Masquerade Protests
 

A man wearing a mask of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy protest during a demonstration organized by Unions on July 19, 2012 in Barcelona, against the government's welfare cuts. In the latest measures to lower Spain's deficit, conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced 65 billion euros' ($80 billion) worth of savings measures. Getty

A street performer dressed as an character from the science fiction film Avatar walks among the crowds near Mexico City's main plaza, the Zocalo, Friday, July 13, 2012. Street performers, many dressed in costumes, gathered to protest in the historic downtown area where once they were allowed to perform but are now run off by police. AP

An anti-government demonstrator holds a molotov cocktail during clashes in the village of Sitra, south of Manama, Bahrain July 13, 2012. Dozens of demonstrators marched in an attempt to protest under the slogan ''Challenge Friday'', challenging the authorities after the government banned the protest. On Thursday, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement saying that the ministry is looking into venues where protests can be held. Reuters

An animal rights activist wearing an elephant-shaped headpiece arrives holding a placard for a protest in front of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on July 11, 2012 in California, on the opening day of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Representatives of PETA, Animal Defenders International, In Defense of Animals, Last Chance for Animals, and the Animal Protection and Rescue League participated with a message for prospective circusgoers: Don't go. Getty

A member of the Sikh community takes part in a protest against the Pakistani government in New Delhi on July 15, 2012. Sikh protesters demanded the immediate release of Indian national Sarabjit Singh who is currently held in a Pakistani prison. Sarabjit Singh is a high-profile prisoner who has spent two decades in solitary confinement on death row in Lahore after being convicted for his role in a string of bombings. Getty

An Israeli protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and Pharaoh headpiece chains his hand as he holds a slogan which reads in Hebrew 'The justice is like Pharaoh' during a demonstration in the Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on July 14, 2012 to mark the first anniversary of last summer's social justice demonstrations that swept the country to protest the spiralling cost of living. Getty

Demonstrators march against student tuition hikes and Bill 78 in downtown Montreal, Quebec July 22, 2012. The mass demonstration, which is quickly becoming a monthly protest in Montreal since it started around six months ago, has drawn tens of thousands of people to protest in the city. Reuters

A woman wears an old police helmet during a protest by firefighters and police officers against government austerity measures in Valencia July 23, 2012. Reuters

A member of the movement 'YoSoy#132' takes part in a protest against the election results at Reforma avenue, in Mexico City, on July 22, 2012. The movement is protesting against Enrique Pena Nieto, candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), who declared victory in the presidential election, after the first official results showed him with 38 percent of the vote. The candidate for the leftist coalition Progressive Movement of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the winner's nearest rival, refused to concede the race to Pena Nieto until the official final results be released, claiming to have data showing different results. Getty

Juan Antonio Torres, 42, a social worker and member of the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), lies in a coffin while wearing a mask of Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy during a protest march against austerity measures in Malaga, southern Spain, July 19, 2012. Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards marched against the centre-right government's latest austerity measures on Thursday evening, following more than a week of demonstrations across the country. Reuters

Firemen shouts slogans as they march during a protest against government austerity measures in Madrid July 19, 2012. A protest movement against the centre-right Spanish government's latest austerity measures swelled on Thursday as public sector workers stepped up demonstrations in Madrid and around the country after more than a week of spontaneous action. The placard reads, "Our cut will be with a guillotine". Reuters

A demonstrator dresses as an skeleton during a protest against government austerity measures in Madrid July 19, 2012. A protest movement against the centre-right Spanish government's latest austerity measures swelled on Thursday as public sector workers stepped up demonstrations in Madrid and around the country after more than a week of spontaneous action. The placard reads, "Market, money management thieves". Reuters

A woman performs during a protest against the health care system in Bogota, Colombia, on July 19, 2012, requiring the dismantling of the Health Promotion Companies (EPS). Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced Thursday a package of drastic measures to save the health sector, threatened with bankruptcy because of debts incurred by the EPS. Getty

A woman carries a gallows rope with the pictures Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh (R), nephew of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and Saleh's son Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, during a protest outside the home of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, to demand the dismissal of the rest of the Saleh's family members, in Sanaa July 19, 2012. Reuters

Hungarian rescue workers remove Greenpeace activists from the roof of a local petrol station in Budapest on July 19, 2012, during an action of Greenpeace's Hungarian and foreign activists to protest against the Shell Oil Company's plans to drill in the Arctic. Getty

A Filipino woman protester gives vegetables to an activist wearing a mask of Uncle Sam while another with a mask of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III joins a symbolic protest outside the gates of the Malacanang Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, July 17, 2012. The protest aims to symbolize President Aquino and the U.S. of depriving and cheating Filipinos. AP

Firefighters and other government employees take part in a demonstration against the Spanish government's latest austerity measures, in front of the Spanish Parliament (Las Cortes) in Madrid, on July 16, 2012. Several hundreds government workers, including police officers, firefighters, and healthcare workers, joined the spontaneous protest after conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced, on July 13, the latest measures to lower Spain's deficit, a 65-billion-euro (80 billion USD) austerity package involving among other things an increase in the VAT (TVA) tax and cuts in unemployment benefits. Getty

A demonstrator holds up a sign during a protest in Tel Aviv July 15, 2012, against the economic policies of Israel's conservative government and to show solidarity with Moshe Silman, who sustained serious burns after he poured flammable liquid on himself and lit it at another protest on Saturday. The sign reads in Hebrew "Bibi you burned me too", referring to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his nickname. Reuters

Israelis block a highway as they march through the streets to protest rising housing costs on July 15, 2012 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Growing discontent among Israelis over housing prices and other social inequalities have spurred marches, boycotts and labor strikes in the Jewish state. An Israeli man set himself on fire during the march for social justice protest yesterday. Getty

In this Sunday, July 15, 2012 photo, Lebanese women sit at a protest camp set up by Sheik Ahmad Assir, a harline Sunni cleric, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon. Assir has set up the camp in the middle of a key road in Sidon, declaring it an uprising against Hezbollah's weapons. Assir is taking aim at Hezbollah at a vulnerable time for the group when it faces the possible downfall of its crucial ally, President Bashar Assad in Syria. Assir may not be a direct threat to Hezbollah, but the willingness to publicly confront it underlines the dangers the group faces as it tries to retain the power and influence it has built up over the past 30 years in the face of the Syria crisis. AP

A protester stands in front of Malaysia Islamic Party flag (PAS) during a protest march to the National Palace to to hand out a memorandum in protest of the listing of Malaysia's Felda Global in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, July 14, 2012. The Malaysian palm oil firm Felda Global surged 20 percent in its trading debut on June 28, as investors cheered on the world's second largest Initial Public Offering (IPO) after Facebook. Felda's listing plans were initially met with resistance from the farmers who partly owned the firm and feared the loss of control of an asset they had invested in for generations. AP

A street performer dressed as a Minotaur walks among the crowds near Mexico City's main plaza, the Zocalo, Friday, July 13, 2012. Street performers, many dressed in costumes, gathered to protest in the historic downtown area where once they were allowed to perform but are now run off by police. AP

A worker in a mask marches holding a sign which reads, "No to Conga, no to mine," in solidarity with the anti-mining protest in Cajamarca, Lima July 12, 2012. More than 1,000 members of the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP), who marched in solidarity with the anti-mining protest, also protested against Peru's President Ollanta Humala's government and demanded better pay conditions. The Cajamarca region is still under state of emergency a week after five people died and 21 were injured in clashes between police and protesters against Newmont's $5 billion gold mine project, known as Conga. Reuters