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>A letter sent by two US lawmakers urging the government of Iceland to reconsider proposed legislation banning male circumcision was applauded by a number of major American Jewish organizations on Tuesday. US Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), the committee’s ranking member, said in their statement that outlawing the practice would curtail religious freedoms and alienate Iceland’s minorities. “While Jewish and Muslim populations in Iceland may be small, your country’s ban could be exploited by those who stoke xenophobia and antisemitism in countries with more diverse populations,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. The congressmen added: “As a partner nation, we urge your government to stop this intolerant bill from advancing any further.” The letter was given to Icelandic Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Geir Haarde on April 5. The move was quickly heralded by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations – the largest Orthodox umbrella organization in the US – which told The Jerusalem Post, “We deeply appreciate the support of chairman Royce and ranking member Engel for working to safeguard the universal value of religious freedom.” “While Iceland’s Jewish community may be one of the smallest in the world, the legislation to ban male circumcision looms as a large assault upon Jewish – and Muslim – religious freedom and practice,” the OU continued. “Male circumcision is a fundamental ritual and sacred rite of passage for both the Jewish and Muslim communities. Throughout history, the prohibition of brit mila has been tantamount to rejection of the Jewish community’s existence. If passed, the Icelandic measure would create insurmountable challenges for Jews and Muslims living there,” the organization added.

>>A letter sent by two US lawmakers urging the government of Iceland to reconsider proposed legislation banning male circumcision was applauded by a number of major American Jewish organizations on Tuesday. US Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), the committee’s ranking member, said in their statement that outlawing the practice would curtail religious freedoms and alienate Iceland’s minorities. “While Jewish and Muslim populations in Iceland may be small, your country’s ban could be exploited by those who stoke xenophobia and antisemitism in countries with more diverse populations,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. The congressmen added: “As a partner nation, we urge your government to stop this intolerant bill from advancing any further.” The letter was given to Icelandic Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Geir Haarde on April 5. The move was quickly heralded by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations – the largest Orthodox umbrella organization in the US – which told The Jerusalem Post, “We deeply appreciate the support of chairman Royce and ranking member Engel for working to safeguard the universal value of religious freedom.” “While Iceland’s Jewish community may be one of the smallest in the world, the legislation to ban male circumcision looms as a large assault upon Jewish – and Muslim – religious freedom and practice,” the OU continued. “Male circumcision is a fundamental ritual and sacred rite of passage for both the Jewish and Muslim communities. Throughout history, the prohibition of brit mila has been tantamount to rejection of the Jewish community’s existence. **If passed, the Icelandic measure would create insurmountable challenges for Jews and Muslims living there,”** the organization added.

(post is archived)

[–] • 4 pts

Good. kikes and sand bomber nigs have no business having babies in Iceland.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

It didn't pass, but clearly it was total panic

Here's more:

>Earlier this year, lawmakers from four political parties in Iceland introduced a bill in parliament that would ban the non-medical circumcision of boys younger than 18 and impose imprisonment of up to six years on offenders. Members of the ruling Left Green Movement, the Progressive Party, People’s Party and the Pirate Party are sponsoring the legislation, which was sent to Iceland’s parliament, the Albingi, on January 30, the RUV news site reported. Together, the parties account for 46% of the parliament’s 63 seats. “WE ARE talking about children’s rights, not about freedom of belief,” Progressive Party MP Silja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir said after introducing the bill. “Everyone has the right to believe in what they want, but the rights of children come above the right to believe.” The measure cites the prohibition of female genital mutilation in 2005, arguing a similar prohibition is necessary for males. The report did not say when the bill would come to a vote. The World Jewish Congress said that it was “deeply disturbed” by the proposal making its way through parliament, warning that if the law passes it could set a frightening precedent for other nations to follow. “The WJC is deeply disturbed by the attempt to ban the religious practice of brit mila – that of circumcision of Jewish baby boys – a precept inherent in Jewish identity for millennia” said Betty Ehrenberg, executive director of WJC North America. “We believe that this proposal, if allowed to pass, would indicate a setback in religious freedom, would harm the welfare of the Jewish community there by curtailing its religious rights, and set a poor example for other countries. “In a time when Jews the world over are profoundly concerned by a serious increase in antisemitic incidents, including physical attacks on Jews, their strong statement is direct and unequivocal,” she added. Meanwhile, Rabbi Marc Schneier, the founder and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, slammed the proposed legislation as an “affront” to Jewish and Islamic custom, calling for lawmakers in Reykjavík to immediately withdraw the bill from parliament. “This is an outrage to people of all faiths and, unfortunately, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a European government come out against religious circumcision,” Rabbi Schneier told the Post. “Several years ago, I met with the secretary-general of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, leading a delegation of global Muslim and Jewish leaders. Together, we discussed the insensitivity of these bans and what an affront it is to both of our religions.” Advocates of male circumcision, which many physicians believe reduces the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and genital infections, have long objected to the comparison of the practice with female genital mutilation, a custom with no medical benefits that is universally viewed as detrimental to the ability to derive pleasure from sexual intercourse. An estimated 250 Jews live in Iceland along with 1,500 Muslims, according to the BBC.

