Dutch Jews, Muslims unite to defend ritual slaughter
Jerusalem Post 14 December 2011
By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
THE HAGUE – Hundreds
of Jews and Muslims pleaded with Dutch senators in Amsterdam this week to reject legislation banning ritual slaughter. The Dutch Senate is scheduled
to vote on the issue next week.
One senior Dutch rabbi told The Jerusalem Post that a ban would apply "double standards that target
minorities.”
The parliament voted in June to effectively ban Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter. For this to become a law, however, the
Senate must ratify the bill introduced by the Party for Animals. The bill forbids any slaughter that isn’t preceded by stunning, calling it
inhumane.Both Islamic and Jewish law requires that animals be conscious before slaughter.
"It’s very clear that [the] Senate is much
more skeptical than parliament of this bill’s merits,” Raphael Evers, rabbi of the Federation of Jewish Communities in The Netherlands,
said after attending a conference in Amsterdam on Sunday.
Some 600 people were at the gathering – mostly of Muslim or Jewish origins
– including two Dutch senators who participated in a panel discussion.
In parliament, the anti-Muslim Party for Freedom, led by Geert
Wilders, and the ruling VVD party supported the bill.However, VVD senators said they would vote against the proposed legislation, making its passing
dependent on the Labor Party’s vote. Labor has not announced its position ahead of a Senate discussion scheduled for December 13.
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