Danish Ambassador Claims Event 70 Years Ago Means Antisemitism Not Possible There Ever

Copenhagen, February 17 – As the Danish ban on Jewish ritual slaughter of animals went into effect, Denmark’s Ambassador to Israel dismissed the notion that such a law reflected any antisemitic sentiment, since the rescue of Denmark’s Jews from the Nazis in 1943 means that nothing the Danish government does in 2014 could ever be characterized as antisemitic.

Denmark barred the slaughter of animals without rendering them unconscious first. Slaughtering a stunned animal renders Jewish ritual slaughter invalid, making it impossible for Danish Jews to obtain locally slaughtered kosher meat. Danish Jewish leaders and Israeli government representatives have castigated Denmark for the law, accusing the kingdom of discriminating against its small Jewish community. Ambassador Jesper Vahr bristled at the accusations, contending that Denmark’s heroic behavior during the Second World War should render it forever immune to claims of anti-Jewish bias.

“This accusation is an insult to the country whose citizens protected their Jewish countrymen during World War II, and helped them escape the Nazi occupation,” said the ambassador, contending that once some people perform a virtuous act somewhere, other people living in that area, plus their descendants, are rendered incapable of non-virtuous behavior for several generations at least.

The ban is largely symbolic, as the Jewish community imports its kosher meat from elsewhere in Europe, a continent known historically for its love of Jews, where the practice is still permitted.