(Wednesday, October 5, 2011) New York -- The Jewish Labor Committee today issued the following statement in support of the Occupy Wall Street protestors:
The Jewish Labor Committee supports the activists in the "Occupy Wall Street" movement and their message -- that it is time for our elected officials to represent the 99% of Americans who are struggling to make ends meet in this difficult economy. This message is being heard not only on Wall Street, but on Main Streets across America. Through the recent actions on and near Wall Street, and the actions of labor, religious and community organizations such as the Jewish Labor Committee, in solidarity with those who are "occupying" Wall Street, this message will increasingly be heard and felt in the halls of Congress and in state and municipal governments around the country.
We have seen how the "Arab Spring" popular uprisings galvanized ordinary citizens to bring democracy and freedom to countries long ruled by dictators. The "Israeli Summer" started with a few individuals setting up tents to protest the lack of affordable housing and more general economic policies and quickly grew to a national movement of hundreds of thousands of people from all sectors of Israeli society fed up with their government 's ignoring the concerns of the middle class and the poor. Now the brave men and women of Occupy Wall Street have created an "American Autumn" which has grown from tiny Zuccotti Square in the Financial District of New York City to a national movement -- a movement calling on the government to represent the people and not corporate lobbyists.
For too long, we have seen the income gap between the top 1% in the United States and the bottom 99% widen. We have raised our voices against policies at the state and national level that weaken and eliminate programs to help working families and the poor, yet continue to benefit the extremely wealthy in our society. We have called on politicians and the media to stop laying the blame on our teachers, public servants and working men and women and asking them to make sacrifices while tax breaks for millionaires and large corporations go unabated.
For these reasons, we are proud today to participate in the March on Wall Street in support the Occupy Wall Street activists, and call on our members, activists and our colleagues in the Jewish community and the labor movement to support similar actions across the country.
