Campbell's Soup, halal-certified. (Photo Credit: CC BY-SA/themuslim.ca)

In Arabic, the word halal means “permissible, lawful or recommended.” It applies to the dietary traditions of Muslims in much the same way kosher foods are sought by practitioners of Judaism. In what may be the largest push toward halal-certified food in the North American mass market, Campbell’s Soup will begin publishing the mark of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) on its products to signify that they meet halal standards, reports The Stir. Campbell’s products in Canada will be the first to bear the ISNA insignia.

Campbell’s soup halal has Warhol ‘spinning in his grave’

There is no small amount of controversy surrounding the move toward Campbell Soup halal-certified products. According to The Stir, the ISNA has admitted ties to the fundamentalist organization Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by numerous countries, including the United States. Furthermore, multiple sources indicate that the ISNA is funded by the Sunni Wahhabi sect. Wikipedia states that the group, which was founded by the 18^th century scholar Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, advocates “purging Islam of impurities.” A NGO Freedom House study found numerous modern-day Wahhabi publications recommending that Muslims should “always oppose infidels in every way” and “hate them for their religion… for Allah’s sake.” For such reasons, The Stir thinks Andy Warhol – who created America’s iconic Campbell’s Soup can painting – would be spinning in his grave.

Boycott Campbell Soup: The Facebook group

Kosher foods are commonplace in American markets, and the presence of such products generally does not cause unrest. However, what are perceived by some as all-too-apparent links to terrorism have germinated various grassroots movements, like the Facebook group “Boycott Campbell Soup.” When Campbell says that “a Halal mark doesn’t change what’s inside the can — it means only that the ingredients used to make the soup have been reviewed by the largest non-profit, religious, educational, and non-political Islamic organization in North America,” what groups like Boycott Campbell Soup hear is tacit acceptance of terrorist activities in the name of corporate profit. What Campbell Canada calls a “commitment to diversity and extraordinary, authentic nourishment for all,” others call an affront to freedom-loving peoples.

Campbell’s Consumer Response Center, which can be reached at 800-410-7687, is prepared to take calls.

Sources:

Campbell Halal-Certified Products

Facebook: Boycott Campbell’s Soup

Islamic Society of North America

The Stir

How to prepare a halal meal

Image from Flickr.com. Coming to a small town near you - ain't that America!

The reasons aren’t clear, but the targets sure were

First World Management runs a butcher shop on the edge of town, and the meat it provides is meat that is slaughtered and butchered to Islamic dietary specifications.  Islamic dietary laws are very specific about meat, and for meat to be considered Halal (similar to Kosher) it must be procured according to a very specific set of rules, or dhabiha.  The shop in question slaughters and butchers dhabiha meat for consumers, most of which are in Chicago.  There are only a few employees, all Muslims – less than 10, most of which live in trailers behind the shop.

Over a dozen FBI vehicles, snipers and a helicopter…and no arrests!

Nearly 100 FBI personnel descended on this location on Sunday, October 18th, and no arrests were made.  (This cost taxpayers a lot more than a few payday loans worth.)  No one in the town, not even the mayor was aware anything was going to happen.  The only people who did were the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department, who were notified two weeks in advance of the incident. You can read up on the incident at Fox News, though more coverage is likely to be forthcoming.

Aren’t we supposed to NOT have secret police in this country?

It’s speculated that the raid was done in order to root out immigration violations.  However, no arrests were made, and the size of it makes it look like something beyond the scope of immigration affairs.  There was a recent terrorism arrest and plot, but if this were an anti-terror raid, why wasn’t anyone detained, and why weren’t any charges filed?  The FBI is a multi-billion dollar a year expense on the taxpayers, and it is highly dubious that they don’t have anything to do.  State intimidation is one of the things that the Founders and Framers were universally against, so this looks suspicious to say the least.

UPDATE: It wasn’t for nothing