Speaking recently on BBC 5 Live, Occupied Times editor Michael Richmond was debating the Occupy movement when one of his opponents shrilly suggested, “no one suffers in this country, we have a welfare state”. I felt like I had just run into a brick wall. This sort of view could […]
On February 12, 2012, just days before the eviction of Occupy London, Athens was in flames. The majority of over 40 buildings that were set ablaze by angry crowds were banks, government offices and branches of commercial chains – but not only. Similar scenes were seen across the country. Why […]
After spending over a year in post-earthquake Haiti, writing about the abysmal tent camp living conditions and the often violent evictions of internally displaced quake victims, I found myself at a planning meeting in New York for Occupy Wall Street in Tompkins Square Park the day before the 10th anniversary […]
Within Nicosia’s Venetian walls, Ledra Street, with its chain stores and cafés, is in many ways similar to other high streets around the world. However, something quite unique is happening here. As you walk, the shops fade away and the street narrows with the diagonal encroachment of temporary wire fencing. […]
January 25th marked the first anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. A year after the first mass protests filled the streets of Cairo, we saw the second wave of the revolt. Again, Tahrir Square and many other places across the country were overcrowded by the masses, with more protesters than even […]
Turkey has been praised as a successful example of how ‘Muslim’ and ‘Democracy’ are not mutually exclusive terms. As it becomes increasingly difficult to justify economic and military ties with long-established dictatorships such as British links with Gaddafi or Mubarak’s regimes, along comes Turkey to provide European premiers with the […]
There’s great alarm over the fate of Syria’s Revolution as the stalemate in the country leaves it subject to external forces capable of dislodging its beleaguered combatants. For the regime, it can rely on its Russian and Iranian benefactors to provide diplomatic, financial and military aid. For the opposition weathering military sieges in Homs, Hama, […]
By the tens of thousands they descended on parliament in an intervention by the public against the politics of theft practiced by the Greek government and demanded by foreign creditors. They filled subway trains and side streets en route to Syntagma Square. They even filled the square itself until the […]
Having just spent a week with occupiers, indignants, and social movements from across the world, I have been thinking lots about what it means to have a truly ‘global’ movement. I would like to sketch two different outlines of what this may mean based on my experiences as participant in […]
Hungary’s new media laws have been criticised for showing contempt for democratic principles by introducing the creation of a strong censorship authority and a separation of powers. In particular, the law gives the government the power to control the internet, endangering the freedom of speech and journalism in general. Whilst […]