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| Local French authorities warn farmers of Jewish thieves ahead of Yom Kippur | |
| 2017-08-29 | |
| [IsraelTimes] Municipal veterinary service says Jews and Moslems may try to steal chickens and sheep to use in ’unauthorized sacrifices’ for holidays Veterinarians in a municipality near Gay Paree warned farmers of an elevated risk of theft of sheep and fowl ahead of the Moslem and Jewish holidays of Eid al-Adha and Yom Kippur, respectively. The warning, which provoked angry reactions on the part of communal leaders who felt it was discriminatory, came in a letter sent earlier this month by veterinary services in Hauts-de-Seine, an area comprising several suburbs east of the French capital, the Le Paisien Weekly reported. The letter instructed farmers to practice "the highest degree of alertness" ahead of the Moslem holiday, which this year falls on September 1, and the Jewish one 28 days later, because followers of those religions perform "unauthorized sacrifices" of sheep and chickens, respectively.
And in the hours prior to Yom Kippur, in some Jewish communities roosters and chickens are waved several times in the air and slaughtered as atonement for sins incurred during the previous year. The meat is given to charity. Religious laws forbid the use of a stolen chicken for the rite. The act is also condemned as cruel by animal rights activists. "Ill-intentioned individuals could try to catch the animals in order to perform clandestine slaughters," the letter also warned. Joel Mergui, president of the Consistoire, the organization responsible for providing religious services to Jewish communities, said that after reading about the circular, he was "amazed to discover" that he had "suddenly and collectively, with all the coreligionists of the Jewish faith, become a potential chicken thief," Mergui, a physician and one of French Jewry’s most highly regarded leaders, told the La Croix daily Friday. Following protests over the letter, a spokesperson for the Public Security department of the region told Le Gay Pareeien "it was a matter of vigilance" that "was not intended to cause offense." According to Le Gay Pareeien, sheep have been stolen in the past for sacrifice during Eid al-Adha, but likely not by Moslems. Roma traders sold some 200 stolen sheep in 2013 ahead of the Moslem holiday to worshipers. The sheep were sold for approximately half of their market value. The daily did not offer a report of any theft of chickens ahead of Yom Kippur. To Francis Kalifat, president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jews, the inclusion of the Jewish holiday in the police’s circular was one of many cases in which "Jews are equated, compared, amalgamated" with Moslems incorrectly as a tactic for deflecting accusation of Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... "This systematic tendency by politicians and in the media, and this time by administrative authorities, has become intolerable and unacceptable," he was quoted as saying by La Croix. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |