Today Swiss voters went to the polls to voice their opinion on a proposed ban on building minarets for Swiss mosques, and 57% of the voters voted for the ban. The vote is reflective of a European fear of a slow Islamization of their countries, a fear that may be turned into law in Switzerland like it was in France when the French government, under then President Jacques Chirac, introduced a 2004 ban on the Muslim headscarves in schools. It was introduced under the cover of banning all conspicuous religious symbols (including large crosses and the Jewish yarmulke), but the main cause of the law was understood to be the lack of assimilation for a lot of Muslims in France and the headscarf was seen as a symbol of that. Switzerland has 400,000 Muslims out of a population of just over 7 million, and a towering minaret is seen not just as a symbol of a religion but a threat to Swiss culture and identity.
Christopher Caldwell, in his 2009 book “Reflections on the Revolution in Europe”, writes that Europe has faced mass immigration in the second half of the 20th century and does not know how to deal with this new population, which in some countries accounts for about 10% of the population. He compared this immigration to mass immigration to the United States from non-northwest European countries from the late 19th century until now, and how the United States had to adjust the image of itself and “become” a nation of immigrants. Europe, he writes, has yet accepted the fact that it has to adjust to this reality. And unlike the growing and boisterous America of the late 19th century, 21st century Europe is a continent in decline: with low birth-rates and a culture that may be termed as relativistic. The culture of Islam is confident in itself and its values, and when the two face each other, European liberalism seemed to have shirked back in mild accommodation. The best example of that is the Archbishop of Canterbury proposing that sharia law be accepted as a precedent in deciding cases in Britain like English common law.
This Swiss vote, which may yet be stricken down by the European Court of Human Rights (an institution of the European Union- an entity that avoids the opinions of its people whenever it can), may be seen as a change in course in how Europeans choose to deal with Islam and especially the radical version of it. The steps taken now will have prolonged consequences.
Comments
The cause of the French ban on headscarves was not "lack of assimilation." It was young Muslim male rape gangs who targeted unveiled high school girls, figuring all the Muslim ones were veiled. The problem got so bad that the French banned head scarves in school, exposing all girls to the same risk. Knowing that Muslim fathers and brothers will absolutely kill a rapist without waiting for the wheels of law to turn, the rapes stopped. You getting the picture now: Muslim gangs raped non-Muslim girls with impunity. The other, less well seen, reality here is that Muslim extrajudicial punishment is a fact of life in France. This no-headscarf rule accomplished both.
And it stopped the third issue: the use of women by radical Islamists to "billboard" society -- to visually overpaint the landscape w Muslim symbology and intimidate non-Muslim women into veiled behavior.
Bravo for the French. I'm not so sure about banning minarets, but banning the intrusion of Islamic soundscape 5x a day i
1) The Swiss can decide what they want in their own country.
2) In the last 60 years, how many churches have been constructed in the muslim countries? Zero!!
3) In the last 60 years, how many mosques have been constructed in Europe? Thousands!!
4) Every islamic commentator speaks about "discrimination"!!!!
5) When in Rome, do as the Romans do! Are the muslims in Europe listening?
Thank you for reporting on this issue. I have also just published an article about this absurd law that has been passed in Switzerland. The passing of this law shows how far Europe has to go in establishing principles of justice and intolerance.
Hopefully the EU nations will go bankrupt in time and nationalism will rise once again to prevent Eurabia.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!