Showing posts with label violent demonstrations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violent demonstrations. Show all posts
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, April 05, 2012
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Monday, May 16, 2011
Egyptian police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo, after a group of demonstrators reportedly attempted to storm the building.
Thousands of protesters had massed outside of the embassy in the capital on Sunday to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe" - the day Israel declared its independence and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes.
Witnesses said a group of demonstrators later tried to storm the entrance of the embassy. Police used rubber coated steel bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd, wounding at least 40 people. Several others were arrested.
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Anarchists went on the rampage in central London as hundreds of thousands of people marched in protest at government cuts.
Police fought mobs of masked thugs who pelted officers with ammonia and fireworks loaded with coins.
The anti-capitalists started fires and smashed their way into banks, hotels and shops, bringing chaos to Britain’s busiest shopping street.
The violence began as Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, addressed a TUC rally of at least 250,000 peaceful protesters in Hyde Park who had marched from Westminster to demonstrate against government spending cuts.
As he spoke, an apparently co-ordinated attack began on shops and police in Oxford Street as a mob tried to storm into shops including Topshop, BHS and John Lewis.
MPs and retailers said the scenes damaged Britain’s reputation around the world. » | Patrick Sawer, and David Barrett | Saturday, March 26, 2011
My comment on this:
It would appear that this country is becoming ungovernable. But much of the blame for this lies with the people at the top, because they have forgotten one simple thing: fairness.
It’s all very well to talk about the ‘anti-capitalists,’ but we should ask ourselves why these people are ‘anti-capitalists.’ And I’m pretty sure they feel that the system is unfair.
And it is unfair. Very unfair, in fact, because the people that have the least are being asked to shoulder the greatest burden of the spending cuts, whilst the people at the top are not being asked to make any sacrifices at all. How can it be a fair society when bankers, for example, are being paid monopoly sums as bonuses when people at the bottom are barely scratching a living?
This is not the capitalism that I remember. It has always been so that the people at the top made a lot more money than the people at the bottom, but it is a question of degree. It is also a question about how much effort the people at the top have to make in order to earn those far bigger sums of money. Who, for example, would begrudge Bill Gates his fortune? He made his money by effort and ability and creativity. He has also made a very big contribution to the world in terms of technology. But bankers? What have they contributed? In what way have they made life better? And how much effort have they got to make to collect these vast sums of money?
It seems to me that bankers have a great deal to answer for. They have almost single-handedly destroyed the capitalist system (with the aid of the nincompoops in the Labour Party, of course – Blair, Brown et al.). But very importantly, thay have not been asked to join in and do their bit in these times of austerity. In short, the government expects the people who have the least to tighten their belts the most. Now that can’t be fair!
In my opinion, we cannot hope to understand the appalling behaviour of that anarchic mob yesterday in London without taking into consideration the points I have mentioned.
And by the way, it was Labour that fostered the benefits culture. Over the years they have given hand-outs to people who should not have been given them. The welfare state should never have been allowed to grow into the monster it has become. Alas it is human nature to be unwilling to give up that which was once a ‘right.’ In many ways, the welfare state, whilst a noble concept, has been allowed to become the scourge of the modern Western economy.
What we observed in London yesterday is the result of these failed policies: failed policies by Labour; failed policies by the Coalition to correct the unfairness.
I predict that the summer of 2011 will be long and hot! The heatwave has only just begun! – © Mark
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Related »
SKY NEWS: London's Cuts March Tainted By Violence » | Sunday, March 27, 2011
MAIL ON SUNDAY: Police struggle to control hard-core anarchist rioters after 500,000-strong London march against government cuts ends in violence: Hooded anarchists attack London landmarks linked to luxury and wealth » | Daily Mail Reporter, Ian Gallagher and George Arbuthnott | Sunday, March 27, 2011
REUTERS: Rioters battle UK police after anti-cuts rally: Black-clad, masked youths battled riot police and attacked banks and luxury stores in central London on Saturday, overshadowing a protest by more than a quarter of a million Britons against government spending cuts. » | Stefano Ambrogi and Tim Castle | LONDON | Saturday, March 26, 2011
Saturday, April 03, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Violent clashes have broken out between riot police and members of the English Defence League protesting against a planned mosque in Dudley, West Midlands.
About 2,000 members of the EDL descended on Dudley town centre on Saturday afternoon.
Some of the protesters broke out of a pen in a car park, breaking down metal fences and throwing the metal brackets at officers, who were armed with riot shields and batons.
Members of the demonstration started fighting their own stewards who were trying to calm them down as they attacked the fences penning them in.
The EDL had put signs up which read ''Labour forcing mosques on Britain'' and ''No one wants this mosque''.
Some demonstrators held placards reading ''Muslim bombers off our streets'' and ''Say no to the mosque''.
