François Hollande-Hassan Rouhani Elysée Lunch Binned Over 'Wine Row'

THE TELEGRAPH: Official lunch between the presidents during the Iranian president's historic trip to Paris next week scrapped after French decline request to serve halal meal and no wine

Wine is considered a key ingredient of France's global prestige and the French president perhaps its ultimate ambassador.

So when Iran's president asked for bottles of Bordeaux and Burgundy to be removed from the table at the Elysée Palace during his historic trip next week, the answer was a polite "non".

Hassan Rouhani is visiting Paris as part of a four-day tour of Italy and France beginning November 14, making him the first Iranian president to travel to Europe in a decade.

He had been due to join François Hollande for a formal lunch at the presidential palace on November 17, but the meal was scrapped after the Elysée reportedly rejected Iran's request to serve a halal meal with no wine. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Tuesday, November 10, 2015

LE MONDE : Hassan Rohani refuse de participer à un repas à l’Elysée où sera servi du vin » | Par Yves-Michel Riols | mardi 10 novembre 2015

Vets Urge Shops to Label Halal Meat after Mass Public Outcry – But Will Cameron Act?

Some 72 per cent of people back the labelling of halal meat,
according to a new survey

DAILY EXPRESS: VETS have called for supermarkets and butchers to label meat from halal abattoirs after a mass public outcry.

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) said that shoppers had a right to know whether their meat came from animals which were not stunned before being slaughtered.

Their calls came after a European Commission survey revealed that 72 per cent of people back the labelling of halal meat.

An EU directive requires animals to be stunned, but Britain was granted exemption for religious communities.

The religious slaughter of goats and sheep rose by 60 per cent between 2011 and 2013 – and some is sold into the general market.

But John Blackwell of the BVA said that not labelling halal meat "takes away the individual's right to make an informed decision".

The government has repeatedly ducked the issue, with the Conservative manifesto even promising to "protect methods of religious slaughter".

Last year David Cameron said that he was "very happy to eat halal meat", adding: "While I am prime minister of this country, halal is safe in Britain." Read on and comment » | Tom Parfitt | Tuesday, June 09, 2015

It's Up To Retailers Whether They Clearly Label Halal Products, No 10 Says

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Downing Street says that David Cameron does not support compulsory labelling of halal products and that he has no concerns about the meat he buys or eats in restaurants

David Cameron has refused to call for clearer labelling of halal products in supermarkets and restaurants.

Downing Street has said that the Prime Minister has “no concerns” about the meat that he buys and said it is for retailers and restaurants to decide whether to provide more information about halal products.

It came just hours after Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, called for clearer labelling of all halal meat products.

Mr Clegg said that while he had “no problem” eating a pizza with halal meat, it would be “relatively straightforward” for businesses to tell people how the meat they were eating “arrived on their plates”.

His comments echoed those made by religious leaders, who have said that shoppers must be told exactly how animals have been killed through clear labelling on food packaging.

In a letter to the Telegraph, the faith leaders suggested that all menus and packets should specify how animals have been slaughtered regardless of whether they are kosher or halal.

Their intervention follows disclosures that diners have been unknowingly served halal chicken in Pizza Express and other restaurant chains.

More than 70 per cent of all New Zealand lamb in supermarkets is from halal abattoirs – a fact not stated on labelling. » | Peter Dominiczak, Assistant Political Editor | Thursday, May 08, 2014

France's Le Pen: Ban Non-pork Meals in Schools

Marine Le Pen, leader of the Front National

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Leader of France's far-Right party says schools should not pander to Jewish and Muslim children by offering non-Pork alternatives for lunch

School canteens will no longer offer non-pork meal options in towns where France's anti-immigration far-right Front National (FN) party won local elections, its leader Marine Le Pen has said.

Mrs Le Pen reignited debate on a sensitive issue about the substitution meals targeting mainly Muslim and Jewish pupils for whom pork is taboo.

"We will accept no religious requirements in the school lunch menus," Mrs Le Pen told RTL radio. "There is no reason for religion to enter into the public sphere."

