Source: Business & Politics, by Tom Tillison, August 26, 2018
In what reads like a parody account, Nihad Awad, the National Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), took to social media last week to call attention to Virginia police blocking customers from accessing a Muslim owned business.
The business in question, according to a tweet from Awad’s Twitter account, supplies live animals to be sacrificed for the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha, aka the “Festival of Sacrifice.”
“Police are blocking the entrance to the #Virginia Muslim-owned business to prevent customers from entering to choose their animals for #EidAlAdha sacrifice,” the tweet reads. “@CAIRNational is asking the city manager to lift the blockade and respect religious liberty.”
Police are blocking the entrance to the #Virginia Muslim-owned business to prevent customers from entering to choose their animals for #EidAlAdha sacrifice. @CAIRNational is asking the city manager to lift the blockade and respect religious liberty. pic.twitter.com/SZnBcToQJP
— Nihad Awad نهاد عوض (@NihadAwad) August 20, 2018
Eid al-Adha commemorates the tale of the Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, according to The New York Times. Muslims celebrate by slaughtering sheep, goats and other domestic animals, distributing the meat to the poor.
Right now, @ARMInvestigatio are in #Dhaka, #Bangladesh where millions of animals are expected to be #sacrificed today for the religious holiday, Eid Al-Adha.?
We will update you once we receive more information.
?? @WorldAnimalNews @Peace_4_Animals pic.twitter.com/Xxv338V6rF
— World Animal News (@WorldAnimalNews) August 21, 2018
I’m sorry but no animal should suffer such a barbaric death in 2018. Can our leaders please stop wishing everyone a happy #EidMubarak & address this ancient medieval slaughtering of animals. pic.twitter.com/wuM1M6JMUH
— DarrenMole (@DarrenMole) August 23, 2018
In Pakistan alone, nearly 10 million animals are slaughtered during the two days of Eid al-Adha, according to The Times.
And the “good news” is, according to Awad, the community of Warrenton was able to contribute to that number, as he shared in a second tweet that CAIR negotiated with the city to lift the blockade — it’s not clear who was negotiating on behalf of the animals.
“Breaking good news! We at @CAIRNational just finished negotiating with city officials who agreed to lift the police blockade & allow Muslim families to enter the facility on #EidAlAdha to select their animals for sacrifice. We appreciate the cooperation of city officials,” he tweeted.
Breaking good news!
We at @CAIRNational just finished negotiating with city officials who agreed to lift the police blockade & allow Muslim families to enter the facility on #EidAlAdha to select their animals for sacrifice.We appreciate the cooperation of city officials. https://t.co/1UYkm8qu6C
— Nihad Awad نهاد عوض (@NihadAwad) August 20, 2018
The Lebanese butcher at the business, Imad Rababeh, sacrifices the animals during the Eid al-Adha holiday.
We’ve done it for 20 years without incident,” he told WUSA9. “We’ve never harmed anyone. It’s never been a threat to public safety.”
Turns out, the police blockade was over a permit issue — the business did not file for a permit (to slaughter animals?) within the required 90 day period, WUSA9 reported.