The national anthem was played on a speaker system while demonstrators waved the flag of St George. >>> Alastair Jamieson | Saturday, April 03, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Iranian security forces have shot and killed a nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi during the fiercest clashes with anti-government protesters in months.
At least eight people are thought to have died in clashes across the country, according to opposition web sites and witnesses.
Amateur video footage from the centre of Tehran showed an enraged crowd carrying away one of the casualties, chanting, "I'll kill, I'll kill the one who killed my brother".
In several locations in the capital, demonstrators fought back furiously against security forces, hurling stones and setting their motorcycles, cars and vans ablaze, according to video footage and pro-reform websites.
Demonstrations also took place in at least three other cities. >>> | Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Yesterday’s open defiance of the supreme leader was astonishing and shows how fast events are moving in Iran
The two men cradled the woman as she collapsed backwards onto the street, a pool of blood at her feet. The men pressed their hands on to a bullet wound in her neck as her hands fell limp above her shoulders.
Within seconds, her eyes rolled sideways and her pale features were obscured by haemorrhaging from her nose and mouth. Her would-be rescuers shrieked in panic. There was nothing they could do to save her.
The scene, captured on a number of mobile phones, unfolded yesterday in Tehran as protesters fought running battles with riot police and militia on the streets of the Iranian capital.
Another video showed hundreds of people milling about in a street with fires burning in the road. Some were collecting rocks. A helicopter buzzed overhead.
At least five shots were heard and soon after a group of men raced through the crowd carrying a man by his arms and legs. His head was lolling. He was laid on the ground and a crowd gathered. A large blood stain filled the centre of his white shirt. He lay still and appeared to be dead.
Yet more footage emerged of young men throwing stones at riot police. A number shouted “Death to Khamenei!”, underlining the seriousness of the protests. As supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei traditionally occupies an untouchable position in Iranian society.
There was also video of a member of the security forces who had been knocked off his motorbike. A black-clad woman tried to protect him as a number of people, many of them wearing suits, kicked and punched him. A motorbike was on fire a few feet away.
Last night these videos revealed the extent of the defiance of the regime that has sprung from last week’s disputed presidential election. Yesterday tens of thousands of supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claim Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent, stole victory in the election, poured on to the streets again. They were confronted with water cannon, tear gas and targeted gunfire.
The largest crowd gathered near the University of Tehran, after evading a riot police cordon which had tried to disperse them. Soon a volley of 20-30 shots rang out - which state television later claimed were warning shots - and the group broke up into roaming knots of protesters. Street battles then erupted as they took the fight to police with rocks.
As night fell it was unclear how many people had been killed or injured in the clashes. What was certain was that Iran was entering uncharted territory. >>> Marie Colvin in Tehran | Sunday, June 21, 2009
YOUTUBE: Basij Kills Young Girl in Tehran's Streets (Warning: Graphic)
Hat tip: Pastorius >>>
Thursday, June 18, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Beware the end of the decade in Iran. In 1979 it was the Shah who succumbed to the protests and was driven from power. In 1989 it was Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic revolution, who died after a long illness. In 2009 his successor is fighting to save the regime from its gravest challenge since Saddam Hussein’s tanks crossed the frontier in 1980.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, spent years in the Shah’s prisons, had his right arm paralysed by a bomb and has led Iran through many crises over the past two decades. But tomorrow, when he mounts the steps to the small stage at Tehran University to deliver the sermon at weekly prayers, he faces the toughest test of his almost 70 years.
If it was the “Great Satan”, as America is known, or even the “Little Satan”, as Britain is named, who were behind the challenge, then the regime would know how to protect itself. The Revolutionary Guards would be deployed along the borders, the Basij, a volunteer force, would patrol the streets. Instead, the challenge comes from within and from people that the Supreme Leader barely has contact with, using unfamiliar weapons — tweets, blogs, satellite television and text messages — that undermine him in ways he cannot imagine.
Two thirds of Iranians are under 30, meaning that they have no direct experience of the Revolution and [a] only passing knowledge of the Iran-Iraq war, which did more than anything to shape the modern country. What they have experienced is a life of missed opportunities caused by an aging clerical leadership, massive corruption and a regime that is increasingly dictatorial.
The mullahs once rigidly controlled access to information but their grasp has slipped. One third of Iranians have internet access. There are satellite dishes on every apartment block in Tehran, even though they are banned. Music channels beam in from California to show young Iranians how other young Iranians live half a world away.
The rulers may be living in the Middle Ages but their children and grandchildren are wired to the 21st century. >>> Richard Beeston, Foreign Editor | Thursday, June 18, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: The Iranian opposition dashed the regime’s hopes that its protests would gradually fade away by staging another huge demonstration against electoral fraud yesterday and calling for an even bigger show of strength today as unrest spread across the country.
