The head of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association (EJA), Rabbi Menachem Margolin, branded as ‘’dubious, unsetting, and running counter to evidence’’ decision by the Flemish Parliament to effectively ban Kosher meat slaughter in Belgium by January 2019.

The Flemish Parliament voted by a large majority to ban slaughter without stunning by January 2019. The Parliament in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium, is expected to follow suite with a vote in April.

In a statement , Rabbi Margolin, whose Association respresents many thousands of Jews across Europe, declared: “I find it dubious and unsettling that religious slaughter can generate such a huge amount of publicity and media scaremongering.’’

“Kosher meat is responsible for a minute fraction of the cattle slaughtered in Belgium. Minute. Not only that, when compared to the meat most Europeans buy in the supermarket - which equates to mass animal slaughter - Kosher, with minimizing the suffering of the animal as its very core, represents truly humane slaughter. This does not even mention the abhorrent ways most animals are shipped around Europe in containers for non-Kosher meat,’’ he said.

For Rabbi Margolin, ‘’this decision has nothing to do with animals and everything to do with targeting Jews and Jewish practices, which have been part of the fabric of European society for millennia.’’

He noted that the European Food Safety authority found that the failure rate for the much-trumpeted penetrating captive bolt stunning in conventional mechanical slaughter may be as high as 6.6%, and up to 31% for non-penetrating captive bolt and electric stunning. ‘’This equates to millions of animals each year that experience cruel and unnecessary suffering. But there are no campaigns on this. Even though these figures massively outnumber the amount of animals killed per year in Belgium for Kosher meat,’’ Margolin stressed.

“There will always be a discussion about what can be learned from scientific evidence, and the Jewish communities across Europe are always ready to discuss this, but it is simply a falsehood, and a dangerous one at that, to suggest that banning ritual slaughter is a key part of animal welfare. So let’s stop this pretence.’’

The EJA leader said his organization will take his message across Belgium and the entire EU ‘’to ensure that such proposals are not put in place and are deemed as unnecessary and deeply discriminatory.”