Jewish communities all over Europe can breathe a sigh of relief, after Poland’s Constitutional court ruled in favor of a petition to reverse a ban on ritual slaughter in the country.
The move, to essentially quash the Polish Parliament’s July 2013 decision, secures the future of kosher slaughter in Poland, after Parliament last year voted contrary to the government’s efforts to safeguard the practice – a decision that left Poland’s Jewish communities in turmoil and threatened to set a dangerous precedent for neighboring European communities.
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, General Director of the European Jewish Association, praised the court’s ruling and said: “This is a very important day, not only for the Jewish community in Poland, but for all European Jews. We were able to prevent a dangerous precedent that would have affected all European Jewry.”
“In the last few years, the European Jewish community has been under attack from a series of anti-Jewish laws, that, if passed, would seriously restrict the ability of many Jews who wish to lead a Jewish life,” added Rabbi Margolin.
In October, Rabbi Margolin called on Poland’s newly elected Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz to “use all available means to garner a majority of parliamentarians in order to reverse the bill on ritual slaughter”, after a long period of inactivity, following the November 2013 agreement by the Polish Constitutional Court to reconsider the legislation, led to mounting concerns over the future of ritual slaughter in Poland and beyond.
The EJA led an extensive campaign throughout the past year, aimed at lobbying relevant authorities to accept Polish Ombudsman Professor Irena Lipowicz’s opinion in support of ritual slaughter, after the Polish parliament voted to outlaw the historic practice, with Rabbi Margolin meeting with myriad Ambassadors to the EU, as well as former Polish PM Jerzy Buzek and Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok to garner their support for EJA’s campaign for freedom of religion in Poland and throughout the continent.
The European Jewish Association has previously campaigned against legislation to restrict the practice of ritual slaughter in Denmark, and, following Rabbi Margolin’s meetings with European Commissioners, including Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg, the Commission promised to seek clarification on any legislation which proposes to restrict the practice of religious slaughter.
