Islamophobia: Religious Animal Slaughter Ban Considered In
Netherlands
01 May 2011By Juan Cole
One of Europe's first countries to allow Jews to
practice their religion openly may soon pass a law
banning centuries-old Jewish and Muslim traditions on
the ritual slaughter of animals.
In the Netherlands, an unlikely alliance of an animal
rights party and the xenophobic Freedom Party is
spearheading support for the ban on kosher and halal
slaughter methods that critics say inflict
unacceptable suffering on animals.
The far right's embrace of the bill, which is expected
to go to a parliamentary vote this month, is based
mostly on its strident hostility toward the Dutch
Muslim population. The Party for the Animals, the
world's first such party to be elected to parliament,
says humane treatment of animals trumps traditions of
tolerance.
Jewish and Muslim groups call the initiative an
affront to freedom of religion.
"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
freedom," said Ruben Vis, spokesman for the
Netherlands' CJO, an umbrella of Jewish organizations.
Abdulfatteh Ali-Salah, director of Halal Correct, a
certification body for Dutch halal meat, said he felt
the debate made Muslims in the Netherlands feel Dutch
society is more interested in animal welfare than fair
treatment of its Muslim citizens.
"If the law goes through now there's nothing else to
do but protest," he said. "And that's what we'll do."
As in most western countries, Dutch law dictates that
butchers must stun livestock – render it unconscious –
before it can be slaughtered, to minimize the animals'
pain and fear. But an exception is made for meat that
must be prepared under ancient Jewish and Muslim
dietary laws and practices. These demand that animals
be slaughtered while still awake, by swiftly cutting
the main arteries of their necks with razor-sharp
knives.
Most Dutch favor a ban, but many centrist parties feel
the issue is a distraction from the more serious issue
of abuses at regular slaughterhouses. One of the two
parties in the Cabinet, the Christian Democrats,
opposes the law out of fear for damage to the
country's international image as a haven of tolerance
for religious minorities. The other, the pro-business
VVD Party, has yet to say which way it will vote.
If the Netherlands does outlaw procedures that make
meat kosher for Jews or halal for Muslims, it will be
the first country outside New Zealand to do so in
recent years. It will join the Scandinavian, Baltic
countries and Switzerland, whose bans are mostly
traceable to pre-World War II anti-Semitism.
Holland has proud traditions of tolerance and was one
of the first countries in Europe to allow Jews to live
openly with their religion in the 17th Century.
After years of campaigning unsuccessfully, the Party
for the Animals won a seat parliament in 2006, the
first time an animal rights party had entered a
national parliament. Around the same time, the
anti-Islam Freedom Party of maverick politician Geert
Wilders was gaining strength. It finished third in
national elections last year on an anti-immigration
platform.
The Muslim population, built on a wave of migration in
the 1990s, is now about 1 million in a country of 16
million. Dutch Jews number an estimated 40,000 to
50,000 after 70 percent of their community died in
Nazi concentration camps.
The two political parties pushing hardest for the ban
make for an odd couple, falling at opposite ends of
the political spectrum.
"Religious freedom isn't unlimited," said Party for
the Animals leader Marianne Thieme in an interview.
She said the law will be "good news for the two
million animals that are slaughtered (without
stunning) each year in our country. It's not a small
amount."
Wilders first brought the issue forward in 2007, when
he heard that halal meat was being served at a public
school in Amsterdam. "Muslims at our schools must
adjust to Dutch norms and values and not the other way
around," he wrote in a letter questioning government
policy.
Wilders and the Freedom Party did not respond to
requests for comment for this story.
The U.S.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center and European
Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor have both
spoken out against the proposed ban.
"What's worse is that there is no conclusive
scientific evidence that slaughter without stunning is
more harmful or painful for animals," Vis of the CJO
said.
Science surrounding animal slaughter is contentious. A
2009 study in New Zealand that monitored calf brain
waves during ritual slaughter concluded the animals
probably were aware of their pain. That led the
country to ban the practice in 2010.
However, noted American animal welfare expert Temple
Grandin of Colorado State University has criticized
flaws in the New Zealand study, remarking in
particular that the knife used was probably too short.
"The special long knife used in kosher slaughter is
important," she wrote in a paper published on her
website. In her experience "when the knife is used
correctly on adult cattle, there was little or no
behavioral reaction," she wrote – indicating that the
animals did not show signs of suffering before falling
unconscious.
The Royal Dutch Veterinary Association has come out in
favor of banning the practice.
The organization said in a position statement it
believes that during "slaughter of cattle while
conscious, and to a lesser extent that of sheep, the
animals' well-being is unacceptably damaged."
Scientists, animal rights groups and religious groups
disagree about the amount of pain and suffering
animals experience during slaughter under regular
conditions – though all say violations of current law
are widespread.
Ali-Salah predicted an outright ban would fail not
only due to Dutch domestic political considerations,
but also because it is not workable in practice.
"How are one million people going to obtain halal meat
from a new source?" he said. "They are certainty not
going to stop eating meat overnight."
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