by Mordechai Kedar
What is common to Daniel Perl, Nick Berg, a British soldier on London street, the Jews of Hebron in 1929 and the Fogel family in Itamar? They all were butchered. They were not simply stabbed to death, but were killed by an act designed to decapitate them or to cause fatal bleeding by severing their carotid artery. Another common denominator: all were slaughtered by Moslems. An endless list of Moslem girls and women can be added to them, those who were similarly slaughtered by their brothers, fathers or other relatives for “violating the family honor”. A question that arises automatically is where does this Moslem tendency to this kind of slaughter come from?
The answer is simple: Slaughter is a routine, widespread practice among many Moslem families. Many children see how their fathers slaughter sheep when celebrating an important event, and the whole family is present at the sacrificial slaughter during Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, when the slaughter is part of the holiday ritual.
In modern societies, the slaughter of animals for meat consumption takes place in slaughterhouses, far from the eyes of the public and children, who generally get their meat free of blood and hair and ready for cooking or eating. This sterile arrangement spares the public the sight of the slaughter, the blood and the accompanying cries. In the West, many of those who witnessed animal slaughter become vegetarian.
In many Islamic societies, slaughter generally occurs at home, in front of the children, and is part of the routine of life. They are immunized against the sight of slaughter, are not moved by the blood dripping from the animal’s neck and are not frightened by its snorts and struggles. In many cases, the children hold the legs of the lamb in order to immobilize it during slaughter; they sense very well its frantic reactions as the knife so painfully slices through its neck. The presence and participation of the children in the act of slaughter immunizes them emotionally against its influence; when they are older they perform the custom of sacrifice with their own hands and knives, and in front of their own children.
The emotional immunity to the act of slaughter allows a Moslem to utilize it whenever he feels he must employ radical methods to rid himself of someone. The slaughter of sheep during the Festival of Sacrifice is accompanied by the recitation of “In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful”, and the butchering of girls who do not behave properly is conducted as a kind of execution ceremony. The slaughterer feels that he is doing something important and worthy, acting in a way to which he is inured since early childhood.
In western societies, slaughter seems barbaric, while members of Moslem societies view it as proper and commendable when carried out within the proper context. Therefore, slaughtering a Jew, a Christian or anyone seen as an enemy is not considered unusual in traditional Islamic societies. This is what professional jargon calls “a cultural difference”.
The article is published in the framework of the Center for the Study of Middle East and Islam (under formation), Bar Ilan University, Israel. Mordechai Kedar is the director of the center.
Mordechai Kedar
Source: Center for the Study of Middle East and Islam
3 comments:
Dr. Kedar suggests in his piece, that the slaughtering of an animal immunizes a person to blood, snorts, and the cries and of an animal. He goes on to suggest that it immunizes the actual slaughter emotionally. Is this the reason why Islamist find it easy to slaughter non-believers? Is it cultural and part of their religious experience? A look back into the past of the Jewish faith, one can see that the ritual slaughter of bulls, goats and sheep was routine when the temple existed.The sacrificial ritual killing of an animal during the temple period was also displayed publicly. Jews viewed life as sacred and the life of an animal was precious. It was seen and it was to be remembered, that blood atones for sins. It was to show Israel the gravity and awfulness of sin before a Holy God. Nowhere in recorded history did Jews commit the slaughtering of innocent people simply because they were immune or because they were celebrating an important event or holiday ritual. The Samaritans in Israel today continue the practice of ritual slaughtering of a lamb during the Passover and there is no incident of this type of behavior among Samaritans killing innocent people. Islamist slaughters individuals and families not because its “routine” as Kedar suggests, but because of their hatred of those who are not Moslems.
The ancient Hebrew prophets made it clear that the source of evil lies within humanity, the human heart. It is the heart that produces murder, rapes, theft and every unmanageable evil we can think of. That is why the God of Israel instituted substitutionary atonement for sins through the shedding of blood. The birth of this concept is found in Genesis and continues throughout Jewish history with the concept an altar and eventually a temple. This same concept is also seen in Christianity where Jesus makes atonement for the sins of the world through his death. Where does this Moslem tendency to this kind of slaughter come from? The answer is simple: The Heart.
What you are saying is that the average Muslim comes pre-qualified for "wet work". Personally, I've always thought that their Festival of Eid al Adha was more about teaching Muslim males how to commit bloody murder than about some spiritual message, just as their ban on music exists because it music might soften the Jihadi's heart and make it hard for him to slaughter innocent people...
Since the destruction of the Second Temple the Jews do not sacrifice animals. So their children do not have the opportunity muslim children have to watch the practice.
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