Muslims and the Daily Star, a lovely combination.
So, 'Brit kids forced to eat Halal school dinners' shrieks the Star today. This may lead you to think that 'British' kids at Primary schools are being given halal food whether they like it or not. I am sure that some 'Brit' kids don't mind, as Muslim children born in this country are British whether the Star likes it or not.
Here we go -
FURIOUS parents last night hit out at plans to serve halal-only school dinners.
Pupils will have no option but to eat meat slaughtered following Islamic teachings specifically for Muslims.
The controversial technique involves unstunned animals bleeding to death after having their throats cut.
Ah, the tabloid stable of 'fury/furious'. That may conjure images of people out on the streets, groups being formed in opposition to the plans and being generally vocal about the whole thing, but not in this case as we shall discover later.
I think there is a case for discussing the issue of animal welfare when we talk about Halal but this seems to be the minor issue in the coverage.
But all high schools in the London borough of Harrow have been told to provide only halal meat on menus.
Already two of the borough’s 52 primary schools have chosen halal-only menus. There are fears the other 50 will follow this autumn.
'All high schools in Harrow' have been told to provide only Halal meat. So it is not 'Brit' kids, it is schools in Harrow. It doesn't even say whether the schools will comply, and it doesn't state who has 'told' them to provide Halal meat. Even better is the number of primary schools serving halal only menus - 2 out of 52, around 1%. Oh but there are 'fears' that others might follow.
The following is key -
Angry opponents say it is blatantly pandering to Muslims by trampling over the feelings of other faiths.
This would imply that opponents say it is blatantly pandering to Muslims, and that their objections are based purely on this idea. This is false.
Harrow resident Sheila Murphy said: “I am appalled at Harrow Council’s decision. The Farm Animal Welfare Council has lobbied the government in the past to get the kosher and halal method of slaughter banned.
“The halal method is deemed cruel by some animal-lovers who object to the slow death it involves.
“Harrow Council’s decision is also taking away the choice of children and their parents over what meat they eat and I urge Harrow residents to make their views known to Harrow Council and get this decision overturned.”
This objection is purely on the issue of animal welfare. There is no mention of 'pandering' to Muslims at all.
Masood Khawaja, of the Halal Food Authority, said: “It is commendable for schools to provide halal meats but there must be an alternative for non- Muslims.
“Some people are opposed to halal and kosher meat on animal welfare grounds and they should be given the choice not to eat it.”
Again, an objection based on animal welfare issues. There is still no proof of 'pandering to Muslims.
But Mohammad Rizvi, spokesman for the Pakistan Society of Harrow, defended the plan, saying: “For Muslim children the only option they have is to eat halal, whereas it isn’t a problem for children of other faiths to eat halal.
“This isn’t about Islamification or pandering to Muslims, it’s just common sense.” Animal rights group say halal meat is cruel because animals suffer a slow death.
The defence is explicitly stated as not pandering to Muslims at all, and I think Rizvi's choice of words has influenced the headline and the narrative of the story. If he had used more careful language it would have been very hard for the Star to get any kind of story out of this, even taking into account how wafer thin the story is that they did get out of the mateial.
In summary. For 'Brit' kids at primary school forced to eat Halal meat, read 2 Primary schools in Harrow. For 'furious parents', read 1 complaint from a Harrow resident. And for 'pandering to Muslims', read nothing.