She defended the decision saying it was necessary to "save secularism". » | Saturday, April 05, 2014

THE INDEPENDENT: French National Front to stop Muslim and Jewish pupils having pork-free school dinners: 'We will not accept any religious demands in school menus,' the party's leader Marine Le Pen told a radio station » | Kashmira Gander | Saturday, April 05, 2014

LE POINT: Marine Le Pen veut imposer le porc dans les cantines : Marine Le Pen promet que ses nouveaux élus locaux "rétabliront les menus avec porc dans les cantines" s'il en a été supprimé. » | Source AFP | vendredi 04 avril 2014

End Religious Slaughter of Animals without Stunning First, Urges Top Vet

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The religious slaughter of animals should be banned if Muslims and Jews do not agree to stun all the animals unconscious first to minimise their suffering, Britain's top vet said

Religious slaughter of animals to produce halal and kosher meat should be banned if more humane methods are not adopted, the leader of Britain’s vets has said.

John Blackwell, who took over as president elect of the British Veterinary Association (BVA) last year, claimed killing animals by letting them bleed to death after slitting their throats causes unnecessary suffering.

He called on Muslims and Jews to allow the livestock to be stunned unconscious before they are killed.

The farm vet said the ritual slaughter of poultry, sheep and cattle which are still conscious should be outlawed, as it is in Denmark[.]

“As veterinary surgeons, it is one of the most important issues on our radar. This is something that can be changed in an instant.,” he told The Times [£]. » | Miranda Prynne, News Reporter | Thursday, March 06, 2014

Denmark Bans Halal and Kosher Slaughter as Minister Says ‘Animal Rights Come Before Religion’

New law, denounced as 'anti-Semitism' by Jewish leaders,
comes after country controversially slaughtered a giraffe
in public and fed him to lions

THE INDEPENDENT: Denmark’s government has brought in a ban on the religious slaughter of animals for the production of halal and kosher meat, after years of campaigning from welfare activists.

The change to the law, announced last week and effective as of yesterday, has been called “anti-Semitism” by Jewish leaders and “a clear interference in religious freedom” by the non-profit group Danish Halal.

European regulations require animals to be stunned before they are slaughtered, but grants exemptions on religious grounds. For meat to be considered kosher under Jewish law or halal under Islamic law, the animal must be conscious when killed.

Yet defending his government’s decision to remove this exemption, the minister for agriculture and food Dan Jørgensen told Denmark’s TV2 that “animal rights come before religion”. » | Adam Withnall | Tuesday, February 18, 2014

NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY: Denmark bans religious slaughter » | Friday, February 14, 2014

WORLD BULLETIN: Denmark to ban halal and kosher slaughter methods » | World Bulletin / News Desk | Friday, February 14, 2014

Halal Food: A Market Waiting to Be Tapped Into?

THE GUARDIAN: Halal meat accounts for up to 15% of meat sales in the UK yet the options for Muslim foodies, or 'haloodies', are limited. Can a new food festival change that?

For the Oxford dictionary, a foodie is a person "with a particular interest in food; a gourmet". Collins goes for "having an enthusiastic interest in the preparation and consumption of good food". Imran Kausar fits both, but with qualifications: he won't touch alcohol, can't eat pork or pork products or byproducts, and must avoid blood, most carnivorous animals, the meat of animals not slaughtered according to certain rules, or any food contaminated with the above.

Kausar, Glasgow-born of Pakistani parents, is a halal foodie. It's a group of people now so numerous and, he believes, so poorly served that he and his friend Noman Khawaja have not only coined a new term to describe them – "Haloodies" – but organised a festival for them: London's first, and the world's largest, Halal food festival, which takes place at the capital's Excel Centre this weekend and confidently expects to draw 20,000 paying visitors.

"There's a huge market out there, waiting to be tapped," he says. A medical doctor by training who has also worked in investment banking and the pharmaceutical industry, he sees himself as typical of a new generation of young, middle-class Muslim consumers now contributing to a growing demand for high quality and varied halal food.

"Our parents came over in the 60s and basically put up with what there was," he says. "Now there are many people like me: well educated, good jobs, decent incomes ... and we want things. I want to go out with friends – with non-Muslim friends, too – and with my family of course, and be able to eat halal French, Japanese, Thai, pizza, like everyone else. Michelin-starred food, if I want, why not? Read on and comment » | Jon Henley | Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Move Over Organic – The New Big Business in Food Is Halal

THE INDEPENDENT: This week's Halal Food Festival is attracting interest among a growing group of foodies beyond the Muslim community

Their culinary buzzword is provenance; they know their Jamie from their Nigella; and they have the spare cash to splash on eating out, if they could only find the right restaurants. The catch is that any meat they eat must be halal, on either religious or taste grounds.

