AJC Praises Polish Court's Removal of Ban on Kosher Slaughter

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Dec 10, 2014, 03:04 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC today praised the Polish Constitutional Tribunal for invalidating the ban on kosher slaughter that had been in effect in Poland since the beginning of 2013.

Up until that time, Jewish kosher and Muslim halal slaughter had been exempt from a law that required the stunning of animals before slaughter. The Tribunal ruled that eliminating the exemption amounted to religious discrimination, as Judaism and Islam require the animal to be conscious at the time of slaughter.

It is expected that the country's parliament will now act on legislation explicitly legalizing kosher and halal slaughter.

David Harris, AJC Executive Director, called the decision "a great triumph for religious liberty and a tribute to Poland."

AJC had advocated reversal of the ban since it went into effect nearly two years ago, asserting that it violated the religious freedom of Jews and Muslims alike and sent an unwelcome message about their place in Polish society.

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SOURCE American Jewish Committee