Athenians take Syntagma Square

"March on!" shouted the drummer continuing to bang his instrument — "Everyone forward!" Like the orchestra on the Titanic, the rest of the band kept on playing while the insults flew.

At that moment, Syntagma (Constitution) Square was flooded with people, as were the nearby streets and alleys. The police tear gas canisters continued to rain down in an atmosphere rendered electric by the anger of the crowd. The air was filled with the sound of explosions and the sirens of ambulances to-ing and fro-ing to collect the injured. In all the small groups where scuffles were breaking out, you could hear people shouting “se-cur-ity.”

In the centre of the square, demonstrators formed human chains to prevent trouble and allow the injured to pass through. Several elderly people with open head wounds were evacuated, while small children wandered around wearing gas masks that were to big for them.

The organisers with megaphones asked people to gather together and to stay in the square in spite of the scuffles. "We won’t leave. This is our day!" they shouted. As the skirmishes became more and more violent, they called on people not to give in to the police pressure, and not to break the human chain. “No matter how many teargas grenades they throw, we are staying. This square belongs to the people’s revolution and democracy. It’s where our hopes were born.”

Large crowds also turned out in Thessaloniki, in Patras, and in small towns and cities like Lamia and Larissa, in Crete, and on islands like Corfu and Samos. Everywhere, the Greek people took to the streets: farmers with their tractors, shop owners, students, schoolchildren and pensioners. This is a mass uprising, and the political unease is palpable. This time round, it will not stop here: the next date is set for Sunday 19 June.