Are the Swiss on their way to becoming an Islamic state, too? Apparently.
Swiss Wary of Islamic Backlash Over Call to Ban MinaretsThursday, July 10, 2008
By Patrick Goodenough, International Editor
(CNSNews.com) –
Fearing a backlash in the Islamic world, the Swiss government will mobilize opposition to those who want to ban the building of minarets. This comes after a right-wing party secured the necessary public support to force a referendum on the matter. Campaign organizers this week delivered to the seat of the federal government in Bern a petition signed by more than 114,000 people supporting a move to add a clause to the constitution prohibiting the construction of minarets, the towers or spires that rise from some mosques.
The executive Federal Council subsequently announced in a statement that the 100,000-vote threshold for a referendum had been achieved. It stressed that the initiative did not originate from the government or parliament. Other European governments, notably Denmark and the Netherlands, also have sought to distance themselves from controversial actions taken by citizens that have sparked anger in Islamic countries in recent years. The Federal Council said it would recommend that the electorate and parliament vote “no” when the referendum is held. No date has yet been set. “President Pascal Couchepin reiterated that several members of the government have publicly expressed their objections to a ban on minarets as sought by this initiative,” the statement said.
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey warned that the anti-minaret campaign would provoke Muslim anger and cause security problems. (Swiss conservatives earlier this year criticized Calmy-Rey for wearing a headscarf during a visit to Iran, saying it was a sign of submission.) World Radio Switzerland, an arm of the country’s national broadcaster, said it was unusual for the government to take a position against a referendum initiative so quickly and described the minaret issue as a “diplomatic nightmare for Switzerland.”
It said “Swiss diplomacy and economic sectors are worried that this kind of initiative could unleash the same kind of anger [and] calls for a boycott” as those that met the publication by Danish newspapers of cartoons satirizing Mohammed, Islam’s founder. Of a total of some 90 mosques in Switzerland, only two – in Zurich and Geneva – have minarets, with another three planned. Around 350,000 of a total population of 7.5 million Swiss are Muslims, mostly originating from Turkey and the Balkans (Catholics comprise 42 percent of the population and Protestants 35 percent).
Those spearheading the campaign led by the nationalist Swiss People’s Party (SVP) say minarets are symbols of Islamic political-religious domination and Islamic law that is intolerant of other religions. In a flyer used to gather signatures for the petition, the organizers said that “to strengthen Christian and Western culture … we must stop the propagation of Islam. Banning minarets is indispensable.”
“[Muslims] follow and they want to impose another order of law which is in conflict with our order of law coming out of our constitution coming out from a long democratic process,” Ulrich Schluer, an SVP politician and one of the organizing committee, told Swiss radio.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) regards the calls for a ban as an case of “Islamophobia.” An OIC body set up to study Islamophobia said in a recent report the minaret issue had to do with “discrimination against Muslims and being intolerant to Islam.” Switzerland is not the only country in Europe where the building of minarets is controversial. Plans to build a 48,000-square foot mosque in Cologne, Germany, along with twin minarets 180-feet high, triggered a national storm, with some warning of “creeping Islamization.” Cologne’s famous 13th century cathedral is one of the world’s largest.
Rows have also erupted over the building of minarets in Sweden, France, Belgium, Italy and elsewhere in Europe.
Swiss Muslims won support this week from the country’s Federation of Protestant Churches, which called the anti-minaret initiative inappropriate and divisive.
The center-right Christian Democratic Party, which has historical ties to the Catholic Church, described the move as “unconstitutional, dangerous and stupid.” The party acknowledged that issues like the preaching of hatred, jihad and the subordination of women were in conflict with Swiss traditions and laws, but said
prohibiting minarets would encourage marginalization rather than do anything to contribute towards solving the problem.
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=32172One by one, the great countries of Europe are submitting to the will of Allah. God help them.
Topic: Now, the Swiss Are Muslim Appeasers, too? (Read 2261 times)