Dutch lawmakers vote in favor of ban on kosher and halal slaughter

The lower house of the Dutch parliament has voted in favor of a bill effectively banning the ritual slaughter of animals in the country. The move was strongly condemned by Muslim and Jewish groups. The legislation requires that all animals must be stunned before being killed. However, kosher and some forms of halal methods of slaughter require the animal to be fully conscious. The legislation was proposed by a small animal rights party, which has only two lawmakers.

Following months of heated debate, a last minute concession was offered: the Muslim and Jewish communities will have a year to provide evidence that animals slaughtered by traditional methods do not experience greater pain than those that are stunned before they are killed. However, observers say finding such proof will be virtually impossible. The bill must still be approved by the upper house of parliament before it can become law.

In a rare show of unity, the Muslim and Jewish communities in the Netherlands, which number 1.2 million and 50,000 respectively, jointly condemned the legislation and said it infringed on their religious freedom. "One of the first measures taken during the Occupation [by Nazi Germany during World War II] was the closing of kosher abattoirs," Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs told parliamentarians. "If we no longer have people who can do ritual slaughter in the Netherlands, we will stop eating meat," he added.

The Party for the Animals said two million animals were subjected to ritual slaughter every year in the Netherlands, although the organization Halal Correct said only 250,000 were killed without being stunned beforehand.

European Jewish Congress (EJC) President Moshe Kantor (pictured) 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. We are now looking into the possibility of fighting this discriminatory law at the European level” before the measure becomes law, Kantor declared, adding: “We cannot 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. 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,” he said.

Newly elected president of the Conference of European Rabbis, Pinchas Goldschmidt, declared: "On the basis of flawed and agenda-based science and merely to appease an ill-informed Animal Welfare Lobby, the Netherlands has thrown away centuries of liberalism, human rights, welcome and tolerance for Jews.”