received via email:

“2 June 2024

Autonomous anarcho anti-speciesists countered the National Animal Rights Day (NARD) in Naarm (so called Melbourne) last Sunday. The following statement was read out:

“We are here today because NARD globally has been founded by Aylam Orian, who is a zionist and proudly served as part of the israeli occupation forces (IOF) for 4.5 years. A NARD event is planned in tel aviv, so-called israel this weekend whilst just over 100km away the Rafah Massacre is occuring and the genocide in Palestine continues to unfold. This is not a war, it’s a genocide!

Organisers of the tel aviv NARD event have expressed pro-israel and genocidal views on social media whilst also accusing those who stand for Palestinian liberation of anti-semitism. Opposing zionism is not antisemitic!

Over 45,000 Palestinian people have been murdered to date including children. The genocide has been occurring for over 76 years. The IOF are relentlessly bombing the Palestinians and starving them of food and water. Children are having their limbs amputated without anaesthesia, we are seeing mass graves where people have had their hands zip tied and been shot point blank. We are seeing refugee camps being targeted. The IOF, in which the founder of this event has served, are bombing people in tents. We are seeing footage of a father holding up the decapitated body of his baby with an inferno behind him.

And let’s not forget, the IOF is also killing the animals in Gaza. The cats, the dogs, the donkeys, the free living animals. This is what NARD is supporting! Also, locally in Naarm, NARD is platforming two transphobes, who also hold other bigoted views, today as speakers.

We unequivocally reject NARD and all it represents.

If you care about Palestinian liberation, if you care about LBGTQIA+ rights and women’s rights, if you care about human beings, if you care about the animals in Palestine who are being obliterated, if you care about fighting against all forms of oppression because they all are interconnected and not just that which oppresses animals – then you should be aware that this does not align with NARD’s and it’s organisers’ values.”

Italian anti-speciesists Collettivo Spazio Animale recently asked NARD to take a position against the genocide and to publicly demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza – NARD declined to do so stating that they do not intend to take a public position, that allowing all the countries of the world to join is a stance of peace and that the organisation doesn’t take a stance on human issues. It was noted that so called israel was also hosting a NARD event with Tel Aviv organisers stating “when i took off NARD shirt I put on IDF uniform” and Tal Gilboa – a prominent israeli animal rights activist who has worked as one of Netayahu’s advisers on “animal rights” (that is, advising the israeli state on how to veganwash* the atrocities they commit) using zionist rhetoric, such as israel having the “right to defend itself”.

Locally in Naarm, the far right and fascist creep into animal rights spaces was evident during the NARD event when a woman, holding a Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) banner, approached us to state “I’m with the Jews” (conflating Judaism with zionism) and then continued with “Fck the Palestinians” and “Fck you too”. The NARD crowd also broke out into a “Free, free everyone” chant – giving #AllLivesMatter vibes and illustrating a complete lack of understanding of systemic racism and white supremacy. Enter stage left, the transphobes then came out of the woodwork taking specific aim at our comrade holding a trans flag. There were other instances of aggression from the NARD attendees with derogatory, abusive, ableist language and multiple physical incursions into our space in which they used intimidation tactics to attempt to silence us and push us out of the space. Interpersonal violence has consistently been a tool of colonial invasion, imperialist occupation and the maintenance of white supremacy.

Just listen to the fascists, they will always reveal who they are. The misogyny, ableism, racism, white supremacy, islamophobia, transphobia and the utter hatred for Palestinians on display for all to see. This encapsulates NARD – they became a visual representation of the reasons we countered them. The parable of the N*zi at the dinner table comes to mind when we saw first hand who is in their ranks and what they represent.

By tolerating bigotry “for the animals” single issue vegans uphold various types of supremacist ideologies, which only serve to uphold the human supremacism they claim to want to dismantle. This is not a pathway towards liberation! The animalisation of the Palestinian people by zionists has been an integral factor in justifying the genocide and their ethnic cleansing. And yet here we have a supposed animal rights organisation refusing calls to denounce so called israel for its genocide against Palestinians. Also, by refusing to condemn the genocide in Palestine, they are upholding and further entrenching colonialism, imperialism and capitalism – the foundations of which need to be dismantled and destroyed. Colonialism, imperialism and capitalism are also responsible for the animal industrial complex.

Animals are also exploited by the war machine globally for weaponry testing and data collection. The weapons which are “field” tested on and used to kill the Palestinian people are first tested on and used to kill animals – the connect is here!

