http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/belgiumpork.asp Pork In School Canteens A REAL MAYOR WHO REFUSES TO REMOVE PORK FROM THE SCHOOL CANTEENS EXPLAINS WHY Muslim parents demanded the abolition of pork in all the school canteens of Ath in Belgium. Marc Duvivier the mayor of Ath, has refused, and the town clerk sent a note to all parents to explain why. "Muslims must understand that they have to adapt to Belgium, its customs, its traditions, its way of life, because that's where they chose to immigrate. They must understand that they have to integrate and learn to live in Belgium. They must understand that it is for them to change their lifestyle, not the Belgians who so generously welcomed them. They must understand that the Athois are neither racist nor xenophobic, they accepted many immigrants before Muslims (whereas the reverse is not true that Muslims do not accept non-Muslim foreigners on their soil). That no more than other nations, the Belgians are not willing to give up their identity, their culture. And if Belgium is a land of welcome, it's not Marc Duvivier that welcomes foreigners, but the Belgian people as a whole. Finally, they must understand that in Belgium with its Judeo-Christian roots, Christmas trees, churches and religious festivals, religion must remain in the private domain. The municipality of Ath was right to refuse any concessions to Islam and Sharia. For Muslims that disagree with secularism and do not feel comfortable in Belgium, there are 57 beautiful Muslim countries in the world, most of them under-populated and ready to receive them with open halal arms in accordance with Shariah. If you left your country for Belgium, and not for other Muslim countries, it is because you have considered that life is better in Belgium than elsewhere. Ask yourself the question, just once, "Why is it better here in Belgium than where you come from?" A canteen with pork is part of the answer. =============================================================== Origins: In May 2013, e-mails began to circulate that claimed the mayor of the town of Ath in Belgium had refused to honor the wishes of Muslim parents who were demanding that school canteens (cafeterias) be made free of pork in order to comply with their religious beliefs. The missive alleged that Mayor Marc Duvivier adamantly refused to remove pork products from school menus, and that he had issued the statement reproduced above in response to the request. The "pork in canteens in Belgium" e-mail regained traction in September 2014 and resumed its spread through inboxes and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. When the rumor began in 2013, it became so popular that it spawned an online petition to support Mayor Duvivier in his alleged firm stance against halal cafeterias. When Duvivier was alerted to the circulating rumor about pork and his school canteens, he formally addressed the rumor in response to international interest in his policies on assimilation and student menus. In an announcement posted to Ath's website at the time, Duvivier not only denied having made the statement attributed to him, he also denied that any request about removing pork from canteens had ever been presented to him. In his press release, Duvivier explained that "no person of any nationality or ethnic group whatsoever have made such a request to the municipal services, with Mr. Bruno Boel, Municipal Secretary, or myself ... this is a lie," adding that the presence of pork in school canteens had never been an issue. ============================================================= Variations: A variant of this item shifted the locale from Belgium to Quebec, Canada. Let's hear it for a Quebec mayor...! ! ! ! ! MAYOR REFUSES TO REMOVE PORK FROM SCHOOL CANTEEN- MENU... EXPLAINS WHY Muslim parents demanded the abolition of pork in all the school canteens of a Montreal suburb. The mayor of the Montreal suburb of Dorval has refused, and the town clerk sent a note to all parents to explain why... “Muslims must understand that they have to adapt to Canada and Quebec, its customs, its traditions, its way of life, because that's where they chose to immigrate. “They must understand that they have to integrate and learn to live in Quebec. “They must understand that it is for them to change their lifestyle, not the Canadians who so generously welcomed them. “They must understand that Canadians are neither racist nor xenophobic; they accepted many immigrants before Muslims (whereas the reverse is not true, in that Muslim states do not accept non-Muslim immigrants). “That no more than other nations, Canadians are not willing to give up their identity, their culture. “And if Canada is a land of welcome, it's not the Mayor of Dorval who welcomes foreigners, but the Canadian-Quebecois people as a whole. “Finally, they must understand that in Canada (Quebec) with its Judeo-Christian roots, Christmas trees, churches and religious festivals, religion must remain in the private domain. The municipality of Dorval was right to refuse any concessions to Islam and Sharia. “For Muslims who disagree with secularism and do not feel comfortable in Canada, there are 57 beautiful Muslim countries in the world, most of them under-populated and ready to receive them with open halal arms in accordance with Shariah. “If you left your country for Canada, and not for other Muslim countries, it is because you have considered that life is better in Canada than elsewhere. “Ask yourself the question, just once, “Why is it better here in Canada than where you come from?” “A canteen with pork is part of the answer.” ============================================================= I don't know who the original writer of this letter is... It appears that they lacked the courage to take credit for their own writing and ascribed it to someone else. It is understandable, that they would have reservations on taking credit for the letter. There are enough muslims that exist, who would harm, or kill someone for publicizing this view. Militant, and fundamentalist muslims are some of the most vile, and despicable people who inhabit this earth at this time.
As long as they don't consume the pork, it shouldn't matter whether it is served to someone else or not. LOL @ first glance I thought he was putting a piece of pork in a student's water canteen. I almost fell off my sofa laughing.
I have a hard time connecting asking for pork to be removed with being extremist. This is a very large stretch. They asked. The school said no. end of story. This is being too extreme on muslims for requesting something.
When I worked as a corrections officer, I worked in the foodservice department(because I worked in foodservice for sometime before going to the academy). I worked in the morning shift. We often had sausage patties in the menu on some days. I had a Muslim inmate who complained that he didn't want to be anywhere near pork. He threatened to sue if he was to be in the vicinity of pork. That was an impossibility because the serving line was locked from the outside. I was alone with five or six inmates twice and sometimes three times a day on the line and I hated it. But the issue of the omission of pork from one's individual meals is a personal choice. I believe in options. In the prison system, there are options like vegan meals. I think that if there is pork on the menu, there should be other choices like poultry, fish or beef.
