Halal Takes Over

In nº 70 of his weekly newsletter, available through subscription, Yves Daoudal discusses the implications of the decision by the food chain Quick to serve halal meat in several of its restaurants. His is one of several recent articles that are focusing on the growing presence of halal foods everywhere in France, and the danger that very soon French people will be eating halal without knowing it, if that is not already the case.

I posted an article on Quick several weeks ago, but at the time I did not think it was a major news event, since halal is not a new phenomenon in France. But apparently the French are suddenly more aware of what the Islamization of their country really means, in terms of altering their traditional eating habits, and interfering in their daily lives to an intolerable extent.

Both Polemia and Riposte Laïque have published articles, and Marine Le Pen, appearing on French television, has been an outspoken critic of Quick, condemning in particular the tax the French people have to pay for halal, even if the taxpayers do not eat halal.

In his article Yves Daoudal refers to ETHIC, a management association founded in 1975 for the purpose of instilling in business leaders a sense of ethical responsibility and a value system based on that of socially conscious Catholics. Recently, ETHIC has vigorously defended Quick's decision to serve halal food, declaring:

"This choice results quite simply from the encounter between supply and demand, and from a marketing decision. Whether this choice is in response to a particular taste, to the success of a foreign specialty, or to a cultural or religious tradition, it stems from the freedom to run a business. It is senseless to try to tell a merchant what he can and cannot sell. To raise an outcry over halal is extremely discriminatory."

Daoudal points to the abandonment by ETHIC of its principles:

Today, it seems as if ETHIC is nothing more than a spokesman for free enterprise, pure and simple, combined with the "anti-racist" dogma. Reality is turned upside down, in the name of free enterprise. You are now free to do whatever you want, if you derive a profit from it, with no concern whatsoever about the common good.

Note: I am not familiar with ETHIC, but we can infer it espouses the principle that an ethical business must consider the common good and refrain from selling a product that is in some way harmful (or, as in the case of halal, downright unpatriotic). In other words, freedom implies a sense of responsibility and self-restraint. Freedom loses all meaning when it is not subject to any voluntary regulatory mechanism. However, I cannot help wondering if profit is the only motive in the case of halal foods.

Paradoxically, the Socialists, who in theory are opposed to the free enterprise philosophy, agree with ETHIC:

It it significant that the flamboyant Socialist Arnaud Montebourg has said the same thing as ETHIC:

"Quick is not a public service. Quick is a private business that does what it wants with its products. No one is forced to eat at Quick."

The free enterprise system ("liberalism") without morality is shared by all nowadays. But we can see how people are blinded by free enterprise when it is elevated to the level of absolute dogma. Neither ETHIC nor Arnaud Montebourg has the faintest impulse to reflect on the implications of Quick's decision - if many potential customers are Muslims, let's have a Muslim Quick. A Quick that admits non-Muslims on the condition that they bend to sharia law and that they too pay the tax on halal food that contributes to the construction of mosques and the spread of Islam.

It never occurs to them that when the process of Islamization, that Quick is contributing to in order to increase profits, is completed, we will be in a society where there is no longer any freedom at all. Where the sacrosanct "free enterprise system" as they conceive of it, will not exist, for it will be entirely governed by sharia law. They do not even see the irreducible opposition between "liberalism" and "halal".

Free enterprise is thus the forerunner of Islam, something we already knew. But when it calls itself "ethical", you could scream. Naturally, the declaration by ETHIC was welcomed, as is fitting, by the Muslim authorities. Dalil Boubakeur, the grand mufti of the Paris Mosque, reiterated the statement word for word: "There is nothing wrong with a business that chooses a market that appears to be economically in expansion. This is about free enterprise and the evolution of society. It is up to the company to decide what goods to offer the public."

Ethical business leaders, the head of the Grand Mosque of Paris and the national secretary of the Socialist Party in charge of renewal, are all in perfect agreement. In the name of freedom, Islam must be imposed.

Another article from Polemia, also posted at Novopress, offers a lengthy exposé of the growth of halal in France over the past several decades. Due to the length of the article I can only give some excerpts:

In France, the consuming of halal foods, prepared according to Muslim religious procedures, was marginal until the early 1990's. In his book l'Islam de marché (Commercializing Islam), Patrick Haenni notes that a few decades ago, the pious Muslim had to go hundreds of kilometers to buy meats he felt were appropriate.

Note: Today it is the opposite. Many Frenchmen have to travel far to find authentic French foods.

Today halal is a three billion euro business in France. First, the butcher shops and ethnic grocers, then the larger multinational agribusinesses and finally the major outlets such as Carrefour, Auchan and Leclerc participated in this expansion.

According to Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, a sociologist at the University of Aix-Marseille, it is the third generation of North and sub-Saharan African immigrants that is promoting halal. They have a "very strong attachment, paradoxically even stronger than that of their parents", for halal foods. Hassan Bouod, manager of an agribusiness in Marseilles, agrees: "Our young people are very proud of buying halal foods and want to consume this kind of meat, it's psychological."

The explosion of demand for halal products is more proof, not of a successful integration into French society of Arabo-Muslim populations, but rather of the return to the practices of the home country (...). But this re-rooting is not without problems: like the Ramadan fast, the promotion of halal foods is no longer confined to the private sphere; it is extending into the public space, for two reasons: commercial interests and political pressures.

