. Once all of the thousands of people started marching in the streets and setting dumpsters on fire, we walked down some side streets to avoid getting caught up in all the mess. It was pretty scary, but we didn’t really know what was happening, and we made it to our destination safely.
On the walk home, several hours later though, we were really able to see the devastation that this first riot caused. Stores had been broken into and looted, all the dumpsters were in the middle of the streets and on fire, and broken glass covered all the sidewalks and roads. Smoke could be seen from streets were stores had been burned.
The next day, we were instructed not to leave our neighborhood. During this time, we all did a lot of research and were trying to figure out why all the violence was happening. The Greek government is very unstable, with the anarchists close to being the majority. Because of this and other previous clashes with law enforcement and government, Greeks generally strongly dislike the police. We were told that contrary to our instincts, in this situation, we should avoid the police at all costs, because wherever they were there would be trouble.
No one really knew how long the violence would last, the only other experience we had with riots were the ones that never even happened on Polytechnic Day. I was really nervous about it because Kayla arrived on Monday, and if I couldn’t leave my neighborhood (and on Monday we weren’t even supposed to leave the building) how was I supposed to get her at the airport, let alone show her around my city? I spent much of Monday afternoon calling taxi services, many of whom refused to come into the neighborhood. Hours later I finally had success when I called a taxi driver friend and he agreed to drive me to and from the airport.
My neighborhood is at the edge of the public university’s campus, where most of the rioting is happening. There is an asylum law in Greece that states that police are not allowed to enter university grounds. Because of this, protesters and rioters use the university as a safe haven to throw their fire bombs and rocks. My apartment is literally on the same street as the university, so most of the roads around here were closed.
I was so relieved to get Kayla to my apartment safely. I could tell the taxi driver was agitated and nervous about driving through my neighborhood, but I’m so glad he agreed to. When we got into the building though, we were informed that we wouldn’t have school on Tuesday because the bus wouldn’t be able to pick us up safely. Normally, I would be overjoyed at this news, but I had finals scheduled that I would now need to find time to make-up. As we were watching a movie that night, we could see fire bombs being thrown from the roofs of some of the university buildings.
While we were told to stay inside the next day, I couldn’t keep Kayla indoors all day, and I too was itching for an outing. The violence was only happening in the heart of the city so I decided to take Kayla up to the Old City Walls, which are on the outskirts of town on top of hill where you can see the whole city. There are also some great ruins on the walk up there. We ate at a taverna on the edge of a cliff so we could see the whole city. Every once in a while, we would see clouds of smoke coming from the university area, rioters no doubt.
Wednesday, we decided to go out to lunch and grocery shopping, against ACT’s suggestions. Because the funeral for the boy was that day, we knew to expect more violence. While we were in the grocery store, a huge crowd of people marched by chanting the “cops, pigs, murderers” thing again. Moments after they passed, police went running after them in all their riot gear. A man in the grocery store started yelling about how it was a peaceful protest until the police intervened and escalated. Coming out of the store, the tear gas hung in the air. Luckily we’d caught on to the European scarf trend, and used them to cover our mouths and noses. Walking past the intersection at the campus, we could see a huge crowd of people running inside the campus gates to avoid the police.
I spent all day at school yesterday taking 4 finals and a midterm that I’d missed when I had strep throat last week. It was rough, but at least I’m finished with the semester! That’s a lie, I still have an ethics paper to write, but that isn’t due until January. We planned a great night out to celebrate, regardless of the riots, but I received some bad news from home, so I wasn’t in a celebratory mood. My grandmother passed away yesterday. I knew it was coming, but the fact that I can’t be home with my family, especially when they are so worried about me anyway, makes it more difficult.
Today Kayla and I went to all the museums of Thessaloniki, and actually went into all the ruins in the squares. I am so glad I went to the museums, and I regret not going sooner. I learned so much about the city that I’ve been living in for the last 3 months. The museums also had a lot of great artifacts and historical items that were really interesting to see.
Tomorrow, we’re off to Italy for the week. Kayla and I will be visiting Venice, Florence, Pisa, and Rome, and two friends from home will also be meeting us to travel together. I know I should be so excited about going to Italy, but really all I want to do is go home. After everything, strep throat, the riots, my grandmother, home is the only place that I want to be right now. But instead, we’re celebrating the end of the semester tonight at Apostoli’s and then going to Dante to reminisce about our first days here. I’ll come back to Thessaloniki for 2 days after Italy to relax and pack up, my only hope is that the riots and everything will be over. Wandering around the city the last few days, it is clear the billions of dollars of damage that was caused. Tsimiski, the street with all the designer shops is basically destroyed as are several of the kiosks and most banks throughout the city. It is crazy to me that these people would destruct the property of their friends and neighbors just to get their point across. But get their point across they did, and Americans could learn from the Greeks to assert their freedom of speech and right to protest. While it was more destructive than it may have needed to be, Americans would never put that much effort into an outcry and to really get noticed and listened to.