Le Pen seeks to ban religious slaughter of animals

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen specifically mentioned Islamic ritual slaughter while discussing an overall ban on religious animal slaughter. 

French Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, representing France’s National Front party, said if elected she would ban religious or ritual animal slaughter.

“Slaughter without stunning, I’m sorry, it should have special labels,” Le Pen said, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Furthermore, I think that slaughter without stunning should be prohibited.”

In her statement, Le Pen only specifically referenced the Islamic sanctioned ritual method of slaughtering animals known as halal. Nevertheless, the inclusion of banning kosher slaughter, known as shechita, is implicit because kosher slaughter does not involve stunning the animal.

Le Pen’s support for an overall ban on religious slaughter is consistent with her previously stated positions on other matters of religion and state. At one point, Le Pen called for Jews to take part in the struggle against radical Islam by accepting a ban on publicly wearing the kippah, a traditional Jewish skullcap.

“Maybe they will do with just wearing a hat, but it would be a step in the effort to stamp out radical Islam in France,” Le Pen said.

In response to her statement on a ritual slaughter ban, French Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia accused Le Pen of “fomenting hatred and war between the government and religions, as well as inter-religious animosity” with her statement.

“It undermines the foundations on which France was built,” he added.

This past weekend, Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar called for French Jews to leave France in the event of a Le Pen victory in France’s 2017 presidential elections.

By: World Israel News Staff

FranceMarine Le PenRabbi Berel Lazar