EU ruling upholding Belgian ban on Jewish ritual slaughter curtails fundamental rights of Jews, say campaigners
Jewish groups have warned that laws banning Jewish ritual slaughter could appear all across Europe following a ruling by a European Court of Justice (ECJ).
The ECJ ruling, which was released on 17th December, upholds a Belgian ban on ritual slaughter methods by Jews and Muslims. European Jewish groups claim it sets a precedent that will allow authorities to order the pre-stunning of animals which is not permitted in ritual slaughter.
The ruling follows a 2017 ban by two Belgian regions of slaughter without pre-stunning. A legal challenge to the bans, filed by Belgium’s main Jewish communal body, was sent by the Constitutional Court to the ECJ to determine if the bans were lawful. The ECJ ruling directly opposes an opinion given in September by Gerard Hogan, the European Advocate-General who said that EU states were “obliged to respect the deeply-held religious beliefs of adherents to the Muslim and Jewish faiths” by allowing ritual slaughter of animals.
Shechita UK Campaign Director, Shimon Cohen said they were “disappointed” with the ruling, and would be looking to “understand the long-term implications.” He said the ruling would be “very significant” for UK Jews “even post-Brexit.”
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association (EJA), said it was “a sad day for European Jewry.”
The President of the European Union of Jewish Students, Bini Guttmann, expressed his shock to the JC, suggesting it would “make Jewish life in Europe as we know it impossible.”
Allowing the prohibition of kosher slaughter, said Mr Guttman, was “a clear signal that the fundamental rights of Jews can be curtailed in the EU.”
Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis claimed the judgment “flies in the face of recent statements” that Jewish life was “to be treasured and respected” and said the bans had already led to shortages of kosher meat in Belgium.
“We are told by European leaders that they want Jewish communities to live and be successful in Europe,” noted Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt, “But they provide no safeguards for our way of life.”
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