#1 Religious slaughter of meat in the UK

[Bev]

The slaughter of animals by halal or kosher methods could be banned in Holland.

The Muslim and Jewish practices inflict unacceptable suffering on animals, campaigners say.

A vote will take place later this month. An unlikely alliance of an animal rights party and the Right-wing Freedom Party is heading support for the ban.
A bill will go before parliament later this month on whether to ban the slaughter of meat by Halal or kosher methods

The Party of the Animals, the first such party to be elected to a parliament, says humane treatment of animals trumps traditions of tolerance.

However, the move has angered Jewish and Muslim groups, which insist the initiative is an affront to freedom of religion.

As in most western countries, Dutch law dictates that butchers must stun livestock – render it unconscious – before slaughter, to minimise pain and fear.

But an exception is made for meat prepared under ancient Jewish and Muslim dietary laws.

Tolerance: The Xenophobic Freedom Party and the Party of Animals are behind the bill and claim the religious slaughter causes unnecessary suffering


These demand that animals be slaughtered while still awake, by swiftly cutting the main neck arteries with razor-sharp knives.

Most Dutch favour a ban. The procedures are already banned in New Zealand, Scandinavian and Baltic countries and Switzerland.

The far right's support of the bill, which is expected to go to a parliamentary vote this month, is based on its strident hostility towards the Dutch Muslim population.

But Jewish and Muslim groups have called the bill an affront to freedom of religion.

Ruben Vis, a spokesman for the CJO, an umbrella group of Jewish organisations, said: 'I can speak for the Dutch Jewish community and I think for the wider Jewish world, that this law raises grave concerns about infringements on religious freedoms.'

Abdulfatteh Ali-Salah, director of Halal Correct, said Muslims felt Dutch society was more interested in animal welfare than fair treatment of its citizens.

'If the law goes through now there's nothing else to do but protest,' he said.

Most Dutch are believed to favour a ban.

If the bill is passed, the Netherlands will join New Zealand, Scandinavian countries and Switzerland which have had bans for decades.

The Netherlands has a proud history of tolerance and was one of the first countries in Europe to allow Jews to live openly with their religion in the 17th century.

The country has around one million Muslims out of a total population of around 16 million. There are estimated to be around 50,000 Jews after 70 per cent of their community died in Nazi concentration camps in World War Two.

Read more: h t t p://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1374825/Netherlands-vote-law-banning-slaughter-meat-halal-kosher-methods.html#ixzz1J86y0k7h


I wish the UK (and all European countries) would offer a similar vote before demographics prevent a fair result.

[andy]

It is absurd to attribute the edl with a valid opinion on any issues beyond getting pissed and shouting their gobs off.They are not intended to have any "views".They were created as the preferred method to draw out militants in the ranks of the mudslim invaders.This goes a long way to explaining why Lennon when put on the spot on issues has reiterated that mainsteam politicians should be addressing the fears and concerns of non mudslims.

[tom harris]

http://democraticright.blogspot.com/2011/02/does-alan-shatter-td-approve-jewish.html

[Bev]

MEPs' initiative to label meat from animals that have not been stunned before slaughter will be voted on in June



Consumers could be told whether the meat they buy comes from animals that have not been stunned before slaughter, following a move in the European parliament.

MEPs on the food safety committee voted on Tuesday to back amendments to a food labelling bill that would see the mandatory inclusion of labels stating "meat from slaughter without stunning" on relevant food products.

The proposals, which go before the European parliament in July, target meat slaughtered using ritual techniques like those employed by Jewish shechita and Muslim halal butchers.

Animals killed by the shechita technique are not stunned before having their throats cut and blood drained out. Halal meat is slaughtered using a similar technique, although research by the British Veterinary Association suggests 80% of halal meat is stunned before slaughter.

Religious groups have expressed anger at the proposals. A Jewish campaign group, Shechita UK, controversially claimed the measure was the "21st-century equivalent of the yellow star, but on our food". "This amendment does nothing to improve animal welfare, fails to fully inform consumers and is clearly discriminatory by design," said Henry Grunwald, spokesman for the group.

