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SCHOOL

Angry parents spark halal school lunch spat

Parents in Svedala in southern Sweden have reported a school to the Schools Inspectorate (Skolinspektionen) for serving halal chicken arguing that the practice breaches the non-denominational praxis of the Swedish education system.

Published: 11 October 2013 09:39 CEST
Angry parents spark halal school lunch spat

The issue was discussed in the municipal council in September and has been the subjected of intense debate among locals and parents on social media.

In their report to the schools agency the parents have argued that the halal chicken breaches the principle of a religion-neutral education, according to a report by Sveriges Radio (SR).

The municipality’s schools are reported to have been serving the chicken, which originates from Denmark, for the past four years.

Halal slaughter follows old religious rules. Halal is any action or object which is permitted according to Islamic law, is not limited to food and can be applied to all matters of daily life.

With regards to the slaughter of animals halal refers to the use of a sharp knife to make an incision to the throat. The animals should also be slaughtered while uttering the words “in the name of God”.

Kosher and halal meat products are permitted in Sweden if the animal is anaesthetized prior to its throat being cut. While technically against the rules, the majority of Muslims and Jews living in Sweden accept this compromise, according to SR.

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RELIGION

Al-Azhar university calls for Sweden boycott over Koran burning

The Sunni Muslim world's most prestigious educational institution, Al-Azhar in Egypt, has called for the boycott of Swedish and Dutch products after far-right activists destroyed Korans in those countries.

Published: 26 January 2023 15:10 CET
Al-Azhar university calls for Sweden boycott over Koran burning

Al-Azhar, in a statement issued on Wednesday, called on “Muslims to boycott Dutch and Swedish products”.

It also urged “an appropriate response from the governments of these two countries” which it charged were “protecting despicable and barbaric crimes in the name of ‘freedom of expression'”.

Swedish-Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan on Saturday set fire to a copy of the Muslim holy book in front of Turkey’s embassy in Stockholm, raising tensions as Sweden courts Ankara over its bid to join Nato.

EXPLAINED:

The following day, Edwin Wagensveld, who heads the Dutch chapter of the German anti-Islam group Pegida, tore pages out of the Koran during a one-man protest outside parliament.

Images on social media also showed him walking on the torn pages of the holy book.

The desecration of the Koran sparked strong protests from Ankara and furious demonstrations in several capitals of the Muslim world including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Yemen.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry “strongly condemned” the Koran burning, expressing “deep concern at the recurrence of such events and the recent Islamophobic escalation in a certain number of European countries”.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson condemned Paludan’s actions as “deeply disrespectful”, while the United States called it “repugnant”.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Monday said the burning was the work of “a provocateur” who “may have deliberately sought to put distance between two close partners of ours – Turkey and Sweden”.

On Tuesday, Turkey postponed Nato accession talks with Sweden and Finland, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Stockholm for allowing weekend protests that included the burning of the Koran.

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