Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Rage of the 'Indignants' - A European Generation Takes to the Streets

By Mathieu von Rohr and Helene Zuber, Spiegel

For weeks, hundreds of young people have been camping out in central Madrid. And others across Europe have now begun following their example. Protests in Lisbon, Paris, Athens and elsewhere show that Europe's lost generation has finally found its voice.

Any real revolution in Paris has to include the storming of the Bastille. Which explains why 200 young demonstrators are sitting in the shade of the trees at Place de la Bastille on this Thursday evening, wondering how to go about staging such a revolution.

Their numbers had already swelled to more than 2,000 by the Sunday before, when they had occupied the entrance to the Bastille Opera and half the square. But then the police arrived with teargas and, since then, have kept strict watch over this symbolic site.

The protestors are trying to create a movement to rival the protests in Madrid and Lisbon. They want tens of thousands of young people to march in the streets of Paris, calling for "démocratie réelle," or real democracy. They believe that there is also potential for such large-scale protest in France, with youth unemployment at more than 20 percent, precarious working conditions and what feels like a constant state of crisis.

"Until now, our problems were always seen as individual problems," says Julien, a 22-year-old physics student who has joined a group called Actions. "You were told that if you couldn't find a job, it was your own fault. Perhaps we are now experiencing a change taking place, and that we are joining forces to form a pan-European movement against this system."

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The Independent reports protests are also spreading to Turkey...

Turkish students plan anti-government protest

By Justin Vela in Istanbul

Inspired by mass demonstrations against dictators across the Arab world, a group of Turkish students have camped out in the centre of Istanbul for a three-day protest against the elected government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The "Youth are in the Square" demonstration brings together complaints that include joblessness, corruption, the building of nuclear power plants and other policies of the country's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). ...

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