Iceland Weather Report

24th January, 2009

TUESDAY – major protests begin. People gather in front of the parliament buildings at 1.30 pm and bang pots and pans and drums and generally make as much noise as possible in order to disrupt parliament and get MPs to listen to the people. Rather than dissipating after an hour or two, protester numbers increase as the day wears on. There are clashes with police and people are incensed, particularly as parliament’s agenda has nothing to do with the economic situation but rather includes such relative trivia as selling liquor in supermarkets and what to do about smoking areas in restaurants. By eveningthere are around 3,000 people in front of the building. Protesters light a fire on the street in front and throw anything they can find to burn onto it. The riot police is out. Some protesters go out of their way to provoke a reaction from the cops, throwing eggs at them, banging wooden spoons on their helmets, spitting, etc. The building, too, is pelted with food and windows are broken.

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