Swiss voters approve ban on minarets

http://timesofearth.com/Worldnews/?NT=0&nid=13996 - According to final results, 57.5 per cent of voters and a majority of cantons backed the initiative.

GENEVA — Voters in Switzerland have approved a ban on the construction of minarets on mosques, official results posted by the Swiss news agency ATS have shown.
Over 57 per cent of those who cast votes in Sunday's poll approved the ban while only four cantons out of 26 rejected the proposals, paving the way for a constitutional amendment to be made.


The Swiss People's Party (SVP) had forced a referendum on the issue after it collected 100,000 signatures within 18 months from eligible voters.

The Swiss government had opposed the call for a vote, saying that a ban on minarets would hurt Switzerland's image in other countries.


Supporters of the proposed ban say minarets represent the growth of an alien ideology and legal system that have no place in the Swiss democracy.


"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," Ulrich Schlueer, co-president of the Initiative Committee to ban minarets, said.
"Therefore, there's no room for minarets in Switzerland."

But Switzerland's Muslims have said that the referendum is fuelling anti-Islamic feeling in the country.

"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," Taner Hatipoglu, the president of the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Zurich, said.

"We are frightened, and if the atmosphere continues to be like this and if the anti-Islamic hate increases, then the Muslims indeed will not feel safe anymore. This of course is very unpleasant."

About 400,000 Muslims live in Switzerland - whose population is just under eight million. Most Muslim citizens are immigrants from the former Yugoslavia and Turkey.

Although Islam is the country's second largest religion after Christianity, there are only four mosques with minarets in the whole country.

Posters have appeared in many Swiss cities showing a dark, almost menacing figure of a woman, shrouded from head to foot in a black burka. Behind her is the Swiss flag, shaped like a map of the country, with black minarets shooting up out of it like missiles.

The cities of Basel, Lausanne and Fribourg banned the billboards, saying they painted a "racist, disrespectful and dangerous image" of Islam.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee called the posters discriminatory and said Switzerland would violate international law if it bans minarets.

The Swiss government and business leaders have opposed a minaret ban, saying it would be harmful to the country's image abroad and disastrous for the Swiss economy.

The Swiss People's Party forced the referendum after collecting 100,000 signatures within 18 months from eligible voters supporting the motion.

France has banned all religious symbols in public schools, including head coverings for Muslim girls.

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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Swiss
• Voters
• Accept
• Ban
• on
• Minarets

[ooMATTiAoo]

Swiss lived in armony for centuries with 4 different national languages and mentalities (no other country in the world managed to to that). They're used to accept other cultures. The fact they voted to ban the minarets just means muslims really did piss them off with their arrogance. I respect switzerland and it's direct democracy system!

[Vickzq]

Funny thing is that media always try to be left and liberal... speaking negatively of such votings... while most citizens in europe would agree with it.

Fact is, Switzerland respects all muslims more than any islamic country respects any christians. Criticising the voting is just a hypocrite act.

[MrROTD]

I wish we had a system like this, in Canada all I can do is stand by while nonsense gets passed as law. Islam is not compatible with western views, I'm not being intolerant I'm being practical. If I moved to most Muslim countries I would be treated like the worst kind of crap because I'm an athiest.

[Unbeginner]

For as long as I remember, in Europe, Islam has been widely equated to the 'North Korean regime' level of insanity.

People sort of see it as a viral paranoid schizophrenia.

-

Out of fear, media calls it a religious freedom instead.

Freedom?!

#1

Since when is a religion optional ... in practice?!

Even I, a liberal ex-Catholic atheist, was originally raised into Catholicism. I'm sure a Muslim kid would get even less choice.

#2

A religion sets restrictions for a person's behaviour, not new options.

[Unbeginner]

This biased report managed to mention a filmmaker being killed just for criticizing Islam as a 'by the way' thing one forgets as the report continues.

Yet it made the voting seem controverisal.

It only sampled the opinions and arguments coinciding with the conservative notions of an Islamic world.

This is as non-representative of what the Europeans really talk behind closed doors as it can get.

Propagating the conservative views of an underdeveloped world... HOW - IS - THAT - LIBERAL???

[MrWolfgang68]

Thank God those bloody ragheads want to ruin our beautiful lands and subjugate our women.

[cchettry]

@tudeundeesti ha ha "not for camels" lolzzz funny...

[maugustyniak]

Holy shit! I can't believe it! Western Europe is actually beginning to show some balls! Note, all the frenchies in the clip are spineless little whores.

[XxLIVRAxX]

If the Muslims feel very uncomfortable with the new legislation in Switzerland,wich is understandable, there is always a way out, Zurich International Airport

[BatmanbinSuperman12]

This is by far one of the stupidest laws i have ever heard its just part of a building and when Mosques get vandalized its like yay! but when anyone at all even throws gum at a church its equal to murder in a country with christians who are in the government. this is mostly an act of hatred not for the good of everyone. The only way to achieve peace is multiculturalization.

[BatmanbinSuperman12]

@tudeundeesti I thought Europe had religious freedom what happened there?