Islamic Terrorism Is A Kind Of Ritual Slaughter – So Let’s Ban Ritual Slaughter

By Barqingupta Rongtree, delegate, European Parliament

Systemic solutions are always better than local remedies when it comes to widespread problems. While many of us, myself included, long hoped that the spate of Islamist terrorism aimed at Europe would subside as we showed a welcoming face to migrants, it turned out that something far more profound and far-reaching is at play, and we must confront it: the terrorist attacks are a ritualized form of mass murder, a kind of ritual slaughter – and we must therefore implement a Continent-wide ban on ritual slaughter of all kinds to eliminate the phenomenon.

Perpetrators of these atrocities invoke religious principles to justify the attacks. It is true that we Europeans have striven to make our new immigrants feel as welcome and free as possible, which requires granting Islamic communities great leeway in observance of their faith. But when it comes to certain principles, even we tolerant Europeans must draw a line. One of those principles is wrongheaded, centralized policymaking ill-suited to the variability of local circumstances, and predicated on partial or distorted readings of the situation. Something will have to give. In this case, since Jews will be harmed, that factor tips the scales in favor of banning ritual slaughter.

Critics will no doubt question whether prohibiting all ritual slaughter, including Jewish ritual slaughter, is a suitable reaction to attacks not perpetrated by Jews. But those critics would then have us ban only Islamic ritual slaughter, which would violate another cardinal principle – not to discriminate on religious grounds. It would be unthinkable.

Moreover, including Jewish ritual slaughter in the ban would acknowledge the grievances Muslims have had against Jews as represented by Israel. If we are going to take collective measures against the Muslim community in Europe, the least we can do is to equate the atrocities we’re addressing with the behavior of the Jewish State. If we are going to hold Muslims collectively responsible for the terrorism perpetrated by some of them, we cannot remain true to our cultural and historical ethos by neglecting to hold Jews collectively responsible for perceived offenses by other Jews in Israel.

Of course some questions of implementation remain, among them what measures would ensure that such a ban would prove effective, given that even under current law, murder is prohibited, yet that has not deterred the attackers? That, of course, is a challenge for law enforcement, not policymakers, and I am a policymaker. Others will address it in due course. In the meantime, we parliamentarians have some posturing to do, and I must devote attention to a new proposal to ban circumcision.

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