To us it's barely even a thing we consider, but to them... Both muslims and jews, it's "the everything" you remove that it's the end of the world lol

[–] • 1 pt

What a shame it didn't get passed.

[–] • 1 pt (edited )

It could be a massive repellent and a cheap one. Banning them for what they are/who they are isn't in the realm of possible, freedom of religion and all that, at least from a legal standpoint in the current democratic context. However banning what they do is possible, and child/genital mutilation is what they do, and it's a pillar of their identity, of their way of life. Banning that defining part of their identity results in an effective ban of who they are.

It would be like outlawing baptism, sort of. For christians it's a defining part of who/what they are.

[–] • 0 pt

Interesting no mention of Christians. Interesting Jews seem to protect Muslims like they do themselves, but reject Christians.

Oy vey. What could this mean?

[–] • 1 pt

Oy vey. What could this mean?

Two animals of the same litter

[–] • 0 pt

Circumcision isn't a christian rite

[–] • 0 pt

Inheritance of the old testament and the people. It's why Europeans do it.

[–] • 1 pt (edited )

If europeans do it it's either for an entire different reason (medical) or because they completely lost the plot. Circumcision has never been a rite among european christians, it's mostly a modern trend coming from america when it comes to ethnic europeans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision_controversy_in_early_Christianity#Contemporary_practices

>Even though mainstream Christian denominations do not require the practice and maintain a neutral position on it,[76] it is practiced in certain Christian countries and communities,[18][68][19][77] while it is not observed in other Christian countries and communities.[16] Both religious and non-religious circumcision is common in some predominantly Christian countries such as the United States,[78] but outside of the Jewish and Muslim communities, not for reasons of religious observance; see circumcision controversies. It may be significant that Jewish applicants to American medical schools comprised 60% of all applications in the 1930s, at a time when circumcision was becoming popular in the US.[79] The prevalence of circumcision in the United States is approximately 80%.[80] According to studies, American Evangelicals and Mormons have the highest rates of infant male circumcision among Christian denominations in the United States.[81] According to Scholar Heather L. Armstrong of University of Southampton, about half of Christian males worldwide are circumcised, with most of them being located in Africa, Anglosphere countries (with notable prevalence in the United States) and the Philippines.[82] Many Christians have been circumcised for reasons such as family preferences, depending on Biblical interpretation by individuals, medical or cultural reasons.[82] circumcision is also part of a traditional practice among the adherents of Coptic Christianity, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Eritrean Orthodox Church.[82] Circumcision is common among Christians in the Philippines,[83][84] South Korea,[85] Australia,[86] and Canada.[87] Circumcision is near universal in the Christian countries of Oceania,[88] and among the Christians of Africa,[21][89] being common among Christians in countries such as the Cameroon,[87] Democratic Republic of the Congo,[87] Ethiopia,[87] Eritrea,[87] Ghana,[87] Liberia,[87] Nigeria[87] and Kenya,[87] and is also widely practiced among Christians from Egypt,[90] Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and North Africa.[20][91][92] Circumcision is less common among the Christians of Canada, Europe and Latin America.[16][17] It is practiced amongst some Christians in the Indian subcontinent.[93]