Terrorists or freedom fighters?
By Jeremy Beckham
Daily Utah Chronicle - Opinion
Issue: 9/13/04
Terrorists or freedom fighters?
By Jeremy Beckham


In Thursday's edition of The Chronicle, columnist Judd Nielson made the case that leaflet and education campaigns are more effective for the animal rights movement than direct liberations or economic sabotage.

I am skeptical of Nielson's strategic advice for the animal rights movement-since he does not take part in it. Nielson may not desire a society that protects animals from exploitation; he may not have been compelled to think carefully about the issue.

Animal rights activists now challenge the largest atrocity in history. How does Nielson suggest we deal with crises of unthinkable proportions? Would Nielson have suggested that abolitionists fight slavery only by leafleting?

Would Nielson have labeled the Underground Railroad as "terrorists" or suggested they take a more "moderate, populist approach?"

Of course not. This is because Nielson, like most of the public, does not have a problem with these actions. No part of animal rights activism is controversial by mainstream societal standards. The public supports property destruction, liberations, arson, assassinations, and even war. American society at large supports such tactics when the foe is the Third Reich, slaverunners, or terrorist organizations intent on harming Americans.

The Boston Tea Party was an act of economic sabotage that many Americans feel is a proud moment in our nation's history. Basic fundamental rights for animals is what is threatening and controversial, not for what is achieved.

In May 1984, members of the Animal Liberation Front broke into University of Pennsylvania labs, seizing dozens of videotapes.

These videotapes were made by the experimenters themselves and showed violent images of baboons being ridiculed and brutalized by vivisectors. The footage was made public. Public outrage ensued over the barbaric cruelty, and the lab was shut down.

In April 1985, the ALF smashed down the laboratory doors at the University of California at Riverside. They discovered thousands of animals living in abysmal conditions typical of vivisection laboratories. One of these animals was named Britches, an infant macaque monkey whose eyelids were sewn shut. The sutures constantly rubbed against his eyes, causing constant unending pain. From the time he was born, Britches had lived his entire miserable life alone in a cage. The ALF rescued Britches and hundreds of other animals.

After removing his eyelid suture, they placed him in a home where he lived out the rest of his life with other monkeys. Eight animal research projects were permanently halted due to this action.

Nielson may not like direct action, but he is not having his eyes sewn shut. Were it not for brave individuals willing to break the law, Britches would have likely lived several more years in absolute misery. Then he would have been killed. Were it not for the ALF, countless baboons would have been subjected to absolute torture at The University of Pennsylvania.

Animals rescued by the ALF are the lucky ones. In the U.S., more than 50,000 primates are still experimented on every year. Highly social primates are torn from their families and caged alone for their entire miserable existence. Depression causes many of these monkeys to mutilate themselves so severely that they are euthanized.

Things at the U don't look any better. Records from the university verify that primates held here are severely depressed. Some have chewed off their fingers.

When I discovered that monkeys have been driven to insanity and tormented just to line the pockets of the professor and his ilk, it fueled my support for the ALF. If I were ever to open The Chronicle and read that several brave people had broken into the labs, rescued the thousands of imprisoned animals and smashed all the instruments of torture, I would cry tears of joy. Given the horrific reality of what is happening every single day, I'm in dismay that actions like this don't happen more often.

Said John F. Kennedy: "Those who make peaceful solution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." Direct action is a direct result of frustration, a sign that society is still unwilling to move in a direction that respects every sentient being as deserving basic rights to self-determination. If leaflets and potlucks alone would accomplish social change, then we would be only a couple veggie burgers away from victory. The ALF is comprised of individuals who are fed up by society's blind eye and deaf ear-they are unwilling to stand by with a protest sign or to pass out yet another leaflet. I support the ALF.