Who pulls the strings of Femen and Pussy Riot? theoccidentalobserver.net/2014/12/07/who-pulls-the-strings-of-femen-and-pussy-riot/ Francis Carr Begbie Christmas is a wonderful time at the Paris city centre church of La Madeleine. The magnificent vaulted ceilings echo to the sounds of baroque organ music and the choir rehearsing for the famous Christmas Eve concerts. But mainly it is a haven where generations of devout Catholics sit, pray and re- charge their spiritual batteries. Then last December 20 it became the scene of an obscenity. A young woman, naked to the waist apart from a blue veil, marched to the altar and proceeded to enact an “abortion” using a calf’s liver as a foetus. Then while screaming pro-abortion slogans she proceeded to urinate on the altar. After striking defiant poses for photographers she walked calmly back out. Radical feminist street outrage group Femen had struck again and were duly rewarded with a flood of fawning international TV, print and online coverage. Six years after they were launched in Kiev, Femen have become the one of the most fashionable brands in radical politics with guaranteed coverage for their lurid antics and an endless stream of pretty young women willing to make spectacles of themselves for the cameras. The toxic combination of narcissism, weaponised female rage and bare breasts has made them media darlings. They now have chapters in nine cities across the world including Rio, London, Frankfurt, Paris and Tel Aviv. Their hallmarks are slogans spray-painted on bare breasts and floral garlands. They’ve embraced many trendy causes from gay marriage to cis-gender rights and have even protested outside the Davos summit, Euro Cup 12 soccer tournament and even mosques but there is no doubting their main targets — Russia, and the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Some of the scenes of their desecrations defy belief as in Argentina last year where Femen-inspired women, snarled, spat and then had sex in front of devout men defending a church from vandalism. Last month another topless group ran screaming around St Peter’s Square in Rome apparently violating themselves with crucifixes before they were bundled away by the police. 1/6 So who are Femen and who is paying for them? Who is pulling the strings behind these obscene, marionettes? And why are their offensive actions treated with kid-gloves in a Europe so hyper-vigilant about “hate crimes”? These are among the many questions that surround them. Femen were launched by a group of Kiev University students campaigning against sex tourism in 2008 and quickly got attention. But as their topless fame grew, the nagging questions increased. How are they able to rent such nice flats in Kiev? How do the girls make a living? The Italian magazine IL Foglio did its own investigation and uncovered some tantalising facts. Every activist in Kiev gets about one thousand euros per month, the salary of the leaders is 2,500 euros (note that an average salary in Kiev is about 500 euros). In Europe, spending is even higher, and the girls from FEMEN receive €1,000 a day,” the Italian newspaper wrote. (Aug. 20, 2013) Il Foglio identified an American Jewish businessman called Jed Sunden as a key funder of Femen. Sunden is an enigma himself because of his puzzling business success. After majoring in history at Macalester College in Minnesota, Sunden ended up working in 1993, “sort of by chance,” on a privately funded research project compiling a register of Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine. Less than two years later, he decided to set up his own English-language newspaper, the Kiev Post. “I was just a poor kid from Brooklyn with a dime and a dream,” he says of himself at the time. Knowing nothing about the publishing business and having a limited knowledge of journalism, Sunden relied heavily on two experienced Jewish journalists, Igor Greenwald and Brian Bonner. The dream of an English language newspaper in an emerging former Soviet satellite, has brought many experienced publishers to disaster. But Sunden’s paper not only survived, it thrived. He seemed able to effortlessly summon up advertising from airlines and huge corporations such as Coca Cola and Phillip Morris that eluded much bigger independent English-language circulation papers in Poland, Czech Republic and elsewhere. His magic touch aside, he has been described in his own paper thus: “”He is a libertarian who believes in low taxes and minimal government regulation, in free speech and in free markets. He also takes a critical view of Kremlin political leaders and the threats they pose for Ukraine’s newfound independence.” Said Femen founder Anne Hutsol: “Jed was the very first influential person who noticed us, helped us with all the resources he had, gave use some useful advice, generously donated and said we were special. Jed was the very first person who helped us in promoting the organization and creating our website.” 