My favourite image so far. Yes to the home team!
VANCOUVER, CANADA: Protesters wear pig
masks and business suits at the Vancouver Art Gallery as thousands of people
participate in the Occupy Vancouver protest on October 15, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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All over the globe people are rising up and demanding their
rights in a worldwide rally of discontent as protests inspired by the Occupy
Wall Street movement spread around the world on Saturday.
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Hundreds of people raise their hands at
the Culture square in San Jose, Costa Rica, on October 15, 2011, during a
worldwide demonstration against corporate greed and government cutbacks
The website for the international movement says 951 cities in 87 countries are ready to “Unite for Global Change” ~ the official slogan of the rally.
“It’s time for us to unite.
It’s time for them to listen.
People of the world,
rise up!” calls the site.
And indeed, there is a lot to protest against in every part of
the world. While social and economic inequality, corporate greed, poverty
and hardship are key grievances in every country, each continent lends its own
special flavor to the rallies.
About 200 people have marched outside Tokyo Electric Power Company,
which operates the tsunami-hit Fukushima plant, showing their dissatisfaction
over handling of the nuclear disaster.
Their slogans also targeted a US-led free trade bloc that Japan
is considering joining.
Japan, Tokyo: A masked
protestor holds a sign during a rally “Occupy Tokyo” as part of a worldwide
protest inspired by the “Occupy Wall Street” protest in Tokyo on October 15,
2011.
Around 300 people took to
the streets of the Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney. The country’s
indigenous issues and government problems were among their grievances.
In Manila, about 100
members of various groups under the Philippine left-wing umbrella group, Bayan,
marched on the US Embassy, according to Associated Press. Amongst other things,
demonstrators chanted “US troops, out now!” ~ a reference to the
presence of hundreds of US soldiers involved in training Filipino troops.
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Demonstrators protest in downtown
Santiago, on October 15, 2011, after a worldwide demonstration against
corporate greed and government cutbacks. We have much to learn about solidarity from our South American brothers and sisters. Getty Images.
Santiago demonstrator and the water weapons. Is that a Palestinian flag I see?
While the situation in
Asia is not catastrophic, recent financial reports suggest this part of the
world is not immune to contagion from the deteriorating economic conditions in
the West. And recession is very likely to hit Asia eventually.
The protests are sure to
be embraced enthusiastically in Europe. Demonstrators are expected to focus on
unemployment and austerity cuts imposed in exchange for EU and IMF bailouts.
OCCUPY UK
RT’s Ivor Bennett reports
from London that protests there are passing off peacefully.
Participants carrying
bags of food, tents and sleeping bags have taken their protest to central London’s
financial district where they will rally outside the Stock Exchange, the Bank
of England and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
The demonstrators have
not been able to reach the site they intended to occupy as Paternoster Square
has been sealed off by police and private security.
The protests have been
organized via pages on Facebook and Twitter which between them have picked up
more than 15,000 followers.
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY: A protester demonstrating against the influence of bankers and financiers
holds a placard reading 'Wir sind alle Griechen' ('We Are All Greek') in front
of Deutsche Bank towers on October 15, 2011 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Thousands of people
took to the streets today in cities across Germany in demonstrations inspired
by the Occupy Wall Street protests in
the United States.
“Five
thousand people have confirmed they are attending the event,” Spyro
Van Leemnen, who is taking part in the protest, told RT.
“This
movement will grow and grow, as in the United States,”
journalist and writer Afshin Rattansi also told RT.
As RT’s correspondent
reports, people “are very serious” and they plan to stay here for a long
time.
“We are planning to stay
here as long as it takes to see the government respond to people’s calls. Until
we see some change really,” Van Leemnen said.
He also said that what
was happening on Wall Street had been very inspiring for people, especially in
the UK.
Ivor Bennet also reports
that the current demonstrations in London are something different from the
protests the city faced a few months ago.
“This
is a peaceful protest with a very clear message about the democratization of
the global finance system. And as taxpayers continue to bail out banks, they
are calling for banking executives to pay back their bonuses.”
Meanwhile, the Guardian
reports that “the mood of the protest has changed dramatically as riot police
move in to kettle the demonstrators.”
