Both Gerakan Acheh Merdeka (GAM) and Laksar Mujahidin are making allegations that the food aid being distributed by America and Australia among others to tsunami survivors in Aceh and North Sumatra is "non-halal" or "not fit for human consumption".It got me thinking about how the rest of the world views Americans as illiterate and/or ignorant with regards to other cultures, especially non-Western cultures. Arguments have been made that this (perhaps willful?) ignorance is part of the root cause of the Western/Islamic tensions and thus part of the cause of 9/11. I shan't get into that argument, but honestly I hadn't considered the dietary requirements of those left in the wake of the East Asian tsunami. I expect that there's some standard aid package which is culturally neutral and easily transportable (rice, beans, etc.) but I have no way of knowing. Curious problem. I have no allergies nor any dietary strictures other than being slightly lactose intolerant. I'm not sure how I'd react if presented with the quandry of eating forbidden food vs. starving.
Here's a quick reference for Halal and Haram foods.
1 comment:
That is an interesting issue. I can't say that I considered it, either. I wouldn't even know where to begin in a response....
And totally off-topic...I checked out your profile to see if you had listed favorite movies (since I am, clearly, a movie nut), and I also noticed we like a lot of the same bands. To that end, I wanted to mention that I just got Keane's new album and it is FANTASTIC. They're like the bastard love child of Chris Martin and Ben Folds.
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