It's all in the soup!

It's all in the soup!

I have recently read an interesting piece about one of my favourite foods, Campbell's soups. I consume them nearly on a daily basis, unless I have homemade soup around.

It seems that its Canadian subsidiary has rolled out a line of soups certified as halal,  meaning that they are prepared according to Islamic dietary laws, thus broadening the market to consumers of that faith.

Blogger Pamela Geller started calling for a boycott on her blog which is titled Atlas Shrugs. And other bloggers have followed and joined in the call for a boycott of such products.

All the fuss seems to be that the products are certified by the Islamic Society of North America ( ISNA) an organisation that US government prosecutors linked to the terrorist group Hamas in a 2007 conspiracy case. Hamas has been named a terrorist organization by the US State Department, and the Islamic Society of America could have funneled money to them. It also seems that it has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist political movement founded in Egypt in the 1920s, and that is not included in the list of foreign terrorist organizations.

In any case Geller and the other bloggers seem to have an issue with who is doing the certifying and are not suggesting that Campbell pull their line of halal foods, which are not going to be sold in the US anyway. The controversy has come in the wake of the Muslim prayer center near Ground Zero from a few weeks ago.  

This controversy also highlights the problems of perceptions. Muslims tend to come over to Western democracies and try to impose their habits and " cultural" ways of life, instead of adopting the values and rules of the societies that host them. This has been a constant with Islam since its foundation. As a matter of fact, if one reads certain passages of the Qran, it clearly states that Muslims should do what it takes to prevail in the society in which they live.

Multiculturalism, one of the "brand" policies of the socialist left, does not work, as we can see in Europe. Two different models have gone miserably wrong. In the UK and the Netherlands, it has meant isolation for immigrants in their own neighborhoods, with their own media and satellite TV, promoting hatred towards the societies that host them, and possibly leading to violent episodes like the terrorist attacks in July 2005.

France on the other hand, advocated integration, disregarding origins, culture and religion and promoting a new " citizen" denaturalized and extracted from their roots, causing tensions leading to the episodes if recurring street violence. Spain, which has no real immigration policy or strategy, also suffered from terrorist attacks in March 2004. So doing nothing to curtail cultural imposition by immigrants doesn't work either.

Multiculturalism can only work both ways: host societies should be prepared to accept those who come to us looking for a better life, and respect religions, culture and traditions; but those who arrive, should not try to impose their habits and culture on the societies they now live in. Promoting gender equality is not something decadent and racist. Defending our individual rights, not limited to women of course, is something we should do every day. And we must be vigilant with those who, in the name of respect and tolerance, demand from us a change in our way of life.

Campbell's soup probably will not change much now that they have a halal line of products. I can live with that. Halal foods, with the possible exception of turkey salami, can actually be rather tasty and even healthy. I will still enjoy my soup, and they will make more money by broadening the customer base. As long as I have a choice, I am prepared to accept that others also have theirs.