Definition: In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Input: Image copyright Getty Images 
  
 Religious groups have condemned a bill in Iceland's parliament that would ban circumcision for non-medical reasons. 
  
 The draft law would impose a six-year prison term on anyone guilty of "removing part or all of the [child's] sexual organs", arguing the practice violates the child's rights. 
  
 Jewish and Muslim leaders however have called the bill an attack on religious freedom. 
  
 Iceland would be the first European country to ban the procedure. 
  
 The country is thought to have roughly 250 Jewish citizens and around 1,500 Muslim citizens. 
  
 Why is the bill being introduced? 
  
 MP Silja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir of the Progressive Party, who introduced the bill at the start of the month, said: "We are talking about children's rights, not about freedom of belief. 
  
 "Everyone has the right to believe in what they want, but the rights of children come above the right to believe." 
  
 Iceland passed a law in 2005 banning female genital mutilation, and supporters of this move have compared it to that law. 
  
 The latest bill (in Icelandic) says circumcision "involves permanent interventions in a child's body that can cause severe pain". 
  
 If it passes its first reading, the draft law will go to a committee stage before it can come into effect. 
  
 What do religious groups say? 
  
 The Nordic Jewish Communities issued a statement condemning the ban on "the most central rite" in their faith. 
  
 "You are about to attack Judaism in a way that concerns Jews all over the world," the open letter reads. 
  
 Jewish campaign group Milah UK stated that comparisons with female genital mutilation are unwarranted, given that in the case of male circumcision there is "no recognised long-term negative impact on the child". 
  
 Imam Ahmad Seddeeq at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Iceland also criticised the move. 
  
 "It's... part of our faith," he said." It's something that touches our religion and I believe that this is... a contravention [of] religious freedom." 
  
 The Bishop of Reykjavik, Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir, warned Jewish and Muslim people could feel "unwelcome" in Iceland. 
  
 "The danger that arises, if this bill becomes law, is that Judaism and Islam will become criminalised religions," she said. "We must avoid all such forms of extremism." 
  
 Is circumcision safe? 
  
 By Michelle Roberts, BBC News Online health editor 
  
 Although it is a relatively simple medical procedure, circumcision is not entirely risk free. 
  
 Doctors may recommend that a man or boy is circumcised if he has an unusually tight foreskin, known as phimosis, or suffers from recurrent infections of the foreskin and penis, known as balanitis. 
  
 There is also some evidence that men who are circumcised have a lower risk of contracting HIV from HIV-positive female partners. 
  
 It is not clear if circumcision reduces the risk of other sexually transmitted infections too, but studies suggest it may lower the chance of catching genital warts caused by a family of viruses called HPV. 
  
 The main risks of the surgery are bleeding and infection. 
  
 In the UK, the chance of these occurring is between one in 10 and one in 50, according to the NHS website, although that is a figure for older boys and men, not the newborns who would be most affected by the Icelandic ban. 
  
 How do other countries compare? 
  
 Circumcision is legal throughout Europe, although the practice is becoming more controversial. 
  
 A court in Germany passed a local ban in 2012 after the circumcision of a four-year-old Muslim boy led to complications, with the judge saying it "permanently and irreparably changed" the body. 
  
 However, the German government later that year clarified the act is legal provided it is performed by trained practitioners. 
  
 The following year, the Council of Europe recommended countries take steps to ensure good medical and sanitary practices when performing a circumcision. 
  
 And in the UK in 2016, a court ruled that a Muslim father could not have his sons circumcised after their mother disagreed. ||||| 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. 
  
 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. 
  
 Muslim and Jewish leaders attacked the proposal, while Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the Catholic Church in the European Union, said the bill was a “dangerous attack” on religious freedom. “The criminalisation of circumcision is a very grave measure that raises deep concern.” 
  
 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.” 
  
 It acknowledges that while parents have the right to give religious guidance to their children, “such a right can never exceed the rights of the child”. Boys who wish to be circumcised for religious or cultural reasons can do so when they reach an age at which they “understand what is involved in such an action”, it suggests. 
  
 Iceland’s population of about 336,000 includes tiny Jewish and Muslim communities. There are thought to be some 250 Jews and about 1,500 Muslims. 
  
 Silja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir of the centre-right Progressive party said she had proposed the bill after realising that there was no ban on male circumcision although FGM has been outlawed in Iceland since 2005. “If we have laws banning circumcision for girls, then we should do so for boys,” she said. 
  
 “We are talking about children’s rights, not about freedom of belief. Everyone has the right to believe in what they want, but the rights of children come above the right to belief.” 
  
 Nordic countries had well-deserved reputations for promoting human rights, she added. “If Iceland backs this, I think other countries will follow.” 
  
