Geert Wilders in Favor of Dutch Law Banning Kosher and Halal Animal Slaughter
The Dutch parliament voted Tuesday to ban the slaughter of livestock without stunning, or anesthetizing, the animals first, in a move that would make Islamic halal and Jewish kosher methods of butchering animals illegal.
The bill, proposed by the Party for the Animals, the first animal-rights group that is represented in a European legislature, passed the lower house of parliament by 116 votes to 30. It still must be approved by the upper house before becoming law, according to Reuters.
In a rare display of unity, Jews and Muslims strongly denounced the move as a violation of religious freedom. If the law is enacted and enforced, it’s likely that observant Jews and Muslims, who butcher animals according to stringent centuries-old rules, would have to import meat from abroad, stop eating it altogether, or leave the country, the Australian reported.
The Netherlands is home to about one million Muslims, mostly immigrants from Turkey and Morocco, while the Jewish community numbers 40,000-50,000.
The vote came after months of bitter debate in the Netherlands over the apparent contradiction between the country’s tradition of religious tolerance and its concerns about animal welfare, according to the Financial Times. Observant Jews and Muslims denounced it as the latest in a series of what were perceived as European anti-Islamic initiatives such as the French ban on wearing veils in public and the Swiss ban on minarets. In this case, the issue would affect traditional Jewish practices as well.
According to Reuters:
Netherlands Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs told Reuters. “Those who survived the (second world) war remember the very first law made by the Germans in Holland was the banning of schechita or the Jewish way of slaughtering animals.”
The law got support from centrist parties on secular scientific grounds, and from the far-right Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders, an anti-Islamic group.