Meet the Haloodies, a growing group of food lovers who are bored of curries, fed up with kebabs, and long for nothing more exotic than a shepherd's pie. Their increasing spending power has sparked a race among retailers, wholesalers and canny restaurateurs to carve out a chunk of a market that is worth about £420bn globally.

This week an estimated 20,000 Haloodies will congregate in east London at the Halal Food Festival, the world's first gastronomic celebration of halal produce. All of the UK's major supermarket chains are sending scouts to help them find ways to exploit the trend. Attendees can browse food stalls offering anything from hot dogs and sushi to French and Moroccan dishes without worrying how the meat was killed or even transported.

Imran Kausar, a doctor by training, who masterminded the festival, said British Muslims were no longer "economic migrants trying to make do [but] affluent and aspirational members of the middle class [who wanted to] expand their culinary horizon." He added: "While typical British dishes have got more exotic, Muslims want the reverse. We want regular stuff like shepherd's pie, which we see everywhere but we can't try." Read on and comment » | Susie Mesure | Sunday, September 22, 2013

Pat Condell: Boycott Halal

Islam in Denmark: Of Mosques and Meat

THE ECONOMIST: Denmark’s largest religious minority gets its first proper prayer house

ISLAM and immigration have slipped out of Denmark’s political discourse since the centre-left government led by Helle Thorning-Schmidt came to power two years ago and dismantled the ministry for refugees and immigrants. Now they are back in the news, because the country’s first big purpose-built mosque is soon to open its doors.

The mosque, jammed between a railway line and a back street in Copenhagen’s gritty north-west, comes complete with a dome and a minaret, even though local by-laws prohibit any noisy call to prayer. The news of its opening took many Danes by surprise. Denmark’s Muslims have tried for years to have a proper place to worship, but previous attempts failed or were foiled. » | Saturday, August 17, 2013 | Copenhagen | From the print edition

Denmark Bans Meatballs to Accommodate Muslims

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: "The next thing could be that Danish nurses are forced to go under cover as Muslim women in order to please Muslim patients." — Martin Henriksen, Spokesman, Danish People's Party [DF]

One of the largest hospitals in Denmark has admitted to serving only halal beef -- meat that is slaughtered in accordance with strict Islamic guidelines -- to all of its patients regardless of whether or not they are Muslim.

The revelation that Danes are being forced to eat Islamically slaughtered meat at public institutions has triggered a spirited nationwide debate about how far Denmark should go to accommodate the estimated 250,000 Muslim immigrants now living in the country.

The halal food row erupted in July when the Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet reported that Hvidovre Hospital near Copenhagen has been secretly serving only halal-slaughtered meat for the sake of its Muslim patients, for the past ten years. The hospital serves more than 40,000 patients annually, many (if not most) of whom presumably are non-Muslim.

Halal -- which in Arabic means lawful or legal -- is a term designating any object or action that is permissible according to Islamic Sharia law. In the context of food, halal meat is derived from animals slaughtered by hand according to methods stipulated in Islamic religious texts.

One such halal method, called dhabihah, consists of making a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck that cuts the jugular vein, leaving the animal to bleed to death. Much of the controversy involving halal stems from the fact that Sharia law bans the practice of stunning the animals before they are slaughtered. Pre-slaughter stunning renders the animals unconscious and is said to lessen their pain.

Amid a surge of public outrage over the decision to serve only halal beef, Hvidovre Hospital's vice president, Torben Mogensen, has been unapologetic. "We have many patients from different ethnic backgrounds, which we must take into account, and it is impossible to have both the one and the other kind of beef," he says. » | Soeren Kern | Friday, August 16, 2013

Nigel Farage Says Britain Is 'Terrified' Of Upsetting Muslims

THE HUFFINGTON POST: Ukip leader Nigel Farage today denied he was jumping on a political bandwagon by supporting a primary school dinner lady sacked for accidentally serving pork to a Muslim pupil.

Alison Waldock, 51, has said she forgot the dietary needs of seven-year-old Khadija Darr when she asked if she wanted roast gammon, and the youngster said yes.

The headteacher of Queen Edith Primary School in Cambridge spotted the mistake as the youngster was about to eat her lunch and swept the plate away from her.

But after the girl's parents were told about the mistake, they complained to the school's catering firm and Ms Waldock, a dinner lady for 11 years, was suspended and then dismissed.

Mr Farage told ITV1's Daybreak programme: "It's outrageous, isn't it? We've all made mistakes in our lives and in our jobs, and I can imagine 250 kids coming through chattering, it's noisy, you've got time pressures on you, and mistakes get made.

"The reason that Alison's been sacked is that we're so terrified in this country of causing offence to anybody, particularly the Muslim religion." » | Press Association | Thursday, August 01, 2013

THE HUFFINGTON POST: Alison Waldock Dinner Lady Row: Muslim Parents Speak Out Over 'Gammongate' » | Mehdi Hassan | Friday, August 02, 2013

Related »

Family Who Got Dinner Lady Fired after She Accidentally Served Their Child Gammon Are Emigrating to Muslim Country

MAIL ONLINE: Zahid and Rumana Darr asked for Alison Waldock to be dismissed / Miss Waldock accidentally served pork, forbidden by Islam, to their daughter / The Darrs are now moving to the conservative UAE

The parents involved in the sacking of a school dinner lady who mistakenly served gammon to their daughter are to emigrate to a Muslim country.

Alison Waldock, 51, was accused of gross misconduct and says she lost her job after Zahid and Rumana Darr asked that she be dismissed.

Today it can be revealed that Mr and Mrs Darr and their three children are emigrating to the United Arab Emirates later this month. The family have chosen to move from their home in Cambridge to Sharjah, where alcohol is banned and there are the strictest decency laws in the emirates.

Mrs Darr, 33, wrote on her Facebook page: ‘So we’re leaving the country end of August for good … We’re moving to Sharjah. We want to go relax in a nice hot Muslim country where the kids know their identities as Muslims.’

The move comes after Mr Darr’s recruitment firm was closed down in June when he was found to be working as a company director illegally.

Following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, he was banned from holding company directorships after he was caught pocketing over £500,000 owed in tax in 2008.

His firm Interecruit (UK) went into liquidation after Mr Darr, 36, ‘diverted’ money owed to the taxman in VAT, income tax and national insurance to another of his companies.

The nine-year ban was imposed in February 2011 but in May this year he was found to be operating a similar company named Interecruit (GB), which supplied agricultural workers. (+ video) » | John Stevens | Thursday, August 01, 2013

Pork Found in School Halal Lamb Burgers
THE GUARDIAN: Burgers produced by Doncaster-based Paragon Quality Foods withdrawn from schools in Leicester

Halal lamb burgers have been withdrawn from schools in Leicester after tests revealed a sample contained pork.

The decision follows DNA tests on a batch of frozen burgers manufactured by Doncaster-based Paragon Quality Foods in January, Leicester council said on Thursday.

Assistant mayor Vi Dempster said: "I am appalled by this situation. It is disgraceful that none of us can have confidence in the food we eat.

"We regret any distress this will cause families and staff, and would like to reassure them that robust action is being taken to address this serious matter." » | Press Association | Thursday, May 09, 2013

The Secret Halal Meat Scandal

Dinner Lady Sacked for Serving Muslim Children with Non-halal Meat at Multi-faith School

MAIL ONLINE: Parents forced headmaster to apologise for 'insulting' their faith / Birmingham school has both Muslim students and those of other faiths / All 1,400 students at Moseley School are served Halal meat only

A dinner lady has been sacked for accidentally serving non-halal meat to Muslim students at a multi-faith school.

The incident outraged parents at the 'halal-only' Moseley School in Birmingham, and they have forced the headmaster to apologise for 'insulting' their faith.

The member of staff has been dismissed after the 'unintentional error' on December 12 last year recently came to light.

All 1,400 students at Moseley school are served halal meat, regardless of their religion.

It has not been specified what type of meat was served, but the person responsible for serving the food was dismissed following a disciplinary hearing last Monday.

Parents were informed of the mistake this month, and reacted with outrage, forcing headteacher Carl Jansen to apologise for the ‘unintentional error'.

However, Muslim parents are demanding others be held accountable for the mistake, which they [say] call 'an insult to our faith’.

‘The school have [sic] failed the children,' one parent said yesterday. ‘How did this meal get into the school system to be fed to the children?

‘It's just shocking that dietary requirements haven't been met.' Read on and comment » | Sara Malm | Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Bangers Ban in Hundreds of Schools
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Pork is being banned from school dinners even where the majority of parents have no religious objection to it.

Head teachers are deciding for “cultural” and “religious” reasons to drop traditional sausages and ham from children’s lunches.

One council has issued "best practice" advice to all schools in its area to “ban all pork products in order to cater for the needs of staff and pupils who are not permitted contact with these for religious reasons”.

