PETA's Apology Falls Short

Miriam posted about PETA and their fake apology to the Jewish community. Here is a little background about why they apologized. They ran a campaign called Holocaust on Your Plate which many of us found to be offensive. Take a look at this photo:





Animal life is not equivalent to human life. Animals should be treated well and with kindness, but the reality is that they are not morally equivalent and never will be.

I suspect that no one is surprised that there is an issue of what is appropriate language and what is not. Certain terms should never be bandied about because the weight and impact of those words will be diminished if used for trivial things. Holocaust is one such term as is calling someone a nazi.

When "Holocaust on Your Plate" was originally launched, we knew that it would be emotionally charged and intellectually provocative. Even if we had used more conventional tactics, people don't like to have it pointed out to them that they¹re causing unnecessary pain and suffering by eating meat. We did aim to be provocative. We did not, however, aim simply to provoke.

Hard as it may be to understand for those who were deeply upset by this campaign, I was bowled over by the negative reception by many in the Jewish community. It was both unintended and unexpected. The PETA staff who proposed that we do it were Jewish, and the patronage for the entire endeavor was Jewish. We were careful to use Jewish authors and scholars and quotes from Holocaust victims and survivors. And since Judaism has some of
the strongest teachings regarding compassion for animals among the monotheistic faiths, I truly believed, as did the Jewish staff members who proposed the exhibit, that a large segment of the Jewish community would support it. "

I am in agreement with Miriam's assessment of this fake apology.

The old 'We're not anti-Semitic, there were Jews on our side (-- and it was their idea!)' line.... Yet again, even if true, this argument shows that PETA simply has zero understanding of the Jewish community and its sensitivities.

An apology is supposed to be sincere or at least have an appearance of sincerity but this does not. This is a pacifier that PETA is trying to stick in our mouths as if we were one collective baby, and I for one am just not interested in lip service.