| Well, first it’s “NO, you’ll get what we can afford to feed you. Don’t forget, you’re prisoners.” Then it’s: “Well, of course, you’re the loudest, most threatening batch of prisoners we have, and we give in to threats pretty easily . . ..”
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_c_palm_beach_county/west_palm_beach/palm-beach-county-jail-pulls-religious-meal-from-muslims-keeps-kosher-meals-for-jewish-inmates#ixzz2aBCbC9aJ
Palm Beach County Jail pulls religious meal from Muslims, keeps kosher meals for Jewish inmates [doesn’t that make you wonder how many quadruple thousands there are?]
Muslim inmates forced[forced, egad!]to eat vegan meals, no meat
Posted: 07/25/2013
By: Jeff Skrzypek
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — – A religious battle over food is erupting at the Palm Beach County Jail after kosher meals were taken away from Muslim inmates and replaced with a vegan meal.
Imam Jaabir Muhammad, the jail chaplain, said he is concerned Muslim inmates are not being treated fairly and not given a tray catered with the Islamic faith in mind. “They made all of them vegans, vegetarians against their will,” said Muhammad.
Muhammad claims inmates were informed on July 15th they would no longer receive kosher or halal meals although Jewish inmates would continue to receive kosher meals. “If you’re just feeding them vegetables, you’re not going to have the nutritional value to be able to survive and abstain the rigors of affairs [?],” said Muhammad.
Muslims can eat meat [that is just a stupid comment], it just must be prepared or butchered[halal] in a special way. Followers of Islam prefer “halal” [is a long way from “must be”] meat but can eat kosher meals [is anybody saying they have to eat kosher?] as an alternative.
“If someone breaks a law, punish them for breaking the law. But don’t punish them for being human,” [?] said Muhammad.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office released this statement: “The Sheriff’s Office is in complete compliance with all Jail Accreditation standards prescribed by, the American Correctional Association, the Florida Correctional Accreditation Commission, and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, concerning meals given to all inmates. Inmates requiring specialty meals are given meals as it relates to each specific religion, and those meals meet the standards for each specific religion. The Sheriff’s Office is in contact with the leadership of the Muslims community, and will address any of their concerns as it relates to the standards the jail adheres to, but we will not deviate from those standards.”
A jail spokesperson later clarified that the kosher meals [this reporter really isn’t making any sense; Muslims don’t keep kosher]were taken away [I’d almost bet that wasn’t the wording] from the Muslim inmates to cut costs. [Well, that tells me there are significantly more Muslims in jail than Jews; I just Googled it: about 1700 Jews throughout 63 major FL prison divisions in 2010. A more interesting tidbit: I was consistently blocked by “Bitdefender” when I tried to find out how many Muslim prisoners there are in FL. It is not unusual for Bitdefender to block me when I search out Islamic info.]
When asked about why the Jewish inmates continued to receive kosher meals, a spokesperson sent this statement: “I understand the Muslim religion does not require [true. When they are in a non-dominant Islamic nation/states, Muslims can blend with the surroundings to hide their faith; clearly, they think they can dominate this one] their meals to be kosher halal and the Jewish religion does. We provide kosher meals to inmates practicing the Jewish faith. We provide an alternative religious diet to Muslims that follow the halal dietary requirements. Meals, whether they are kosher or alternative religious diet(s), meet ALL the daily nutritional recommendations required.”
Jaabir Muhammad said he is disappointed by the change and calls the move unfair. “It sends to me that there’s favoritism, discrimination, and that they’re discriminating against the Muslims in favor of other religious beliefs,” said Muhammad.
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_c_palm_beach_county/west_palm_beach/palm-beach-county-sheriff-jail-meet-with-south-florida-muslims-to-discuss-inmate-meal-controversy
Palm Beach County sheriff, jail meet with South Florida Muslims to discuss inmate meal controversy
Sheriff, Muslim leaders working on Halal meals
Posted: 07/26/2013
By: Jeff Skrzypek
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — – A religious controversy continued on Friday surrounding religious meals being given out at the Palm Beach County Jail. After word got around Muslim inmates were not being fed special meals like their Jewish counterparts, the South Florida Muslim community demanded a meeting with Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
“We thought that everyone should be treated alike,” said Abdool Ghanie with the American Muslim Alliance of Florida [can anyone say “Muslim Brotherhood”?]. The meeting with the sheriff lasted 45 minutes and Ghanie said the sheriff used the time to explain the situation. “There was an issue about the budget, that it was very expensive,” Ghanie said the sheriff told him. “People who are not Muslims claimed to have Muslim food and the budget went up $1.5 million.”
A spokesperson said the sheriff was not available to speak with the media. PBSO released this statement on its Facebook page: “Earlier today, Sheriff Bradshaw and Chief Deputy Gauger met with members of the Muslim Community to discuss a recent jail issue. We are happy to report that the issue has been resolved and the Sheriff and Chief Deputy are looking forward to a continued open and ongoing dialogue with the Muslim Community [they are inside a prison, right?].”
“What I take away from this meeting is that it will happen and they’re going to work with us to make it happen,” said Ghanie. The American Muslim Alliance of Florida plans to meet with Sheriff Bradshaw again where members hope to bring down costs and provide Halal meat [the AMAF is going to get the/pay for the meat for the prisoners??? Helping? Not demanding? That would be a first] for followers of Islam. “It’s not a Muslim problem, it’s a national problem in terms of everybody should be treated alike,” [oh, yawn] said Ghanie.
PBSO has yet to answer why it made a change now and why Jewish inmates never lost their Kosher meals. [Because it doesn’t cost much, cuz there aren’t very many?] |
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