Al-Jazeera refuses to show PETA ad

[Karmadillo]

http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=6511

Qatar – Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based television network notorious for airing images of mutilated bodies and other horrors of war, has decided not to air a 30-second TV spot from People for the Ethical Treatment (PETA) containing video footage of atrocities committed against Australian sheep who are raised for wool and later shipped alive to the Middle East for slaughter. The footage shows lambs who are partially skinned alive during a procedure called "mulesing," sheep who are repeatedly kicked as they are loaded onto "death ships" and sheep who are dragged and kicked in the head as their throats are slit in full view of other sheep.

The ad includes a narration of the following quote by the late Imam B.A. Hafiz al-Masri of the Shah Jehan Mosque located in Woking, UK:

If animals have been subjected to cruelties in their breeding, transport, slaughter, or in their general welfare, meat from them is considered impure and unlawful to eat (haram). The flesh of animals killed by cruel methods (Al-Muthiah) is carrion (Al-Mujathamadh). Even if these animals have been slaughtered in the strictest manner, if cruelties were inflicted on them otherwise, their flesh is still forbidden food (haram).

"Mulesing" is a painful mutilation in which Australian farmers use gardening shears to cut skin and flesh from lambs’ backsides – without painkillers – in a crude attempt to reduce maggot infestation, even though humane control methods exist. Millions of Australian sheep are shipped to the Middle East through all weather extremes, mired in their own waste aboard open-decked ships. Many sick and injured sheep are thrown overboard to the sharks or ground up alive in mincing machines.

"Since Australian sheep are haram on the grounds of cruelty to animals, we call on people in the Middle East to consider whether importing live sheep from Australia is in accordance with Islamic law", says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk.

more...

[leveymg]

1. This is the stuff of nightmares and psychological warfare campaigns.

Everyone involved is cast in the most grisly light.

Who are we supposed to hate the most: cruel Australian sheep ranchers, Halal butchers, or "notorious" Al-Jazeera?

Beyond the merits of its campaign to save sheep from suffering and slaughter, has PETA considered how this footage might impact the larger politics of the human world? The group's stop the sheep from slaughter campaign -- with its graphic images of animals being kicked, mutilated and killed -- seems naive in conception, at best. It's all too evocative of the same gruesome abuses that so many human beings suffer.

No wonder al-Jazeera declined to broadcast these images. It would be ground into grist for the psyops mill. :eyes:

[shockra]

2. PETA exists to impact the larger politics of the human world.

That's one of the reasons people hate them. This commercial could have been seen by potentially 35 million viewers. And it's relevant information.

[NawlinsNed]

4. Whatever

The middle east is a freaking war zone where friends and family are being killed and children are being sacrificed with bombs strapped to their chests and you think those people are going to give a flying shit about some sheep?

Give me a break! These are people who play hockey with a dead goat on horseback for crying out loud. If anything, they'd be offended by the westerners who paid for the advertisement and the network that let it be portrayed.

[shockra]

6. According to Islamic law...

Sheep treated in this manner are forbidden food.

You can't tell me they don't take religion seriously over there.

[Mizmoon]

7. According to Islamic law men can't hit their wives

apparently some over there are not as pious as they would like to make out ... :)

[shockra]

10. Well, not exactly true.

I watched a 60 minutes segment on this subject a few months ago.

Slaughter And 'Submission'

(CBS) The images that aired last August in a 12-minute movie on Dutch television were meant to shock its viewers.

In one image, the opening lines of the holy book, the Koran, were written across the naked body of a Muslim woman. Another image showed Koranic verses about female obedience scrawled on the back of a woman beaten by her husband, while a female voice accused Allah of condoning the violence.

The movie, "Submission," was directed by Holland’s most controversial film maker, Theo Van Gogh, a descendant of the painter Vincent Van Gogh, and a national gadfly, who made a career insulting everyone, no matter their faith, race or gender.

