European Awakening in Belgium:Thousands rally in Brussels against capitalist system

Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Brussels on Saturday in protest gatherings modelled on New York’s ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement, the Belgian press reported.

The protesters voiced outrage at capitalist excesses, the perceived injustice of the global financial system and the power of banks and financial markets as they marched past the Brussels Stock Exchange, the US embassy and the European Commission.
The demonstrators chanted ‘We are the 99 per cent,’ referring to the
silent majority enduring the impact of the widening financial and economic crisis.
Meanwhile, scores of Spanish protesters nicknamed ‘the indignant’ (Indignados) marched also in the Belgian capital.
An earlier demonstration by the ‘Indignados’ in Brussels on Wednesday was reportedly overshadowed by an incident in which a police officer slapped a female protester in the face after handcuffing her.
The police officer has been suspended from duty pending an investigation.
The Spanish Indignados made media headlines by walking all the way from Madrid to Brussels which took them 80 days to make 1,600 kilometer journey.
Facing a severe economic crisis and high jobless rate, Spain has been the scene of massive anti-capitalist protests since May when tens of thousands of ‘Indignados’ took to the streets of Madrid.