His comments were attacked by the British Humanist Association. "To compare the proper labelling of meat from religious slaughter methods with the Nazi requirement for all Jews to wear yellow Stars of David is grotesque and false," said Naomi Phillips, its head of public affairs. "Giving consumers the information to make ethical choices about the meat they buy through labelling does not prevent Jews who wish to from buying kosher meat."

Scottish Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson, who introduced the amendments to the bill, had originally suggested the labels should record whether meat was halal or shechita. But he opted for the "non-stunned" label after representations from religious groups.

Stevenson insisted his proposals were born from "animal welfare concerns, not by anything to do with religion". Stevenson said: "A very significant quantity of meat finding its way onto our shelves and tables has been slaughtered by this method and we're not aware of it. The public have a right to know."

The UK government has signalled it opposes the proposals, which, to become law, also need to be endorsed by the council of ministers, the body comprised of representatives of governments drawn from each of the EU's 27 member states.

h t t p://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/24/plan-to-label-ritually-slaughtered-meat-angers-religious-group

I'm more interested in whether ritually slaughtered leg beef will be labelled instead of being sold to the unwitting. When you question whether leg beef is kosher, the seller can legitimately say no. This imbalance needs addressing. Personally I think that if the UK government refuse to label ritually slaughtered meat, we should boycott British meat until they acknowledge the concern of the thousands that don't want to buy it.

[Henry.]

Religious groups have expressed anger at the proposals. A Jewish campaign group, Shechita UK, controversially claimed the measure was the "21st-century equivalent of the yellow star, but on our food".....

Oh dear.

The yellow star was introduced in 1930s Germany by the Jews not the NSDAP!

After Hitler came to power there was a campaign by a German Zionist newspaper for the Jews to stand up to National Socialism and one popular tactic was for Jews to 'proudly' identify themselves by wearing the yellow star; thereby taking on victim status from the very beginning of the Third Reich..

It was one of many bad ideas which backfired on the Jews. Of course, the Germans cop all the blame for it today.

[Bev]

Originally Posted by Henry.

The yellow star was introduced in 1930s Germany by the Jews not the NSDAP!

Somewhat related, I read this the other day and thought it interesting (although I haven't tried to independently verify it yet). Not something I've heard before.
http://infidelsarecool.com/2011/04/f...-nazi-germany/

Irony: Muslims Don Yellow Star

French Muslims found a way to protest the banning of burqas that proves insensitivity or at best, crass ignorance.

How ironic. French Muslims are putting on the symbol of the persecution of Jews.

In all of Europe, the country with the most numerous Muslim population is France. In response to many native Frenchman’s fears that their national culture is being subverted by a growing Islamic influx, as well as security concerns, the government of France overwhelmingly placed a ban on wearing full-face veils in public. In response to this, several protests were instituted by various Islamic groups in the streets of Paris.

These protests included the distribution of ‘green stars,’ which were to be worn by Muslims as a sign of symbolic persecution. On April 11, 2011, the day the headscarf ban took effect, French and international television reports showed Muslims distributing these five pointed green stars. Abderahmane Dahmane, the French President’s former “diversity adviser,” called on Muslims to wear the green star (the declared color of Islam) a move deliberately reminiscent of the yellow stars forced on the Jews by the Germans, Bulgarians and others during the era of the Holocaust.

One would think that the French Muslim leadership would be more urbane than to compare the banning of the headscarf to the mass murder and torture of six million innocent people. Yet, these sorts of protests are not original. In 1994, Muslims in France sported yellow crescents on their arms while marching with the slogan, “When is it our turn?” an explicit allusion to the Holocaust and the yellow stars the Jews were mandated to wear during WWII.

Nonetheless, there is something ironic about all of this ‘stars’ business, for it was not Hitler who mandated the yellow star, but the leaders of the Islamic religion some 1200 years earlier. With the Pact of Umar, a 9th century set of guidelines between conquering Muslims and conquered non-Muslims, both Jews and Christians could gain their safety by complying with the wearing of a distinct yellow indicator of their non-Islamic status. Subsequent to this, Muslims mandated Jews wore distinct clothing, often yellow, and/or stars, from Islamic Spain to Syria and Iraq and out as far as Persia.

