Israel's Sinister Truth
Trip Start
Nov 13, 2006
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72
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Trip End
Oct 21, 2008
Eilat,
Israel
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
It was Christmas time and I had spent a few days in Eilat -a seaside resort on the Red sea, bordering Jordan and Sinai. Coming from England where even the police don't have guns, I remember going to a club and being suprised to see kids in the bars doing all the things people do in bars, but with big machine guns slung over their shoulders! Israeli soldiers aren't allowed to leave their gun at home, even when off duty. I remember thinking that if English kids on the streets were given guns that all hell would break loose. Here they just seemed to be an everyday part of life, no different from carrying your cell phone ..except perhaps you don't get mugged for your gun!
After a few days in Eilat I made my way up north to a kibbutz called Lotan
moo hoo
. I was visiting partly to break up my journey, and partly because they have lots of interesting ecological work going on such as mud huts and organic gardens. Having grown quite used to my hotel room and all the hustle and bustle of Eilat I remember a feeling of dread overcoming me as I entered this slightly rundown looking place in the middle of the desert. There were lots of small, single storey houses or apartment type things, some of them with quite creative decoration, but not a soul in sight. It was eerie. What was I supposed to do with myself? Was this the Chain Saw Massacre? Should I try to escape now?I wondered past the residential area and then I saw it. From the distance it looked innocent enough but as I drew closer the stench and the sounds grew stronger and the tragedy of what was happening inside began to unfold.
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Rows of corrugated iron roofing covered the muddy ground below and at one end was an empty building. Standing or lying in the mud were about 2-300 cows. I was approaching the dairy shed. Some of them seemed curious and cautiously approached the bars penning them in to see me
mudhut
. As I moved near them they backed off through the mud and excrement below them as quickly as their 40kg udders would allow. If I ask you what cows drink, you may for an instant you think of 'milk'. It is perfectly understandable because we are brought up to think that cows are born to produce milk for us. Like all mammals, cows produce milk for their offspring. At around 14 months old (maybe around 12 years human equivalent) they are inseminated and 9 months later give birth. The calves are taken from the Mothers who will then give milk three times a day for 1-2 years until they are inseminated again. Past the crowded pen I could hear the noise of younger cows lowing. I was about to find out what happens to the offspring.
In a symmetrical grid was row upon row of calves kept in cages barely wide enough for them to turn round in. They were up to around two months of age and had lived their whole lives in this isolation. As I approached the calf nearest to me started violently pushing her head through the bars in a frenzied to and fro motion! The calf sucked on my hand as if it were a teat - as they are separated from their Mothers at birth these calves knew only humans as their milk providers.
I walked round the rest of the shed
calf
. As the cows get older and give birth again and again their udders grow to a disproportionate size. For these cows it looked like every step they took was uncomfortable. It was nearly lunchtime so I went to the canteen. As people returned from work the kibbutz was coming to life. People were sat at tables according to their groups - the kibbutz members, people on the green apprentiship programme, and volunteers. It was easy to sit and get talking with them.
James - a 20 year old, ponytailed, German told me about his experiences working in the cow shed. 'It feels like a concentration camp' he said. 'We have to prod them with electric prods to force them into showers'. 'When they stop producing milk they are sent for slaughter. The other cows go crazy when the truck arrives to take them away. They know what's up. The male calves are sent for slaughter at birth'.
Dairy cows come from grassy Northern Europe. In order to live in the hot and arid desert where there is no grass they have to be kept in shade and showered to keep them cool. In the hotter months they enjoy the showers but this isn't done out of compassion. It increases their milk production.
So the question is does this matter and should it be stopped? At the very least should it be kosher? Jews -victims of the holocaust - are supposed to be a light to nations and yet they seem to be perpetrating a holocaust up and down the country in the name of profit.
Here on Kibbutz Ketura there is a similar setup and so I've taken the time to observe and ask questions. Some employees think the cows live a life of luxury whilst others say it is the cruellest industry. They also justify the farm by saying it's what the cows are bred for. Generations of interbreeding have arguably created walking milk machines who can't fend for themselves, but does our choice to breed an animal for a purpose justify it? The question to me boils down to would they be better off having a life on such a farm or not at all?
The other night I took a walk around the cow shed. A Cow was licking a still calf on the ground. It was dead, possibly a broken neck. Looking at it I was pleased; pleased it did not have to live. That to me answered the question.
