The European Court of Human Rights, ruling for the first time, upheld the decision taken in 2020 by the European Court of Justice that Belgian regions bans of kosher and halal slaughter are within their rights to do so and that it does not infringe on article 9 of the Human Rights Convention regarding freedom of religion.

Jewish and Muslim groups in Belgium oppose the bans, which they view as an infringement on religious freedoms.

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ruled that Belgium’s bans on the slaughter of animals without stunning neither interfere with freedom of religion nor constitute discrimination, a ruling that shocked the European Jewish Association, the largest federation of Jewish communities in Europer.

The ruling by the Strasbourg-based in Strasbourg, follows on a petition filed by Muslim groups against the bans adopted in 2019 by  the Flemish and the Walloon regions of Belgium. The ruling is final as the court is the highest instance with jurisdiction to review the bans.

Jewish and Muslim groups in Belgium oppose the bans, which they view as an infringement on religious freedoms.

In a reaction to the ruling, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of the European Jewish Association (EJA), said: “The implied determination of the distorted verdict is that the rights of these citizens to freedom of religion and worship are even less than that of animals.’’

He warned that the severe restrictions on Jews to live according to their faith will lead to serious damage to the fabric of life throughout the continent.

Observant Jews do not consume meat that isn’t kosher.For meat to be labeled as such, the animals from which it is produced must be healthy and conscious when their necks are cut. Jewish slaughter of animals is called Shechita.

 

 

 

The European Jewish Association called on the Belgian government and all other governments and parliaments throughout the continent to immediately take all the necessary steps in order to change the ruling that discriminates against Jews and Muslims.

In a letter sent to European Heads of States, EJA’s European Leader’s Forum for Combatting Antisemitism headed by the 10th President of the State of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, and including former prominent European Heads of States: Sebastian Kurz, Manuel Valls, Matteo Renzi, Petar Stoyanov, Andrej Babiš, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, Borut Pahor, Milo Đukanović and Stefan Lofven, called on governments and parliaments to enact the laws that commit to maintaining the freedom of religion and worship of the continent’s citizens, including kosher and halal slaughter.