The "Occupy Wall Street" protest movement, which is moving beyond lower Manhattan and energizing young people across the US, has now jumped across the pond and captured the imagination of some political leaders in Germany. Oskar LaFontaine, firebrand of the Left Party (Die LINKE), has a piece in the Handelsblatt in which he attacks the banks for "biting the hand that feeds them" and calls for demonstrations in "Mainhattan" – Frankfurt – emulating the "Occupy Wall Street" movement:
Die jungen Spanier und Griechen wissen, dass sie die Ungerechtigkeit und die fehlenden Lebensperspektiven nicht nur ihren jeweiligen Regierungen zu verdanken haben, sondern vor allem Frau Merkel und Herrn Sarkozy. Aber den Deutschen gaukelt man vor, sie müssten in Athen demonstrieren, um ihr Geld wiederzusehen. Ein Besuch des Bankenzentrums in Frankfurt läge näher. Die US-amerikanische Protestbewegung „Occupy Wall Street“ kann als Vorbild dienen.
("The young people in Spain and Greece know that it is not only their own governments that are to blame for the injustice and the diminished hopes for the future, but rather all Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy. Germans are told they should demonstrate in Athens if they want to see their money again. But a visit to the banking center in Frankfurt would be much closer. The American protest movement "Occupy Wall Street" serves as a model.")
When was the last time an American phenomenon served as model for progressives in Germany? LaFontaine's fellow Left Party leader Sahra Wagenknecht also sees "Occupy Wall Street" as an inspiration for Germans, but is more specific in her targets:
Wagenknecht sagte, wichtig für die Linkspartei sei, „dass wir alles dafür tun, dass auch in Deutschland eine Bewegung entsteht, die sich hinter solchen Forderungen versammelt“. Wenn in Amerika eine Besetzung der Wall Street gefordert werde, „dann müssen wir in Deutschland sagen: Occupy Deutsche Bank, Occupy Commerzbank“.
(Wagenknecht said that it is important for the Left Party "that we do everything to build a movement in Germany that stands behind these demands." When American protesters demand an occupation of Wall Street "then we Germans say: Occupy Deutsche Bank, Occupy Commerzbank.")
Protest demonstrations have been called for October 15 in Frankfurt.
