1 of 3 | An Occupy Wall Street protester prays in Zuccotti Park on the 30th day of Occupy Wall Street in New York, Oct. 17, 2011. UPI/John Angelillo |
License Photo
NEW YORK, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The Republican National Committee said Wednesday Democrats who charge the Tea Party with racism are ignoring alleged anti-Semitism by "Occupy Wall Street."
"Democratic leaders have spent the last week championing the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement. Yet in the midst of protesters' extreme anti-Semitic, anti-Israel comments, they've been silent," RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer said in a statement that included links to YouTube videos of protesters making anti-Semitic comments.
"I think that the Zionist Jews who are running these big banks and our federal reserve, which is not run by the federal government, I think they need to be run out of this country," one protester said in the videos.
"Where's the outrage?" Spicer asked. "While protestors are seen spewing hate against Jewish Americans, President Obama, (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi, and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz have declared their support for the demonstrations."
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Jesse Ferguson told Politico the RNC is "casually throwing around discredited accusations of anti-Semitism."
"We're not going to listen to lectures on anti-Semitism from the same Republicans who continue to stand behind one of their biggest donors, the Koch Brothers, doing business with the Iranian regime that threatens Israel's very existence," Ferguson said.
Meanwhile, "Occupy" protesters in Los Angeles are exposing rifts within city government on how to handle demands for banking reform.
A "responsible banking" ordinance introduced two years ago by Councilman Richard Alarcon has garnered support among the protesters. The plan would rate banks on social responsibility and their commitment to local communities and deny poor performers from engaging in city business, the Los Angeles Times reported.
But City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said Tuesday such actions could backfire, leading to termination fees, higher interest rates and delays for initiatives such as replacing sewers and developing a new NFL stadium.
In New York, a police commander who pepper-sprayed two Occupy Wall Street protesters has been disciplined for violating department guidelines, police said.
Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna was given a so-called command discipline and will lose 10 paid vacation days, police told The New York Times and other news organizations.
Bologna's Sept. 24 actions, when he sprayed several penned-in women, were captured on video and circulated widely on the Internet and cable TV. The incident is seen as a defining moment in the protest's early days.
Feminist author Naomi Wolf, in the group, was handcuffed and ticketed for blocking pedestrian traffic, police said.
The New York weather forecast called for rain most of the day Wednesday, which some people said could be a challenge for the Financial District encampment, which is in a concrete-floored plaza.
"I guess it will separate the men from the boys, so to speak," protester Guy Ward told The Christian Science Monitor.
