Stories about Western Europe from November, 2011
Iran: British Embassy in Tehran Attacked
On 29 November, a crowd of about 1,000 people demonstrated near the British embassy in Tehran after Britain cut all financial ties with Iran over concerns about its nuclear program. The gathering was peaceful, before some participants stormed the building.
Iran: “Police brutality toward the protesters”
Hamid Darvishi, a pro-regime student who was among those who raided UK compounds in Tehran, describes [Fa] police brutality toward the protesters: “Our wild brothers in police were beating us in our heads. A soldiers asked us how much we were paid to raid the compound here?”
Iran: The Storming of the British Embassy
Somayeh Tohidlou, talks about the storming of British Embassy compounds by Iranian protesters. She writes [fa] in Friendfeed: “Are they wrong about the date? This is 2011, not 1979 [when protesters took the US embassy in Tehran] and the regime is 32 years old now, not new-born one.”
Iran: Raid on UK embassy
Amin Sabeti, blogger, linked to a picture which shows a man taking a poster of Pulp Fiction movie out of the UK embassy, wrote [Fa] in his Friendfeed page: “Look at this police! How strong he was reacting toward protestors!”
Greece: 1973 Uprising Newspaper Headlines
‘Third Day for Polytechnic School Occupation by Protesters’, ‘Athens Surrounded’, ‘Tanks Emerge’, ‘Dozens of Injuries From Both Sides’, ‘Tanks Descend to Town’, ‘Thousands Remain Inside Polytechnic School’, ‘1,500 Inside Polytechnic School’. On the 17 November, 2011 – the anniversary of the 1973 Polytechnic school uprising in Greece – youth portal neolaia.gr [gr] uploaded...
Russia: Mount Athos Monastery Photo Exhibition
The State Historical Museum of Moscow is hosting an exhibition of 240 photographs from the Mount Athos Monastery of St Simon's collection, dated between 1848-1963. The inauguration of the photo exhibit took place on 8 November, 2011, and was attended by political and religious representatives, as well as artists from...
Video: Plural+ 2011 Awards Young Filmmakers
Youth from around the globe were awarded in New York for their thought-provoking short films showing their proposals for making society more peaceful and multicultural by addressing the topics of diversity, migration and social inclusion.
Greece: 2 Wheels, 610 Kilometres
Spyros Karatzoulis from Florina, Northern Greece, intends to start a bike marathon from Florina to Athens, in order to reach the Ministry of Education; his goal is to protest the lack of special school infrastructure in Florina for 33 disabled children (aged 14-28 years). On his blog [gr], he describes...
Portugal: A Peek into a Day of General Strike
Throughout the day of general strike in Portugal, November 24, Twitter user @Shyznogud has curated online media content for the page “a peek into the strike” on Scoop.it. Journalist Paulo Querido (@PauloQuerido) noted that “there are more tweets against the #grevegeral (general strike, hashtag in use) than in favour. Makes...
Spain: Controversies in the General Elections
The PP (Popular Party) of Spain won the recent general elections with an ample majority. Chris Moya tell us about some of the controversies at the voting centers.
Video: Stop Motion using Google Street View
The Theory's short film Address Is Approximate features a desk toy who escapes the confines of the urban office in the only way he can, using a toy car and Google's Street View application to go on a road trip to the Pacific Coast.
Video: Doctor Who Fans Walk 500 Miles
More than 200 fans of the long-running British science fiction show Doctor Who from 25 different countries sent in video clips and Tumblr user Kyle from the US put together a tribute to the show. It was inspired by this video of the Doctor Who cast dancing to 500 Miles by...
The Netherlands: A Holiday Season of Festivities, Costumes… and Racism?
In recent years "Zwarte Piet" (Black Pete), the dark-skinned companion of Saint Nicholas during the winter holiday season in the The Netherlands, has become part of a recurring debate as some take offense at costumes including black painted faces.
Greece: Thessaloniki declared the 2014 European Youth Capital
Yesterday, the 18/11/2011, was an extremely happy day for the city of Thessaloniki which was declared the 2014 European Youth Capital.
Spain: Creative Counter-Campaign Spreads on the Net
Spain's general elections campaign this Sunday has an entirely different online version. The digital counter-campaign, propelled by the 15-M movement, is hyperactive and rapidly spreading through social networks.
Crisis Camp Italy: Using Web 2.0 to Manage Emergencies
Mapping, geolocalization, citizen journalism, data management: just some of the topics to be discussed in Bologna on 19 November at Crisis Camp. The first Italian meeting about collaborative tools for emergencies.
France: A Rally in Support of Democracy in Ukraine
Maidan.org.ua published Regina Maryanovska's photos [uk] from the Nov. 13 rally in defense of democracy in Ukraine, which took place at Le Parvis des Libertés et des Droits de l’Homme/Trocadéro (the Square of Human Rights) in Paris. Maryanovska, a Paris-based documentary director from Odesa, Ukraine, noted that members of the...
New Caledonia: Controversy around the 1988 Ouvéa Hostage Taking Movie
French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz's movie “L'ordre et la morale” (“Order and morality”), that recounts the tragic 1988 hostage taking at the Ouvéa cave, is not welcome in New Caledonia. The blog Ecran Noir (‘Black Screen’) describes the local controversy around the film's release, here and here [fr]. After New Caledonia's one and...
Europe: A Song Criticizing Schengen Visa Procedure
At BlogActiv.eu, Kader Sevinc writes about “a creative way of criticizing the Schengen visa procedure” – Schengen Macht Frei, a song by Sarp Yeletaysi/Sarpinto, who writes this on SoundCloud: “[…] This song is the product of many visits to embassies of European countries to obtain a visa which is a...
France: A tribute to Author Hubert Nyssen
French writer and publisher Hubert Nyssen [fr], who founded the publishing house Actes Sud, died on Nov. 12. 2011. Among the many tributes to this lover of foreign litteratures and eulogist of translation as a form of art, one can find Sabrina's post that retraces [fr] his biography, an unabridged version...