The guidance, issued in Haringey, north London, does not specify what proportion of a school’s intake should object to the meat - which is not eaten by devout Muslims or Jews - before it is dropped.

The policy was criticised last night by MPs and farmers’ leaders, who accused head teachers of depriving other children of a choice and pointed out that all schools already offer vegetarian options.

Pabulum, a school caterer in south-east England, said that around 20 of the 48 primary schools it supplied chose only non-pork lunches.

Most serve no halal or kosher meat, however, so many Muslim or Jewish pupils would not be able to eat the dishes anyway.

In Luton, 23 out of 57 schools which contract their dinners from the local authority have a “no pork” policy. In Bradford the figure is 24 out of 160; in Newham, east London, it is 25 out of 75; in Tower Hamlets, east London, it is 85 out of 90. In Haringey’s infant, junior and primary schools, 37 out of 47 serve no pork. Read on and comment » | Julie Henry, Education Correspondent | Sunday, June 17, 2012

Religious Butchering Now Commonplace in Britain, Leading Vet Claims

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Non-Muslim Britons are being forced to eat animals slaughtered in "appalling" pain because religious butchering is becoming so common, a former chief vet has claimed.

Prof Bill Reilly, ex-president of the British Veterinary Association, said cutting the throats of lambs, chickens and other animals without stunning them breaches legal requirements because it causes significant pain, fear and distress.

British and EU law permits the method of religious slaughter to account for Muslim and Jewish dietary practices, but stipulates that the animals must not be caused "unnecessary suffering."

Prof Reilly called for the practice to be dramatically curbed, suggesting that some slaughterhouses are refusing to stun animals simply to cut costs, rather than for religious reasons.

Writing in the Veterinary Record [Full text £], he said the number of animals having their throats slit while still fully conscious – a practice known as non-stun slaughter – was "unacceptable".

Referring to a report by the former Animal Welfare Council he claimed that "such a massive injury could result in very significant pain and distress", particularly because the throat has a large number of nerve endings. Read on and comment » | Nick Collins, Science Correspondent | Friday, May 04, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Dutch parliament votes to ban ritual slaughter of animals: The Dutch parliament on Tuesday voted to ban ritual slaughter in landmark animal rights legislation that has been compared to Nazi persecution of the Jews by the country's Chief Rabbi. » | Bruno Waterfield | Tuesday, June 28, 2012

THE TELEGRAPH: Ban urged on kosher and halal butchery: Muslim and Jewish methods of slaughter, involving slitting animals' throats and letting them bleed to death, should be banned immediately, Government advisers said yesterday. ¶ The Farm Animal Welfare Council, which advises ministers on livestock cruelty, said in a report published yesterday that the way in which halal and kosher meats are produced was intrinsically cruel and caused severe suffering for sheep, goats and cattle. » | Robert Uhlig, Farming Correspondent | Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Related here, here, and here

This is Halal
This video filmed by GAIA exposes the suffering caused by the Halal method of animal slaughter.

As you can see the animals are not stunned before they are killed. Many animals endure several minutes of sheer panic and agony before they die. This slaughter is happening around the world including Europe. It is also happening in the U.K. This meat is also being imported to the U.K. in large quantities RIGHT NOW. It is being sold in restaurants, pubs, schools, supermarkets, and many fast food outlets across the UK - completely unlabeled.

You may well have eaten this stuff without realising it.

In some abattoirs the animals are stunned so that they are partially paralysed but not rendered unconscious, so called 'stun to stun' This kind of stunning can often be more cruel as the animal cannot express the pain it is suffering.

Please write to your MP and demand a ban on Halal and Kosher slaughter in Europe and clear labeling of un-stunned meat: www.writetothem.com

Halal Meat Controversy in France
Halal meat, or meat slaughtered in line with Muslim tradition, is at the centre of a political controversy.

Quick - a fast-food French restaurant chain - is testing out a new niche market, withdrawing all pork products from the menu and serving only halal meat in some of its branches.

Experts say that with more than 5 million French Muslims who are potential customers, Quick is targeting a booming market: the $7.5bn halal business.

But the mayor of Roubaix, a French town near the northern city of Lille , has launched a law suit against the food chain, arguing that it constituted "discrimination" against non-Muslims.

And Marine Le Pen, the vice-president of the far-right National Front party, has warned of "Islamisation".

Al Jazeera's Estelle Youssouffa reports from Paris. [February 21, 2010]