“Submission” was right up Van Gogh's alley, but it wasn’t his idea. The movie was written and conceived by a 35-year-old Muslim woman, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a member of the Dutch parliament, and a relentless critic of the way Islam treats women.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/11/60minutes/main679609.shtml

[Djinn]

3. doubt you'd see it braodcast here either

the various Australian farming lobby groups (who speak in the main for some of the richest men in the country not bucolic outback frontiermens) would abslutely howl it down.

when you're pushing shit uphill trying to get people to give a stuff about the inhumane treatment we deal out to human beings it's almost impossible to get people to care about some sheep.

[shockra]

8. Nevertheless, they're still taking some hits.

Limited Brands Pledges No Cruelly Obtained Australian Wool

Columbus, Ohio-based retail giant Limited Brands, which operates more than 3,775 stores under The Limited, Express, Henri Bendel, Victoria's Secret, and other major names, is the latest company to shun cruelly obtained Australian merino wool. After PETA showed Limited Brand's vice president of external communications, Anthony Hebron, video footage of the partial skinning alive of Australian lambs during a procedure called "mulesing" and of tens of thousands of suffering sheep aboard multitiered "death ships" bound for slaughter in the Middle East, the company pledged that it "will not knowingly sell products which contain Australian merino wool until the practices of mulesing and live exporting end." With 2005 sales exceeding $9.4 billion, Limited Brands' decision sends a powerful message to the Australian wool industry that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated.

Limited Brands joins a growing list of prestigious retailers and top fashion designers--including Abercrombie & Fitch, J.Crew, Timberland, New Look, and George--that have rejected Australian wool.

Manufacturing giant SmartWool recently announced a deal to buy merino wool exclusively from New Zealand farmers who pledge to end mulesing by the end of 2005. Top designers in India--a major importer of Australian wool--have also pledged not to use the cruelly obtained product.

http://www.savethesheep.com/f-LimitedBrands.asp

Pakistan and India Go to Bat Against Australia Over Cruelty to Animals

Pakistan and India have set aside their differences and come to an agreement: that cruelty to Australian animals for wool must not be tolerated. Bonanza Garment Industries, one of Pakistan’s largest garment-manufacturing companies, and India’s Mohini Exports have both informed People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that they will refuse to use Australian merino wool as long as animals are treated cruelly for it.

http://www.savethesheep.com/f-mohini.asp

Nordstrom Gives Buying Preference to Farmers Who Don’t Mutilate Lambs

Nordstrom officials were so horrified by the cruel treatment of Australian lambs, who are partially skinned alive—without painkillers—during a procedure called “mulesing,” and sheep, who are forced to endure weeks—or even months—of suffering aboard “death ships” bound for slaughter in the Middle East, where animal welfare regulations are non-existent, that the company has started to push the Australian wool industry to take animal welfare seriously. After meeting with PETA representatives about the issues, Nordstrom issued a statement saying that the group “will give purchasing preference to suppliers that can provide us with guaranteed non-mulesed wool, with the intention of using only non-mulesed wool for our products. By the end of 2005, we will have a committed timeline to achieve that goal.”

Nordstrom joins a quickly growing list of clothing retailers, including U.S.-based Abercrombie & Fitch, J.Crew, Timberland, Limited Brands, and European retail giants New Look and George, in taking a stand against the cruel practices of the Australian wool industry.

http://www.savethesheep.com/f-nordstrom.asp

[BikeWriter]

5. Here's the Department of Agriculture summary on "mulesing."

http://agspsrv34.agric.wa.gov.au/agency/pubns/farmnote/1996/f04696.htm

[livinginphotographs]

9. I'm of two opinions on this one.

This will probably be the first post I've ever made that was critical of PETA, but I question the effectiveness of this. Unfortunately, that part of the world is not known for its kind treatment of animals. I'm still not understanding, though, why al-Jazeera would refuse to air the ad. I guess business interests always override common decency no matter what part of the world you're in.

That said, mulesing is an incredibly cruel procedure and ought to be banned, and any way PETA can make a dent in the practice is okay with me. I truly hope al-Jazeera airs it, and PETA proves me wrong.