To the Editor:
I am writing in response to the editorial “Inclusion means everyone is seated at the table, able to benefit from one another,” which appeared in the March 21 edition of The Altamont Enterprise.

I couldn’t agree more.

Where I have to agree to disagree is in the analysis regarding the denial by the zoning board, of a proposed halal market, which would incorporate the onsite slaughter of poultry. 

It seems to me that what was evaluated was the denial of the proposal with little mention being made to the exception being taken, the location of this particular aspect of the enterprise. And then, some interpretive leaps. 

An antipathy for animal slaughter and as such, discomfort with it occurring on the main thoroughfare of town, does not equate to a dismissal for the significance of practices that adhere to halal orthodoxy. 

Nor should it be presumed that the assessment that halal slaughter is conducted more humanely, while arguably true, should be adequate to subjugate that conviction. 

The analogy made to a perhaps more widely held familiarity, with the significance of kosher practices to Jewish orthodoxy is apt. The rituals involved in the slaughtering of animals to be adherent to kosher standards are quite similar to those of halal.

To that point, were the proposed market in question to feature kosher foods and permission to conduct live animal slaughter onsite so as to be in conformance with kosher standards, it would be equally unfavorable. 

To be aligned with the previous interpretations, I suppose this could be characterized to some as being anti-Semitic. And this would be equally misguided. 

Following the decision of the zoning board to deny the proposal for the market, Ms. Savita Hanspal, speaking on behalf of the applicants, asked if they would be allowed to reappear before the board, if they were to find a way to suitably conduct the slaughtering off site. She received assurances from Chairperson Elizabeth Lott that this would be the case.

I sincerely hope that they do.

Iris Broyde

Westmere