Poland's minister of agriculture said he will not bow to activists and ban ritual slaughter in the country.
Polish Agricultural Minister Marek Sawicki said May 16 that banning ritual slaughter would be contrary to the Polish Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.
"Under European Union law, ritual slaughter is acceptable and there is no reason to prohibit it," Sawicki also said.
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Details of the plan emerged in a letter from American al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn to an unidentified recipient. The correspondence was found in the house in Pakistan where al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was shot dead by US forces last year.
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Mohamed, a Toulouse construction worker in his 30s, noted Merah reportedly turned to radicalism after being rejected twice by the army. "You think that's only because of the dumb things he did as a kid?" he asked. "Your name and the color of your skin also count."
Mohamed said divisions in French society were widening. "There are also big tensions between the communities," he said, referring to Muslims and Jews. "This sort of event, given how it's distorted in the media, will make that worse."
euronews: “From the point of view of communities, in this case the Jewish and Muslim communities, what psychological interplay is involved in these cases?”
Romano: “It can lead to people feeling like very persecuted victims, along the lines of, ‘we were killed because we’re Jews!’ Or: ‘we were killed because we’re Muslim!’ There are various confusions. We feel like taking positions. It doesn’t allow much of a margin for trust in the other. Communities hardening feelings that they are being persecuted can make difficulties worse. Here’s an example: the minute of silence observed in schools. There were some very aggressive reactions in some state schools where most of the students are Muslims, because it was a minute of silence related to what had happened in a Jewish school. Aggression can be created when either side feels attacked by the other. Political leaders play an essential role in trying to contain these difficulties, and not making them bigger.”(source)
The letter comes following an interview published on Thursday in the liberal-leaning magazine NEO in which Reepalu discussed the "strong ties" between the Jewish community and the Sweden Democrats, a political party with a clear anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim line which has its roots in Sweden's neo-Nazi movement.
According to Reepalu, "Sweden Democrats have infiltrated the Jewish community in order to push their hate of Muslims".
The statements were immediately dismissed by Fred Kahn, chair of the Jewish Community in Malmö (Judiska församlingen) as "pure fantasy".
Reepalu, a Social Democrat, quickly backtracked on Thursday, admitting to the Dagens Nyheter (DN) daily that he "had no basis" for his claims and that he "shouldn't have said it that way".(source)
Several Muslim and Jewish leaders appeared united on French television after the attack in Toulouse, but officials within the Jewish community have no illusions: French Jews and Muslims are deeply divided.
"Don't tell me French Muslims appreciate Jews - 50 percent of them hate Jews," Rabbi Michel Sarfati told Haaretz on Thursday. The rabbi created the Jewish-Muslim friendship group and has traveled across France for several years preaching moderation.
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Another member of the Jewish-Muslim friendship association was alarmed by Muslims who admire the killer. "To them Mohamed Merah is a hero. Unfortunately, that view isn't as rare as you'd think," he said.(source)
The Bosanski Pokret Nacionalnog Ponosa (Bosnian National Pride Movement), founded about two years ago, describes itself as a National Socialist (Nazi) movement championing white supremacy and Bosnian national revival. What differentiates the BPNP from other European neo-Nazi groups is that it was founded by, and is intended for, Muslim Bosnians – as evident from its spheres of operation, which are listed on its website.(source)
The first murder linked to the gun took place on March 11. Police found the body of Imad Ibn-Ziaten, a 30-year-old staff sergeant of North African descent, dead behind a school in Toulouse. Investigators suspect the off duty serviceman was lured there by his murderer.
Last Thursday a gunman riding a scooter and wearing a black helmet opened fire on three French soldiers in uniform at a shopping mall in Montauban, a city 50 kilometers north of Toulouse. Abel Chennouf, 24, and Mohamed Legouad, 26, both of North African descent, were killed. Loic Liber, 28, of Afro-Caribbean descent, was left in a coma.(source)
Police have opened an inquiry after two synagogues in Paris received a threatening letter, a source close to the probe said Monday, making no link to a shooting at a Jewish school that killed four.
