Force-feeding Islam 

I was visiting a UK university recently, and a colleague informed me that all the meat they served in their dining rooms was Halal. The only choice for staff and students who preferred their meat to come from the 21^st century rather than the Middle Ages was to go for the vegetarian option which, to accommodate an ever-growing band of dietary nutters, was probably vegan anyway.

I was not surprised to hear this, given the increasing number of outlets in my own town—not necessarily aimed at Muslims—which display the Halal food logo (حلال), even if they are just a chippie. An increasing number of established chains such as KFC, Nandos and Gourmet Burgers offer exclusively Halal food in cities with large Muslim populations. You can find your local Halal restaurant at the webpage of the sinisterly named Halal Monitoring Committee UK. It seems that Big Bearded Brother is watching us after all.

And here is the obligatory virtue-signalling paragraph: I don’t have especially strong views about how animals are slaughtered (especially given the wholesale slaughter of babies in the womb). And, of course, the Muslims are not the only people to slaughter animals without stunning them; their semitic cousins the Jews do likewise for Kosher meat. I consider both methods to be equally barbaric, given the risk of pain to the animal. For that reason, both methods of slaughter are illegal in the UK, unless performed for Islamic or Jewish purposes and by appropriately trained slaughtermen (I cannot imagine a woman from either tradition being involved).

Followers of both religions should probably be enabled to eat meat slaughtered by their preferred means if that is what they wish. However, under current circumstances there is no comparison between the availability of Halal and Kosher meat. While plenty of places such as university dining rooms provide Kosher meat, unlike Halal meat, it is not the exclusive choice.

It may come as a surprise that this is nothing new and since 2014 it has been known that many universities were serving Halal meat to their ‘unaware’ students, including large leading institutions such as Oxford and Manchester. Preceding these discoveries, in 2012, it was reported that hundreds of schools were banning pork from their menus.

Meantime, back at the Halal Monitoring Committee UK you can discover what the importance of Halal meat is to Muslims. Many Muslims have tried to convince me of the health benefits of eating Halal meat. In fact, they may be right, but it has nothing to do with the method of slaughter. Rather, it is the feeding of the animals and the avoidance of additives and preservatives which may—note the word ‘may’—offer some benefit. The claim, often made, that Halal slaughtered animals are drained of blood is moot; that happens to stun-slaughtered animals too.

The Halal method, during which a particular prayer is said, is mainly to do with superstition. Even for believers of other faiths, such as Christianity, whose beliefs are often described as mumbo-jumbo, the mumbo-jumbo associated with Halal slaughter reaches astronomical proportions. For fear of offending Muslims, and bringing down a Fatwa on my head, I will not be specific. They are entitled to believe whatever they want.

There is plenty of opposition to Halal slaughter. For example, PETA, which to be fair advocates the cessation of all animal slaughter, sees the banning of Halal slaughter as a ‘step in the right direction’. They heap similar opprobrium on Kosher slaughter. Leading vets have called for an end to ritual slaughter along with leading veterinary organisations. But objections from individuals and revelations in the press about the extent to which Halal meat is being sold to students without their knowledge is, strangely, virtually non-existent after 2014. It is almost as if the UK authorities have been ‘got at’ to tone down objections to anything related to our Muslim compatriots lest they get upset.

Turning to UK government guidance on ritual slaughter is interesting as, amongst the exceptions and rules related to ritual slaughter, it says ‘the meat must be intended for consumption by Jewish or Muslim people’. This part of the guidance is clearly being violated as the meat that is being produced by Halal slaughterhouses is very deliberately finding its way into the food chain of our non-Muslim university students, and probably many more groups including school children.

It is obvious why universities will be doing this: to ensure that they make life as easy as possible for themselves regarding their Muslim employees and students. They will also have an eye on the coffers and not wish to deter students from wealthy countries such as Saudi Arabia from attending their universities. They are also a bunch of cowardly, woke pinkoes who will never say ‘boo’ to any of the flock of geese waiting to tie them up in knots about discrimination, inclusivity or multiculturalism.

Why might this be an issue now? Well, our Muslim population is increasing—both legally and illegally—and our Muslim compatriots are becoming more vocal and influential. They have even taken over the Green Party for goodness’ sake. We have started celebrating Ramadan openly and ignoring Lent and, if it does not sound too much like bead clutching, ‘where will it end’? First it was university Muslim prayer rooms, then student dining rooms with Halal meat, next it may be student unions without a bar.

Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.

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