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Halal-only school dinners slammed by animal lovers
Harrow council forced to rethink plan to extend Islamic menus served at all secondary schools to its primary schools
A local London council has delayed a plan to extend halal-only menus to its primary schools after an outcry from parents. For four years, all but one secondary school in the London borough of Harrow has served only meat prepared under Islamic principles. Next month the final secondary school will fall into line and the council had said primary schools can "express an interest" in the scheme.
But outraged parents and campaigners have questioned why the religious beliefs of Muslims are being given precedence over the principles of children who believe in animal rights.
Harrow Council says that the requirement to serve only halal meat in school dinners was written into contracts with private-sector caterers on the recommendation of dieticians. Like Jewish kosher meat, animals killed in a halal way must have their throats cut while they are alive to facilitate the draining of blood from the neck.
Although many non-Muslims eat halal meat thanks to the popularity of curries and kebabs, there has been growing opposition to ritual slaughter following evidence of excessive pain felt by dying animals. Most halal practitioners rule out stunning the animal because that might kill it. Although the RSPCA condemns the practice, ritual slaughter is exempted from complying with animal welfare laws.
However, in New Zealand, Muslims must use a reversible form of electrical stunning that animals can recover from if they are not immediately slaughtered. This proves the animal is alive when killed and is therefore halal.
Harrow resident Sheila Murphy told the Harrow Observer: "I am appalled… The Farm Animal Welfare Council has lobbied the government in the past to get the kosher and halal methods of slaughter banned. [These methods are] deemed cruel by some animal-lovers, who object to the slow death it involves. Harrow Council's decision is also taking away the choice of children and their parents over what meat they eat."
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, told the Times: "There is no suggestion of health risks from halal meat. The objections are on ethical grounds. By only offering halal meat there is an assumption that a Muslim's conscience is more important than someone who is concerned about animal rights."
But Harrow Pakistani Society chief Mohammad Rizvi hailed the council's decision as common sense: "For Muslim children the only option they have to eat is halal, whereas it isn't a problem for children of other faiths to eat halal. This isn't about Islamification or pandering to Muslims it's just common sense."
Following pressure from angry parents, Harrow council now says it will delay expansion of the halal-only scheme into primary schools. Councillor Brian Gate said: "Some faith groups don't eat halal meat. We will be reviewing the position in the autumn."
Another local educational establishment that will not be joining in the halal-only scheme is Harrow School (alumni: Winston Churchill, Lord Byron), where pupils will continue to dine on such haraam treats as grilled sausages and bacon. ·
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Patrick Fallon, I agree and add: Britain's historical progress over the centuries towards openness and tolerance is something to be admired and applauded. However the last decade has seen a brutal assault on, not only traditional liberties, but also on the core values of tolerance and accommodation. No doubt, partly due to media inspired paranoia and hate mongering. This is a course that should be averted.
Deltagemini, as a firm believer in secularism, I certainly respect your disregard for all religions. My comment regarding Christianity was simply to illustrate the unfairness of your comment against Islam. Disregard does not justify misinformation. Islam in no way teaches the actions that you mention in your comment, in the same way that Christianity in no way teaches the actions that I mentioned in my post. My comment was meant to illustrate this point.
Firstly, Deltagemini and Sasso, I think you are both correct; Religion is to blame for a great deal of the intolerance, pain and suffering in the world. People from any religion can point to others and condemn them while ignoring the failings of their own faith. I think the fact that this issue can be discussed in Britain is to be applauded. The fact that Harrow, and apparently other councils, have taken the steps they have to accommodate minority beliefs is very good. However, it shouldn't be forgotten that everyone in Britain has rights. The rights of the majority shouldn't be ignored just to satisfy a minority. Why should the children of Christian parents be forced to eat Halal if they don't want to. Nobody has the God given right to..............................Ah thats the problem!! All you believers think you do!
Luigi Sasso, my tirade against the Muslin religion can be easily matched by a similar comment about Christianity, I have no time for claptrap from any religion. Thank you for your comment.
@deltagemini: before you go around and spewing random ideas out of your head, go do some legit reading and learn for yourself that Islam does NOT tolerate ANYTHING you just said. you are NOT allowed to throw acid on a girls face because they want to learn, thats something that the taliban does. the TALIBAN are extremists you take verses and twist them to an extreme and how dare you make a generalization that every muslim in the world does that. For your information, education is HIGHLY promoted in islam. One of the words used most frequently in the quran is "ilm" and its derivatives which all means so form of knowledge. And if you read your history correctly, the peak of the Islamic Empire the muslims were pretty much the smartest people out there. Please get ALL your facts straight before you go telling the rest of the world incorrect facts you got solely from watching the news and other unreliable sources.
RESIDENTS across Harrow have vented their anger about proposals to have halal-only menus in primary schools in the borough â?? following the revelation in the Observer last month. Meat is meat. What does it matter how its killed. These stupid parents should find other things to whine about. Halaal meat is more hygienically processed anyway.
The newspaper revealed exclusively how Harrow Council has employed a catering company to only prepare Halal meat â?? to serve youngsters in Harrow. This is nothing new to my knowledge, Tower Hamlets council been doing Halal meat in schools for at least 3 years or more.
The Halal slaughter method (along with Shechita which is the name for pretty much the same method used by Jews) is not cruel at all. When the animal's throat is slit, it results in a massive drop in blood pressure causing pretty much instantaneous unconsciousness. As long as the cut is performed correctly the animal will feel a mere instant of pain compared to the intense suffering they can go through in abattoir's with the "normal" slaughter method. The link that has been made between this story and Britain becoming an Islamic State is a bit extreme. The majority of British people are atheist. But it doesn't mean we can't try and make life easier and better for people of all faiths and cultures.
Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. There is no place for a non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school.The number of Muslim schools is on the increase. The new Academies Bill will help Muslim community to set up state funded Muslim schools for each and every Muslim child. Muslim schools are not only faith schools but alos bilingual schools. They need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. Muslim schools should be given the right to recruit bilingual teachers from Muslim countries. Majority of Muslim children are from the sub-continent, therefore, majority of bilingual teachers should be recruited from there.
There are couples of state and schools in Harrow where Muslim children are in majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be opted out as Muslim Academies so that non-Muslim children could enjoy their own meals in their own schools.
Iftikhar Ahmad
London School of Islamics Trust
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
Did anyone in authority think to challenge the Pakistani Society chief's statement? He said: "For Muslim children the only option they have to eat is halal..."
Oh really? Who says so, the Muslim children? The world is full of food options.
"... whereas it isn't a problem for children of other faiths to eat halal."
Did he ask them? Most children of my acquaintance would shudder at the thought of eating meat that had been prepared so barbarously.
"This isn't about Islamification or pandering to Muslims it's just common sense."
And what exactly has halal got to do with common sense? Who told this man it had? Has he been so blinded by his own childhood indoctrination that he can't see halal for the unscientific claptrap it is?
It's not too long ago that we finally woke up to the fact that eating meat on Friday would not condemn us to everlasting hellfire. I see no good reason why we should replace one insane belief with another.
I think everyone agrees that animals should be meted out the least amount of pain when they are being killed for their meat.
Let's adopt the Sikh/Hindu way of Jhatka slaughter wherein you sever the neck in one go. Muslims would do absolutely anything if it says so in Quran no matter how disgusting or primitive it may seem. Can they at least show some sanity after all and adopt a better slaughter method?
@ Deltagemini, Can you enlighten me, as to what kind of sick and evil religion Christianity is? This obscene 'religion' seems to have a track record in Child Abuse. The so called 'Men of Cloth' (Priests), seems to love sodomising boys and girls as young as 5. What kind of a sick religion allows this?? And not only allows it, but officially uses it ill gotten wealth to cover it up, and pay hush money - very Christian like, I must say. What kind of evil bigoted ideology inspired observant Church going Christians to burn to death their fellow Humans beings, just for being a different colour??? If you think Islam is insanity, then what is Christianity?
