page_title: Anti-austerity movement in Greece
section_title: May
hierarchical_section_title: Anti-austerity movement in Greece / 2011 protests / "Indignant Citizens Movement" (May–August) / May
caption_attribution_description: English: The Real Democracy Now! information tent at Syntagma Square, Athens, during the May 2011 Greek protets.
context_page_description: The anti-austerity movement in Greece involves a series of demonstrations and general strikes that took place across the country. The events, which began on 5 May 2010, were provoked by plans to cut public spending and raise taxes as austerity measures in exchange for a €110 billion bail-out, aimed at solving the Greek government-debt crisis. Three people were killed on 5 May in one of the largest demonstrations in Greece since 1973.
  On 25 May 2011, anti-austerity activists organised by the Direct Democracy Now! movement, known as the Indignant Citizens Movement, started demonstrating in major cities across Greece. This second wave of demonstrations proved different from the years before in that they were not partisan and began through peaceful means. Some of the events later turned violent, particularly in the capital city of Athens. Inspired by the anti-austerity protests in Spain, these demonstrations were organised entirely using social networking sites, which earned it the nickname "May of Facebook". The demonstrations and square sit-ins were officially ended when municipal police removed demonstrators from Thessaloniki's White Tower square on 7 August 2011.
context_section_description: On 25 May 2011, peaceful demonstrations started in Athens and other major cities, protesting the new austerity measures proposed by the government, in the same spirit as the 2011 Spanish protests. The demonstrations include most major Greek cities: Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Patras, Volos, Rethymno, Tripoli and Kalamata. The demonstration in Athens is coordinated by the Facebook page "Αγανακτισμένοι Στο Σύνταγμα" (Indignants at Syntagma). Currently, it is reported that over 90,000 people have registered on the page, and thousands (reportedly over 30,000) have gathered outside the Greek Parliament in Syntagma square. The demonstration in Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki, is co-ordinated by the Facebook page "Αγανακτισμένοι στον Λευκό Πύργο" (Indignants at the White Tower), and over 35,000 people have said they would 'attend' the protest. Some of the most popular slogans at protest on 25 May were:
  Error 404, Democracy was not found.
  I vote, You vote, He votes, She votes, We vote, You vote, They steal.
  Greece your turn has come, you have to stop burying your children.
  Oust! (Greek interjection of a negative nature, meaning "leave")
  The maid resisted. What do we do? (Reference to an alleged sex scandal involving former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn)
  This series of demonstrations differed from almost all other demonstrations in Greece's metapolitefsi era (1975–present) in that it was a protest organised without political or trade union affiliations. Demonstrators who expressed political party affiliation during the demonstrations were condemned by the majority of the demonstrators, as the organizers claimed that there was no room for political affiliation or violence in the demonstrations. The focus of the protesters was against the government and the current driving forces of Greek politics, and the International Monetary Fund. As a response to the Spanish slogan "Be quiet, the Greeks are sleeping" (which was allegedly heard at the 2011 Spanish protests), a big banner was raised in front of the Spanish embassy in Athens reading "¡Estamos despiertos! ¿Que hora es? ¡Ya es hora de que se vayan!" (We've woken up! What time is it? It's time they left!). There was also a strong sense of disapproval for the Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou, and the vice-president of the government, Theodoros Pangalos.
  The demonstrations continued nationwide for a second day on 26 May. Despite heavy rainfall in central Athens, reportedly over 14,000 people gathered in front of the Greek parliament for a second day in a row. The media reported that half of the people gathered at Syntagma Square in Athens were youth, whereas the other half were over 40, including families and children. In line with the Spanish quote of "Be quiet, the Greeks are sleeping" which triggered the Greek protests, two new banners appeared, one in French (Silence! Les Français dorment! Ils revent de '68, Silence! The French are sleeping! They are dreaming of (May) '68) and one in Italian (Zitti che svegliamo gli Italiani... Be quiet, you will wake up the Italians...). An information center and a "book of ideas" have also been set up at Syntagma Square. Additionally, a number of people were banging pots and pans. In Thessaloniki, Greece's second city and second-largest center of demonstrations, the protesters hung a huge For Sale sign from the city's main landmark, the White Tower, as a protest against the government's massive denationalisation schedule, which they perceived as "selling away our country's assets". Although the demonstrations in Thessaloniki were visibly smaller on 26 May, with around 2,500 people participating, competing with a major football game between the city's two major teams and the shops and markets open until late that evening. Some people set up encampments. In Thessaloniki's protests there was much more of a sense of direct democracy, as citizens were free to take the floor and speak, voice their concerns and opinions, and contribute ideas about what should be done next, receiving the full attention of the other demonst
caption: The Real Democracy Now! information kiosk at Syntagma Square, 31 May.
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