Occupy Wall Street on high note at 1 month
Source: Agencies |
October 18, 2011, Tuesday
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THE month-old Occupy Wall Street movement enjoyed its new momentum yesterday, with nearly US$300,000 in the bank and the satisfaction of drawing global attention to what it sees as major economic inequalities.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed sympathy with the protesters.
From a few dozen people camping out in a small Manhattan park near the rising World Trade Center complex, the movement swelled to hundreds of thousands of people rallying around the world over the weekend and numerous encampments springing up in cities large and small.
Hundreds of protesters yesterday mingled with bemused bank workers in a new tent camp outside London's St. Paul's Cathedral. But in Seattle, police arrested people who wouldn't move their tents from a park.
The UN leader said the finance chiefs from the Group of 20 rich and developing nations, now meeting in Paris, should listen to the demonstrators.
"Business as usual, or just looking at their own internal economic issues, will not give any answers to a very serious international economic crisis," Ban said. "That is what you are seeing all around the world, starting from Wall Street, people are showing their frustrations, are trying to send a very clear and unambiguous message around the world."
The Wall Street protesters still haven't settled on a specific demand but are intent on building on momentum gained from Saturday's worldwide demonstrations, which drew huge crowds, mostly in the US and Europe.
US President Barack Obama referred to the protests during Sunday's dedication of a monument for Martin Luther King Jr., saying the civil rights leader "would want us to challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing those who work there."
In New York, US$300,000 in cash has been donated through the movement's website and by visitors to the park, said Bill Dobbs, a press liaison for Occupy Wall Street.
Donated goods range from blankets and sleeping bags to cans of food and medical supplies. Among the items are 20 pairs of swimming goggles, to shield protesters from pepper-spray attacks. Supporters are shipping about 300 boxes a day, many with notes and letters, said Justin Strekal, a college student and political organizer.
"Some are heart-wrenching, beautiful," and come from people who have lost jobs and houses, he said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed sympathy with the protesters.
From a few dozen people camping out in a small Manhattan park near the rising World Trade Center complex, the movement swelled to hundreds of thousands of people rallying around the world over the weekend and numerous encampments springing up in cities large and small.
Hundreds of protesters yesterday mingled with bemused bank workers in a new tent camp outside London's St. Paul's Cathedral. But in Seattle, police arrested people who wouldn't move their tents from a park.
The UN leader said the finance chiefs from the Group of 20 rich and developing nations, now meeting in Paris, should listen to the demonstrators.
"Business as usual, or just looking at their own internal economic issues, will not give any answers to a very serious international economic crisis," Ban said. "That is what you are seeing all around the world, starting from Wall Street, people are showing their frustrations, are trying to send a very clear and unambiguous message around the world."
The Wall Street protesters still haven't settled on a specific demand but are intent on building on momentum gained from Saturday's worldwide demonstrations, which drew huge crowds, mostly in the US and Europe.
US President Barack Obama referred to the protests during Sunday's dedication of a monument for Martin Luther King Jr., saying the civil rights leader "would want us to challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing those who work there."
In New York, US$300,000 in cash has been donated through the movement's website and by visitors to the park, said Bill Dobbs, a press liaison for Occupy Wall Street.
Donated goods range from blankets and sleeping bags to cans of food and medical supplies. Among the items are 20 pairs of swimming goggles, to shield protesters from pepper-spray attacks. Supporters are shipping about 300 boxes a day, many with notes and letters, said Justin Strekal, a college student and political organizer.
"Some are heart-wrenching, beautiful," and come from people who have lost jobs and houses, he said.
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