Anybody thinking that NON HALAL methods of slaughter are any better - SHOULD THINK AGAIN. Watch this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJFjeJZC67c&feature=related - This video was mild compared to others I saw showing Pig slaughter, which were particularly gruesome. The cruelty meted out to animals was truly unbearable to watch. Even in this milder video that I linked above, the Pigs suffer immense mental torture. New born Calves only get to spend one day with their mothers.
Anybody with compassion & feeling for animals should CONDEMN ALL ANIMAL SLAUGHTER, and not just pick on the Halal Meat Industry.
The clip posted by Ernie about Halal slaughter shows no more blood and slaughter than any other Non Halal Abattoir. In fact, the most gruesome videos were of pig rearing and slaughter, which is obviously not consumed by Muslims or Jews, but by Christian or Atheist Meat lovers in North America and Europe. SO IF U R SINCERE - THEN CONDEMN ALL ANIMAL SLAUGHTER.
I hope parents are made aware that halal meat is meat sacrified onto idols, the bible warns to abstain from such meats so for all you christians you would do well to take heed
Acts 15:29
Anyone who sees the video at the above mentioned web site and who has any form of decency and common humanity must come to the conclusion that the so called Isalmic 'faith' or 'religion' is an obscenity. Along with stoning women (not men) who are allegedly adulterous, throwing acid in the face of a little girl who wants to learn to read, respecting a prophet who had a child as his 'wife', expecting to be 'rewarded' in paradise with 72 virgins for random murder, and all the other claptrap of this ridiculous religon, can sane people not come to the conclusion that we are witnessing some sort of mass insanity? Why should this religion be given any priviledges whatever?
My God, what sort of level of humanity can sanction this death for animals? Other abbatior methods are bad enough but this is extreme!
anyone seriously interested in animal rights should be vegetarian, or at least refuse to eat most animal product as it comes from factory farming and other methods that reduce animal lives to misery.
I am a non-Muslim, but I always chose to purchase Halal or Kosher meat for our family, simply because I know exactly where it was produced, and that it has NOT been contaminated by being part of the appalling poor ( and dangerous) UK food handling system. I assume those who are concerned about how the chicken feels when it is slaughtered are simply NOT eating meat.....since the way commercial slaughter of chickens occurs is much worse than anything done during Halal or Kosher butchering..
Commercial meat handling is the greatest source of food contamination in the country....so if you want to expose your children to contaminated food, go ahead. These families would be better off to simply state that they are Vegetarians.....and have their children eat the perfectly acceptable Vegetarian meals available for those who dont eat meat.
hmm... they conveniently forgot to mention that the animals can't be strangled, beaten, killed by a fall, gored (to death), savaged by a beast of prey (except that which you may have slaughtered while it was still alive). Oh and of course the fact that what should be a quick deep incision on the jugular vein and carotid arteries on the neck would cost the animals the least amount of pain compared to how animals are kept in food factory. Furthermore, when cutting BOTH arteries and jugular, unconciousness(sp?) occurs in a few seconds. Also that you want as much blood out of the body as possible because blood is medium for germs.
It hardly causes any pain to the animal when done properly (and it should be done by someone who does it well). Jewish people use this process as well( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2977086.stm )so having meat slaughtered this way is good for jewish kids as well.
The sheer effrontery of the Harrow Pakistani Society representative is quite brreathtaking. On what grounds does he assume that "it isn't a problem for children of other faiths to eat halal"? This is just one more example of turning our laws on their head. If I slit a sheep's throat without first stunning it I would quite rightly, under our laws, be prosecuted, so why make an exception for a vociferous minority? When in Rome ........
For anyone wondering what are the halal slaughtering methods, have a look at http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xba1z9 [The First Post Moderator - Be warned: this is a very graphic video]