Podcasting since 2004; Conversations, conflicts, adventures and monologues from around the world.
Click here to see a good video from today’s events demonstrating against the G8 Summit.
What I like best about this one is how it shows one member of the group speaking politely with police explaining that they are not the enemy and they will not act violently towards them. He even asks if they would please open their helmets and put down their clubs. (which they don’t seem to, but at least one cop seems to want to do so)
It has been quite difficult to get any of the many organizations involved in demonstrations at the G8 summit in Germany to talk to me. This could be because they are so busy with the never ending media requests they get (wouldn’t that be nice!). It could also be that things are so tense on the front lines of these demonstrations that the last thing you worry about is answering a phone.
Meanwhile, my brave friends Kiwi and Fabian just returned from Rostock where the first days of protests were held and some big confrontations with police took place. Here is a excerpt from Kiwi’s email to me: (note to the grammar police, she’s Estonian and above the laws of grammar)
The weekend was full of impressions. We are still dealing with some of the things that happened. As you know some conflicts escalated on saturday. It started already as the first protesters had just reached the destination of the strike (Rostock harbor). Me and Fabian were pretty much at the front but we didn’t see what happened. People from the Black Block just started running around everywhere. It turned out later
that the police had parked an empty car/bus in the very middle of the protest area + a helicopter was flying right above the main stage making any speech/concert impossible. The organizers repeatedly asked the police to move the helicopter but no action was taken. This was interpreted as pure provocation and some (I would say the BB mostly but thats a guess) tore up the sidewalk an started to throw pavment stones
at the police.
So this was pretty much at the beginning. An hour or two later the situation began to get worse. More and more police gathered at the scene of the protest. Me and a friend had just sat down on the sidewalk and Fabian was away to get st to drink as people just started to run away suddenly.
2 minutes later as we felt an uncomfortable burn in our eyes it became clear that the police had used tear gas to force people to back off. We were only a 100 meters away and I still don’t understand why drastic measures like these were necessary. In our oppinion the crowd was peaceful.
As Fabian came back we wanted to make a plan in case things got worse
but it was obviously to late. A car was burning and 3 fire engines followed by armored cars with water cannons drove into the crowd. Soon the whole place was full with tear gas and water cannons were used to scatter the protesters. The program on stage was disrupted and organizers tried to calm people down. They spoke to the police publicly
and told them to stop the provocation. In the mean time police were everywhere and people were running in all directions. Me and Fabian were cut off from our friend. Since we couldn’t see properly anymore and the situation began to get dangerous we tried to run into town but the police were blocking some of the streets so we felt really trapped.
Well these are just some of the weird ways the police acted. The rumor was actually that they tried to get as much of the riot on tape as possible so they could argue against further protests, get more freedom to act cruel or whatever. I must say it fits to the profile.
Anyway, the sad part is the way our beloved media is pulling the whole protest into dirt and not even mentioning the motives of “peaceful” protesters. There are so many great discussions – the people are doing an amazing job. But it is not in the interest of the system to let them be heard.
They call it debt relief, but it is not as simple as it sounds. As the elite club of G8 nations meets and the people protest outside, more plans are being laid out to squeeze developing nations in ways that are rarely reported about in the mainstream. My guest on this podcast is Ceri Dingle of Worldwrite, an education charity that challenges stereotypes and lies on issues like debt relief.
We talk about:
– What Worldwrite does
– How it views the G8
– Debt relief and what happens to countries that “get it”
– Live 8, Bono, and the real result of such campaigns
– Difference between development aid from western countries and China
– The prospect of new and worse conditions for debt relief
– The Film: Damned by Debt Relief
– A Debt Relief Quiz to see if you can spot the truth
– What should be done with the G8 summit
Also my recommendation, watch G8-TV for video directly from the streets
During one of my very fun nights out on the town in Berlin my two new friends offerred to show me their favorite night spots. And as we walked town the now typical hipster street, we ran into a big crowd of people gathered around one guy who was struggling to be heard, telling some story like a tour guide.
“Oh this is so funny. Have you ever heard about these pub crawl just for Americans?”. my friend asked. Of course I had not. So she went on “Yeah they have this guide who brings alcohol in this backpack dispenser and everyone gets little shot glasses and it advertized for Americans to come get really drunk and maybe get laid.”
As I listened to these words I was already noticing all these details, looking at the obscenely loud crowd of college age kids in front of me. We walked around them like you walk by the scene of an accident. We joked about maybe trying to fit in and observe them up close. The joke didn’t last long and we got out of there in a hurry.
Hours later we hopped into a tram to get to the next destination. It was a typical Berlin tram on a wednesday night, not too full, lots of people sitting and the odd conversation here and there. Suddenly, as the next stop approached, there came this overwhelming sound of people. As if a stadium had let out after a championship game, there was a crowd outside and it was chanting and singing and yelling. And as the doors opened, they packed into the tram with a resounding roar, banging on the walls and stumbling over people in their seats.
YOu could hear the accents, you could hear their words, it was very painfully obvious that the American pub crawl crowd had invaded the tram. When they weren’t shouting conversation to their friends, they were busy leaning over passengers.. repeatedly apologizing for being drunk and for George Bush. I’ll never forget the look in the middle aged German couples faces, the look of disgust and pity, as college kid after college kid apologized for George Bush or even.. being American.
After two never ending stops, they piled out. The silence was deafening. Those who remained on the tram, I’m not exaggerating, gave a collective sigh and everyone looked at each other with this knowing look. To me it said “my god that was horrible.”
These events replayed in my head all evening. The college kids, the pubcrawl, the local people on the tram, the unbelievably loud communication, and of course.. the repeated apologies for what their country has done.
Say what you want about George Bush or even Congress, but these encounters remind me that there is something deeper going on. It is hard to break down what it is all about, but I definitely look to how people are being educated in the US, especially in college. To me college is the new high school, except that now you pay big money for you kids to basically attend a glorified high school with fewer rules.
Then you come back to the whole American image abroad thing. It is in shambles. And It won’t be cured by this congress or a new president. It will take a revolution in American culture that looks highly unlikely any time soon.
This vlog was put together before I left Berlin yesterday. It concerns last week’s gay rights demonstration in Moscow, where once again we see what kind of police state the entire country has become. The rampant homophobia, not only among the authorities but also among regular people, is horrifying. I used the footage from EURONEWS, their podcast which i strongly recommend to everyone.
Here in Germany it seems like the G8 meeting protests are all the buzz in the media. And the meeting hasn’t even begun! Hows that for a powerful protest!?
The organizations involved with organizing shadow conferences and alternative events to express their opposition to these meetings are plentiful, but apparently – to busy to answer my email requests for interviews. I would stay in Berlin and try to find them in person, but the truth is.. I’ve killed my meager budget and it is time to head home to Amsterdam.
Still I do recommend you follow the fun… hopefully they do have some fun out there. As one of my most favorite professors, Dr. George Gregoriou used to say, “We used to go to all the demonstrations because it was like going to the best parties”. At least I think he used to say that.
Stay tuned to Indymedia.de (including live radio streams), and maybe Attac and a few other websites. PErhaps even mine if these guys ever get back to me. This could be a very interesting season of G8 protests here in Germany and it all kicks off tomorrow.