European Jewish groups slammed a decision by the lower house of the Dutch parliament to ban the ritual slaughter of animals. Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, called the ban an outrage that would prevent Jews from living a Jewish life in The Netherlands.
“We have passed the stage of arguing the nuances of intention of antisemitism. The practical effects of this bill mean that Jews are no longer welcome in The Netherlands. This has not happened for 70 years,” Goldschmidt said.
Under the bill passed last week, animals are required to be stunned before slaughter. Both Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter must be performed while the animal is fully conscious.
“The Netherlands has thrown away centuries of liberalism, human rights, welcome and tolerance for Jews,” Goldschmidt said. “We will not rest until this discriminatory, intolerant and hateful bill is thrown out.”
The upper house still must approve the measure, which is being protested by Holland’s Jewish and Muslim communities as an attack on their religious freedom. Some 40,000 Jews and about a million Muslims live in the country.
The bill was put forward by the Animal Rights Party, which claims that stunning before slaughter causes less pain to the animal.
The Jewish and Muslim communities have a year to prove otherwise or the law goes into effect.
The European Union requires animals to be stunned before slaughter, but makes exceptions for religiously mandated ritual slaughter. Nevertheless, ritual slaughter is banned in Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.