The internal debate between animal liberationists as to whether property damage is violence has a long history, with some supposed animal liberation activists denouncing the Animal Liberation Front and its tactics even though the ALF have never actually harmed a human being or would seek to cause harm to any life. [1]

For argument sake I am writing this with the assumption that property damage is considered violence, even though I do not believe this to be the case.

I hope to try and counter two of the main arguments for pacifism that I have heard from people within the movement.

“Property damage does nothing for our public image and might alienate members of the public”

Actually a vast majority of the public eats the flesh of animals on a daily basis. They are actively involved in the systematic violence towards the sentient beings which we are trying to liberate. These statistics are understandable when you look at the society in which we live where we convince ourselves that issues such as patriarchy, racism and even slavery are all but echoes from a regrettable history. The truth of course is something quite different.

Pacifism allows one course of action against the multi trillion dollar worldwide animal agriculture industry: non violence. As much as we like to fool ourselves into thinking this is a game of hearts and minds and we can turn the world vegan one person at a time, this is of course absurdity when you think of the billions spend on advertising and lobbying that the meat industry spends and the endless resources they have available to pump advertising into the minds of humans from birth, for every piece of information we distribute via leaflet or stall the industry will counter this with false claims of health benefits and continuous endless propaganda.

That is not to say that leafleting is useless obviously people need alternative information to the industry spew, and I am not saying that direct action is the only course of action which works. But the reality is that the out of the UK population 0.2% are vegans of that statistic a tiny amount are activists, even if every vegan spent time on outreach they would need to make over 500 people vegan each to convert the UK population (not counting the exponential increase in population).

We are so easily marginalised as a movement that peaceful protest has almost no long-term affect whatsoever on the overall picture. A good example of nonviolence and its failures would be a million people marching against the Iraq war through London. Imagine the power of a million people in the centre of London, if they wished to stop the slaughter of thousands of people on foreign soil they could have overthrown the government in a matter of hours. But they used only non-violence and as a result the death toll continues to rise because of our willingness to not rock the boat.

Even in the event that even if a member of the public is scared or shocked by our actions for a brief moment the veil is lifted and the veneer of our happy democracy is dissolved, they may not agree with our actions, they may not agree with our motivations but they will be forced to take us seriously and listen to what we have to say. The reason people who engage in direct action are targeted so heavily by the state is simple, they are the only people who are a potential risk to industry. By using the right tactic in the right situation we become an unpredictable force which actually stands a chance of stopping the violence of state and industry.

It is important that we constantly adapt as a movement to counter attempts from state and industry to marginalise and in some cases imprison us. The key should always be to keep our goals simple and have both long and short term goals. This should include using whatever means we are comfortable using to campaign and creating a base of solidarity with other activists rather than denouncing other activists tactics.

In the past I have heard interviews with activists where the media have said something along the lines of “Do you support intimidation of people involved in research against cancer?” and the activist would reply with something like “No we would never support that sort of action!” they media would invariably cut the following information about the animal abuse and we would be left looking like a movement that is rife with internal conflict rather than a collective of compassionate people.

Be on the attack! A much better more concise answer might have been “Intimidation is nothing compared to the horrific acts which are inflicted daily on animals inside these labs.” Then follow up with powerful facts which will stick with the viewer / listener. Refuse to play their games, remember the media are a tool of the state and industry. If you use your only opportunity to speak directly to the public via the media and you use it to denounce other activists you are ineffective and potentially detrimental to any liberation movement.

“If you protest peacefully you won’t end up being a target for the police and state”

Tell this to the trial defendants who were charged for conspiring against UK vivisection lab Sequani, Sean Kirtley was sentenced to 4.5 years because of supposed interference with the labs. He was not involved with any direct action or had ever been arrested for so much as swearing at any member of staff. Yet the police said he conspired with “persons unknown” and locked him up. [2]

It is true that the more effective you become as an activist the more you become a target for law enforcement. Protestors are often encouraged to work with the police to make sure the protest remains within the law I am still shocked that people feel the need to inform the police of protests, after doing this myself once I realised that you only make yourself a potential target as a co-ordinator or organiser.

In my experience well planned covert direct action is much less likely to result in arrest and prosecution but should not be considered the only method of resistance anymore than only creating alternative vegan infrastructure and information networks. Be creative, be spontaneous.

Chris Freeactivist (A)

[1]  http://www.animalliberationfront.com/ALFront/alf_credo.htm
[2]  http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3405