World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder criticized the decision of European courts to uphold Belgian legislation banning religious ritual slaughter without pre-stunning, in a statement released by the WJC on Thursday.

“Today’s ruling is a continued maneuver to discriminate against Belgium’s Jewish and Muslim citizens,” said Lauder. “By Prohibiting religious slaughter without stunning, the Court of Justice of the European Union has placed a potentially terminal obstacle to continued Jewish communal life in Europe. This is not a matter of animal welfare, but the suppression of religious freedom and liberty that is guaranteed in Article 10(1) of the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.