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Oli Scarff / Getty Images
Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks to Occupy activists outside of London's St. Paul's Cathedral on Thursday.
LONDON -- Veteran activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson compared the global anti-capitalist movement to the U.S. civil rights struggle, the battle against apartheid in South Africa and the fight for Indian independence during a visit to an Occupy camp in London on Thursday.
"Jesus was an Occupier, born under a death warrant, a Jew by religion, born in poverty under Roman occupation," the two-time candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination told a crowd near Saint Paul’s Cathedral. "Gandhi was an Occupier, Martin Luther King was an Occupier, (Nelson) Mandela was an Occupier."
A man dressed in a well-tailored dark wool jacket and crisp checked shirt – not your stereotypical Occupy protester – cried as he watched Jackson. "He is my hero," he said.
While the crowd enthusiastically joined Jackson for a chant, not everybody was supportive and a few heckles punctuated his speech.
One man who shouted that the Occupy movement wasn't addressing the needs of the homeless was detained before he reached the podium where Jackson was standing.
F. Brinley Bruton / msnbc.com
John, 34, who has been camped next to London's Saint Paul's Cathedral since Oct. 15, waits for Rev. Jesse Jackson to address Occupy protesters on Thursday.
Another Occupier, who said he's been camped out since the protest began on Oct. 15, said he welcomed Jackson. However, he remained skeptical.
"I have mixed feelings – someone told me he's quite a wealthy person," said John, 34, who declined to give a last name. "You don't know his agenda."
F. Brinley Bruton is a senior writer for msnbc.com based in London
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Leave a Comment:
Well, there's the nail in the coffin. Jesse Jackson is a joke. His being involved in any way will immediately repel some people. No one with any kind of awareness of who he is and what he does would want to be lumped into the same category as him.
Jesse Jackson is an elitist racist who has always profited off of creating race and religious division. Hearing that he thinks he would know what Jesus would do is an even bigger insult than when he gave himself the title of reverend. Just look at his "fruits", life philosophy, name calling, or personal life and you can quickly get an idea of how "in-touch" he is with Jesus. I think the only reason this was posted by the media was to enrage...
That's a real trip coming from a race baiting anti-Semite like Jesse Jackson. Last I checked, Jesus didn't take a dump in the temple.
It sure seems to me that Jesus was more of an Occupier than anything else, at least from what we heard in church. He even taunted the wealthy on a number of occassions, and championed the poor as well as children- the same people hurting the most today.
If Jesus returned today, he'd be called a "Socialist" and sprayed with mace by Republican fascists.
If Jesus returned today he would look around and say.... no one here worth saving.
Speak for yourself proudamericanveteran....
Judgment is mine says the Lord.
Weren't the Romans the occupiers? Just when I thought the world was free of Jesse Jackson.
More noise,Jesse must be hard up to make headlines,go back under your rock,religion should not be brought into this...
Well he did get stiffed when Michael Jackson died s he has to catch headlines as he can. Ironic that his own son, the legitimate one, will have nothing to do with him.
Jesse Jackson, Barack Obama, George Soros ... the millionaire/billionaire socialists. Notice none of the are willing to give away their own money ... just yours.
Jesse Jackson at least understands the basic core message of Jesus, namely: his concern for the poor and powerless. That's why Jesus was killed, by the powerful of his day, the Roman Empire, and the good religious folks of his day too, the Scribes and Pharisees. Plus, Jackson is at least a biblical literate unlike so many folks in our churches today who give lip-service to Jesus, and those pseudo-religious Republican presidential candidates who pretend to be followers of Jesus.
What Jackson and/or the media do not seem to understand, like so many Americans and Fox News, is the Occupiers are not "anti-capitalist." They are the actual folks who want capitalism to work for everyone. It's the Republicans and the super rich who are the real "anti-capitalists." It is the Republicans and the rich who work together to protect the rich, at any cost, including threatening to shut down government. It is the Republicans, having been bought off by the super rich, who seek to pay off our deficit, or slash and pay for unemployment benefits and Medicare by picking the pockets of the poor and middle class, not the rich. So, its no wonder we find today 1 out of 2 Americans are now classified as poor or in the low-income level of our society. Yes, 1 out of 2 Americans. Shocking! Yet, it's not the Occupiers who have contributed to this shameful situation in America nor to the continued shrinkage of the middle class. It's those who are the real "anti-capitalists. That's who!
Jesse just wants attention.
What I find most telling is that the person at the end of the article didn't even know that Jesse Jackson was a wealthy man.
I'm not against the protesters as a whole, I think a lot can be accomplished through protesting, but what persay is the goal of these "occupy movements?" The problem I have with this is that they end up costing us 99% tax payer money to have police there, to clean up after the mess they leave behind, etc. There should be a goal, that is obtainable, if you are protesting, and in my opinion there's not. As it is said, "our government is the worst, except for all the others." It's like a game, and the 1% are winning.
As for bringing Jesus into this... please. Jesus never stood around! Jesus healed the blind, the lame, the sick. He didn't stand around waiting for change, He was the change. If you want to change things... then do it. That my friend is what Jesus did!
This crap coming from a man who once called New York "Hymie Town". He has no legitmacy as a moral compass. He is an adulterer and blackmailer.
Jesus was a occupier. He went into the temple ground and even threw over the tables of money lenders.
Because they were desecrating the temple, God's House. . Not because they were money lenders. It was Jewish law that required that gifts and tithes could be paid with Hebrew Coin, not roman coin, so the moeny lenders exchanged the currency for a profit.
I think Jesus would object to this classification. Jesus had a very cogent and peaceful message. Jesus died for our sins. Jesus had a point.
OWS has no cogent message - OWS just whines! OWS is not peaceful (witness rapes in NYC and elsewhere). OWS has done nothing for me (i.e. did not die for my sins or really endure suffering for ANYTHING that I believe in or benefit from). OWS has no point. OWS should go away.....and soon.
Jesse Jackson, you are a moron.
Jesse should Occupy himself with something else.
Dear Heavenly Father, let there be more pot and heroin. Bring thy fair share and strike the great satan Koch Brothers dead. And while you are at it, my Lord, can you extend our unemployment benefits for another six months?
Sorry reverend by you are an a — — hole. Has this jerk ever had a real job? He has become rich spewing the same old bs. The rich are bad and need to give all their money to him so he can help poor people. Get over yourself Jesse and get a job!
...and jesse is going to get in on the occupy movement any way he can!
Who GD cares what Jesus was. Jesus wan't a miracle anything. He was also from a family who made money in carpentry. back then, capenters were like lawyers: they made a lot of money. So stick it, Christian. You're almost as bad as the Muslims. And gwet your facts straight. When you speak and it matches human nature, then I'll believe you. You're just reason the world needs a good revolt against the elite few.
I'd say he was a miracle since he was born of a virgin mother. Jesus did not have money, he was not rich. Since you obviously know NOTHING about Jesus or the bible.....go stick your other foot in your mouth and shut up!
get up stand up... stand up for your rights!
Gimme a break. Some people will do anything to get media attention.
the obama administration has done a good job of staying clear of jackson so far,they might have to shot him to shut him up in an election year
And Jesse Jackson is a racist, hypocritical twit.
And Jackson is a GREEDY member of the 1%. What a damn hypocrite Jackson is. He blackmails corporations and others to support his own cause, which seems to always include Jackson getting huge payoffs (bribes). Jesse Jackson is a wealthy elite who lives and acts like one. What a hypocrite.