{"id":176,"date":"2011-12-04T05:32:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-04T04:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/?p=176"},"modified":"2021-01-14T21:13:25","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T20:13:25","slug":"far-left-the-94-year-old-frenchman-behind-occupy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/en\/far-left-the-94-year-old-frenchman-behind-occupy\/","title":{"rendered":"Far Left\/ The 94-Year-Old Frenchman Behind &apos;Occupy&apos;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><\/p>\n<p><style type=&quot;text\/css&quot;>\n<!--\n \/* Font Definitions *\/\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:Times;\n\tpanose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:Cambria;\n\tpanose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\np.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-parent:&quot;&quot;;\n\tmargin:0cm;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\n\tmso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;\n\tmso-fareast-language:EN-US;}\n@page Section1\n\t{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;\n\tmargin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt;\n\tmso-header-margin:36.0pt;\n\tmso-footer-margin:36.0pt;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n\t{page:Section1;}\n-->\n<\/style>\n<\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;\nmso-fareast-language:FR&quot;>St&eacute;phane Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Hessel&apos;s best-selling brochure helped launch the movement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><style type=&quot;text\/css&quot;>\n<!--\n \/* Font Definitions *\/\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:Times;\n\tpanose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:Cambria;\n\tpanose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\np.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-parent:&quot;&quot;;\n\tmargin:0cm;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\n\tmso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;\n\tmso-fareast-language:EN-US;}\n@page Section1\n\t{size:595.0pt 842.0pt;\n\tmargin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt;\n\tmso-header-margin:35.4pt;\n\tmso-footer-margin:35.4pt;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n\t{page:Section1;}\n-->\n<\/style>\n<\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>A little more than 13 months ago, a left-wing French publishing house specializing in Third World advocacy published a very short (32 pages) and very cheap (three euros) political brochure titled <\/span><a href=&quot;http:\/\/www.amazon.fr\/Indignez-vous-St%C3%A9phane-Hessel\/dp\/291193976X\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1322654066&amp;sr=8-1&quot;><em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;color:blue;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>Indignez-vous!<\/span><\/em><\/a><em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\nmso-fareast-language:FR&quot;> <\/span><\/em><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>(<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>Time for Outrage!<\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>The author was nonagenarian Stephane Frederic Hessel: a Nazi camp survivor, a former ambassador, and a regular French talk show guest. The booklet was an instant bestseller: one million copies in the first ten weeks, 1.5 million in the first year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>It still remains, as of today, the number one book on French bestseller lists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>The reasons for such a stunning success were quite obvious. Those people who read a bit, but not much, were thrilled to buy what passed for a serious essay by an important person for less than the price of a magazine. They were even happier to find out that Hessel&rsquo;s philosophy was a perfect fit for their own intellectual and ethical size.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>The Great Old Man urged contemporary youth to get &ldquo;outraged&rdquo; about poverty and injustice and to fight for a better world, just as he had done seventy years earlier as a member of the anti-Nazi Resistance. Who on Earth would contend with that, especially when the enemy was not the Third Reich, but benign modern democracies?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>Moreover, the villain Hessel repeatedly mentioned and attacked was Israel &mdash; the country most people in France love to hate already.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>Hessel&rsquo;s booklet was almost as successful worldwide as in France proper. It was quickly translated and published in ten European languages and in Hebrew; overall sales hit 3.5 million copies. Translations were then produced in ten more languages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>The only exception in terms of popularity was the U.S.: the pamphlet was just inserted in <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>The Nation&rsquo;s<\/em> April 7-14 issue. Practical Americans, even of the liberal persuasion, apparently had trouble selling it or buying it as a book.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>Hessel&rsquo;s influence on the ground grew to dwarf his sales accomplishments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\nmso-fareast-language:FR&quot;>&ldquo;<\/span><\/em><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>Outraged<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&rdquo; <\/em>movements claiming to follow the old Frenchman&rsquo;s philosophy bloomed in countries hit by recession or bankruptcy, like Spain, Greece, the UK, Chile, and more recently the United States. Strangely enough, even Israel &mdash; in spite of its comparatively good economic and financial shape and Hessel&rsquo;s rabid anti-Zionism &mdash; was hit by the movement last summer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>All<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;> &ldquo;<\/em>outraged<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:\nnormal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em> movements tended to follow a single pattern. Citizens with no explicit political affiliation <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em>occupied<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em> major streets, squares, or public spaces for days or weeks, day and night, insisting upon &ldquo;social justice&rdquo; or &ldquo;change.&rdquo; They erected little booths and tent villages, both in order to sleep there and to make it more difficult to be moved out or blocked by police the following day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>Most democratic governments were reluctant to suppress such behavior, even if they were legally entitled to do so. In some countries, like Spain, there might even have been a not-too-secret understanding between the left-wing cabinet poised to lose the coming election and the demonstrators, who disclaimed in advance whatever measures a future conservative cabinet would take. (Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero&rsquo;s socialists lost to Mariano Rajoy&rsquo;s conservatives on <\/span><a href=&quot;http:\/\/pjmedia.com\/tatler\/2011\/11\/20\/spain-turns-blue\/&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\ncolor:blue;mso-fareast-language:FR&quot;>November 20<\/span><\/a><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\nmso-fareast-language:FR&quot;>.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>Clearly, the so-called Arab Spring was connected to Hessel&rsquo;s <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em>outraged<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:\nnormal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em> campaign. The demonstrations and sit-ins that led to the eviction of both Zine el-Abidine Ben-Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt were modeled after Spain&rsquo;s <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>Indignados<\/em> operations.