The winning post is in sight but we have a real battle ahead of us.
The bill to ban the trade in fur in Israel was again delayed on 2
September.
Your urgent help is needed, again, to keep this important piece of
legislation alive. This is a battle we have to - and can - win.
Intensive lobbying by the fur trade and some religious parties in Israel
led
to the debate that was due to take place being cancelled once again.
Please write to Minister Yakow Margi, Minister of Religious Services at
the
Knesset asking him to support this important and caring legislation and
not
to be swayed by arguments from the morally bankrupt fur trade.
Please write or email today - please show Minister Margi that the eyes of
the world are on Israel and that there is massive public support for this
bill that will save millions of animals from a miserable death, all for a
product that no one needs.
Email addresses for Minister Yakov Margi: yakovm@dat.gov.il;
achifa@rabbinate.gov.il; ymargi@knesset.gov.il
Please copy to MK Menachem Ben Eliezer Mozes: mmozes@knesset.gov.il and MK
Haim Amsalem: eamsalem@knesset.gov.il
Fax: 00972 2 5311308
Telephone: 00972 2 5311101
Feel free to use the sample letter below but do make it your own:
Dear Minister Margi
I am watching with great interest the progress of the important and caring
legislation to ban the fur trade in Israel introduced by MK Ronit Tirosh.
If this legislation was to become law, Israel would be setting a global
precedent that other countries would be sure to follow.
Please do not be swayed by the arguments put forward by the fur trade,
which
has vested interests in the needless cruelty and suffering of animals for
a
luxury product that no one needs. The majority of Israeli people support
this bill and want to see it become law.
Followers of ultra-orthodox Judaism should support this compassionate bill
that complies with the Jewish religion's stance on "Tzar Baale Lahaim"
(empathy and mercy for all creatures) and the requirement of modesty.
Fur used in fashion is a badge of shame and represents terrible suffering.
Animals used by the fur trade suffer horrible deaths; on fur factory
farms,
after a short and miserable life in conditions that cannot meet their
basic
welfare needs, they are usually gassed and no check for death is performed
before skinning. In the wild they are caught in traps deemed so cruel
they
are already banned in Israel and the European Union, before being shot,
stamped or clubbed to death. All of this suffering for a non-essential
fashion item.
Please do the right, humane thing and do not oppose the bill to ban fur
trade. Show the rest of the world that Israel is leading the way to end
this needless animal suffering.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