In an effort to make halal production profitable, producers are tempted to make everyone eat halal. Halal slaughterhouses must fulfill the following rules: the animal must be slit open while alive, without stunning, its head turned toward Mecca, by a certified practitioner. In order to avoid the added expense of two separate methods of slaughter (halal and "classic") it is often easier to distribute halal meats in the "classic" market, without warning the consumer. This is widely practiced for poultry and lamb: the secular or Catholic consumer thus is financing, unknowingly and unwillingly, the spread of Islam in France. (The grim cartoon below was posted at Novopress.)



In the logic of the business world, prepared dishes also must be halal: many companies such as Maggi, are eliminating pork and alcohol from their preparations and are providing only halal meats. And so, it is the most intolerant faction that is dictating its law, first to merchants, then to customers. Likewise, in collective restaurants, such as those found in schools, the rules of the minority are imposed on the majority.

Municipalities subject to growing pressures from Muslim associations now provide almost systematically a menu without pork. Secular ("laïc") groups rebel against what they are calling the apartheid of food that results in discrimination in the schools between "without pork" and "pork" labels. The latter are often labeled as "impure" in the schoolyards at recess time. This phenomenon is massive - a Google search on "school cafeterias without pork" turned up more than 100,000 sites.

Islamic rules are truly privileged. The municipality of Grenoble has stated that in its schools "no dietary regimen other than meals without pork can be offered." Lyons has gone even further. Along with its classic menus, it offers a vegetarian menu on grounds that one third of the pupils refuse the main meal, even without pork, because the meat served is not guaranteed to be halal.

In the region of Ile-de-France another line has been crossed. Siresco, an inter-county union serving largely Communist cities, that delivers 35,000 meals per day, has banned the word "pork" from its website and from the meals it delivers in certain towns, such as Tremblay-en-France. In Tremblay, the municipality is under intense pressure to make all school meals halal, a pressure that is being challenged by Regards de Femmes, a "laïque" and feminist association.

And in the Lavoisier vocational high school of Roubaix, "everybody eats halal in the cafeteria, including non-Muslims. It was easier to adopt this ritual preparation of meat that the other faiths can tolerate."

This solution is presented as a symbol of consensus and above all as a bonus to those who are the most intolerant!

Note: Do Catholics and Jews actually find it acceptable to eat halal meat? Can they take their own lunch? Are they threatened if they do take their own lunch? Possibly there are no practicing Catholics or Jews in Lavoisier, just children of atheist or indifferent parents?

France still has boarding schools. I don't know about Lavoisier, but I would imagine that in boarding schools where there is a sizable faction of Muslims, any child who did not eat halal would be in some way under threat.

If anyone can enlighten me on what actually goes on in school cafeterias, please do.

The article concludes with two observations:

- More and more French people are condemned to eat halal foods, unwillingly and often unknowingly.

- At the same time, more and more young French people are finding themselves deprived of numerous traditional dishes: boudin, potée, carré de porc, choucroute, saucisses-lentilles, cassoulets, petit-salé, etc...

The identity of the minority prevails over that of the majority.

A French reader has sent me an account of her experience with Carrefour:

You are right, some French are at last showing signs of revolt againt the destruction-invasion of the country ; lately, I had to change my shopping habits because my favourite (small) "supermarket" has been replaced by a chainstore (carrefour) whose policy is definitely that of dhimmis ; they have hallal food , such as this nonsense of "turkey ham" for instance. Even I was surprised at the number of Muslim women who suddenly came out of nowhere to shop there...AND their kids, ill-spoken, ill-mannered, noisy, good only at spitting on the floor (really disgusting when you intend to buy food...) and at picking whatever they feel like eating on the spot without paying of course....Add to this the dreadful commercials, the noise they dare to call music, and you will easily understand my going to another store, a bit farther (I have to drive there), but blissfully silent and European for the moment. Something else about "Carrefour Market" : They offer you a "carte de fidélité" that would allow you to save a little money...Only if you tell them about everything about your private life : address, telephone number, e-mail address, number and ages of children, your age of course...I refused their offer, and asked them whether they'd be interested to know "si ma grandmère faisait du vélo", a colloquial (and very rude) way of telling them to mind their own business.

Note: "si ma grandmère faisait du vélo" translates literally "if my grandmother rode a bike".

Another article in Novopress dated February 28 announces a new Facebook group: "I don't eat halal, I don't want to finance Islam". They explain their goals:

"A part of the money spent to buy halal meat is reserved for Muslim associations. According to Le Figaro, 30% of the meat on French plates is halal. Let's put an end to this scandal!"

The creature that adorns the Facebook page is anything but halal - a wild boar, emblem of the Bloc Identitaire. The president of the Bloc Identitaire (and creator of the Facebook group) is Fabrice Robert.

Note: A reminder that the Bloc Identitaire is a coalition of identitarian groups scattered all over France. Drawing their strength from the regions they serve, they have recently formed themselves into a political alliance with the Ligue du Sud, another patriotic coalition. President of the Bloc Fabrice Robert led the demonstration against Minister of Immigration Eric Besson back in January.

After just a few hours online, and only by word-of-mouth, there were already 300 members in the new Facebook group.