ATHENS – A double anger erupted out of the European Social Forum on to the streets of Athens Saturday. Anti-globalization protesters attacked police and multinational targets, alongside local groups protesting injustice to immigrants.

The two came together naturally at the European Social Forum (ESF) that began Thursday. ESF participants had planned a large demonstration through Athens for Saturday afternoon. The police were expecting trouble, but were still caught off guard.

The center of Athens was cordoned off all afternoon by heavy police contingents. Government buildings and the embassies of the United States and Britain were under visibly heavy protection.

It was a small group from the demonstration, believed to be the Anarchists. The police said at the end of the day that two of their vehicles were damaged by petrol bombs. Petrol bombs also damaged a Citibank building, the police said.

The attacks had clearly been planned beforehand. Other groups emerged from the side streets on Ermou street, the most fashionable shopping center in Athens. They attacked stores, particularly those of multinational chains such as McDonald’s and Lacoste. Several glass panes were smashed along the street in hit and run attacks.

Anti-globalization anarchists picked their predictable targets, but the demonstrators’ anger was clearly fueled by the government’s anti- immigration policies that keep close to a million people in a population of 10 million without rights and without status.
commondreams.org

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