The demonstrators’ defiance of bans, violent repression and official pleas for unity is driving the regime towards increasingly extreme measures to enforce President Ahmadinejad’s hotly disputed re-election last Friday. Security forces have arrested dozens of prominent opposition figures in the past two days, detained hundreds of students in raids on universities and threatened legal action against “deviant” websites and bloggers who provoked unrest.
“Everyone is so energised and pumped up but no one knows how it will end,” one Tehran resident said. “The city is burning with equal doses of energy and rage and thugs who look like they’ve been unleashed from the city jail roam the streets wielding sticks and batons. We cannot decide whether to rejoice or despair.”
In an attempt to sway public opinion, the regime is blaming the protests on Western intelligence agencies. Last night it accused the United States — the “Great Satan” — of “intolerable” interference in Iranian affairs. The senior prosecutor in the province of Isfahan threatened demonstrators with execution, claiming that they were controlled by foreigners. Iranian Opposition Vows to Keep Pressure on Regime with Shows of Strength >>> Martin Fletcher and Ella Flaye in Tehran | Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Watch Guardian video: Shocking pictures are emerging from inside Iran as people caught up in the violence post images on social networking sites. Warning: disturbing content >>> Source: YouTube & Twitter | Tuesday, June 16, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: As protesters marched through the thoroughfares of Tehran, much of the city went on an unofficial strike today. Shops opened their shutters only halfway, in defiance of the vote.
Four days after Mr Ahmadinejad claimed re-election, the powerful Guardian Council offered a partial recount of disputed ballot boxes in response to complaints of massive electoral fraud.
The move by the clerics on the country's highest legislative body appeared to be the first concession to the opposition after hundreds of thousands joined anti-government protests in recent days.
But many saw it as a ploy by the mullahs to buy time before their formal endorsement of Mr Ahmadinejad's victory. Mr Mousavi had asked the council of clerics to annul the election and re-run it, but they rejected that demand as impossible.
At least seven civilians were killed when members of the Basiji militia, a force of young Islamic hardliners, started shooting when their post came under attack during yesterday's mass rally.
State radio said that the building came under attack at the end of what it called an "illegal" demonstration.
"Some thugs in an organised and coordinated action attacked and vandalised a number of public and government buildings," it reported. "A military post was attacked with the intention of looting its weapons. Unfortunately, seven of our citizens were killed and a number of them injured."
The death toll may actually have been higher. A nurse at western Tehran’s Rasoul Akram hospital said that 28 people with "bullet wounds" had been brought in last night, of whom eight had died.
Mr Ahmadinejad showed his contempt for the protests by visiting the Russian city of Yekaterinburg for a regional summit, where his re-election was effectively endorsed not just by his hosts but other nations attending, including China, India and Pakistan. Iranians Suspicious of Recount Offer as Tehran Goes on Unofficial Strike >>> Philippe Naughton, and Tony Halpin in Yekaterinburg | Tuesday, June 16, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Seven people have died in clashes in Tehran after an "unauthorised gathering" following a mass rally over alleged election fraud, Iran's state radio reported.
The report said the seven died in shooting that erupted after several people in the west of the capital "tried to attack a military location" on Monday evening.
More than 100,000 opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had earlier marched through Tehran protesting at alleged vote rigging in last week's elections.The outpouring on to the streets was the greatest display of popular feeling since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
The state radio report was the first official confirmation of the shooting in Tehran's Azadi Square. Witnesses saw at least one person shot dead and several others seriously wounded after shooting from a compound for volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.
To cries of "death to the dictator", Iranians had protested against President Ahmadinejad's proclaimed re-election.
The rally, larger than anything seen in the capital since the demonstrations that toppled Shah Reza Pahlavi 30 years ago, openly defied the authorities. The interior ministry had banned the rally and warned protesters that live ammunition could be used against them.
US President Barack Obama said the world was "inspired" by the Iranian demonstrators and that he was "deeply troubled" by post-election violence.
"The democratic process, free speech, the ability of people to peacefully dissent - all those are universal values and need to be respected," he said. >>> By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor | Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Police in Greece clashed with gangs of youths throwing petrol bombs and stones on Thursday night, a month on from the country's worst civil unrest in decades.
Police officers in central Athens fired tear gas to dispel the rioters, who peeled off from a protest which had been organised in solidarity with a Bulgarian migrant worker who was attacked with acid last month.
Kostadinka Kuneva, 44, a Bulgarian cleaning lady and a union official, is in hospital in a serious condition after the Dec 22 attack by two unidentified men who ambushed her outside her home and threw acid in her face.
The march to the Labour Ministry, which involved about 3,000 demonstrators, had started out peacefully.
Demonstrators carried banners reading "Kostandinka, you're not alone," and "Stop violence against immigrants".
But violence flared when a group of around 30 self-declared anarchists and left-wing activists set rubbish bins alight and smashed paving stones for ammunition to throw at police. >>> By Nick Squires | Friday, January 23, 2009
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