European Jewish Congress (EJC) President Dr. Moshe Kantor slammed today’s decision by the Dutch Parliament to outlaw Jewish ritual slaughter. The new law requires that livestock must be stunned before being killed, contrary to Jewish law, and now passes to the Dutch Senate for ratification.
EJC President Dr. Moshe Kantor said that his organization is looking at pursuing legal action to prevent the ban. “This law stands in direct opposition to Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, namely the right to freedom of religion,” Kantor said. “We are now looking into the possibility of fighting this discriminatory law at the European level before it reaches the Dutch Senate for a vote to make it law.”
“We can not let such a blatantly discriminatory law stand without fighting it, especially as it stands contrary to European standards and freedoms.”
Kantor said the passage of the law was a real shock for the Jewish community in Europe.
“This is a dark day for the Jewish community,” Kantor said. “This could serve as a terrible precedent for other parts of Europe and tells the Jews that they and their customs are no longer welcome.”
The EJC also noted that the Jewish community in Holland has its roots in those Jews who fled persecution and discrimination to a land which has since become acclaimed for its freedom of religion and expression.
“Unfortunately, this is the result of a campaign that only discriminates against ritual slaughter while ignoring all other types of slaughter and that does not bode well for Dutch tolerance and freedom,” Kantor said.
The EJC is the democratically elected representative umbrella organization of European Jewry.
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2 Responses
“This could serve as a terrible precedent for other parts of Europe and tells the Jews that they and their customs are no longer welcome”
Jews not welcome in Europe? Gasp! Well there’s a first time for everything, I guess.
Since several European countries ban schichta already, it’s unlikely that someone adopted this policy will violate the European Convention on Human Rights (if it did, it would have been raised in the past).
One approach could be to insist that American court refuse to recognize Dutch judgements involving Jews on the grounds that anti-Semitism is state policy. A boycott would only work if the Christians supported it (perhaps now is the time to test their intentions – do they really support freedom of religion and oppose anti-semitism).