In 2003 the
organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) opened an
exhibition featuring gruesome images of slaughterhouses alongside the horrific
scenes of the Holocaust. The exhibition, displayed at the University of
California at Los Angeles and in San Diego, California, was titled, "Holocaust
On Your Plate." Lisa Lange,
the organization's vice president of communications, stated that the purpose of
this controversial campaign was to "attack the mindset that condones the
slaughter of animals." Having touched upon a sensitive topic, the campaign
has evoked angered protests from many. The associations between
slaughterhouses and Nazi concentration camps has provoked Abraham Foxman, Anti-Defamation League national
director and Holocaust survivor, to make a livid statement. “"The effort by PETA to
compare the deliberate, systematic murder of millions of Jews to the issue of
animal rights is abhorrent," Foxman said. "PETA's effort to
seek approval for their 'Holocaust on Your Plate' campaign is outrageous,
offensive and takes chutzpah to new heights."
On the show “American Morning with Paula Zahn” on CNN, Lange stated that the
inspiration for the “Holocaust On Your Plate” campaign was derived from “Enemies:
A Love Story” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, vegetarian, writer, and Nobel Prize
laureate. Singer wrote that, “In relation to them
[animals], all people are Nazis; for them it is an eternal Treblinka.”
Additionally, PETA representative Mark Prescott, whose own family members were
murdered in the Holocaust, included that "The very same mind-set that made
the Holocaust possible - that we can do anything we want to those we decide are
'different or inferior' - is what allows us to commit atrocities against
animals every single day.”
PETA
has always had the best intentions at heart. Although at times their action,
campaigns, and protests are often politically incorrect and extremely radical,
they have always forced us to take a view on controversial issues and concerns,
and to formulate our own opinions on the matter at hand. The link that PETA has
drawn between the Holocaust and the slaughter that millions of animals are
subjected to each day has caused anger in many Jewish communities and although
I agree that it was insensitive towards the plight of the Jews, I believe that
the campaign was truly effective in conveying a very important message. To me,
it seems as if PETA was not attempting to reiterate the fact that the Jews were
treated as “animals”, although that is what humans are, but rather, they were
drawing attention to the lack of compassion shown towards the beings portrayed
in the exhibition. The installments that portrayed both individuals and animals
displayed the complete lack of compassion and empathy shown towards other
living beings. I don’t speak for others when I say that PETA’s campaign planted
a thought in my mind: If we, as knowledgeable, intelligent, beings who are
capable of subjecting others to such cruelty, then surely we must be capable of
even greater compassion. Only when we are able to cast aside our own greed,
glutton, and hatred, will the world truly be free from suffering.
Word Count: 520
Word Count: 520
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