Peace begins at the breakfast table,” Ingrid Newkirk, president and founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, two days before a large animal rights march in Tel Aviv.
She draws a direct connection between the conflicts in the region and a vegan diet: “This is not a simplistic statement.
How can we expect to have peace if we ourselves are putting animals through a slaughterhouse? They are fellow living beings like us, and if we can’t understand that, how can we expect to have a greater understanding of other people in the world? So I encourage everybody, use your power, us your voice, be the person you want to be.”
On a positive note, Newkirk has actually praised Israel.
Newkirk is in Israel for her third time to speak at Saturday night’s “Animal Rights March” in Tel Aviv, which is projected to be the largest march of its kind in history, with some 30,000 attendees expected.
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Newkirk is pleased with Israel’s progressive stance on veganism and noted the cooperation with other Israeli animal rights groups – including “Anonymous for Animal Rights” and “Let the Animals Live” – on a variety of issues, including: eliminating animal testing in laboratories and in the military; sterilizing of stray dogs and cats; and ensuring that Israeli soldiers can get vegan meals.
Newkirk sees Israel as a leader in promoting a vegan diet: “The upsurge of vegan eating in Israel is very, very strong.
Israel is a leader in the switch to vegan eating, vegetarian foods, for animals but also for the environment; there is a huge environmental consciousness.”
Newkirk is also aware that Israel has an advantage in this upsurge of vegan diets. As she pointed out: “There is a wealth of wonderful, wonderful fresh produce that the rest of the world is envious of, as well as delicious foods readily available.
Seems like progress from the woman who wrote this letter to arch terrorist Yasser Arafat back in the day:
Your Excellency:
I am writing from an organization dedicated to fighting animal abuse around the world. We have received many calls and letters from people shocked at the bombing in Jerusalem on January 26 in which a donkey, laden with explosives, was intentionally blown up.
All nations behave abominably in many ways when they are fighting their enemies, and animals are always caught in the crossfire. The U.S. Army abandoned thousands of loyal service dogs in Vietnam. Al-Qaeda and the British government have both used animals in hideously cruel biological weaponry tests. We watched on television as stray cats in your own compound fled as best they could from the Israeli bulldozers.
Animals claim no nation. They are in perpetual involuntary servitude to all humankind, and although they pose no threat and own no weapons, human beings always win in the undeclared war against them. For animals, there is no Geneva Convention and no peace treaty–just our mercy.
If you have the opportunity, will you please add to your burdens my request that you appeal to all those who listen to you to leave the animals out of this conflict?
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
