A scapegoat and a victim of laws.. Muslims of France and the hardship of slaughter on Eid al-Adha

Paris

- Since settling in France 20 years ago, Ibrahim has been keen to spend Eid al-Adha in his small Tunisian town of Ghamrassen, to celebrate the rituals of this occasion in the best way, with his extended family.

Ibrahim, 54, told Al-Jazeera Net, with anguish on his face, "Unfortunately, I will spend Eid al-Adha this year in Paris, and it is one of the few times that work and family conditions force me to celebrate this religious occasion in France."

The son of the city of Tataouine (southeast of Tunisia) adds that religious holidays and events in France have no taste or smell, especially Eid al-Adha, which is directly related to the ritual of slaughtering the sacrifice, as he cannot establish it in France, because laws prevent slaughter and the establishment of religious rites as he likes, and Ibrahim wonders "Is this reasonable in a country that claims to be a country of rights and freedoms?"

The 50-year-old continues that they do not have the right - as French Muslim citizens - to protest these "unjust" laws or demand the practice of their Islamic rituals, and that anyone who does so is severely punished and accused of extremism and terrorism.

Ibrahim believes that the French Muslim feels inferior and contemptuous compared to the rest of the components of society, and that he feels that he lives in a country that does not respect his faith or religious rituals, which increases his attachment to his identity, according to him.

A photo from 2017, showing halal meat being sold in a supermarket in the French city of Nice (Reuters)

unjust laws

Ibrahim and his family are a microcosm of about 5 million Muslims living in France, according to the latest official figures issued in 2018. Laws prevent them from direct slaughter in their homes or celebrating Eid al-Adha rituals in accordance with Islamic law.

These laws are related to what is known in France and Europe as halal meat and slaughter, and the components, application, frequency and escalation of these laws overlap several political, social, ideological, health and commercial conditions.

The first of these laws dates back to 1964, when a decree was issued regulating the process of slaughtering animals intended for consumption. Under the pretext of alleviating the pain of slaughter, the decree obligated French slaughterhouses to resort to techniques that render livestock unconscious before the slaughter process, the most common technique being electrocution.

In 1980, another decree was issued that allowed the stun technique to be bypassed if the goal was to adhere to religious teachings, such as halal meat for Muslims and kosher meat for Jews.

Despite all these laws that drown in the details of slaughter, the state was more tolerant of halal slaughter, and even the celebration of the rites of Eid al-Adha until the 2012 law known as the law of Prime Minister François Fillon during the era of Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012).

Fillon had sparked controversy at the time when he talked about meat that is slaughtered in the Islamic and Jewish ways, calling on religions to "think about the slaughter traditions that were applied by the ancestors" and which are no longer valid today in a modern country, according to his claim.

Muslims demonstrate in Paris against Islamophobia last year (Anatolia)

Increasing restrictions

For his part, the head of the Union of Mosques and Islamic Associations in Paris, Mohamed Heneish, says that before this law, the slaughtering process was just a routine commercial operation between the owner of the sheep and the slaughterhouse, but after 2012, a third party entered the equation, the state.

He adds that things have become very complicated, as the slaughterhouse does not accept sheep without a license from the state, and it is obliged to report the number of sheep that are slaughtered in the halal way, and who performs the slaughter process, and details are similar to a complex espionage operation.

Heneish told Al Jazeera Net, "Year after year, we see an increase in restrictions on the Muslims of France, especially with regard to the rituals of Eid al-Adha and the celebration of this religious occasion, and although the laws of the European Union stipulate the need to respect the rituals of Muslims and Jews with regard to slaughter, this is not applied in France. ".

Heneish confirms that these legal restrictions have actually led to many French Muslims abandoning this ritual, and they no longer see in it the "religious value and the beautiful ritual."

In the same direction, Abd al-Latif Bidar, a specialist in sacrificial slaughter and an observer of halal meat in a slaughterhouse in the French city of Conn, noted that Eid al-Adha can only be tasted in Islamic countries.

The fiftieth adult of Moroccan origin adds - to Al Jazeera Net - that, unlike the occasion of Eid al-Adha, there are great restrictions on halal slaughter in France on all days, expecting that the future will carry serious threats to stop halal slaughter.

Bidar says that a large slaughterhouse in the city of Lyon was dealing with the Great Mosque of Lyon and Islamic associations, and after great pressure on it by animal welfare associations, the authorities and the extreme right, it stopped the halal slaughter, which prompted Muslims, butcher shops and associations to resort to Spain, Poland, Romania and Britain, because the laws there less complicated.

A shop selling meat slaughtered under Islamic law in Birmingham, Britain (Reuters)

The number of slaughterhouses decreased

Hanish notes that the number of regular or temporary slaughterhouses has been steadily declining in recent years, as the number of temporary slaughterhouses allocated by the state to Muslims in 2019 was approximately 39, and decreased during the pandemic to 19 slaughterhouses, then increased to 33.

But 10 years ago, and before the law of the Fillon government, the number of temporary slaughterhouses exceeded 100, and the number is still decreasing as a result of the systematic policy of the French authorities to clamp down on Muslims, he said.

Hanisch gives an example of this in the Saint-Denis area, which according to official statistics in 2015 contains approximately 1.4 million residents, including 800,000 Muslims, and there is not a single slaughterhouse in it on all days, and the reason is the fear of the authorities that this city will be called a Muslim.

For his part, Rachid Mayza, the assistant mayor of La Corneve, in charge of religions and public life, indicated that the municipality gives great importance and value to the Islamic religion and Muslims, and therefore has allocated a temporary slaughterhouse for them, equipped with the best equipment, on their behalf during the feast.

He added - to Al Jazeera Net - that the population of La Cornave amounts to 43,000 residents, and they provide them with 12 places of worship, with Muslims representing more than 30% of them.

Regarding the lack of a slaughterhouse throughout the year in La Corneve and Saint-Denis, Maiza says that it is due to an organizational problem that concerns Muslims themselves, adding, "I think that the issue of the will of Muslims and defending their right to a permanent slaughterhouse is very important. The problem of organization is important because the state is not one of the decide alone."

Regarding the migration of merchants and slaughterhouses to other European countries, Rachid Mayza stressed that the issue has nothing to do with French laws, but rather to competitiveness in other European countries such as Spain, Britain and Portugal, where the prices of livestock, sheep and slaughterhouses are dropping there.

On the other hand, Jamal Sona, who is responsible for halal slaughter in a slaughterhouse in northern Britain - told Al Jazeera Net - that traders go to Britain, Spain, Poland, Hungary and Ireland, because France adopts legal restrictions, and as for Britain, despite government control, the procedures are easy, and the merchants lobby is pressing on The government, because there is a great economic benefit to British, Portuguese or Polish peasants, farmers and merchants, he says.

He added, "In these countries the slaughterhouse is ready to work on holidays, while in France most of the slaughterhouses decided not to work on Saturday corresponding to Eid al-Adha this year, and many French slaughterhouses do not favor halal slaughter at all, and this method does not concern them, and it is with the government against halal slaughter."