Nice to see: it can be done!
Because they symbolize a “political-religious claim to power” — which, of course, they do. Calmy-Rey is throwing hissy fits:
“Exit polls show Swiss will accept minaret ban: TV,” from AFP, November 29 (thanks to JW):
GENEVA — Exit polls show that Switzerland will accept a far-right call for a blanket ban on the construction of minarets, Swiss public television reported Sunday, describing the result as a “great surprise.”
Partial results from the poll which closed at mid-day (1100 GMT) indicated that the German-speaking canton of Lucerne accepted the ban, while French-speaking cantons Geneva and Vaud voted against.
Update: Rioting in Switzerland
The Swiss People’s Party (SVP) — Switzerland’s biggest party — had forced a referendum under Swiss regulations on the issue after collecting 100,000 signatures within 18 months from eligible voters.
It claims that the turrets or towers attached to mosques from where followers are called to prayer symbolise a “political-religious claim to power.”
Here are some comments:
From a Times report:
Socialist politicians have been furious to see icons of the left joining what is regarded as an anti-immigrant campaign by the populist Swiss People’s party, the biggest group in parliament
”Swiss business is horrified. There are fears of a reaction against Swiss products similar to the one suffered by Denmark over the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad in 2005.
The Muslim reaction:
“It’s a dirty campaign,” said Mutalip Karaademi, an Albanian who leads Langenthal’s small Muslim community. “They’re trying to provoke us.”
A Swiss woman:
“If we give them a minaret, they’ll have us all wearing burqas,” said Julia Werner, a local housewife. “Before you know it, we’ll have sharia law and women being stoned to death in our streets. We won’t be Swiss any more.”
“The brand ‘Swiss’ must continue to represent values such as openness, pluralism and freedom of religion,” said Hanspeter Rentsch, a member of the board of Swatch, the watchmaker. (Islam doesn’t represent “openness, pluralism and freedom of religion,”- why are you so eager to support the most intolerant ideology that wants you dead or forcibly converted, Hanspeter?/ed)
The government, for its part, is worried about reprisals plunging Switzerland into the front line of the war against terror. Micheline Calmy-Rey, the foreign minister, said a yes vote “could make Switzerland a target for Islamic terrorism”.’‘ (Inverted, Socialist reality: better red than dead was yesterdays slogan, today is opposing Islam that causes Islamic terrorism. These people are insane/ed)
The foreign minister Calmy Rey is afraid of precisely what she denies in other contexts as happening, e.g., islamic terrorism. Given her kow towing to Ahmadinejad and her laying a wreath on Arafat^s tomb, it is clear she is a terrorist sympathiser and supporter anyway. Hypocrisy personified.
As for Rentsch, obviously the filthy lucre is more important to him than freedom.
Both of these representatives of the Swiss political and business elite are guilty of intellectual and moral cowardice.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
According to:- http://www.electoralgeography.com/new/en/countries/s/switzerland/switzerland-minaret-ban-referendum-2009.html
The Yes Vote was substantial.
Out of 172 cantons,
22 cantons voted No
150 cantons voted YES.
Well done Switzerland!
You have shown the world, the way to put a stop to this murderous, political, militaristic scourge. I wasn’t looking forward to joining a Crusade, but if we had to, I would.
I hope this is a wake up call for politicians. Every major political party was against it, the Christian, Jewish and Muslim organizations were against it and the business community was aghast that anything that might threaten their Arab trade would be allowed to pass yet here in the only apparent democracy in Europe the voice of the people was heard.
The lion roars! It is the time to listen or say goodbye to your cushy jobs.
172 Cantons in Switzerland????
I hope they don’t count the votes as sloppily as someone counted the cantons.
Nero is correct, there are only 26 cantons in Switzerland.
But we have an accurate list on how voting works in Switzerland.
According to:- http://www.electoralgeography.com/new/en/countries/s/switzerland/switzerland-minaret-ban-referendum-2009.html
That list calls each area a canton. There are 172 of those.
150 are above 50% and 22 are below 50%.
What other arrangement could it be?
On the link there is an unlinked source near the bottom of the page which will display the results by either Canton or Bezirk (district?), which is the larger number. (I didn’t know how many Cantons are in Switzerland, or that there are Bezirks, just the encouraging result that the Swiss have cows, but don’t tolerate bull)