As of Tuesday, the beginning of the civil year, a new law will come into force requiring the stunning of animals prior slaughter which will, in effect, forbid kosher shechita throughout the Flemish region of Belgium. However, kosher meat will be permitted to be imported from outside of Belgium.
Some ten months ago, the parliament in the Wallonia area of Belgium ruled against kosher slaughter in a law which would be implemented nine months from now. Some two months later, the Flemish parliament, with the objection of only one member, accepted the incoming decision to begin on January 1st. Slaughter houses have now begun the stunning which means that kosher slaughter is outlawed.
The chief rabbi of Belgium and representative in the European Rabbinical Council's institutions, Rabbi Avraham Gigi, discussed a legal petition filed with the court, and said: "This anti-religious law is a life threat for European Jews. We are still awaiting the court's decision regarding our petition. If it fails, we will appeal to the European Supreme Court for Legislation in the Hague."
He further states that "the likelihood of the law being repealed is high, since the president of the Consistoire, Mr. Philip Markowitz; Rabbi Pinchos Kornfeld, chairman of Machzikei HaDas in Belgium and myself appealed at the time to the Court of Constitutional Legislation in two districts on the grounds that "restricting kosher slaughter minimizes very significantly and irrationally the freedom of religion, giving a blow which is opposed to the constitutional rights of man and freedom of religion in Belgium."
The heads of the Kehilla were summoned to the court for a hearing on the 23rd of January to discuss the two appeals against the parliamentary decision and the two cases will be dealt with as one regarding the attempt to restrict religious life on principle.
Belgium is a federation of three regions: Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. "Brussels is the most important one from a national standpoint. We can already envision similar legislation elsewhere and fear a cumulative effect of comparable legislation throughout Europe," said Rabbi Gigi. "Brussels has elections scheduled in five months and the results will surely be reflected on this law, as will the results of the courts constitutional ruling. We must bear in mind that Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union and includes many of its institutions."
The Council of European Rabbis (CER) notes that they believe that the main target of the law is the Moslem slaughter and not the Jews.
