US ‘lawfare’ group to help Belgium’s Jews challenge shechita ban

An American ‘lawfare’ organisation has said it will help Belgium’s Jewish community challenge the ban of non-stun animal slaughter in court.

The New York-based Lawfare Project will help sue the Walloon Parliament in Belgium’s Constitutional Court in a lawsuit brought by the Belgian Federation of Jewish Organisations (CCOJB).

The parliaments of both the Wallonia and Flanders passed laws earlier this year outlawing religious slaughter, which affects kosher and halal slaughter, but lawyers for the Jewish community say this is “an attack on religious freedom”.

CCOJB president Yohan Benizri said the ban “sends a message to Belgian Jews that they can choose between living in Belgium and practicing their religion, but they cannot do both… It sends a clear message to Belgium’s Jewish and Muslim communities that they are not welcome here”.