The letter, reading "You are the people of Satan, Hell is waiting for you," was received at one of the synagogues during the weekend and the other on Monday morning, the source said.(source)
Police said a shooting Monday outside a Jewish secondary school in southwestern France had left victims, with eyewitnesses speaking of three killed, two of them children.
A man fled on a motorbike from the scene in Toulouse, where in the same region last week three paratroopers were shot dead by a man on a motorbike.(source)
Police arrested a suspected terrorist in the northern city of Brescia early on Thursday who they believe may have been planning an attack on Milan's synagogue.
The 20-year-old, a Moroccan citizen who has lived in Italy since he was six, is also suspected of setting up secret Facebook pages providing training on making bombs and using weapons for budding terrorists.(source)
France’s prime minister scrambled Wednesday to dispel concerns in the Jewish and Muslim communities after criticizing the ritual slaughter of animals for kosher and halal meat.
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But for many, Fillon’s comments went too far. He hosted Jewish leaders Wednesday and was expected to meet with Muslim leaders Thursday in what appeared to be an attempt to ease concerns about his comments on French radio this week.
The Jewish leaders he met with Wednesday said Fillon assured them that Judaism wasn’t targeted, but insisted they would keep an eye on government policy. France also has a large Jewish community, estimated at about half a million.(source)
Finns Party MP Vesa-Matti Saarakkala is calling for the criminalisation of male circumcision in Finland. In a formal inquiry to the government, Saarakkala says expanding the circumcision ban on girls to include boys is an issue of fundamental rights.(source)
France's Jews and Muslims united Tuesday to complain they were being used as pawns in a presidential election increasingly dominated by bitter disputes over national identity and ritual slaughter.
"France's problems are so major, as we are in a period of crisis, so how can the issue of kosher meat and halal meat be a major problem for France?" asked an exasperated Grand Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim.
For its part, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) slammed what it said was the use of Muslims as "scapegoats" in the election campaign in which halal slaughter of animals has become a hot-button issue.(source)
France’s prime minister urged Muslims and Jews to consider scrapping their halal and kosher slaughter laws on Monday as President Nicolas Sarkozy and his allies stepped up their efforts to woo far-right voters.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon made the suggestion after Sarkozy called at the weekend for butchers to clearly label meat slaughtered according to religious laws. Jewish and Muslim leaders criticised the government for stoking the debate.
The Dexia Bank of Belgium was bought out by the Belgian government last year in a bailout, and since it is no longer part of the Dexia group it needed a new name.
According to DeMorgan.be, one of the names on the shortlist was Symmon or a variant like Symon or Symona, to give the bank a more personalized flavor. A human name like Symmon would push the idea that the bank is simple to use, has good service and is reliable.
But there were two objections to that name.
One is that it was not particularly Belgian, which many desired.
The other was that the name Symmon was too - Jewish!
Although market analysis showed that the resistance of the Muslim community [to the name] is not insurmountable, the Dexia marketers saw the connotation as a major limitation.(source)
An orthodox Jew has been found not guilty of failing to produce an ID card because it was against his religious principles to carry any object on Saturday – the Jewish sabbat - the Telegraaf reports.
The Hague appeal court ruled on Friday the man should not be prosecuted for failing to prove his identity as required by police. He had faced a €150 fine.
‘This religious requirement is more important than the requirement to meet Dutch laws,’ the court press spokesman told the paper.
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While many Jews may gravitate to the Socialist candidate in the upcoming elections, few are likely to vote for Le Pen, whose far-right party is seen as hostile to Jews despite her attempts to distance the party from its anti-Semitic past and its founder, her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. Le Pen, who wants to outlaw public Muslim prayer, has tried to court Jewish voters, but Jewish community leaders say they won’t bite.