This unsophisticated route the Islamic leadership in France has elected to take as a form of protest at the banning of the headscarf, is not only hypocrisy at the highest level, but demonstrates a lack of understanding of the history of their own religion and a crass insensitivity to the Jewish people.

[Bev]

An amendment which could lead to controversial plans to label kosher meat has been removed from a proposed new European law.

The European Council and Parliament agreed this week that the new food information regulation will not include a requirement that all
kosher and halal meat would be labelled "meat from slaughter without
stunning".

But they have also agreed to include an accompanying statement to the bill which states that the proposal to label kosher meat should be looked at as part of the upcoming review of animal welfare legislation later this year.

The final plans will be approved by the Council later this month.

The amendment was rejected last year but was then reintroduced.

Campaigners claim the labels are discriminatory because they only focus on kosher and halal meat and could cause kosher prices to rocket.

They fear that consumers from the non-kosher market, which buys 70 per cent of shechitah-slaughtered meat, may be put off by the labelling.

Shimon Cohen, of lobby group Shechita UK, said that despite the news, the community would need to increase its support over the coming months.

"The indications that we have now received from the EU are for now positive," he said.

"We will monitor the progress of this.

"We are, however, very conscious that the matter has only been deferred and we will need the community to be fully engaged in the coming months."

h t t p://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/50329/law-reprieve-kosher-meat-labels

So 70% of their market is non-jew and non-muslim and if they make that market aware of what they are actually buying, they will have to pay more for their product. That's not even counting the leg beef from tortured animals that they reject as being non-kosher and sell on to supermarkets and pie/curry manufacturers. When will Brits - and the rest of Europe - grow a pair and refuse to buy any meat but pork unless it's been truthfully labelled?

[Bev]

AMSTERDAM: The Dutch parliament voted on Tuesday to ban ritual slaughter of animals, a move strongly opposed by the country's Muslim and Jewish minorities, but left a loophole that could let traditional butchery continue.

The bill by the small Animal Rights Party, the first such group in Europe to win seats in a national parliament, passed the lower house of parliament and must be approved by the upper house before becoming law.

It stipulates that livestock must be stunned before being slaughtered, contrary to the Muslim halal and Jewish kosher laws that require animals to be fully conscious.

"This way of killing causes unnecessary pain to animals. Religious freedom cannot be unlimited," Marianne Thieme, head of Animal Rights Party, said before the vote. "For us religious freedom stops where human or animal suffering begins."

In a rare show of unity, the Netherlands' Muslim and Jewish communities -- about 1 million and 40,000 respectively in a total population of 16 million -- have condemned the proposed ban as a violation of their religious freedom.

h t t p://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Dutch-approve-ban-kosher-and-halal-animal-slaughter/articleshow/9028454.cms

[Bev]

It's an out(r)age, says Rabbi Goldschmidt.

The Dutch parliament has voted to approve a ban on kosher and halal slaughter, after intense lobbying by animal rights groups.

The Senate must now vote on the measure, which will most likely take place in September. The Dutch Party for Animals, the first group of its kind to win seats in a national parliament in Europe, have been lobbying to close a loophole in Dutch law which gives Jews and Muslims permission to kill an animal without stunning.

David Zwartz, the chairman of the Wellington Jewish Council in New Zealand, whose country also attempted to ban kosher slaughter, told CNN: "The banning of shechita was introduced as an anti-Jewish law by the Nazis in Germany three months after they came into power.

"Freedom of religious practice is a hallmark of civilized (and most Western) societies. For Orthodox Jews, the eating of kosher meat is a central part of their belief."

Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks has also traveled to the Netherlands two weeks ago to lobby against the law.

Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the ban was a repudiation of the Netherlands' historic commitment to religious freedom.

"Dutch Jews must not be put to the choice of violating a central tenet of Judaism, foregoing fresh meat, or emigrating," he said.

"We call upon the Dutch Senate to prevent this action from leading to a clear violation of religious freedom that has a disproportionate impact on the Jewish community."

The Conference of European Rabbis said the decision was an outage. The organisation's president Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt said: "The practical effects of this bill mean that Jews are no longer welcome in The Netherlands. This has not happened for 70 years."

h t t p://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/50911/dutch-vote-ban-kosher-slaughter

[Henry.]

