In a strong rebuke to anti-halal campaigners he said their moral outrage was “politically motivated”.
He added: “I cannot commit myself or my cabinet to review this policy.
"The answer has to be no.”...but just think of it as like those anti-Semitic opinions that hide behind the cloak of 'It's just critiscism of Israeli policies', eh?
The debate was prompted after more than 7,000 people signed an online petition calling for all meat served in the borough’s schools to be stunned before slaughter.
And why not? Shouldn't we look at this issue, like the Danes have?
Would Carrie like to get involved, she's known to be an animal fan, after all...?
Reacting to the council’s admission that 17 schools in Kirklees do not provide a non-halal meat alternative he said children of non-Muslim families had been led into consuming products of non-stun slaughter “without their knowledge”.
Once again, the Muslim community are outraged when they unwittingly consume non-halal, but sanguine about everyone else being misled...
Clr Andrew Cooper (Green, Newsome) questioned whether those behind the petition, which was being presented as an issue of choice, were genuine animal rights activists.
“The issue before us is about one aspect of animal welfare in our food system among many.
“If the same people bringing this petition start to champion other choices we have to make in the food we eat rather than those affecting other communities, then I may really believe they have a genuine concern for animal welfare rather than simply being people only interested in animal welfare as it relates to a particular community.”
Surely it relates to kosher slaughter as well, so it's not just one community?
Oh, but then, Jewish organisations aren't demanding we all go kosher, are they?
H/T: LozzaFox via Twitter
Re outrage over children unwittingly consuming non-halal meat: the Qu'ran explicitly states that, if there is no other food available, a Muslim may eat non-halal food.
ReplyDelete‘'He has forbidden you carrion, blood and the flesh of swine; also any flesh that is consecrated other than in the name of God. But whoever is driven by necessity, intending neither to sin nor transgress, shall incur no guilt. God is forgiving and merciful.' (Surah 2:173).
Not just school meals, go to any Chinese restuarant/takeaway and the chicken portions they use will all be halal - it's easier for the wholesalers that way, only one supply-chain when the market's dominated by Sub-Continent retailers.
ReplyDeleteBetter to select beef or pork, there's virtually no halal beef and certainly no halal/kosher pork.
And tell the shop why you won't buy the chicken, then maybe they'll get the message and pressure the wholesalers.
"...the Qu'ran explicitly states that, if there is no other food available, a Muslim may eat non-halal food."
ReplyDeleteI wonder sometimes how many have actually read it for themselves, relying instead on imams to interpret it for them?
"...go to any Chinese restuarant/takeaway and the chicken portions they use will all be halal - it's easier for the wholesalers that way..."
Strange that this isn't more explicit - I can, if I wish, look at the salt, fat, sugar content of every mouthful. In some shops, and some products, be advised of the name and location of the farm producing it.
Yet I can't know if it's been butchered humanely or not?