Israel’s actions throughout history discredits any claim that it is guided in any way by a 'vegan ethic', which from the very start has aimed to liberate all oppressed beings, with the founders of the vegan movement openly stating their opposition to the wars of their time. Vegans who continue to support Israel’s occupation need to reexamine their own ethical inconsistencies, this being one of the most glaring ones.
KARLO MARCO CLETO: Veganism , being a social movement that aspires for a fairer, better, more just relationship with non-human animals , is political. And therefore, vegans, as advocates of veganism, have to be ready and willing to think about politics and engage in political activity.
Ideally, this political engagement would not be limited to just veganism, but would also include other social justice movements that have a clear, demonstrable link to animal rights and animal liberation… This takes me to Palestine.
Vegans have a problematic history with Palestine’s colonizer, Israel. Many vegans on social media, here included, celebrate Israel as being one of the “most vegan-friendly countries” and the IDF as “the most vegan army in the world” — despite Israel being an occupying force that has in the past four months waged a relentless campaign to annihilate Palestinians in Gaza through bombing, tanks, sniper fire, chemical warfare, and now disease and starvation through the targeting of Gaza’s public health system and the denial of humanitarian aid…
The degree of dehumanization and violence against the Palestinians of Gaza is beyond comprehension. Despite the clear pro-occupation/pro-genocide position taken by many Western news media companies and systematic attempts by social media platforms to silence pro-Palestinian voices, we have all seen images of the wanton death and destruction meted out by Israel against all Palestinians, including children, babies, and newborn infants. These are images that we can never erase from memory.
Every day, more of the lies used to justify this genocide are being exposed by those who have tirelessly spoken up despite the censorship and the overwhelming silence of those in power. And through these voices, the ongoing apartheid and genocide in Gaza has already given us many examples of just how “vegan” Israel really is:
- Israel’s repeated use of animal metaphors to dehumanize Palestinians and justify further aggression and occupation (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/israel-defense-minister-human-animals-gaza-palestine_n_6524220ae4b09f4b8d412e0a)
- Israel’s forced starvation is killing both human and non-human animals alike (https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/1/4/photos-hunger-hits-displaced-palestinians-and-animals-in-gaza-zoo)
- Israel targeting both human and non-human animals (including sheep and donkeys) by sniper fire (https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/2/7/israeli-snipers-target-sheep-in-gaza)
- Israel’s war on Gaza, even before the present genocide, has already traumatized many human and non-human animal residents, whose daily lives are made extremely difficult by ceaseless war (https://www.businessinsider.com/gaza-war-is-horror-for-everyone-including-for-cats-dogs-2021-5)
- Israel’s continuing veganwashing and use of animal rescue in colonial propaganda, similar to its use of “pinkwashing” (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07256868.2019.1617254, https://mondoweiss.net/2021/06/dear-peta-israels-animal-rights-record-is-anything-but-praiseworthy/)
Clearly, Israel’s actions throughout history discredits any claim that it is guided in any way by a vegan ethic, which from the very start has aimed to liberate all oppressed beings, with the founders of the vegan movement openly stating their opposition to the wars of their time. Vegans who continue to support Israel’s occupation need to reexamine their own ethical inconsistencies, this being one of the most glaring ones…
The current situation is dire and the international legal system has proven ineffectual at stopping the genocide. Leaders of states supporting Israeli settler-colonialism have taken the policy of pummeling pro-Palestinian voices into silence or playing innocent in the face of growing global pressure for a ceasefire. Western mainstream media has been complicit by passing off blatant lies as fact, helping justify the aggression. SOURCE…
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