{"id":40652,"date":"2013-06-10T18:47:23","date_gmt":"2013-06-10T17:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/bilderberg-meeting-draws-protests-media-coverage\/40652\/"},"modified":"2013-06-10T18:47:23","modified_gmt":"2013-06-10T17:47:23","slug":"bilderberg-meeting-draws-protests-media-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/bilderberg-meeting-draws-protests-media-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"Bilderberg Meeting Draws Protests, Media Coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The secretive Bilderberg meetings <\/a>that took place over the weekend at The Grove hotel and resort in Watford, England, drew protesters from around the world and seemingly unprecedented amounts of media coverage in the international press \u2013 a stark contrast with decades of near-total silence surrounding the controversial annual gathering of some of the planet\u2019s most powerful figures in politics, business, military, academia, banking, and more. As usual, however, virtually nothing is known publicly about the agenda or what went on behind the veil of secrecy surrounding the entire conference. <\/p>\n

This year, like at other Bilderberg gatherings in recent years, throngs of protesters \u2013 primarily from the United Kingdom but others hailing from all over the world \u2013 greeted summit attendees with a wide assortment of complaints and insults. Among the anti-Bilderberg demonstrators were members of the European Parliament, British lawmakers, and even a former U.K. Environment Minister who is hoping that the British House of Commons will seek answers to the many questions surrounding the conference. <\/p>\n

British Member of Parliament Michael Meacher with the Labor Party, for example, was with critics and said the secrecy around the conference was \u201cutterly anti-democratic\u201d and should be urgently investigated by authorities. The MP also said he did not believe participants were attending just for tea and coffee. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is any conference which required transparency, it is the Bilderberg conference because this is really where the top brass of western finance capitalism meet,\u201d he told<\/a> Sky News. \u201cThis is totally in contradiction to the government\u2019s commitment to have greater transparency.\u201d The official parliamentary website noted<\/a> on Monday that Meacher will ask an \u201curgent question\u201d about Bilderberg in the lower house of Parliament. <\/p>\n

Also among the demonstrators was Member of the European Parliament Gerard Batten with the liberty-minded and increasingly popular United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). Speaking to the Financial Times<\/em>, which had its own \u201cChief Economics Commentator\u201d at this year\u2019s Bilderberg confab, Batten said<\/a> he suspected decisions about Europe would be made during the summit. <\/p>\n

Evidence has emerged showing<\/a> that Bilderberg meetings indeed played a central role in creating the European Union and the euro \u2013 former participants have publicly admitted<\/a> as much. Batten and other critics believe the public has a right to know what is going on. \u201cIf they want to fix the world\u2019s problems, they do have to bring the people with them,\u201d he was quoted as saying. <\/p>\n

In recent years, multiple legislators and politicians have started to demand transparency and accountability<\/a> from participants \u2013 not that it has done much good. Two years ago, Italian Member of the European Parliament Mario Borghezio even attempted to force his way into the conference on the first day. He was reportedly detained and roughed up by police. <\/p>\n

Center-right Parliamentarian Dominique Baettig with Switzerland\u2019s largest political party also tried to barge in. In 2011, when the confab was held at a Swiss hotel, he asked<\/a> prosecutors to consider arresting attendees such as former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for war crimes. He also suggested that Swiss officials at the event should be charged with treason, echoing concerns of critics<\/a> around the world.<\/p>\n

Still, Western leaders attend the meetings with impunity while revealing nothing to the public that pays their salaries. British Prime Minister David Cameron, for example, attended the meetings this year despite not having his name on the original list of participants <\/a>released by Bilderberg. <\/p>\n

While he was hardly alone, Cameron\u2019s appearance seems to have sparked the loudest public outcry, with Britons outraged that their top supposed \u201cpublic servants\u201d were meeting with foreign governments, bankers, and CEOs behind closed doors. A spokesman for the British prime minister said the meeting was \u201cprivate\u201d so details would not be released. <\/p>\n

“The prime minister has always believed in importance of transparency,” the spokesman was quoted as saying<\/a> by the Huffington Post amid critics claiming that Cameron’s attendance represented a conflict of interest. \u201cMy understanding is that it is usual for Bilderberg to invite the head of government of the country where it is meeting. He will participate in a discussion around domestic and global economic issues. He feels it is an opportunity to discuss economic issues with senior ministers, business people and academics.”<\/p>\n

Of course, Cameron was not the only senior U.K. government leader in attendance. Lawmakers from both houses of Parliament were also there, including the powerful MP Kenneth Clarke, who has served in at least five senior cabinet positions in past governments. Other officials who participated this year were U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, akin to treasury secretary, and his shadow chancellor Edward Balls. <\/p>\n

Aside from the United Kingdom, multiple European governments were well-represented at the summit this year as well. Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, was there. Former prime ministers from France and Italy were there, too, as were numerous deputy prime ministers and cabinet-level officials from around Europe. Sweden\u2019s finance and foreign affairs ministers both attended, as did some top officials from Turkey.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

In addition to the broad range of political leaders from across the supposed ideological spectrum who attended Bilderberg, as usual, the world\u2019s mega bankers, known as \u201cbanksters\u201d among protesters, were also there in force. Goldman Sachs, for example, was very well represented, with two of its top leaders in attendance. Senior leaders from Big Oil, Big Media, Big Finance, Big Business, Big Pharma, royalty, military, and more were all at the meetings with top officials as well.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