The Jews have been known to force bankruptcy and war on nations who've taken such action against them as that.

Spain suffered all sorts of agonies, and Jewish historians like Graetz, Wolf, and Roth, have never shied away from boasting about it.

[Henry.]

@3:40....It is revealed that 75% of products are tax drawing Kosher in this Canadian Store....and @6.50 a company's rep says it paid $35,000 for a rabbi to ''bless'' a food product!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIBidFNoMs8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIBidFNoMs8&feature=related

[joefrombradford]

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.u...in_Parliament/

An attempt by a Bradford MP to make it law for all halal and kosher meat to be clearly labelled, allowing shoppers to have freedom of choice, has been thrown out.

Shipley MP Philip Davies said people had a right to know what they were eating and a change in the law would benefit everyone.

He said: “My Bill would benefit those people who want to make sure their meat is kosher or halal before purchasing it, just as much as those who want to make sure it isn’t kosher or halal.”

[Bev]

It was never going to pass. This article made sure of that:

Kosher meat labelling a 21st century 'Yellow Star'

A new proposal to label kosher meat is set to be debated by MEPs in April, just months after another labelling proposal was struck out by the European Union.

The community breathed a collective sigh of relief last year when the Council of Ministers removed an amendment, backed by the European Parliament, that would have required relevant meat to be labelled as 'slaughtered without stunning'.


It is feared that such a measure would lead to a massive hike in kosher prices as the vast majority of shechita meat goes to non-kosher consumers who may decide to opt for products without labels. The practise could then eventually become untenable.

Now the controversial proposal has been re-introduced by a Dutch MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy. It is set to be debated on 11 April, at the same time as a separate amendment proposed by Scottish Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson.

This new amendment would require that meat be labelled, 'This product comes from an animal slaughtered by the shechita method', with similar labelling for halal meat. Shimon Cohen of Shechita UK, which has played a key role in the campaign against last year's amendment, branded the new proposal as "the 21st century equivalent of the yellow star, but on our food".

In a letter to Stevenson, he argued that the amendment "essentially has the same effect but in a more direct manner" as last year's failed proposal. Cohen wrote: "If you were labelling every other form of slaughter, religious and secular, including stunning methods and incidences of mis-stunning then we would accept that this was a fairer form of labelling. But as your amendment stands, it is discrimination of the most direct kind."

Shechita UK insists it was partly the engagement of the community in a campaign against the original amendment which led to it being struck out and are now urging members to campaign against the two new amendments by writing to MEPs. Cohen said: "It is very disappointing the amendment has been brought back against the wishes of the Council and also that a new more sinister amendment has been brought forward.

"Once again we need the community to respond to make our feelings known that we will not be singled out in this way. The consequences of not responding to this will mean there will not be meat on our plates."

However, while last year the community had months to make their voices heard, there are just two weeks until the latest amendments are debated by the Parliament's environment, public health and food safety committee. If adopted at that stage, the proposal will move to the floor of the European Parliament for final approval as part of the wider regulation.

Stevenson told the Jewish News: "In Europe the default position is animals should be slaughtered and pre-stunned, therefore any deviation from that should be labelled so consumers know about it."

He added: "I am deeply offended when anyone says I am being anti-Jewish. My concerns are entirely from an animal welfare perspective because the vast majority of kosher meat is sold on to the non kosher market and just as you label the meat (as kosher) so the main market deserves to know what it is buying."

Draft letters and a list of MEPs will be available at www.shechitauk.org from this weekend

http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/c-16033/kosher-meat-labelling-a-21st-century-yellow-star/

(my bolding) - that's more to the point. If the goyim found out that certain meat was halal and kosher, they'd probably stop buying it and it would make it more expensive for ourselves.

[Bev]

....and of course, the big three parties aren't going to want to upset their biggest donators, are they?

[joefrombradford]

Aye, but if it isn't clearly labelled as halal or Kosher, Jews and muslims are not going to buy it either, and they are the intended market.

[Bev]

Originally Posted by joefrombradford

Aye, but if it isn't clearly labelled as halal or Kosher, Jews and muslims are not going to buy it either, and they are the intended market.

