To my knowledge “halal” meat is the result of allowing most of the blood to be drained by means of cutting the jugular veins
and carotid arteries of the slaughtered animal. The idea being that blood harbors germs.
Have no idea what makes anything “kosher”.
The rest of the article points out that while a lamb might bleed to death in 5 to 7 seconds, a cow might suffer for several minutes as the carotid artery spasms and holds blood in the brain and allows feeling.
I am wondering if they also cut the vessels of chickens, whereas we cut the head off, immediately ending any feeling. The rest of the article also pointed out that one establishment imports a lot of its chicken from Turkey. Will they boycott imported halal meats if the public gets serious about protesting?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_and_Jewish_dietary_laws_compared
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Slaughter
Dhabia is the method used to slaughter an animal as per Islamic tradition. Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish law. Shechita requires that an animal be conscious and this is taken to mean the modern practice of electrical stunning before slaughter is forbidden. All Muslim authorities also forbid the use of electrical stunning.
Similarities
Both shechita and dhabia involve cutting across the neck of the animal with a non-serrated blade in one clean attempt in order to sever the main blood vessels.
Both require that the spinal cord be avoided during slaughter.
Both require draining the blood of the animal.
Any sane adult Jew who knows the proper technique may perform shechita. Similarly, Dhabiĥa, can be performed by any "sane adult Muslim… by following the rules prescribed by Shariah". Some Islamic authorities, though, state that dhabia can also be performed by Jews.
Differences
Dhabiha requires that God's (see Islamic Concept of God) name be pronounced before each slaughter. Some Muslims have accorded meat to be halal but not necessarily dhabiha; in other words, kosher meat is considered halal by some Muslims. This is according to the Hadith: "[I]t is narrated by Al Bukhari from Aisha the Prophet Muhammad's wife, that some people came to him and said, Oh God's Prophet, some people bring us meat and we do not know if they pronounced the name of God on it or not, and he said pronounce you the name of God and eat." Dhabiha meat by definition is meat that is slaughtered in the shariah manner and the name of God is said before the slaughter. In Shechita, a blessing to God is recited before beginning an uninterrupted period of slaughtering; as long as the shochet does not have a lengthy pause, interrupt, or otherwise lose concentration, this blessing covers all the animals slaughtered that period. This blessing follows the standard form for a blessing before most Jewish rituals ("Blesséd are you God ... who commanded us regarding [such-and-such]," in this case, Shechita). The general rule in Judaism is that for rituals which have an associated blessing, if one omitted the blessing, the ritual is still valid [see Maimonides Laws of Blessings 11:5]; as such, even if the shochet failed to recite the blessing before Shechita, the slaughter is still valid and the meat is kosher.
There are no restrictions on what organs or parts of the carcass may be eaten from a Halal-slaughtered and -dressed animal; as long as it was slaughtered and prepared according to the rules of dhabiha halal, the entire animal is fit for consumption by Muslims. However, Kashrut prohibits eating the chelev (certain types of fat) and gid hashoneh (the sciatic nerve), and thus the hindquarters of a kosher animal must undergo a process called nikkur (or, in Yiddish, porging) in order to be fit for consumption by Jews. As nikkur is an expensive, time-consuming process, it is rarely practiced outside of Israel, and the hindquarters of kosher-slaughtered animals in the rest of the world are generally sold on the non-kosher market.
Other comparisons
Similarities
After slaughter, both require that the animal be examined to ensure that it is fit for consumption. Dhabia guidelines generally say that the carcass should be inspected, while kashrut says that the animal's internal organs must be examined "to make certain the animal was not diseased".
Both sets of religious rules are subject to arguments among different authorities with regional and other related differences in permissible foodstuffs.
Strictly observant followers of either religion will not eat in restaurants not certified to follow its rules.
Meat slaughtered and sold as kosher must still be salted to draw out excess blood and impurities. A similar practice is followed in some Muslim households, but using vinegar. This is done to remove all surface blood from the meat, in accordance to Islam's prohibition against eating blood.
Differences
During the Jewish holiday Passover, there is an additional set of restrictions, requiring that no chametz (sour-dough starter or fermented products from the five species of grains) be eaten. However this requirement is specific to the holiday, and nothing to do with the laws of Kashrut. This has no parallel in the laws of dhabia halal, although it might be seen as a form of fasting.
Kashrut prohibits mixing meat and dairy products, as well as consuming or even profiting from them. Dhabia halal has no such rules.
In Judaism, the permissibility of food accompanies a vast corpus of secondary factors. For instance, vessels and implements used to cook food must also be kept separate for dairy products and meat products. If a vessel or implement used to cook dairy is then used to cook meat, in addition to the thus contaminated food becoming non-kosher (according to various situation-specific rules), the vessel or implement itself can no longer be used for the preparation or consumption of a kosher meal. Depending on the material properties of the item (for example, if it is made of metal or of clay, if it is one piece or has joints, etc...) it may be rendered permissible ("kashered") by certain procedures or it may be irretrievably contaminated. In general, the same policy extends to any apparatus used in the preparation of foods, such as ovens or a stovetop. Laws are somewhat more lenient for modern cooking apparatuses like microwaves or dishwashers, although this depends greatly on tradition (minhag) or individuals' own stringent practices (chumrot). As a result of these factors, many Conservative and Orthodox Jews cannot eat dishes prepared at any restaurant that is not specifically kosher, even if the actual dish ordered uses only kosher ingredients. This level of stringency does not have an analog in Dhabiha Halal.
Kosher is the same - Islam copies everything. I believe that with Kosher the animal is knocked on the head first to stun it.