Bern – Swiss voters approved a move to ban the construction of minarets in a Sunday vote on a right-wing initiative that labeled the mosque towers as symbols of militant Islam, projections by a widely respected polling institute showed.
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The projections based on partial returns say Swiss swung from only 37 percent supporting the proposal a week ago to 59 percent in the actual voting.
Claude Longchamp, leader of the widely respected gfs.bern polling institute, said the projection contracted by state-owned DRS television forecasts approval of the initiative by more than half the country’s 26 cantons, meaning it will become a constitutional amendment.
The nationalist Swiss People’s Party describes minarets, the distinctive spires used in most countries for calls to prayer, as symbols of rising Muslim political and religious power that could eventually turn Switzerland into an Islamic nation.
Muslims make up about 6 percent of Switzerland’s 7.5 million people. Many Swiss Muslims are refugees from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Fewer than 13 percent practice their religion, the government says, and Swiss mosques do not broadcast the call to prayer outside their buildings.
“Forced marriages and other things like cemeteries separating the pure and impure – we don’t have that in Switzerland, and we do not want to introduce it” said Ulrich Schlueer, co-president of the Initiative Committee to ban minarets.
The move by the People’s Party, the country’s largest party in terms of popular support and membership in parliament, is part of a broader European backlash against a growing Muslim population. It has stirred fears of violent reactions in Muslim countries and an economically disastrous boycott by wealthy Muslims who bank, shop and vacation in Switzerland.
Taner Hatipoglu, president of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Zurich, said, “The initiators have achieved something everyone wanted to prevent, and that is to influence and change the relations to Muslims and their social integration in a negative way.”
Hatipoglu said if in the long term the anti-Islam atmosphere continues, “Muslims indeed will not feel safe anymore.”
The seven-member Cabinet that heads the Swiss government has spoken out strongly against the initiative, and local officials and rights defenders objected to campaign posters showing minarets rising like missiles from the Swiss flag next to a fully veiled woman.
The People’s Party has campaigned mainly unsuccessfully in previous years against immigrants with campaign posters showing white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag and another with brown hands grabbing eagerly for Swiss passports.
The four minarets already attached to mosques in the country are not affected by the initiative.
Geneva’s main mosque was vandalized Thursday when someone threw a pot of pink paint at the entrance. Earlier this month, a vehicle with a loudspeaker drove through the area imitating a muezzin’s call to prayer, and vandals damaged a mosaic when they threw cobblestones at the building.
good for them it has nothing to do with anti islam. all these mousqes peach terrorism and until islam stops preaching terrorism the world will hate them . its time america wake up and impose these laws till every muslim denounces terrorism enough of this political correctness
Before everybody cheers this, what would you say if they banned synagogues or architecture with obvious Jewish symbols displayed?
One would think that the Swiss with all there phobia and fear of muslims and their minarets would be friendlier to Israel, ‘a nechtiger tog’, they hate Israel without any minarets more than they hate the muslims together with their minarets.
I live in Switzerland and can tell you that the reason for the approval is mainly due to the fact that swiss people fear that after a minaret, there may come a muezzin and thereafter the muslims will want to put the sharia into force… true the swiss hate jews as much, but it’s still very courageous, that the Swiss have voted so, because the Swiss know very well that they will be criticized for this posture. It is also interesting to read the comments of the population in other European countries too. Most are absolutely terrified and have fear for the “radical” islam. The problem is, however, that the politicians try to be nice and have this apeasement strategy and therefore they will not be able to stop the inflow of the islamists in Europe. I am scared that sooner or later it will be “EUROPISTAN”
To #1 : I agree with you all the way–and more!
To #2 & 3: First of all synagogue architecture and its symbolism is not as threatening to the western sensibilities as a “Missile-like” minaret. The noise emitted from these towers is terrible and offensive to most non-Moslems. Case in point: whole neighborhoods is Yerushalyim are suffering greatly from the noise pollution of these minarets.
Also, even though, Eisav Soineh L’Yakov, you cannot compare synagogues and Jewish culture to the IN-YOUR-FACE attitudes of the Moslem radicals!
An attack on one religion is an attack on all. What if the Swiss banned all public displays of the Magen Dovid next?
Banning minarets won’t prevent radical Islam – indeed, it might encourage it.
I visited Israel a couple of years ago. was at the kotel when suddenly we heard the noise coming from a green lit minaret on top of the Temple mount. My kids were shocked and asked me what is that. I wish we were as bold as the swiss
The Swiss are antisemites, but so far this doesn’t affect us, so there’s no reason we should protest. The danger from the Islamisation of Europe is greater than any theoretical danger from infringements of their religious freedom.
Firstly, this for sure is anti-democratic. See in England the entire landscape is now being changed by the Islamic citizens. Neighborhood noise of daily prayers are prevalent and that is democracy. Europe should be overbuilt with moMosques and Thousands of noisy Arab calls to prayer beginning at 5:00 am. Let trhem feel Israel’s experience! Yemach Shemom !!! The European chayot helped kill 6,000,000, Kedoshim and now have 20,000,000, Islamists who b’h will adhere to the Koran’s teaching of their mitzva asey of “KILLING THE INFIDELS” which includes the Swedish Catholic anti-semites!!!! The whole purpose of these mosques is toi negate the features of the other religious edifices!!! May they both be matzliach as sonei yisroel to kill each other. Just see what Sweden wrote recently against Israel!!
This is a highly racist move and a bad precedent for yiddin and other minorities. The Muslim population is entitled to the same protections as yiddin and any other religious group. In this context yideshkiet and islam are equally at risk.
When they ban kosher slaughter for “humanitarian” reasons and make Jewish observance illegal everyone who is applauding this move will have a collective attack of apoplexy.
And I will be glad to personally tattoo a copy of Pastor Neimoller’s famous words on their foreheads so they can see it in the mirror every morning.
When Saudi Arabia allows non-Muslims to worship freely, Switzerland should reverse the ban. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander
Bs !!!Charlie! I’ve been to Scotland and parts of Europe and I’ve seen mosques and plenty of muslems!!!!!!!!! They spit at jews, beat up random people and burn cars (read the news!) These r facts!!.They’re all over and they’re growing in numbers……. They r a serious threat!!!But yes thankfully we have G-D and he is the one to trust!!!
To #14 , Charlie Hall and other Flaming Liberals:
1. Michael Savage makes an excellent point with his slogan: “Liberalism is a mental disorder!” Liberals can’t see the forest for the trees! They won’t recognize the enemy even when it holds a knife to their throat. Even then, these mentally challenged “do-gooders” will apologize to this implacable enemy.
2. Why is is it so hard to understand, that if not slowed down and held back, all of Europe will be overrun by Muslim radicals. These people don’t respect other people’s cultures: they are Fascists! The blogger #15 , made a very good point. How many synagogues or other other religious institutions, other than Muslim, are there in Saudi Arabia, or in other surrounding Sheikhdoms?? Answer = 000!
I live in Switzerland and am pretty dismayed that the far right party (SVP) has won this referendum to ban minarets. It was through propaganda and fear mongering that this referendum was won, I would cringe everytime I would see a poster featuring a woman completely clothed in black with only her eyes showing and missile style minarets all over a Swiss flag- not fair.
I have only once or twice seen a woman dressed like this in Switzerland and why should it bother anyone if Muslims want to decorate their house of prayer?
The muslim call to prayer is banned, I don’t think it matters if muslims want to have a minaret on their place of worship. We as jews also have religious symbols and practices that we don’t want banned.
I see this as xenophobic religious intolerance.