Belgium: Muslims and Jews Outraged by Anti-Ritual Slaughter Advertising Campaign

EuropeNews
October 20, 2013

An advertisement in Belgian radio in favour of a ban on ritual slaughter has been sharply criticised by Jewish and Muslim representatives. The makers have been accused, among other things, of constructing the advertisement on the basis of Holocaust themes.

The advertisement was produced by the Antwerp animal protection group Gaia for national radio stations and was sent by email to 200 politicians. It tells a simulated story about the slaughter from the perspective of a lamb.

“We were sleeping when they came to us,” says the lamb. “I couldn’t understand a word of their foreign language. They jammed us into the wagon and led us into a building with blood on the floor. I know what’s going to happen to me but I can only wait for it.”

A speaker then says: “Unstunned animals are very aware of what’s happening in front of them in the slaughterhouse. Politicians need to change the law and ban ritual slaughter.”

Jewish and Muslim religious laws require that animals be slaughtered without stunning – a practice that is considered horrific by animal rights activists.

In a strongly-worded condemnation of the advertisement, Nicolas Zomersztajn, from the Brussels Jewish community said to the Belgian news agency Belga that the advertisement was “a new example of the banalisation of the genocide by Gaia activists.” The executive committee of Belgian Muslims said the campaign “borders on racism”.

Translation via Islam Versus Europe.