B’nai B’rith International urges the upper house of the Dutch Parliament to reject a measure to ban the ritual slaughter of animals. The measure passed the lower house on June 28.

The move is an assault on millennium-old practices that will force Dutch Jews and Muslims to choose between giving up meat or eating meat that does not conform to their dietary laws, marking an unacceptable assault on religious freedom.

Under the ban, animals would have to be stunned before they could be slaughtered. This practice would violate the rules of kashrut.

The Animal Rights Party backed the measure, claiming the ritual slaughter method is more painful to the animal. Many experts believe that religious slaughter, in which the animal is not stunned first, is more humane than stunned slaughter.

We urge the upper chamber of Parliament to consider the scientific evidence before it votes on the measure in September.