Adam Chandler compares the Occupy Wall Street movement to Israel's #j14 tent protests:
Taking a lap through Zuccotti Park, you’ll hear snippets of conversations about the environment, gay rights, police brutality, the Iraq War, Afghanistan, the drone program, tax cuts, foreign aid, and more. But the single overarching theme of the protests has been corporate greed. It is this one-note song of economic inequality that has so far allowed a collection of students, the unemployed, activists, anarchists, immigrants, and union members to form a coalition. They say they represent the 99 percent; the wealthiest 1 percent, they point out, controls 40 percent of the country’s wealth. Similarly, by avoiding divisive political issues such as settlements, the status of Jerusalem, the future of the West Bank, policy toward Iran, and financial subsidies for the ultra-Orthodox, and focusing on one issue—the untenable cost of living—J14 was able to unite Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Christians, Druze, gays, the religious, the secular, the left-wing, and the right-wing in common cause. In its final rally on Sept. 3, 2011, 400,000 people participated—roughly 6 percent of the country’s population.
Marc Tracy expands on Chandler's thoughts with some on-the-ground reporting.
(Photo: Protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement rally before marching through Lower Manhattan on October 5, 2011 in New York City. By Mario Tama/Getty Images.)
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