Despite a strong protest from the Board of Deputies of British Jews to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals over statements in its annual report which have anti-Semitic overtones, the Society has not withdrawn or apologized for its abusive references to shechita, Elsley Zeitlyn, chairman of the shechita committee, reported today to a meeting of the Board.
A section of the Society’s report, dealing with the abuse of cattle transported from Ireland to Britain by truck and the subsequent slaughter of two animals in a truck, declares: “But their end was a more merciful one than that which awaited their fellows who were destined for a Jewish slaughterhouse.”
To the Board’s protest, which noted that such a passage if not designed to deliberately fan anti-Semitism “tends to exacerbate relations between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens in this country,” Lord Merthyr, chairman of the Society’s council, merely expressed regret for the form of the report but refused to withdraw or apologize for the offending reference. He invited the Board to send representatives to discuss the matter further, if they desired. The invitation has been accepted.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