The paper quotes Mark Townsend, who tweeted:
“St Paul’s completely kettled. First arrests. Legal observers cannot access to ‘prevent breach of peace.’ Rapid mood change.”
As RT’s Ivor Bennett
reports, Julian Assange attempted to join up with the protesters but was unable
to as a result of the police cordon. He would later address the
demonstrators via the steps of Saint Paul’s Cathedral.
Earlier reports of
Assange’s arrest proved unfounded, though he was briefly detained for refusing
to take off a mask.
Ivor Bennett also told RT
that while addressing reporters, Assange lashed out at the banks, saying that a
small minority of the rich are hiding their assets from the population.
He went on to claim that London, one of the world’s main financial centers, was
the biggest culprit.
Things got messy in Italy. A shame because the violence shown is just what the OWS is trying to avoid. Damage of the businesses of the people, not the banks being protested against.
OCCUPY ITALY
In Rome, peaceful
demonstration against the government’s economic policy descended into violent chaos when
groups of angry protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and attacked
shops.
ROME, ITALY: Police protect themselves
during riots with demonstrators during an 'Occupy' protest on October 15, 2011
in Rome, Italy. Protesters set fire to a government building, torched cars and
smashed bank windows in Rome in the worst violence of the worldwide
demonstrations against corporate greed and government cutbacks. Tens of
thousands took to the streets of the Italian capital for a march that turned
violent and equal numbers rallied in Madrid and Lisbon.
The rally, which was
inspired by the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, started at about 12.00 GMT and
drew a crowd estimated at 200,000. The iconic Coliseum and Roman Forum were
closed down, and four subway stations were shut as well, with 1,500 police
officers patrolling the streets and police helicopters circling overhead.
Rome: Protesters tear down police barricades
Protesters arrived in
Rome on trains and an estimated 750 buses from some 80 provinces across Italy,
organizers said, as quoted by the Focus news agency.
OCCUPY BELGIUM
Much of the anger about
Europe’s financial meltdown has been centered on Brussels, the political heart
of the EU, and activists there are determined to make those in power listen.
Protesters in Brussels
are marching to the city’s central park from the European Parliament building
where they have been holding a rally. They want to set up “an alternative
parliament” ~ what they call “a people’s parliament” ~ unlike the
one that serves the financial elite, as RT’s Daniel Bushell reports from
Brussels.
The protest comes in the
wake of the latest banking outrage when the Belgian bank Dexia was bailed out
by the government at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of 5,000 euro per head.
People say they no longer want to pay for bankers’ mistakes.
There is a huge police
presence here and several roads are closed. The authorities say the meeting of
this “alternative parliament” has been banned. To be precise, they have banned
the protesters from camping out, due to the absence of running water. The
authorities say it is illegal to live outside without proper sanitation
facilities. The protesters, for their part, consider the ban as an excuse to
move them out.
The event in Brussels has
a strong international flavour, with people arriving from as far away as Spain.
OCCUPY SPAIN
In the Spanish capital,
Madrid, protesters have been camped out for months in an attempt to persuade
their government to find an alternative to austerity measures as a way of
tackling the growing crisis.
But as anger towards
bankers and corporations grows around the world, the protests here are
gaining momentum. People are planning to gather in the center of the capital on
Saturday for a major demonstration which is expected to be one of the biggest
in months, as RT’s Irina Galushko reports from Madrid.
With one of the highest
unemployment rates in the Eurozone, people in this southern European country
are angry about lack of opportunity and the government’s severe austerity
program.
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In Toronto
Thousands of people in Spain literally have no hope of renting their own home.
The most energetic
section of the Spanish population ~ the youth ~ has been left without job
opportunities, which is why they are taking to the streets now to make their
voices heard.
And it is not only the
capital that is participating in the rallies ~ several dozen towns across
the country are joining in too.
And while demonstrations
are underway all around the world, protesters in New York’s Lower Manhattan,
where the Occupy Wall Street movement began on September 17, are planning a
march to Times Square and a rally at JP Morgan Chase Bank. Protesters say they
will withdraw all their money and close their accounts.
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In Toronto
People are also preparing to “occupy” parts of several Canadian cities on Saturday.
You can find the full
list of cities and countries of Europe, the United States, South America, Asia
and Africa joining the worldwide rally on the official website of the global
movement 15october.net/
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
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