Politician Behind Iceland Circumcision Ban Bill Admits She Didn’t Consult Jews
Image by keywordsuggest.org
By Aiden Pink March 20, 2018
The politician behind a bill in Iceland that would ban circumcision on children younger than 18 admitted that she didn’t consult Jewish and Muslim groups who would be affected by the ban.
“I didn’t think it was necessary to consult,” Silja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir, a member of parliament from the Progressive Party, told The Independent on Monday. “I don’t see it as a religious matter.”
The bill, which is backed by parties making up 46% of the seats in parliament, would impose a punishment of up to six years in prison.
“Jews are welcome in Iceland. But this is about child protection and children’s rights. That comes first, and before the religious rights of the adult,” Gunnarsdóttir added.
Advocates of circumcision, including many medical professionals, say that circumcision reduces the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. The children’s ombudsmen of all Nordic countries — including Iceland — released a joint statement in 2013 proposing bans on male circumcision in their countries, though none have been enacted.
“This is the biggest threat to Jewish life in Scandinavia,” Yair Melchior, the chief rabbi of Denmark, told the Forward last week. “It raises questions for us: ‘Does it mean we’re not wanted? Do we have a future here?’”
Iceland’s population of 300,000 includes several dozen Jews and a few hundred Muslims. The country’s first-ever full-time rabbi will arrive in May.
Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
