ID :
202457
Sat, 08/20/2011 - 13:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/202457
The shortlink copeid
German Authorities Angry at Spread of Popular Uprisings to Berlin
TEHRAN (FNA)- German authorities are scrambling to contain and make sense of a surge in unrests in the nation's capital that have raised fears that the protests could escalate into the broader forms of popular uprisings that have recently hit other pockets of Europe.
Setting cars on fire has become a popular form of class protest in recent years in Berlin, triggered in part by tensions over fast-rising rents and other forms of gentrification in this relatively poor city compared with other major German cities. But the latest spate-including some 60 cars torched in four nights-marks a sharp surge in the unrests. While previous car burnings were largely confined to Berlin's up-and-coming working class neighborhoods, such as Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, the latest spate has rapidly spread to its more affluent western districts.
They also come amid a wave of unrests in other parts of Europe-most notably riots in London and other UK cities this month-that so far has largely left Europe's largest economy relatively unscathed. Elsewhere on the Continent, protests have erupted in countries chafing under austerity measures, such as protests marred by police clashes in Spain and Greece and the deadly firebombing of an Athens bank building just over a year ago.
In Berlin, the circumstances behind the rash of car torching appear largely local, but many residents and crime experts believe growing economic tensions within the city limits play a role. While Germany's national unemployment rate hovers around 7%, in Berlin it remains stuck at 13.5%. Meanwhile rising rents and real-estate prices are displacing more of its poorer residents from its central and increasingly trendy neighborhoods.
Altogether, police say vandals so far this year have torched more than 320 cars in the capital, 143 of them in what appear to have been "politically motivated" acts often because they would leave behind notes with anti-gentrification protests or the cars targeted were Mercedes, BMWs or other luxury models.
Setting cars on fire has become a popular form of class protest in recent years in Berlin, triggered in part by tensions over fast-rising rents and other forms of gentrification in this relatively poor city compared with other major German cities. But the latest spate-including some 60 cars torched in four nights-marks a sharp surge in the unrests. While previous car burnings were largely confined to Berlin's up-and-coming working class neighborhoods, such as Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, the latest spate has rapidly spread to its more affluent western districts.
They also come amid a wave of unrests in other parts of Europe-most notably riots in London and other UK cities this month-that so far has largely left Europe's largest economy relatively unscathed. Elsewhere on the Continent, protests have erupted in countries chafing under austerity measures, such as protests marred by police clashes in Spain and Greece and the deadly firebombing of an Athens bank building just over a year ago.
In Berlin, the circumstances behind the rash of car torching appear largely local, but many residents and crime experts believe growing economic tensions within the city limits play a role. While Germany's national unemployment rate hovers around 7%, in Berlin it remains stuck at 13.5%. Meanwhile rising rents and real-estate prices are displacing more of its poorer residents from its central and increasingly trendy neighborhoods.
Altogether, police say vandals so far this year have torched more than 320 cars in the capital, 143 of them in what appear to have been "politically motivated" acts often because they would leave behind notes with anti-gentrification protests or the cars targeted were Mercedes, BMWs or other luxury models.