We also wish to highlight the parallels between the Animal Rights Forum (ARF) in February 2024 and the NARD event in Naarm. There is long standing history of problematic speakers being platformed at the ARF and issues with the organising group, specifically one of the lead organisers. This year, the organisers of the ARF knowingly platformed a zionist as well as transphobic speakers (also allocated speaker spots at the NARD event). Prominent animal rights organisations and individuals knowingly stood besides these fascists, in some cases hosting and financially sponsoring the forum. To the orgs and individuals who have an endless list of pathetic reasons why they couldn’t walk away from this forum in full knowledge (prior to the forum commencing) that a zionist was being platformed – we still say, f*ck you. For all the times you have looked away – for ignoring the fascists, the misogynists, the transphobes, the conspiracy theorists, the anti-vaxxers and the zionists in animal rights spaces. It is counter revolutionary! With the exception of Naarm Hunt Saboteurs and a Greens MP, you all refused to boycott this forum despite global calls to boycott and divest from zionist affiliated spaces. Neo-liberal bourgeois notions of “choice” cannot justify your decision to partake and stand besides fascists – a decision steeped in racism and white supremacy. The creep of the far right and fascism looks the same no matter where we turn.

Any space that is zionist affiliated legitimises the zionist colony. We demand total rejection of zionism. So called israel can prosecute this genocide with impunity because of the power they’ve amassed from infiltrating our communities and spaces dedicated to justice, including the animal rights movement. We call on all comrades to unequivocally reject and stand against the infiltration of zionism in animal rights spaces, which requires collective active resistance – not silence and complicity.

The origins of the animal rights movement was born out of anti-fascism and we will reclaim the movement from those co-opting it with far right and fascist ideologies – the NARD and ARF events represent the rise of the far right and fascism in animal rights spaces.

Given our counter was a womens only disruption, we channelled the spirit of the Palestinian resistance by women. Even feminism has limitations when the liberation of Palestinian women will not spur others into action – complicity in genocide is antithetical to feminism.

We reject the far right and fascist creep into animal rights spaces.
We reject the vegan washing of the zionist state. No amount of vegan boots in so-called vegan armies will ever inform our position. The oppression of other animals cannot be used to mask the subjugation of the Palestinians over decades.
We reject the performative theatrics (animal bodies are not props!), saviourism and “celebrations” whilst other animals are lined up on kill floors in their billions facing their impending slaughter.

We stand in solidarity with Vegans in Palestine and other comrades globally who have taken a stance against NARD this year. We stand with anti-zionist Jews who are on the frontlines of solidarity actions with Palestine. Judaism is not Zionism. It is not anti-semitic to oppose zionism and this genocide.

Also, we wish to hold space for some of our comrades who have had their communities bombed, injured and killed by the so called israeli state.

The Palestinian resistance has deep seeded roots in every corner of the world, including at the steps on so called Bourke Street in Naarm. In under 30 minutes, we managed to claim the steps and send them packing only for them to take their cringey photos outside a pharmacy and continue talking into a vegan echo chamber at an empty amphitheatre – we hope the acoustics sucked.

We acknowledge that our resistance was undertaken on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. Sovereignty was never ceded and we acknowledge the ongoing effects and suffering of colonisation on this land and those who have been fighting against and resisting the oppression for over 250 years. We also acknowledge the Elders past and present who continue to guide and teach. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.

Boycott and disrupt all spaces where zionists are platformed! Total Liberation Now! Long live the Palestinian Resistance!

End the occupation. Free Palestine. Free all Indigenous people, land, air and water.

No one is free until all are free.

THIS IS FOR REEM – THEY ARE ALL REEM.

– Anarcho Anti-Speciesists for Palestine – Naarm

• “Veganwashing” refers to a form of whitewashing meant to encourage positive association of a subject with veganism or animal rights. In the context of Palestine, veganwashing refers to the strategic promotion of veganism by the illegal state of israel, in order to make israel appear liberal and progressive and distract attention away from ongoing violation of Palestinian rights and the genocide of the Palestinian people. Examples include: tel aviv markets itself as the “vegan capital of the world”; animal rights activists partnering with the so called israeli government to promote “meatless mondays” at the knesset.

NARD #NARD14 #NationalAnimalRightsDay #NARDMelbourne #OurPlanetTheirsToo #BoycottNARD

FreePalestine #AllEyesOnRafah #StopArmingIsrael”

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