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An Austrian State May Require Registration for Orthodox Jews to Buy Kosher Meats
When I read the headline, I felt nauseous. Visions of yellow stars drifted through my head. Before I completely overreacted, I thought I should check out the facts; after checking, I was less alarmed, but not by much.
In Lower Austria, Gottfried Waldhäusl, a cabinet minister and Freedom Party member in the state of Lower Austria, is in charge of animal welfare as well as other responsibilities. A draft decree has been issued there to ban sales of kosher meat except to those people who register for permits who can prove they are observant Jews. He insisted that these requirements were necessary from the point of view of protecting animals.
Critics of the production of kosher meats declare that the practices to produce kosher meats are cruel. Observant Jews, however, along with other requirements, require that the animal be killed in one blow, to prevent suffering.
Klaus Schneeberger, the regional leader of the ruling Austrian People’s party of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, has said the plan will not be implemented. Complications may arise since the Austrian People’s Party entered a coalition agreement with the Freedom Party or FPO last year following a federal election. The FPO was created by a former Nazi SS soldier in the 1950s. The party has been accused of using anti-Semitic rhetoric although it has most recently tried to distance itself from this kind of speech.
A couple of factors related to the current climate strike me: the focus of this decree has been on the Jews, even though it will likely affect Muslims, too. Some right-wing secret student fraternities, which have existed for many years, embrace anti-Semitic rhetoric. The Forum Against Anti-Semitism in Austria received 503 reported cases of anti-Semitism. On one level, anti-Semitic acts are hardly unheard of in Europe; on the other hand, this combination of factors is hard to ignore.
A politically correct tweet was issued by the Austrian Ambassador to Israel saying:
It has given rise to great concerns in Austria’s Jewish and Muslim community. Leading politicians from Lower Austria have thus gone on record and made it clear that they will find a solution together with these communities—and allay all fears!
Why am I not reassured?
Published in Politics
Hey, I love kosher hot dogs. Will I have to covert if I want to order one on a trip to Austria?
As for “protecting animals”, French butchers are under attack by militant vegans. Maybe if France passed laws forcing meat eaters to register, it would “protect” the animals there too.
There has been too much intellectual goose-stepping in Europe over the last few years, and it bodes ill for humanity – not just Jewish people, but for all of humanity. If Reverend Niemöller were alive today, his famous quote would began:
“First they came for the butchers, but I did not speak out because I was not a butcher.”
No kidding.
Thanks for the news, Susan. Time for more prayer.
Thanks, Bryan. I actually do hope I’m overreacting . . .
I am an expert on overreacting and I don’t think you are.
Like I said earlier, the concept of ‘animal rights’ leads to the devaluation of human life.
It goes further than that, however; this is in the same category as attempts to ban circumcision; part of it is base antisemitism (and principled anti-Islamic beliefs crossing the line into unprincipled hatred of Muslims), but even more its emblematic of a society and civilization rejecting its classical liberal foundations, of which religious liberty is arguably the most important aspect (both in itself, and as the right most other rights are conceptually derived from).
And before any oversensitive member of my irreligious kindred say anything, lack of religious belief and practice is included in the concept of ‘religious freedom’, as it encompasses free thought and the capacity to freely pursue truth and meaning in one’s life, and recognition of this as perhaps the most integral component of both liberty and personhood. It deserves mention, however, that this movement away from our most important rights in the West is mostly the result of anti-religious worldviews, either through direct hostility, or a simple lack of respect or consideration.
Because tyranny always wears clothing virtuous to someone. And there is so much virtue signaling around these days.
Beautifully said, @lowtechredneck. All of it is alarming to me: the efforts to compromise freedom, including the freedom to choose religion or not. I, too, thought about efforts to stop circumcision; it also is clearly anti-Semitic in an effort to establish dominance of secular rule of law. I also especially worry about how the seeds of anti-Semitism never seem to die; they just go into hibernation, waiting to be revived and fed. Thank you.
Including our “progressive friends.” Can you imagine calling them out as tyrants? I’d love to. Thanks, @Rodin.
Austrians seem to have the most Germanic culture of German nations. Good and bad.
I agree with Bryan. You are not overreacting.
We must have these evil ideas called to our attention ASAP. Maybe we can’t stamp out the flames of hate in Austria, but this sh*tty thinking will eventually reach our shores, and we need to be able to recognize it and respond accordingly.
I used the words “seeds of anti-Semitism, but it’s more like weeds that keep popping up. It seems to be an endless; you pull up one weed and three more pop up. And before you know it, they’re everywhere. I’m not reassured by the Austrian People’s party leader, or by Austria’s ambassador to Israel: no worries, no worries. I always recommend vigilance, not paranoia.
I have that impression, too. Any thoughts on why that might be so, @cliffordbrown?
That is the strangest story. What is also strange to me, but maybe nothing to Europeans, is while some say Europe has gone just socialistic, aren’t the various governments infiltrated (I thinks that’s an appropriate word) with fanatical fringe that lean toward the dangerous – communism, Nazism, fascism, etc.? It’s why I posted about the importation of socialism to the US – how it is becoming more attractive to the younger generations who lack faith, and knowledge of history. The antisemitism on campuses is known, as well as the boycotting of Israeli goods by companies. No – this is not business as usual – it’s the targeting of Jews, Christians, and they’re doing it through religious observance methods – like the baker, and the HHS mandate on contraception, which left Catholic hospitals etc in a quandry.
Yes indeed. We are all in this together, aren’t we? And this kind of togetherness–discrimination and ridicule–we could all do without. Thanks, FSC.
Prussians I knew long ago would be rolling over in their graves at that thought. These were people who came to the US either pre-WW2 or immediately post.
