PETA to Palestinians: Stop Using Donkey Bombs

Ingrid Newkirk recently sent a letter to Yasser Arafat asking the Palestinians to not use animals in any future terrorist attacks against Israelis. This followed a Jan. 26 terrorist attack in which a donkey was rigged with explosives which were then detonated near the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion.

Here is the full text of the letter from Newkirk,

February 3, 2003

Yasser Arafat, President
Palestinian National Authority
Ramallah, West Bank
Palestinian Authority

1 page via facsimile: 972 7 282 2365

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?

We send you sincere wishes of peace.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk
President, PETA

The obvious question is why Newkirk didn’t simply ask Arafat to put an end to terrorist bombings altogether. As Newkirk told the Washington Post, however,

It’s not my business to inject myself into human wars.

Yeah, you really have to wonder where people get this idea that Newkirk and PETA care more about animals than human beings. It couldn’t be from stunts like this, could it?

Sources:

Arafat gets asinine plea from PETA on intefadah. Kerry Dougherty, The Virginian-Pilot, February 6, 2003.

Anger over donkey bomb attack. Ananova.Com, Feb. 6, 2003.

Leave the animals in peace. Ingrid Newkirk, Letter, Feb. 3, 2003.

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