Switzerland bans the construction of minarets!

[Chinaski]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8385069.stm

Swiss voters back ban on minarets
One of four minarets in Switzerland
There are only four minarets in Switzerland

Swiss voters have supported a referendum proposal to ban the building of minarets, official results show.

More than 57% of voters and 22 out of 26 cantons - or provinces - voted in favour of the ban.

The proposal had been put forward by the Swiss People's Party, (SVP), the largest party in parliament, which says minarets are a sign of Islamisation.

The government opposed the ban, saying it would harm Switzerland's image, particularly in the Muslim world.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes, in Bern, says the surprise result is very bad news for the Swiss government which also fears unrest among the Muslim community.

Our correspondent says voters worried about rising immigration - and with it the rise of Islam - have ignored the government's advice.

"The Federal Council (government) respects this decision. Consequently the construction of new minarets in Switzerland is no longer permitted," said the government in a statement, quoted by the AFP news agency.


This will cause major problems because during this campaign in the last two weeks different mosques were attacked, which we never experienced in 40 years in Switzerland
Tamir Hadjipolu
Zurich's Association of Muslim Organisations

Minaret vote: Your views

Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said the result reflected fear of Islamic fundamentalism.

"These concerns have to be taken seriously. However, the Federal Council takes the view that a ban on the construction of new minarets is not a feasible means of countering extremist tendencies," she said.

She sought to reassure Swiss Muslims, saying the decision was "not a rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture".

Switzerland is home to some 400,000 Muslims and has just four minarets.

After Christianity, Islam is the most widespread religion in Switzerland, but it remains relatively hidden.

There are unofficial Muslim prayer rooms, and planning applications for new minarets are almost always refused.

Supporters of a ban claimed that allowing minarets would represent the growth of an ideology and a legal system - Sharia law - which are incompatible with Swiss democracy.

But others say the referendum campaign incited hatred. On Thursday the Geneva mosque was vandalised for the third time during the campaign, according to local media.

Before the vote, Amnesty International warned that the ban would violate Switzerland's obligations to freedom of religious expression.

'Political symbol'

The president of Zurich's Association of Muslim Organisations, Tamir Hadjipolu, told the BBC that if the ban was implemented, Switzerland's Muslim community would live in fear.

"This will cause major problems because during this campaign in the last two weeks different mosques were attacked, which we never experienced in 40 years in Switzerland.

"So with the campaign... the Islamaphobia has increased very intensively."

Sunday's referendum was held after the People's party collected 100,000 signatures from eligible voters within 18 months calling for a vote.

SVP member of parliament Ulrich Schluer said the campaign had helped integration by encouraging debate. He rejected the charge of discrimination.

In recent years many countries in Europe have been debating their relationship with Islam, and how best to integrate their Muslim populations.

France focused on the headscarf, while in Germany there was controversy over plans to build one of Europe's largest mosques in Cologne.

I'd have voted in favour of the anti-minaret initiative had I not overslept and missed the closing of the urns.

[Rum]

Me too, though not for the reason I suspect most Swiss people did.

[Chinaski]

Me too, though not for the reason I suspect most Swiss people did.

Bingo. The campaign was motivated by xenophobic populism, a right-wing party attempting to gain more popular favour by presenting a bullshit issue with socio-cultural connotations- kind of like Bush's abortion and gay rights shit.

[klr]

A number of Islamic countries already have far more restrictive measures than this in place when it comes to the visible presence of other religions (and indeed their practice). Two wrongs don't make a right, but I hope people who complain about this vote are just as forceful in their condemnation of what goes on in the likes of Saudi Arabia.

[Clinton Huxley]

If Switzerland can ban the minaret, maybe the UK can ban the mock-tudor semi-detached......

[Chinaski]

Violent reaction among Muslim message boards. If there's a war they're going to lose, and they show their true colours.
"You don't like Islam? Well, we'll KILL YOU!"

[Feck]

How many Minarets are there in Switzerland ? That's one massive problem

[Chinaski]

How many Minarets are there in Switzerland ? That's one massive problem

There are 4. But no more!

[Clinton Huxley]

Just wondering, is there an official description of a minaret? Could, perhaps, someone build something that was minaretesque but not quite minaratesque enough to fall foul of the law?

[Horwood Beer-Master]

Just wondering, is there an official description of a minaret? Could, perhaps, someone build something that was minaretesque but not quite minaratesque enough to fall foul of the law?

A space needle?

[Clinton Huxley]

Just wondering, is there an official description of a minaret? Could, perhaps, someone build something that was minaretesque but not quite minaratesque enough to fall foul of the law?

A space needle?

I think we will see the construction of stealth-minarets in SWitzerland now...

[Pappa]

Just wondering, is there an official description of a minaret? Could, perhaps, someone build something that was minaretesque but not quite minaratesque enough to fall foul of the law?

A space needle?

I think we will see the construction of stealth-minarets in SWitzerland now...

That, I'd like to see.

[Clinton Huxley]

Just wondering, is there an official description of a minaret? Could, perhaps, someone build something that was minaretesque but not quite minaratesque enough to fall foul of the law?

A space needle?

I think we will see the construction of stealth-minarets in SWitzerland now...

That, I'd like to see.

They could rise up on hydraulics, out of the ground, like something from Thunderbirds. But with different music, probably.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

Just wondering, is there an official description of a minaret? Could, perhaps, someone build something that was minaretesque but not quite minaratesque enough to fall foul of the law?

A space needle?

I think we will see the construction of stealth-minarets in SWitzerland now...

That, I'd like to see.

You realise we could piss-off both the right wing bigots and the muslims if we built a mosque-like building complete with minaretesque-type-things, but used it as the headquarters for a militant secularist organisation.

[Clinton Huxley]

Minarets generally have onion-shaped tops. So, if you built one with a crown shaped like a turnip, you'd probably get away with it....