{charles e. smith jewish day school • 11710 hunter’s lane, rockville, maryland • vol. 29 issue 3 • wednesday, december 7, 2011}
Hannah Halpern (‘14) “There are people who disagree with the way Occupy DC is doing things, and that is understandable, but at least they’re doing something. People who disagree don’t have a better solution, so they shouldn’t be talking.”
Brendan Pell (‘12) “It’s a great movement. Everyone there is super cool. It’s a bunch of people who recognize the need for change and are doing something about it.”
Mariah Finkelstein (‘13) “We need to make the people in charge see that things need to change around here. Innocent people are getting hurt – socially, financially, and now, physically.”
Andrew Yanovski (‘12) “It’s a really cool movement. The community there is incredible. I had actually never seen a group of people working together to better society so well before – all I had seen until this point was Congress.”
Eden Katz (‘12) “I was in DC for the Keystone XL rally and we stopped by at Occupy afterwards. Everyone I met was extremely welcoming and enthusiastic, and it seemed like a real community.”
Nathan Poznerzon (‘13) “I don’t think that nearly enough people know what’s going on or care. Even if people form opinions for themselves that are different from my own, the fact that they have an opinion is still a step forward.”
photo illustrations by Sam Hofman
Occupy movement reaches JDS elanaschrager features editor
casians, immigrants (legal and illegal) and citizens. It is a “we” of members of almost every social class, of every gender identity and sexual identity under the sun, of a rainbow of religions. A number of CESJDS students have become a part of the “we.” Junior Nathan Poznerzon spent Tuesday, Nov. 8 at McPherson Square, the “occupied” area at the heart of the D.C. movement. “There were really cool people there, with a lot of tents set up and demonstrations,” he said. “There was cool art. People were spray painting signs that said ‘occupy’ and ‘capitalism is a crime’ and those sort of things. Ben and Jerry were there handing out free ice cream. I stayed there for about an hour and a half, and chilled and talked with people.” Junior Mariah Finkelstein was at Occupy DC’s first General Assembly on Oct. 1, the first day of the occupation. The General Assemblies are daily meetings during which occupants discuss how the day went and the logistics of the movement, among other things. Participants gather every day at 6 p.m. in McPherson Square. “There were probably 30 or 40 people,” she said. “Me and my friends were the youngest people there by five years at least.
“We are the 99 percent. Raising awareness about social and economical injustices & corruption in politics, together we find strength. We are Occupy DC.” If a curious student happened to check out occupydc.org, the official website of the Occupy DC movement, these words would be their first impression. White on red, the letters flash by, bold and insistent against black and white photos of protesters. But the words could have come from any social protest in the past century. The photos look like protests of years past. The slogan at the top of the site — “Occupy DC: For Revolution” — could have come from any number of sit-downs and sit-ins that have called our nation’s capital home. And then there is the “we.” It is the “we” that hurdles this movement into the 21st century. This “we” is a “we” of young and old, jobless and job-secure, of African-Americans, Hispanics, Cau-
It was really disorganized, and they didn’t even mention Occupy Wall Street while we were there, so I didn’t go while they were trying to figure out what they were doing.” Junior Eli Shurberg has visited McPherson Square five or six times since the beginning of October, but feels that most of his work in the movement happens away from the square. “I’ve participated in General Assemblies. I’ve brought down food and cleaning supplies and books,” Shurberg said. “I’m more involved over the Internet and talking with people and seeing things over the Internet rather than actually in person.”
– Why? – WE. JDS students involved in Occupy DC movement have all chosen to be a part of the “we,” and they have all chosen for different reasons. Sophomore Hannah Halpern has participated in the Occupy DC movement since its fledgling days. “When I came back from [summer] camp, I wanted to find some type of activist movement,” she said. Halpern found an anti-war protest taking place at Freedom Plaza on Oct. 6. Then,
in September, the Occupy movement began in the U.S. with occupations of New York and San Francisco. By Oct. 7, when Halpern visited Freedom Plaza, the beginnings of the Occupy DC movement were set up. “I liked Occupy DC more [than the other protests] because it was smaller and more communal,” Halpern said. “[Participating in the movement] gives me a chance to support people who don’t have the same opportunities and privileges that I do. Instead of just sitting back saying that I’m comfortable with my financial situation, I should be asking what can I do to help others feel the same way.” Shurberg agrees with many of the movement’s goals and ideologies. “It’s something that employs consensus agreement and direct democracy, things that when they’ve come up before this I’ve supported and actively tried to use,” he said. “The hands-on horizontal community aspect is something I really, really appreciate because that’s something that I want to create.” The Occupy movement has been widely criticized in the media for a lack of see OCCUPY DC, page 14