Israel is showing more proof that it is the vegan capital of the world: an Israeli prisoner has just won the right to eat vegan meals in an Israeli jail, amid protests that he could not eat a regular vegetarian diet that contained animal protein like cheese and eggs.
The prisoner, Amos Dov Silver, 30, according to the local newspaper Haaretz, is doing jail time for selling cannabis. While it is legal to consume cannabis in Israel if you own a medical licence, recreationally it is illegal.
In prison, Silver complained that he wasn’t getting enough food. Now since Monday the Israel Prison Service have agreed to supply him vegetables, fruits and grains at every meal.
Silver is a lobbyist for cannabis use in Israel told the judge why vegetarian diets alone don’t work for him: “I don’t eat eggs or milk because I don’t want to cause suffering to anyone,” Silver, pictured below with cannabis plants and a pet pooch, said.
Veganism is a growing trend in Israel, and in Tel Aviv in particular where restaurants and bakeries now boast symbols on their doors if they offer vegan options. The Neve Zedek landmark watering hole and bistro called Nanuchka has also gone from a meat heavy meaty Georgian menu to a strictly vegan one. It’s even possible to order a vegan Dominos pizza in Israel.
Some people are eating all vegan diets for the animal rights angle. Others for the benefits of an all vegetable diet. Whatever the reason we know that veganism is tightly linked with environmental conservation. The less animals and their byproducts consumed by people means less methane gas and suffering for planet earth.
An estimated 2.5% of all Israelis have gone vegan in latest reports.
Now the Big Question: will going vegan get Mr. Silver out of jail early for good behavior? Silver: when you get out of jail give us a rung and let us know!
More on veganism in Israel:
- 268life Activists Brand Themselves Like Cows
- Veganism Goes Viral In Israel
- 10 Animal-Free Foods That Are NOT Vegetarian
Pictures of Amos Dov Silver from his Facebook page
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist, innovation strategist, and founder of Green Prophet, one of the Middle East’s pioneering sustainability platforms. She has ranked in the Top 10 of Verizon innovation competitions, participated in NASA-linked challenges, and spoken worldwide on climate, food security, and future resilience. With an IoT technology patent, features in Canada’s National Post, and leadership inside teams building next-generation agricultural and planetary systems — including Mars-farming concepts — Karin operates at the intersection of storytelling, science, and systems change. She doesn’t report on the future – she helps design it. Reach out directly to [email protected]
But they destroy 100s & 100s of olive trees ,uprooting them or blazing only to trouble the indigenous people & their only way of surviving to feed their families. Not only that, it spreads toxic chemicals in the atmosphere damaging not only the ozone, but also the people & animals, in some cases releasing white phosphorous in the atmosphere (a war crime) burning everything in contact and leaving behind only a shrunk bone. The illegal settlements are designed in a way with no sewage system, directing all the waste on to the properties (houses, streets, shops and farms) of the indigenous people, solely to drive them away. It even houses waste in trucks called “skunk-trucks” (something) & sprays the waste collected in the tank on to the houses of the indigenous settlers. It is very disturbing.
Dani – indigenous is moot in the Holy Land. In fact if you look at the details many of the once Arabian nomadic people came from Saudi Arabia and Morocco not that long ago. It is a heterogeneous region with porous borders once, hence the political strife, which is by no means limited to the borders of Israel. There are plenty of disturbing things that humanity as a whole does everywhere in the world but these things, true or not, cannot cancel the good. If so, then we’d be done for.