While media coverage of Bilderberg has exploded <\/a>in recent years, reporting on the 2013 confab seems to have reached record levels. Even much of the establishment media represented among attendees has at least started acknowledging that the summit exists. <\/p>\n

However, since virtually nothing is known publicly about the real agenda or the discussions that take place behind legions of heavily armed government \u201csecurity\u201d personnel, media reports have largely focused on ridiculing or demonizing \u201cconspiracy theories\u201d and people who are upset about the secretive conference. One such article, for example, focused on<\/a> bizarre claims of \u201cshape-shifting lizards\u201d in an apparent effort to discredit critics. <\/p>\n

Some pieces actually joked about Bilderberg, the myriad \u201cconspiracy theories\u201d that surround it, as well as its apparently waning influence. \u201cWith the eurozone still in the recovery room at best and the US hegemony no longer a given, this no longer feels like an organization with its grip on every lever of power,\u201d wrote<\/a> Robert Shrimsley in the Financial Times<\/em>, an establishment media outlet that usually has at least one representative at Bilderberg. \u201cThey might be able to talk up the dollar but only for a few hours and gone are the days when attendees might use a break in proceedings to nip out and bomb Cambodia.\u201d <\/p>\n

Others argued that the meetings \u2013 even if they may represent an affront to self-government \u2013 might be worth it as long as attendees were using their \u201cundemocratic\u201d means to accomplish some positive end. Writing in the Scotsman<\/em>, for example, columnist Jane Devine said<\/a> she would be willing to \u201cset democracy aside\u201d if Bilderberg participants were secretly working to do something like end child pornography, prevent deaths from curable diseases, or eradicate rape as a weapon of war. Other than mentioning the fact that Google boss Eric Schmidt was there, Devine did not make clear what might lead her to believe that attendees would be working toward such noble goals. Indeed, few analysts ascribe such lofty motives to Bilderberg participants.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

This year, in an interesting twist, news about the shadowy cabal and its secret meetings seems to have been almost overshadowed by American radio host Alex Jones, who dominated<\/a> Bilderberg-related headlines for days. At one point, Jones and members of his Infowars crew took a small boat<\/a> and used a bullhorn to inform Bilderberg attendees that their so-called \u201cNew World Order\u201d would fail. Police showed up in another boat only to be informed that they were being used as stooges by a cabal that does not care about them. <\/p>\n

The popular but polarizing U.S. media figure, whose growing audience now reaches into the millions, also spoke<\/a> to hundreds of cheering Bilderberg protesters \u2013 maybe thousands. “I want to salute every single man, woman, and child that traveled here from all over jolly-old England and the rest of the world,” he said as the crowd roared, adding that summit attendees were planning worldwide poverty and forced population reduction. Blasting fiat currency, Jones also said that the end goal was to bring in \u201ctotal technocratic slavery.\u201d <\/p>\n

Speaking about the increasing global press coverage, Jones said the alternative media had forced Bilderberg out into the open. He still slammed the establishment news, however. \u201cThe BBC will probably report that there were five people here, but that\u2019s why they\u2019re discredited, that\u2019s why the power structure is falling apart,\u201d he told the mass of protesters. \u201cPeople are awake to the globalists and their lying propaganda organs.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jones also appeared on multiple state-funded BBC programs, making headlines<\/a> in the U.K.\u2019s biggest newspapers after loudly confronting a host who called him \u201cthe worst person I\u2019ve ever interviewed.\u201d While the establishment and state-run press may be content to demonize Bilderberg critics and claim nothing can or should be done about it, opponents of the secrecy and the current state of the world say humanity deserves real answers. <\/p>\n

Photo of The Grove in Watford, England<\/em><\/sup><\/p>\n

Alex Newman, a foreign correspondent for <\/em>The New American, is currently based in Europe.<\/em> He can be reached at
\n This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
\n .<\/em><\/p>\n

Related articles:<\/p>\n

Media Spotlight Shines on Bilderberg; Agenda Still Secret<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. Bilderberg Attendees Violating Federal Law, Activists Say <\/a><\/p>\n

Protests Planned for Bilderberg Meeting <\/a><\/p>\n

Bilderberg-picked EU Leader Van Rompuy Calls for Global Governance With Russia <\/a><\/p>\n

Awareness of Bilderberg Cabal Explodes in 2011 <\/a><\/p>\n

Elite Bilderberg 2011 Meeting Draws Scrutiny <\/a><\/p>\n

Bilderberg Leader Mario Monti Takes Over Italy in \u201cCoup\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

U.S.-backed Syrian Opposition Linked to Bilderberg, CFR, Goldman Sachs & George Soros <\/a><\/p>\n

After Bilderberg Meeting, Facebook Official Says End Internet Anonymity <\/a><\/p>\n

Bilderberger Confab in United States Goes Unreported \u2026 Again <\/a><\/p>\n

Bush, Bilderbergers Push EU Membership for Turkey <\/a><\/p>\n

World Bank Insider Blows Whistle on Corruption, Federal Reserve <\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on: The New American<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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