Stéphane Hessel on Occupy Wall Street You Must Be Able to Fight Nonviolently & Peacefully

www.DemocracyNow.org - As the Occupy Wall Street movement expands across the United States, drawing inspiration from the Arab Spring and the protests in Spain, Democracy Now! spoke with former French Resistance fighter, Stéphane Hessel, whose pamphlet-length book, Time for Outrage, helped inspire some of these uprisings. His book has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 10 languages, with several more planned. Hessel, 93 years old, has occupied many positions in his life: immigrant, French Resistance fighter, concentration camp survivor, diplomat, advocate and author. He joined the French Resistance during World War II, was caught by the Gestapo and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. He escaped during transfer to Bergen-Belsen and later helped draft the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, then became an honorary "Ambassador of France," appointed to special government missions. He has since been a fierce advocate of the Palestinians. Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzalez interviewed Hessel earlier this month.

"You must find the things that you will not accept, that will outrage you. And these things, you must be able to fight against nonviolently, peacefully, but determinedly," Hessel says, noting his support for the Occupy Wall Street encampment. "They're there determined to see that their values are to be respected."

For the complete transcript, podcast, and for additional reports on Occupy Wall Street on Democracy Now!, visit https://www.democracynow.org/topics/occupy_wall_street