But they will either use a specific supplier/manufacturer that they know to be halal or kosher or they will ask. You must have heard an asian asking at a meat counter whether something is halal or not, but very few whites will ask. Whether they just don't care (I can't and won't believe that is the case ) or whether they're scared of being called racist for asking or something else, I don't know.

Labelling it wouldn't solve the issue of leg beef anyway since it's not classed as kosher. The animal may have been slaughtered tortured via the kosher method but it won't be classed or labelled as kosher and it will still be passed on to the consumer in the shape of pies and curries, etc.

[Bev]

A headline:

Horrific cruelty at abattoir caught on film: Footage shows stunned horse waking up just before it is about to have its throat cut

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264972/Cruelty-horses-exposed-Red-Lion-Abattoir-Hillside-animal-welfare-group.html


Yes, it is horrific, isn't it? An animal being awake whilst its throat is cut.

In one horrifying moment a stunned horse appears to regain consciousness, only to find itself hanging upside down and about to have its throat cut.

Can someone explain the obvious? Why is a horse's life worth more than a sheep or a cow or a lamb or a bull? Why is this a "horrifying moment" -and don't get me wrong, I entirely agree that it is horrifying, but this goes on in slaughterhouses (and private residences) all over Britain and no angst-ridden adjectives pour forth from the righteously indignant Daily Mail writers.

The footage was captured at the Red Lion Abattoir, near Nantwich, Cheshire, after an eight-week investigation by animal welfare group Hillside.

They also saw horses which appeared to be sick or injured and hadn't been immediately put down.

Founder Wendy Valentine, 63, told MailOnline: 'We rescue around 700 horses a year and we were concerned about where we were saving them from.'

'It's unbelievably depressing there. They shouldn't be stunned or shot in front of each other like that.

'It's total disrespect for animal welfare.'

No, Wendy, they shouldn't. How about taking your blinkers off and broadening your concern?

Animal welfare? Hey, Wendy, there are far more animals in the country than just horses. But maybe the lack of concern comes from the fact that we don't eat horses, do we? Oh, wait....

The horses at the Red Lion Abattoir are believed to be butchered for European food markets

Not Tesco?

The Food Standards Agency told the Daily Mirror it has revoked the licences of two slaughtermen after a probe into the video.

FSA head of approvals Craig Kirby said: 'As soon as we got the footage and reviewed it we took immediate action to revoke the slaughtermen's licences.

'We will also look to gather further evidence to see if we can prosecute.'

So the FSA are interested in animal cruelty, are they? Good to know.

An RSPCA spokesperson said the organisation is viewing the footage and will decide whether to prosecute.

In a statement it said: 'The footage is shocking and upsetting to watch. With the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 in mind, we have concerns that horses appear to be in the stunning pen at the same time rather than individually as the law requires.

'We also have concerns about some of the animals that appear to be injured. We have requested a copy of the unedited footage with a view to investigating.'

Oh, they're involving themselves too, are they? (with a view to the massive fines going into their coffers for exec. directors private use, no doubt.)

Well, if they're interested in videos of animal cruelty for prosecuting purposes, I can send them a few links from Peta and so on. Unfortunately they're only of kosher and halal slaughter. Reckon they'll be interested?

[Nigel Thornberry]

Yeah, at least the horse gets a bolt gun to the head. You should see how the rabbis in the Kosher centers to it.

[Bob 88]

Anyone who has watched 'The Eternal Jew' will have seen the horrifying scenes at the end exposing Kosher Slaughter - sickening stuff !.

But anyone who has seen 'Apocalypse Now' will remember the scene near the end when the villagers kill the Ox with a machete

Killing animals isn't nice no matter how it is performed

[Chad Wentworth]

Pork DNA has reportedly been found in halal chicken sausages served in a primary school in central London. Westminster Council confirmed that the sausages were from St Mary''s Bryanston Square, a Church of England school.

Tests on a sample from Burdett Coutts School revealed the presence of lamb and pork DNA in lean minced beef, the BBC reports.

According to the report, the council said it decided to carry out tests for the presence of DNA from beef, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey, goat and horse after the horsemeat scandal.

No horse DNA was found in the tests.The items have been removed from all school meals and the contractor was asked not to use its meat supplier, the report said.

Phew!

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/po...chool/1088620/