 The issue of circumcision has been raised in other European countries but none has outlawed it. 
  
 According to Milah UK, a Jewish campaign group to protect the right to circumcision, the procedure is only carried out by highly-trained and regulated practitioners, known as mohelim. Boys are usually circumcised at eight days old. 
  
 A spokesperson for Milah UK said: “Jewish male neonatal circumcision – known as brit milah – is a non-negotiable element of Jewish identity, common to Jews from all backgrounds and respected in liberal democratic countries. For a country such as Iceland, that considers itself a liberal democracy to ban it, thus making sustainable Jewish life in the country impossible, is extremely concerning.” 
  
 Parallels with FGM were unwarranted, Milah UK said. The partial or complete removal of female genitalia could make intercourse difficult and painful and cause serious medical complications. In contrast, circumcision was a minor procedure. 
  
 “There is no recognised long-term negative impact on the child for the rest of his life. Millions of men – Jews as well as others – are circumcised around the world, and are unaffected in their everyday lives by having undergone the procedure. Carrying out brit milah on newborn boys is a central requirement of Jewish law,” the spokesperson said. 
  
 Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, called for respect for the values of openness and tolerance, and added there was no evidence that circumcision was harmful. 
  
 “We can only assume that this attempt to ban a core practice of Jewish communities comes from ignorance about the practice and its effect on Jewish children, rather than to send a message that Jews are no longer welcome in Iceland,” he said. 
  
 Ahmad Seddeeq, the imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of Iceland, said the bill contravened religious freedom. “Circumcision has been practised for centuries, it is deeply rooted in cultural and religious traditions,” he said. 
  
 A meeting of religious organisations in Iceland was called earlier this month to discuss the bill, and they hoped to issue a declaration of opposition, he added. 
  
 Muslims in Iceland were already travelling to neighbouring countries to have the procedure performed on babies because of the reluctance of local doctors. But, Seddeeq said, “the [medical] benefits of this practice far exceed the risks”. 
  
 Jewish and Muslim communities warn that if circumcision is outlawed, the practice will go underground or religious minorities will travel or relocate to countries where it is permitted. 
  
 In Germany, a 2012 law permits only trained practitioners to perform circumcisions. It followed a controversial German court ruling which said circumcision “permanently and irreparably changed” a child’s body, and took away the individual’s right to “make his own decision on his religious affiliation”. 
  
 The following year, the Council of Europe passed a resolution calling on 47 member states to regulate practices concerning ritual circumcision, “to overcome some of the prevailing traditional methods, which do not take into consideration the best interest of the child and the latest state of medical art”. Israel said the resolution fostered “hate and racist trends in Europe”. 
  
 Two years ago, a judge sitting in a British family court said that young children should not be circumcised until they are old enough to decide for themselves. NHS advice is that “the risks associated with circumcisions when carried out by qualified and experienced doctors are small”. 
  
 The Icelandic bill comes against a backdrop of a number of European countries prohibiting Islamic religious dress, such as the niqab or burka. This spring the Danish parliament will debate a bill banning full-face veils in public. 
  
 Last year Belgium voted to ban halal and kosher meat, citing animal rights. Poland’s government has proposed a law prohibiting kosher slaughter, in a move vehemently opposed by the Jewish community. 
  
 The Icelandic bill on circumcision has cross-party backing and wide public support, Gunnarsdóttir said. If it passes its first reading, the bill will go into committee stage for several months before it can become law. |||||
Output:
The world's oldest parliament will soon be debating Europe's first ban on circumcising male children for non-medical reasons—a tradition campaigners call "male genital mutilation." The bill before Iceland's parliament proposes a six-year prison sentence for anybody removing part or all of a child's sexual organs, the BBC reports. Supporters say circumcising young boys violates their rights, while opponents—including Jewish and Muslim leaders, as well as Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the Catholic Church in the European Union—argue that it violates the religious freedom of the country's small Muslim and Jewish communities, believed to number around 1,500 and 250 people, respectively. The religious leaders say the ban could make Jews and Muslims feel "unwelcome" in Iceland. The bill—which says boys shouldn't be circumcised for religious or cultural reasons until they're old enough to decide for themselves—was proposed by Silja Dogg Gunnarsdottir of the Progressive Party, the Guardian reports. She says she decided to introduce the bill after realizing the country had banned female genital mutilation without addressing male circumcision. "If we have laws banning circumcision for girls, then we should do so for boys," she says. "We are talking about children's rights, not about freedom of belief. Everyone has the right to believe in what they want, but the rights of children come above the right to belief." Danish doctors recommended in 2016 that nobody under 18 be circumcised, but the country stopped short of a ban. (In Britain, Amazon has stopped selling circumcision training kits.)