&nbsp;This factor might not have been decisive by itself, but it did deter Western powers from extending support to leaders who were previously their local allies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>The much more complex Libyan, Yemenite, Bahraini, and Syrian upheavals started as replicas of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. There was evidence of direct contacts between Arab insurgents and Western <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em>outraged<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:\nnormal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em> groups or Western NGOs close to the global <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:\nnormal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em>outraged<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em> movement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>As for the Israeli replica, it was launched in part by left-wing activists close to similar American and\/or European NGOs, and was designed at some point as a tool to topple the Netanyahu cabinet. It didn&rsquo;t work out that way: the core of the local <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em>outraged<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&rdquo; <\/em>Israelis were just democratically minded patriots complaining about supposed negative byproducts of a two-decade economic boom, like the rise of real estate prices in cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>Hessel may not have been the real thinker and promoter of his movement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>At 93 (last year) and 94 (now), he seems to enjoy excellent health and clarity of thought. He may indeed have written the few pages that turned him into an instant world icon. However, the pages were more likely provided by a ghostwriter. A convincing argument, in this respect, is that <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>Time for Outrage!<\/em> is a <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em>party line<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:\nnormal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em> operation. It is less about Hessel expressing his views than about others setting an agenda and Hessel endorsing it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>The very concept of getting <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em>outraged<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em> was already successfully tried in 1996 by another French author with similar political views. Viviane Forrester authored the much lengthier but equally thin in intellectual terms <\/span><a href=&quot;http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Economic-Horror-Viviane-Forrester\/dp\/0745619940\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1322653719&amp;sr=8-1&quot;><em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;color:blue;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>L&rsquo;Horreur Economique<\/span><\/em><\/a><em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\nmso-fareast-language:FR&quot;> <\/span><\/em><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>(<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>The Economic Horror<\/em>). As for the tent villages on public space, that had been tested in Paris from 2006 to 2009 by &ldquo;Les Enfants de Don Quichotte&rdquo; <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>(<\/em>&ldquo;Don Quixote&rsquo;s Children&rdquo;), a group agitating for housing rights<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:\nnormal&quot;>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>In his recently released book <\/span><a href=&quot;http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Red-Army-Radical-Network-Defeated\/dp\/0062069241\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1322686546&amp;sr=8-1&quot;><em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;color:blue;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>Red Army<\/span><\/em><\/a><em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\nmso-fareast-language:FR&quot;>, <\/span><\/em><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>Aaron Klein argues that the old radical and pro-Soviet networks of the Cold War era have resurfaced in contemporary American politics. This powerful organization helped Barack Obama conquer the Democratic Party and then the White House, and this American Red Army, as he calls it, stands behind the Occupy Wall Street movement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>What Klein says about the U.S. is true of many other countries as well. Most of the radical groups that have been operating in Western countries since the mid-90s &mdash; from the anti-globalist and Green movements to the Islamists and anti-Israel militants &mdash; can be traced to radical and pro-Soviet Cold War-era networks. In many instances, they have the same goals (with some adjustments), the same tactics (in a slightly modified or modernized form), and even the same personnel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>St&eacute;phane Hessel&rsquo;s popularity derives from his longevity and a grandiose but carefully edited personal narrative. His parents were the models for <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>Jules et Jim<\/em>, a famous novel turned into a famous film. The rest of his life, however, seems to be ridden with exaggerations, half-lies, and riddles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>The circumstances under which he was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and transferred to a &ldquo;special camp&rdquo; in Germany are obscure. He was not &ldquo;one of the drafters&rdquo; of the UN Human Rights Charter of 1948 as he has often maintained, but merely a junior assistant to the Charter&rsquo;s main editor, the great French jurist Ren&eacute; Cassin. While making, all in all, a prestigious career at Quai d&rsquo;Orsay (the French Foreign Office), he was nevertheless barred from many sensitive jobs. In fact, many of his colleagues wondered whether he was not a bit <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>too<\/em> left-wing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>It comes as no surprise that such a man has been willing to lend himself to the <em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em>outraged<em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:\nnormal&quot;>&ldquo;<\/em> movement, even only as a fellow traveler. And to achieve fame by the same token.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;\nmargin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:\n.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-language:\nFR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;><em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-language:FR&quot;>Michel Gurfinkiel is the president of the Jean Jacques Rousseau Institute, a European think tank in Paris.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;><em style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-style:normal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-language:FR&quot;>&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;><strong style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal&quot;><span style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-fareast-language:FR&quot;>(c) Michel Gurfinkiel &amp; PajamasMedia, 2011<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<style type=&quot;text\/css&quot;>\n<\/style>\n<p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;>St&eacute;phane Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Hessel&apos;s best-selling brochure helped launch the movement.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/en\/far-left-the-94-year-old-frenchman-behind-occupy\/\">&nbsp;&raquo;&nbsp;Read more about: Far Left\/ The 94-Year-Old Frenchman Behind &apos;Occupy&apos; &nbsp;&raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[655],"tags":[859],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1673,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions\/1673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michelgurfinkiel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}