Perhaps it is a bit of compensation as the older power overshadowed by the newer. On the other hand, it may just be a more unified culture than the conglomeration of Bavarians, Prussians, Hessians, etc. My brief impressions from visits in the late 1980s was that French and Austrian adults dressed with a sense of style, appearances mattered.
I’ve been reading a few articles on this today since this story hit German national media yesterday (and Austrian national media the day before that).
To reiterate/clarify what was in the OP and the Washington Times article, this was a proposed draft regulation. As far as I can tell, nobody in the press has actually gotten a hold of the draft text, but rather it seems like somebody at the agency in question communicated the major details of the draft to the head of the major Jewish lay group in Austria, who then went to the press. So the actual details of this draft are still unknown as far as I can tell.
However, Waldhäuserl, the man in charge of the animal welfare agency, didn’t exactly deny the report either. In fact, his official defense was that a) if it were up to him alone, Schächten (kosher slaughter) would be prohibited as he deems it counter to the spirit of Austria animal welfare laws, and b) his main goal is to use every means possible to reduce the number of animals in his state killed by Schächten.
He then says the real goal of the proposal was to tie the number of animals slaughtered by Schächten to the number of Jews in his state. The context here is that Austria has an incredibly small number of Jews (something like less than 0.1% of its total population), and they almost all live in Vienna (so almost none live in Lower Austria, which is a big agricultural state next to the urban state of Vienna). So he’s angry that so many animals in his state are being killed in a manner that he finds cruel to serve the city slickers from the state next door, and his dream would be that the animals slaughtered in Lower Austria would actually be consumed by Lower Austrian Jews (population: almost zero), while the Viennese can find some other source for their kosher meat.
Great defense, huh?
Some more context:
Apparently (non-Jewish) Austrians of all stripes find Schächten to be beyond the pale, and attempts to keep it to the bare legal minimum go back years and span all political parties.
In essence, the practice is illegal with a religious exception, and so one logical approach to minimizing the practice is to make people who claim the religious exception back it up with proof. This approach might work for groups like handicapped drivers, but not for a religious group that the country once tried to exterminate. So most of the other politicians grappling with this issue have side-stepped actually making people “prove” their Jewish faith – until now.
The officeholder who wrote this draft belongs to the FPÖ, which is the nationalist/populist party in Austria. Interestingly, he holds this position in a state which is actually run by the center-right party (ÖVP), but they needed to form a coalition with the FPÖ and part of that trade is that the junior partner gets a few positions in the government. It looks like the ÖVP gave the FPÖ control over the animal welfare office as a way of keeping them away from any major levers of power in the state government.
So the actual “governor” of Lower Austria belongs to the ÖVP, and has roundly and loudly criticized this proposal, as has the chancellor of Austria, the head of the FPÖ, and really any other politician within shouting range of a microphone.
Sorry for writing the great Austrian novel here on a story that will probably be ancient history by next week.
I don’t get why they object to kosher slaughter? Isn’t it more humane to kill the animal in one go?
There you go again, @katebraestrup— being rational. Tsk, tsk.
Good grief. Thanks so much for filling in the picture, @mendel. It will be interesting to see if the draft shows up. In a way, I hope it disappears into the ether.
Is there a prohibition on non-Jews eating Kosher meat?
Oddly enough, this bill, not only appears to be anti-Semitic, but also seems an intrusion against a farmer, running a business the way they want.
If there is a market for Kosher meet, farmers will seek to meet it. But, maybe in Austrian, that kind of freedom does not exist?
I may be ignorant, but I thought that the process of Kosher meat was less cruel than other meat processes, and that the product was a mark of superior food production.
We take so much for granted here in the US, but this kind of kookery can easily be imported to the US if we don’t pay attention.
Maybe. Maybe not. Even if it does, I feel compelled to shine a light on what is happening so that people know we’re paying attention and we’re not going to just sit back–this time.
Interesting question, @julespa. I don’t know if all farmers can raise the beef, and then they go to places where the ritual butchering can be done. Maybe someone here knows?
I have a Parisian acquaintance who told me he considers Austrians “more German than Germans”. I think you’re spot on about the role of a unified culture. In that respect, Germany better resembles Italy: both are fairly new countries whose citizens still have strong regional loyalties and differences.
I’ve also heard that (historically at least) Vienna was known as a sort of “second Paris” in it’s culture– art, music, fashion, etc…
What’s the point of being virtuous if you can’t use it to bully anyone?
That’s sort of the logical crux here.
From what I understand (and I’ve only read a few Austrian newspaper articles on this over the last few days), Austrian law essentially bans kosher slaughter for being cruel, but provides a religious exception. A few months ago, a state court in Lower Austria apparently interpreted that to mean “only Jews may eat Kosher meat”, which sort of implies that there is indeed a prohibition on non-Jews eating Kosher meat. But it’s a gray area, and one that most bureaucrats had been intentionally keeping gray until now to prevent exactly this embarrassing scenario from happening.
The modern industry standard for humane slaughter is pre-slaughter stunning, which requires technology people in biblical times simply did not have.
Kosher slaughter is so obviously not intended to be cruel to animals that it seems strange to object to it as a cruel practice, even if other ways do cause less suffering. To us, it seems strange to object to a practice as “cruelty” when it’s clearly not going out of its way to be cruel. Europeans seem to be a little different in this respect. For example, consider the naming laws surrounding children.
In the meantime, while the Austrians are worried about animals, Israel is worried about them:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/mossad-thwarted-iranian-plot-to-bomb-opposition-rally-in-france-report/
And just so you know who is the good guy in all of this, Russia will set you straight:
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Russia-concerned-about-military-confrontation-between-Israel-and-Iran-562914