The Rumanian Government, at the behest the Orthodox Church, is considering taking action to prohibit Jewish ritual slaughter of animals, it was learned today.
The measure was scheduled to have been issued on the eve of Passover, which would have deprived Rumania’s 800,000 Jews of kosher meat during the holiday, but action was postponed after urgent appeals from Rumanian rabbis. Jewish leaders are planning to make further appeals after the holiday in an effort to forestall application of the prohibition.
Minorities Minister Silviu Dragomir told the Chamber of Deputies, meanwhile, that equality of rights for all citizens was the “guiding principle” of Rumanian policy. Replying to former Minister Petrovici, who asked for a full declaration on the Government’s policy towards minorities, Dragomir asserted out that minorities had always enjoyed the fullest liberty in Rumania since “equality of rights for all citizens in the country was the guiding principle of Rumanian policy in this respect.”
Dragomir added that, in view of this policy, it was “natural for the minorities to adopt an attitude of sincere loyalty and cooperation with the majority of the population and with the Government, and to identify themselves with the interests of the Rumanian State. This close collaboration and solidarity is particularly evident these days.”
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