Dutch anti-Islam party criticised for supporting shechita ban

The Dutch anti-Islamist Freedom Party, which receives financial backing from American Jewish groups, has been criticised for supporting a shechitah ban.

More..

Case for circumcision can be argued without invective

The consequences of the recent court ruling in Cologne criminalising religious circumcision continue to reverberate around Europe. Last week, hospitals in Switzerland and Austria suspended the procedure. The debate over the merits and morals of the practice rumbles on.

More..

Resist this dogma

Just as no one objects to the labelling of meat slaughtered by shechitah - it is the singling out of kosher (and halal) meat which is so iniquitous - so no one can object to a genuinely independent inquiry into kosher methods of slaughter. We have nothing to fear from an objective investigation.

More..

Farming minister: Shechitah to be reviewed

The Food and Farming Minister, who described kosher slaughter as "wholly unacceptable", has promised the forthcoming public consultation on animal welfare will include a review of the rules concerning shechitah.

More..

Dutch government cuts fresh deal on shechitah

Shechita UK was this week looking carefully at the details of a new agreement between the Dutch government and the Jewish and Muslim communities of the Netherlands, which offers protection of religious freedom for kosher and halal slaughter while improving animal welfare.

More..

Little Jerusalem still flowers in Pitigliano

The best way to arrive in Pitigliano is by night. As you round the last bend to the top of the hill which faces Pitigliano across the valley, the town suddenly looms up out of the tufa rock on which it's built: an enchanted fairyland, a Little Jerusalem.

More..

Dutch compromise over kosher slaughter ban

The Dutch government will not ban shechitah or halal slaughter outright, but said it would draw up new guidelines in an attempt to satisfy animal rights activists.

The government announced this week it would appoint a commission to set out tighter procedures for slaughter.

More..