While Pallywood has excellent skills in staging grievance-mongering videos, the people of Gaza truly are suffering. The violence Hamas – a Muslim Brotherhood organization – has inflicted on any Palestinians opposed to its thuggish rule have been victimized, systematically marginalized and even murdered.
And, of course, the schools that they send their children to – the schools we, Westerners, pay for through the UN, brainwash the next generation, ensuring the continuance of the conflict so deeply trenched in religious dogma, no secular process can ever solve it.
For the record: those familiar with the history of the region will know that the land originally granted for the creation of the new state of Israel had, in fact, been divided into an ‘Arab (Palestinian)’ section and the rest of Israel. So, the ‘two state solution’ is, in fact, in place already. The ‘Arab (Palestinian)’ section became known as the kingdom of Jordan.
While the Jews from that area moved to the new, much smaller state of Israel, the combination of the Arab’s resistance to move to Jordan and Jordan’s resistance to accept them is the true cause of the displacement of the now called ‘Palestinians’
But, horrendous and unforgivable as it is, the human suffering in Gaza is not the subject this post. Let’s just stipulate that it exists and hope that the international community (led by the UN) will soon wake up and stop funding Hamas and other oppressors of the Palestinian people and that one day soon, Palestinian children will live in a world where they can freely choose their own religion, without fear of marginalization, injury or death!
And, yes, there have, over the years, surfaced stories of the atrocious treatment of zoo animals in Gaza. But, this post is not about them, either. It’s not that they are not important, but they are visible and their fate has been brought to the world’s attention already.
This post is about many, many more animals: the food animals imported into Gaza.
I must admit, I did not dare to watch the video at this link – but, reading the article, I knew I had to help spread the word about what is happening!
‘The Opposition says footage that appears to show Australian cattle being beaten, stabbed and dragged in Gaza may warrant a suspension of trade licences.’
…
‘”I think anyone who watches this footage and sees images of Australian cattle being stabbed in the eye, having their throats slit while still alive and being taunted and tortured would understand that now is the time to end the live export trade,” he [Greens MP Adam Bandt] said.’
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Halal slaughter must be banned and Halal-slaughtered-meat must be banned from sale in all civilized countries!!!
For those of you who think this will infringe on the right to freedom of religion of Muslims – it will not. Islam, in its wisdom, teaches that if halal food is not available in the country in which a Muslim resides, it is permissible for the Muslim to eat non-halal food. If no transgression is intended, then none has happened!
Thus, halal food is not a requirement for Muslims and banning this horrible, torturous treatment of animals does not infringe on any religious freedom – even if such an infringement were a ground on which to permit unnecessary animal suffering.
Wherever you live – please, let your supermarket and your butcher know that you object to halal meat being sold by them. Contact any food manufacturers who display a halal mark on their product and inform them why you will boycott their products in the future!
Market pressure is the best way to stop this unnecessary animal suffering. Because the question is not ‘Can they think?’ but ‘Can they feel pain?’
Xanthippa's Chamberpot 
December 13, 2013 at 03:50
Xanthippa:
I don’t do internet videos, as I may have mentioned, so I don’t how much cruelty is actually shown in this video.
But come on… the phrasing you quoted is ridiculous. The poor animals are…
“having their throats slit while still alive.”
Well, of course they are: that’s how they kill them.
So they’re being killed while still alive.
Who would have thought?
This is just a way of making something sound horrifying when it’s really quite benign.
But it would only horrify naïve city people who have no first hand experience with death of any kind.
They see a little blood and descend into hysteria.
But in truth, having your throat cut with a quick stroke of a sharp knife, by someone who knows what they’re doing, is one of the best ways to die.
Very fast and very little pain.
I would certainly choose it over wasting away in a hospital bed.
Xanthippa, there are plenty of things to legitimately call Muslims out for.
Halal isn’t one of them.
Firstly, Halal is almost identical to Kosher, but I have yet to hear you call out Jews for eating Kosher, or advocate boycotting companies that sell Kosher foods.
Secondly, do you have any idea what goes on in a typical Western mechanized slaughterhouse? Even in the best ones, about 5% of the animals are not properly stunned, but the relentless mechanical process of skinning and dismembering them proceeds anyway.
That’s when the phrase while still alive carries some real horror!
Both Halal and Kosher methods of slaughter are far more humane.
December 13, 2013 at 10:37
Actually, CodeSlinger, I have condemned Kosher slaughter as well – and more than once.
One big difference for our society is that people who want Kosher food develop their own companies that produce and deliver Kosher foods while people who want Halal food demand that everyone’s food be prepared Halal. That is an important difference for our society, if not for the animals.
Another thing which you have said and which is important is that the knife be in a skilled hand…and that is not the case in much of Halal slaughter. Especially for celebratory meals, each family is supposed to do their own slaughtering, (after the children have been encouraged to bond with the animal) so that the sacrifice is more meaningful.
On these occasions, the streets become places of animal slaughter and literally turn red with blood. The animals are often hamstrung first, so they could not run away from the clumsy and unskilled and cruel slaughter.
Not a ‘skilled hand’…
December 13, 2013 at 15:38
Xanthippa:
Knowing how even-handed you are, I should have taken it for granted that if you condemn halal slaughter, you would also condemn kosher.
And you raise a very valid point in regard to the Jews keeping their customs to themselves, while the Muslims want to impose theirs on everyone.
To be precise, we are discussing dhabihah, the halal method of slaughter. Halal is a general term meaning “permitted/required.” It is the opposite of haraam, meaning “forbidden.”
In effect, the imposition of halal is nothing other then the imposition of shariah, under another name.
Thus I completely agree with you that we should resist – strenuously! – the imposition of halal on non-Muslims.
But on the grounds that it violates our freedom of religion.
Not on grounds of animal cruelty.
Indeed, I cannot condemn the practice of looking an animal in the eye while killing it.
There is far more honour and humanity in that than in leaving it to a soulless, remorseless machine.
Quite frankly, if we returned to slaughtering our own meat, and birthing and dying in our own homes, some sorely-needed perspective would return to our system of values.
If we did that, political correctness could not survive.