By Ralf Schumann - Whenever the discussion comes to halal certification, one moral relativist will throw in the red herring: "But what about kosher?!"
Yes, what about kosher? Let's go and check the facts.
Today your odds are 3 to 1 that the meat sold in Australia comes from an animal that died at the hands of a male Muslim, who slit the poor creature's throat while dedicating it to his Allah. Your chances with beef are 50:50, however, with chicken, lamb or goat it is now close to 100%. Most meat today comes from halal-certified abattoirs and usually remains unlabelled at point of sale. If you doubt the numbers, ask your butcher, or write to the Australian Meat Industry Council.
Now go shopping and try to buy some certified kosher meat at your local butcher or supermarket. Let me know how it went, please. This is usually the point where moral relativism collapses and the red herring reeks of hypocrisy: In reality there is no comparing the certification of kosher with halal.
The process to produce kosher meat is different and considerably more complex compared to halal. Kosher certification is neither a protection-style racket that sprung up only three decades ago, nor is kosher certification designed to globally extract billions of dollars from unsuspecting consumers. Kosher certification serves the tiny number of observant Jews, sold at prohibitive prices in a few specialty shops, or specially marked sections of a handful of supermarkets.
Aside from meat, you may come across some other products with a kosher label. Yes, THEY COME WITH A LABEL - and you can identify the product and choose whether to buy, or not to buy. This is in contrast to most halal-certified products. By now many halal-certified companies prefer to hide this fact from local consumers. Paying protection money to business-savvy Islamic groups for the 'privilege' to continue selling into Islamic markets is going out of fashion with many Australian consumers. Shame on you if you just thought of Al Capone and Bugsy Moran.
Next let's talk numbers: There are maybe 100,000 Jewish people in Australia and 14 million in the world. Not every Jew is observant and buys certified kosher food. According to the 2000 National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS), 21% of American Jews report that they keep kosher in the home.
Assuming the situation is similar here, the Australian market for certified kosher food would be no greater than 21,000 consumers. Judaism is not a proselyting religion and the numbers are fairly steady. In contrast Islam is actively seeking converts with feudal Islamic regimes and Islamic NGOs pouring billions of your petrol and halal certification dollars into a myriad of promotional activities, mosques and Koran schools.
Depending on who you believe, there are now between 1.2 and 1.8 billion Muslims in the world. We have an estimated 600,000 Muslims in Australia, growing at a disproportional rate. Halal certifiers want suppliers to believe that the market for halal-certified products and services is worth trillions of dollars, growing at a rapid rate. Also, halal certifiers want their cut from every stage of the supply chain: From the farm and feed producers to the abattoir, the processors, the producer of spices and ingredients, the trucking company, the supermarket and all the way to the shopping bag at the check-out. Plus the bank that finances the farmer and everyone in the supply chain better be sharia-compliant as well.
Finally, if you are concerned what happens with the extra money the producers pay for Halal or Kosher certification, there are some obvious facts to keep in mind: There haven't been many orthodox Jews flying passenger jets into office buildings shouting "YHWH is the Greatest!" ASIO has little concern about Jewish suicide bombers blowing up trains, buses and restaurants. New synagogues are not popping up in every suburb and country town like mushrooms after a warm summer rain. There is no standing order in the Torah to convert, subjugate or kill non-Jews and to turn the whole world into a 7th century Rabbinical theocracy. To the contrary, wherever the Jewish people have settled, science, economy, medicine and the arts have flourished. In Judaism there is no death penalty for quitters and in most Jewish families, it's usually the woman (singular) who tells you what to do, and when.
So give me a Kosher-certified jar of pickled red herrings any day. But if I see a "Certified Halal" sign on the label, or read on your company website that you submitted to the Islamic protection rackets, you can stick that red herring where the sun don't shine.
Let's not forget that only a few years ago, before the invention of these Islamic protection rackets, Australian products were sold 'as is' into Islamic markets. Nothing has changed: Observant Muslims can still read the labels and the Koran hasn't altered the rules for what is haram in the past 1,300 years.
It is important to understand the basic principle of Islamic dietary rules: If it is not explicitly forbidden (i.e. declared Haram), it is allowed. Anyone who puts himself above this principle and suggests that only what he or his 'authority' declares halal is permissable to eat, places himself next to or even above Allah in judgement. This is no place a pious Muslim would normally want to find himself in. See the following Friday sermon from Imam Shaykh Habib Bewley for more a more scholarly interpretation of the dietary rules according to the relevant scriptures and interpretations: The Halal Certification Fiasco
Let's be perfectly clear: Most of what we produce here in Australia is naturally Halal - by default permissible to eat by Muslims 'as is' and no certificate or payment of a permit is required. Even chicken, lamb and beef slaughtered by non-Muslims can be eaten by Muslims without risking hellfire, simply by saying a blessing over the food before eating (see Hadith Al Bukhari 3:273)
Q Society of Australia has developed three fair and simple policy proposals in relation to Halal certification in Australia. The newly launching political party Australian Liberty Alliance will take these three policies to the next federal election:
1. Apply the 'User Pays' Principle
If observant Muslims insist on special rituals and halal certification for their food, then Islamic community organisations should provide these services and cover the fees and extra expenses for our suppliers. Religion is always a contentious issue and should never be imposed onto others.
2. Insist On Clear Labelling
All products and services from halal-certified suppliers should be clearly labelled by one standard symbol. This way the consumer can recognise when products and services come from halal-certified sources. Australians can then make a conscious decision. Certification fees are paid from general revenue before taxes, so whatever product or service you buy from a halal-certified company, in a small way you contribute to the spread of Islam and minimise the tax-contribution for the ATO.
3. End Workplace Discrimination
In halal-certified abattoirs only Muslim males can now find employment as slaughterers. Non-Muslims and women are considered Haram - unclean. This is overt sharia law, manifest in discrimination on gender and religious grounds, and applied with full consent of Australian government agencies AQIS and DAFF. However, we understand that ritually prepared meat is important to deeply religious Australians. To this end we propose that, similar to religious schools for which Australia permits some exemptions from non-discrimination laws, abattoirs wishing to conduct ritual slaughter must be owned and operated by an accredited religious organisation.
Further Reading:
http://www.qsociety.org.au/halalcertification.htm
http://australianlibertyalliance.org/
http://www.foodmag.com.au/features/halal-certification-a-gateway-to-export-markets
http://morningmail.org/halal-doubt-remain/
Exellent explanation. This liberal idiots and greedy food manufacturers gone too far. But yet I hope that more people become aware of this problem, start boycotting food manufacturers and switch to genuine Australian food products.And I for sure put my hand to it. From concerned Jew and Kosher consumer.