As he sent a letter of congratulations to new Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz for her nomination, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Director General of the European Jewish Association (EJA), called on her to to reverse the country’s controversial ban on the practice of Jewish ritual slaughter.
Kopacz was sworn in as Prime Minister earlier this week. The 57-year-old former Parliament Speaker took over from Donald Tusk, who resigned last week and will become EU Council President in December. In his letter, Rabbi Margolin recalled that since the November 2013 agreement by the Polish Constitutional Court to reconsider the legislation on ritual slaughter, the situation has been stalled. He called on the new Prime Minister ‘‘ to use all available means to garner a majority of parliamentarians in order to reverse the bill on ritual slaughter’’.
The EJA has led an extensive campaign aimed at lobbying relevant authorities to accept Polish Ombudsman Professor Irena Lipowicz’s opinion in support of ritual slaughter, after the Polish parliament voted to outlaw the ancestral practice. Rabbi Margolin meeting with several Ambassadors to the EU, as well as former Polish PM Jerzy Buzek and Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok to garner their support for EJA’s campaign for freedom of religion in Poland and throughout Europe. In his meetings, he stressed the danger the Polish bill poses for the future of Europe’s Jewish communities, as it sends the unpalatable message to Europe’s Jews that they are no longer welcome in their historic homelands.
Poland’s Ombudsman, Prof. Irena Lipowicz, also appealed to former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on the indisputable need to start appropriate legislative work to comprehensively regulate ritual slaughter in the country.
Earlier this week, Rabbi Margolin slammed similar moves in Belgium, following claims by Flemish Minister for Animal Welfare Ben Weyts that he would actively pursue a total ban on the practice of animal slaughter without pre-stunning.
Responding to the latest attack on the Jewish ritual, which if successful would be implemented by 2015, Rabbi Margolin emphasized that the Jewish practice of Shechita is “the most humane method of slaughter”, as it ensures the welfare of the animal not only at the time of slaughter, but also concerns itself with “the conditions in which animals are raised before their slaughter”.
The European Jewish Association has previously campaigned against legislation to restrict the practice of ritual slaughter in Denmark.
Following Rabbi Margolin’s meetings with European Commissioners, including Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg, the Commission promised to seek clarification on any legislation which proposes to restrict the practice of religious slaughter.