Efforts to prohibit schechita, slaughtering of animals for food in accordance with Jewish law, were defeated here when the parliament of Finland by a four-fifths majority, rejected a measure prohibiting the ritual method.
Representations of the Jewish community here enlightened public opinion that the agitation against schechita was not based on its alleged cruelty to animals but on anti-Semitism. The result was that many deputies affiliated with the Fascist Lappo movement voted against the measure. Curiously, the Socialists voted in its favor.
The decision of the parliament today brings to an end the agitation of thirty years which led to temporary prohibition of schechita by the Finnish authorities.
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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.