I lived the first years of my adult new found independence in the Athens area of Exarcheia and I have some of my best memories from that time and that area.
Contrary to some reports, Exarcheia is not “a district of central Athens long associated with lawlessness and drug abuse” (via). It is an area of extremes, but still what the Greeks call gitonia (neighborhood); a mix of students, older residents, immigrants, rockers, anarchists, nihilists, drug users, students form the nearby universities of Law and Technology. There are small shops is Exarcheia, as well as big supermarkets, but the area still maintains a distinct air of bohemia and has a small community that bands together when times are hard.
There are others that have described what is going on to Greece and I am ill-placed to report on it. I don’t doubt that there has been police violence because as a student in Greece I have been in demonstrations and have seen it for myself. I don’t doubt that at the moment the situation is critical. The death of a young teenager pains me – as well as the dwindling restraint among protesters and police alike.
I was listening to a radio report this morning – even if you don’t know Greek you’ll realise that there are screams of pain as – according to the reporter – 10 to 15 police officers are beating up two young demonstrators. But the key words for me were these: “There are people all around, recording the scene on their mobile phones”.
A part of me is enraged that passers by would record the scene and not get involved or try to separate the police officers from the demonstrators. Some apparently did. Others stood in the sidelines, afraid of repercussions perhaps. But at least they did something, however voyeuristic it seems; they kept a record of the event.
Old media cannot be everywhere. Citizens can. And that, gives me small but significant comfort.
