Russell Simmons is under addack for a rant that compared the people running New York City’s horse-drawn carriages to the "people for slavery" and the "people who put people in ovens."
This comparison puts Simmons in the group of people that "compare the treatment of animals to Jews and African-Americans," according to a new ad from HumaneWatch.org, which adds that Simmons is far from the first to make this comparison.
"While some may find Russell Simmons’ comparison of horse-drawn carriages to slavery and the Holocaust outrageous, this kind of thinking is emblematic of the animal liberationists at PETA and the Humane Society of the United States," said HumaneWatch.org’s Will Coggin in a statement.
One of the noted animal fanatics is Matt Prescott, director of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), who attacked all meat-eaters as Nazis.
"Anybody who eats meat is guilty of holding the same mindset that allowed the Holocaust to happen," said Prescott.
The statement was part of the "Holocaust on Your Plate" campaign, which held that "to animals, all people are Nazis."
HumaneWatch.org, a project of the Center for Consumer Freedom that focuses on HSUS, says this type of comparison "is offensive and hurtful and needs to stop."
"They seek to impose their radical agenda on the rest of us by shutting down the use of animals in agriculture, circuses, marine parks, and medical research and will use disgraceful comparisons to further their goals," said Coggin.
Simmons has refused to apologize for the comparison.
One man who is very offended by this type of comparison is Ariel Fintzi, who says that he was born in Israel and lived in a kibbutz of Holocaust survivors. He has been a horse-drawn carriage driver in New York City for 33 years.
"We are here taking care of horses and taking care of people," Fintzi told a New York City filmmaker. "We love the horses and make sure they are well taken care of. You have to be careful to use the word Holocaust in a place where it shouldn't be."