As the world's elite get set to gather this month to attend the World Economic Forum's annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland protesters aligned with the global occupy movement are busy building a home for themselves in the shadows of the fancy hotels, chalets, and restaurants of the posh mountain getaway. In order to give the world's most influential and wealthiest leaders a taste of their opposition -- and in hopes of finding opportunities for dialogue -- organizers are building an igloo village to house protesters during the meeting.
The message on the group's website, (OccupyWEF.org), reads in part:
Every year, self-proclaimed "global leaders" allegedly committed to improving the state of the world meet up for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss mountains to propagate their own businesses and network amongst the so-called global economic elite.
This year, we will not let them exclude us, the 99%! We say: occupy WEF!
According to Reuters:
The Swiss campaigners invited activists from around the world to join them at the camp, being set up with permission in a car park outside the tight security cordon that surrounds the World Economic Forum meeting.
"Don't let them decide for you! Occupy WEF!" read a banner draped across the first igloo, which took five hours to build.
Speaking at a podium made of snow blocks, Roth said they planned to build several more igloos, each sleeping two people, and pitch two heated teepees and a field kitchen.
And, as noted at the Atlantic Wire, Davos is as a good a place as any -- perhaps the best place -- to target the so-call "one percent":
Davos is an even more meaningful destination than Wall Street. Yes, Occupy started on Wall Street, and the street is now synonymous with the One Percent that the 99 Percenters are hoping to expose. It's hard to think of a more One Percent-friendly place that Davos. It's a ski resort in Switzerland! Probably really close to where everybody is hiding their money from the tax man! In conclusion: if the activists are trying to make a meaningful statement by occupying (pun, unavoidable) a meaningful space, they've succeeded.
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