). ) I agree that it seems strange to ban kosher meat on cruelty grounds. From what I understand, the requirements of slaughtering Kosher animals requires that the animal be cleanly and quickly killed, which seems much kinder than some of the modern butchery techniques. The draining of the blood occurs afterward. The methods used to produce veal and Paté de Fois Gras are much more cruel, and as Blue says, sports involving animals are crueler yet.
IMHO, it's just a cover for Euro antisemitism.
TomM is correct on the requirements. Kira could post more, but I'm sure it's after sundown in NYC, so Yom Kippur has started. You could ask her in a couple of days (best bet is Thursday or later).
Fair warning: hot buttons galore here from both the anti-semite view and PETA. If anyone offends you, remember they have a weak brain and don't dignify them with a response (no matter how much fun that would be).
ScottN: Kira could post more, but I'm sure it's after sundown in NYC, so Yom Kippur has started.
Luigi Novi: Kira Sharp? I thought she lived in the UK. I also didn't know she was Jewish. Or is this a different Kira?
I don't know if there is a ban on kosher meat. The only such meat problem that I've heard of recently is with the Muslim way of slaughtering animals (letting them bleed out?) that doesn't work well with animal protection. But at least in Germany this is IIRC currently allowed because of religious freedom. I am no expert on this area and might be completely wrong.
Some countries include halal meat (the muslim equivalent of kosher) since the method is similar and to focus only on the one and allow the other would only point out that the "humane treatment issue is merely camoflage.
Here are a few interesting web articles I found about Sh'chitah (Kosher slaughtering):
First
Second
Third
And some news articles about the ban:
First
Second
Third
Fourth
I don't know the details either, but with the muslim population much bigger in germany (almost 4 million people from turkey, if we assume they are all more or less moslems) than practising jews, the debate has been reopened several times, with the arguments raised by sincerely concerned animal rights acitivists being grabbed and misused by right-wingers who don't like foreigners with non-christian religion or different culture, so the debate is hot. But it soon dies down from the main media, since there isn't much interest for the main public.
AAIK, too, kosher butchering is still allowed in germany, not because of religious freedom, but because the courts aren't convinced by the arguments from the animal right acitivists that it is more cruel than normal butchering. (I've read both arguments brought forth very sincerely - that kosher butchering is less painful for the animal, since it looses conciousness immediatelay, and that its more painful, since it will feel the bleeding all the time. So I don't know myself where the truth lies).
And sometimes I get sick of some people/groups using the anti- whatever to accuse the europeans without looking deeper into it. Yes, we have problems, and right-wingers, and anti-semitists, but we try hard to keep it in check, and not everything is motivated by this. (Most germans have overcome anti-semitism and have now a problem with latent anti-foreigner, esp. anti-turkish, feeling.)
And AAIK the moslem method of slaughtering would be the same as the jewish one, since mohammed used the jewish bible for reference.
constanze is correct, AFAIK. Perhaps Sven could confirm? Glatt Kosher and Halal butchering are very similar.