Turkey’s Erdogan Says Minaret Ban is Sign of Fascism
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has joined a chorus of international criticism of Switzerland’s ban on minarets, saying it refelects an increasingly racist and fascist stance in Europe. The Swiss foreign minister said the vote may pose a threat to the country’s security.Muslim Reactions to Swiss Vote: Turkey’s Erdogan Says Minaret Ban is Sign of Fascism
‘Germany Would Also Have Voted to Ban Minarets’
Unfortunately Germany doesn’t have a direct democracy and there won’t be referendums on anything anytime soon. Postwar Germany is deeply red, even the conservatives are Socialists:
Switzerland’s vote to ban minarets is a disaster for its image, write German commentators. The vote doesn’t just reflect a fear of “Islamization” but also shows that setbacks in recent years have shaken its national self-confidence. But Germans would probably vote the same way, warn…The World from Berlin: ‘Germany Would Also Have Voted to Ban Minarets’
Swiss minaret ban sparks heated German debate »
Outrage on Swiss minaret vote, but how do Muslim states handle churches?
Swiss minaret vote leads to Muslim anger, but the Swiss aren’t alone in restricting religious freedom. Dan Murphy/Christian Science Monitor has a closer look>>>
Beware of Swedish Loons:
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on Monday slammed Switzerland‘s referendum to ban the construction of minarets on mosques in the Alpine country. More>>
The Swiss minaret result explains why they’ll never allow democracy in Britain
So the Swiss decided that four minarets is quite enough for one European country, and have voted for a ban, leading to threatening headlines around the world, such as “Vote shows hatred of Muslims” (according to the Indonesians), “Swiss brace for minaret backlash” and “Swiss ban on minarets fuels fear of reprisals”. Ed West/Telegraph UK
The Swiss Ban on Minarets: A Possible Turning Point
On one level, the vote to ban minarets in Switzerland is a triviality. The constitutional amendment does not ban mosques, it does not pull down the country’s four existing minarets, nor does touch the practice of Islam in Switzerland or bear on the many issues concerning Swiss Muslims. In all likelihood, the political establishment in Bern, which abominates the amendment, will find some way to overturn it.
But on another level, the 57.5 to 42.5 percent vote represents a possible turning point for European Islam, one comparable to the Rushdie affair of 1989. That a large majority of those Swiss who voted on Sunday explicitly expressed anti-Islamic sentiments potentially legitimates such sentiments across Europe and opens the way for others to follow suit. That it was the usually quiet, low-profile, un-newsworthy, politically boring, neutral Swiss who suddenly roared their fears about Islam only enhances their votes’ impact.
Nov. 30, 2009 update: Responding to this analysis, Matthew Yglesias of ThinkProgress writes that I see it as “a good thing” that the Swiss explicitly expressed anti-Islamic sentiments. I do? I did not write that. My intent in this brief comment was objectively to note the impact of the Swiss vote, not to condemn or condone it. Re-read my words and that is what you find there, with no hint of my personal view about the vote being “a good thing” or even a bad thing.
Comment: Yglesias’ manimpulation of my words fits into a long and ignoble tradition in which Leftists distort my words or my intent. I collected some of the most egregious examples at “Mangled by Leftists and Islamists.”
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
why don’t these muslims leave? if you don’t like the heat of the stove, get out of the kitchen. Bye abdul, bye mohamed, bye achmed…bye bye.
Respect the voice of the Swiss people. They do not want minarets souring their sky line. It is THEIR country.
Why not blow a few hundred “Alpenhorns” every morning at , oh, say 4:30 am…you know just to give the muslims a taste of Alpen Kulture, nein?