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Anti-Austerity 'Indignants' Occupy Brussels Park
BRUSSELS — Hundreds of "Indignants" who marched from France, the Netherlands and Spain, defied a ban to set up camp in a Brussels park Saturday to protest EU-ordered austerity measures.
Hundreds of Indignados (Angry Ones) build tents in Elisabeth Park (AFP/BELGA, Nicolas Maeterlinck) The marchers, joined by Belgian protesters, arrived at Elisabeth Park in the rain by late afternoon, and started immediately to pitch their tents.
Belgian authorities said Friday they had banned the group from setting up camp there as the park had no running water.
The protesters have walked, some for months, from as far as Spain's Atlantic coast to converge on Brussels where EU leaders will stage a summit dominated by Europe's debt crisis on October 17-18.
Their aim is to hold a nightly alternative parliament in the park from October 8 to 15, modeled on Spanish protests and a similar gathering in central Athens' Syntagma Square, ahead of a big public rally on October 15.
The protesters said police deployed in numbers around the park since Saturday morning, with dog handlers, mounted police and a bus for mass arrests.
The mayor of the Brussels district of Koekelberg meanwhile suggested the protesters move into an empty building of the University of Flanders.
The group is likely to debate the possibility on Saturday night.
There have been clashes between police and Indignant sympathizers over recent months in Brussels, the European Union's capital, as well as in Spain and Greece.
Tension has risen over recent weeks with bigger battles between "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrators and New York police.
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Show AllPeaceful revolution may well be an oxymoron. Has any revolution in history been peaceful? So we do what we can and hope for the best. I am proud of my Belgian brothers and sisters. I hope the country's leaders recognize that the US will dominate them eventually if they don't end this insanity of whorporate war machines world wide.
Belgian 'authorities' (particularly those in charge of the police) have a long and dubious history of bungling, with the demonstrators on the wrong end of things. What will be interesting to see is what happens if the demonstrators march on the Berlaymont building in the European District.
Revolutions are made when large (getting larger) segments of the population take courage from each other and stand up to insufferable social/political order.
Injustice is the garden that nourishes terrorism.........and Peace has never prevailed where justice is absent.
The very continuity of the human race (and the non-human) depends on our compassion for people we do not know. Those with another language, religion,
culture, and Place. It's a small planet and we are ALL CONNECTED.
This could get really ugly.....but, the truth is, there is Power in numbers,
WE ARE THE 99%
LETTER TO THE RULING CLASS ..... You control our world ..... You’ve poisoned the air we breathe, contaminated the water we drink, and copyrighted the food we eat ..... We fight in your wars, die for your causes, and sacrifice our freedoms to protect you.
..... You’ve liquidated our savings, destroyed our middle class, and used our tax dollars to bailout your unending greed ..... We are slaves to your corporations, zombies to your airwaves, servants to your decadence ..... You’ve stolen our elections, assassinated our leaders, and abolished our basic rights as human beings ..... You own our property, shipped away our jobs, and shredded our unions ..... You’ve profited off of disaster, destabilized our currencies, and raised our cost of living ..... You’ve monopolized our freedom, stripped away our education, and have almost extinguished our flame ..... We are hit … we are bleeding … but we ain’t got time to bleed ..... We will bring the giants to their knees and you will witness our revolution! ..... Sincerely, ..... The Serfs ..... http://weaintgottimetobleed.com/
Well said, dorky. The flame, however, is not even close to being extinguished. Consciousness raising gives the needed oxygen to the flame that will spread from individual to individual and border to border.
As the growing awareness of austerity for everyone but the power elite grows, so too will the anger and the flame grow until sacrifice is shared by everyone.