2/6 Sunden has always refused to say how much he gave to Femen or give precise details why he is doing it. “I confirm that I do give money to Femen,” Sunden said. “I will not state the amount. After meeting with Anna Hutsol, I was impressed with her ideas and have been a supporter. I believe Anna is a young, independent voice in Ukraine. While I do not agree with all of her positions, I believe it is important to give her, and groups like hers, support.” However he appears to have dropped his support since 2011 when Femen switched its focus from the Catholic Church and began protesting against sexism at the soccer’s Euro cup. But Sunden is not the only person backing Femen. Behind every strong, independent- minded girl pop group there are usually a lot of men pulling the strings. It was true for the Spice Girls, whose “Girl Power” slogan was invented by marketing men. and it is true for Femen for whom the Simon Cowell/Svengali role appeared, at one point, to belong to a staunch Ukrainian nationalist called Viktor Syvatski. All this emerged during the screening of a documentary about Femen when Syvatski was revealed to be giving these strong independent women, orders. Like Jed Sunden, his main political agenda seems to be keeping the Russian bear at bay. The Australian film maker Kitty Green revealed “It’s his movement and he hand-picked the girls. He hand-picked the prettiest girls because the prettiest girls sell more papers. The prettiest girls get on the front page. … That became their image, that became the way they sold the brand,” she says. “He is Femen. … He is quite horrible with the girls. He would scream at them and call them bitches.” The documentary records a phone call between Victor and an activist called Inna. Victor is instructing his topless subordinate on how they will protest the 2012 Euro Cup, held in Ukraine. The conversation is as follows: 3/6 Viktor: Well done. Ok, Inna, just between you and me, I’m putting you in charge of tomorrow’s protest. I can’t come and get Alexandra ready, you have to do it. The most important thing is to make sure Alexandra is ready. Also, if the police get close, then beat them with those sticks. Inna — Just beat them? Viktor — Beat them on the backs. Don’t be scared. Those idiots won’t do anything. Alexandra, explain it all to her in detail. Tell her that, fuck, you know, we gave her $200 to get her here. Explain that. Be strong with her. Explain that after the last fucking protest disaster, if she doesn’t perform then she won’t be invited back. She can go fuck herself. And we won’t give her money for her ticket back. Be very strong with her. Very strong. And don’t let Anna talk to her. Alexandra will be dressed as a dictator. On her back, we should write, ‘Create History Together,’ in English. Inna — Got it. What should we chant? EURO CUP = KGB? Something very simple and translatable. EURO CUP = KGB. Or KGB 2012? Write these down. And then last year Syvastki seriously overstepped the mark when he organised a Femen barracking which embarrassed Vladimir Putin at a Hanover trade fair. Bearing the slogan “Fuck the dictator” the women had to be dragged away. Now Syvatski appears to be in fear of his life and is seeking asylum in the West after being beaten up and nearly kidnapped by “mystery men.” He no longer has anything to do with Femen, apparently. For the Ukrainian authorities the last straw came when a Femen activist sawed down a huge cross in a Kiev park in 2012 in support of the jailed Russian punk rock group Pussy Riot. The cross was a memorial to the victims of the Cheka and NKVD in the thirties and outraged Ukrainians demanded a criminal prosecution. Finally facing serious criminal charges, the Femen skipped town and set up in Paris where they have plush city centre offices and a “training centre” for their groups across the world. Who is funding them now is a mystery. They certainly seem to have a sympathetic ear in Paris and applications for welfare benefits were said to be fast tracked. Femen were inspired by another radical feminist group called Pussy Riot who first came to fame when they desecrated Christ the Savior, Moscow’s largest cathedral, with an obscene punk prayer performance aimed at the Patriarch Kirill and Vladimir Putin. Three organisers were jailed in 2012. 4/6 Like Femen, the key Pussy Riot motivating force seems to be a demented hatred of Christianity in general and the Orthodox Church in particular.