Iceland is poised to become the first European country to outlaw male circumcision amid signs that the ritual common to both Judaism and Islam may be a new battleground over religious freedom.This is antisemitic and Islamophobic. The Icelanders aren't concerned with medical complications from the minor procedure.
A bill currently before the Icelandic parliament proposes a penalty of up to six years in prison for anyone carrying out a circumcision other than for medical reasons. Critics say the move, which has sparked alarm among religious leaders across Europe, would make life for Jews and Muslims in Iceland unsustainable.
One in three men globally is thought to be circumcised, the vast majority for religious or cultural reasons. Many Jews and Muslims fear the issue of circumcision could become a proxy for antisemitism and Islamophobia, pointing to similar tensions over religious dress and the ritual slaughter of animals for meat.
The Icelandic bill says the circumcision of young boys violates their rights and is incompatible with the United Nations convention on the rights of the child. It draws a parallel with female genital mutilation, already outlawed in most European countries.
The bill says circumcisions are performed without anaesthesia, and claims the procedure is often carried out “in homes that are not sterile, and not by doctors but by religious leaders. There is a high risk of infections under such conditions that may lead to death.”
And it is easy to prove.
Because in Israel, the complication rate for circumcisions is an astoundingly low 0.34% in 2001. A very high percentage of Israelis have the circumcisions done by mohels in their homes, not hospitals.
Given the tiny number of Jews in Iceland, I would be very surprised if there was a single case of complications from a Jewish circumcision in the past decade.
(I cannot speak to the percentage of complications from Muslim circumcision.)
Now, let's compare this with another minor, elective surgical procedure that parents often have their kids go through without medical expertise: body piercings, specifically ear piercings. One study showed up to 35% of people with ear piercings experience complications like infections, tearing and allergic reactions - a 10000% higher chance of complications than circumcisions.
But there are plenty of non-medical piercing and tattoo shops in Iceland. (Tattoos, incidentally, have a 3% infection rate and there are other complications, making them 10 times as likely as circumcision to get infected. )
As far as I can tell, parents are allowed to give their children ear piercings in Iceland, just as they are pretty much everywhere else.
Obviously the people pushing the bill aren't interested in any sort of public health issue. Nor do they really care about children's rights. The bill is pure hate for religion.
Every act of hate hides behind a moral front. This is no exception.