Pro-Palestinian protesters recently came to PETA’s office, just up from the White House, and shot a video of themselves dumping paper sheep’s heads on our property. Their axe to grind, according to the woman on the bullhorn, was that PETA has failed to denounce Israel. That’s like attacking Habitat for Humanity for not building houses in Sudan. Habitat, like PETA, was founded for a specific purpose: That’s what people donate to us to do, and that’s the job we get on with every day.
Animals don’t take sides, yet they suffer greatly in human battles. PETA has been in Ukraine since the conflict began, pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into pulling injured, petrified, and abandoned animals from the rubble. Two of our vans there have been destroyed by drones, and two wonderful volunteer rescuers have been killed. In the Middle East, we’ve donated to both Israeli and Palestinian animal protection organizations and appealed to the secretary of the United Nations to let us put animal foods and medicines on the convoys entering Gaza.
In 2005, when some of last week’s protesters were toddlers, I traveled to Bethlehem at Christmastime to speak at the International Conference on Nonviolence attended by the U.S. envoy to the Middle East. In the square stood what remained of an olive tree, a symbol of survival. Just yards from the entrance to the hall, goats and sheep were being slaughtered and hacked into cuts of meat. On the first night, seated for dinner under a picture of Jesus holding a lamb, we were offered lamb shanks. Few people noticed that we, the pleaders for peace — Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists — were being served the product of violence, fear, and pain.
Health studies show that as a vegan, I’m unlikely to succumb to high blood pressure, yet I can feel mine rising whenever someone describes PETA as a “lefty group.” Were some of our most enthusiastic allies against experiments on animals, going back to the early days with members of Congress such as Bob Dole, Robert Smith, and Bob Dornan, closet lefties? G. Gordon Liddy, anyone? People who should know better could do a bit of research, but they often don’t. PETA fights cruelty to animals across all lines, period.
That said, it can seem that being part of the “new” Right can mean tossing civility to the curb, ballyhooing at cruel sports such as rodeos, and throwing tantrums about small things that might well be resolved with discussion, not firearms. (Recently, a man opened fire outside a Florida bar in an argument over how many eggs a chicken can lay in a day.)
Like Bill Maher, a PETA honorary director, I have nuanced opinions that don’t fit neatly into one slot. For instance, I think the number of people who genuinely need a “trigger warning” or are offended when asked, “Where are you from?” is fewer than the number of people who hunt (about 3% to 4% of the population).
NOT MONKEY BUSINESS: PETA AND RFK JR. FIND COMMON GROUND
And I won’t be intimidated into adopting every politically correct idea. As my mother once told a man who badgered her to convert to his religion or risk burning in hell, “I went through World War II, so I think I’d cope with that.” Once, after I wrote that I was interested in someone’s work, not their sexuality, I was told, “You need to be interested!” Do I? Isn’t trying to be decent to everyone, regardless of political beliefs, race, gender, species, religion, or whatever else, good enough?
Most speakers at that conference in Bethlehem ended their talks with, “Please respect us — we are human beings.” I ended with a broader plea: “Please respect all living beings.” PETA’s view, my view, is that many people are kind, and many are filled with such hatred and prejudice that words have no impact. One can but try. There’s nothing “lefty” about that.
Ingrid Newkirk is the founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
