Word: halal
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...Halal Ads Hit French...
...defuse Islamic anger. Instead, it has shown moral cowardice on the Israel-Palestine issue, refusing even to admit that an unbalanced American policy will hurt European interests more than American interests. No major European leader has the moral courage to speak truth to power on this issue. (Read: "Halal Burgers? Another French Brouhaha over Islam...
Mayors in cities where other Quick restaurants have gone halal say the move provoked no problem or debate. Socialist politicians say Vandierendonck's theatrics are of a type with the divisive grandstanding they accused conservatives of using in the recent identity debate. Many French commentators note that fast-food diners can't tell whether the meat they're eating is halal, kosher or blessed by voodoo priests unless they're specifically told - making the beef over halal burgers seem a tad overdone. French KFC affiliates mostly buy halal-slaughtered birds, but there has been no controversy about that...
Unsurprisingly, Marine Le Pen, vice president of France's far-right National Front Party, whose power base lies near Roubaix, has been quick to jump on the issue. France, she says, needs to be defended from Islam's growing influence. Quick's halal option is "an Islamic tax" on diners. Not to be outdone, members of the ruling conservative Union for a Popular Majority (UMP) have also fretted over Quick's menu change. UMP secretary general Xavier Bertrand says it is undermining France's secular, integrationist social model, while UMP parliamentarian Richard Mallié salutes Vandierendonck's "republican combat...
...predominantly Muslim customers and claim that the controversy, coming after those about Muslim dress and religious symbols, is evidence of a deep prejudice against Islam. "Would there have been all these resounding denunciations had Quick decided to position itself in, say, the biological food niche rather than halal?" asks Muslim consumer blog Al Kanz. "Would thematic Quick menus offering only Mexican or Chinese food make such noise in the media? No, assuredly not." (See an article on halal food advertising...