English Column: How will Moslems react?

1. The anti-minaret initiative, which will forbid the building of minarets in Switzerland, and anchor this ban in the constitution, won about 58% of the popular vote today. Only 4 cantons voted against the minaret ban, Basel-Stadt, Geneva, Neuchatel and Waadt.

2. This result was unexpected since most opinion polls had predicted that it would be voted down by a narrow margin.

3. The SVP initiative was not supported by the «Bundesrat» or by the parliament or by the other main political parties, or the industry association «Economie Suisse» or the churches.

4. However the SVP's controversial poster campaign which featured 7 minarets which looked like rockets and a woman wearing a black burka had a forceful impact visualizing the message of a threatening islam, the counter campaign against the ban on minarets was extremely weak due to lack of funds, and a less provocative message and was unable to compete with the SVP`s very powerful «Anti-Minaret» campaign.

5. The «Anti-Minaret» campaign played to the legitimate fears of the population of the wider threat of an islamisation of switzerland, as has been experienced in other european countries such as France, Germany, and England. Also the fundamentalist elements in other countries such as Iran and Afghanistan tended to augment these diffuse fears. Recent temsions in Swiss-Libyan relations did not help. However, it has to be underlined that the initaitive did not seek to in any way limit the building of mosques or the right of Moslems to freely exercise their religion in switzerland.

Even if, at the moment, in Switzerland, there have been few notable issues with the 400’000 Moslems, who are, in general, rather well integrated, the fear is that should their number rise, their demands will also. In particular, the fear that demands to apply parts of Scharia Law e.g. in divorce or inheritance laws later on are not without substance based on the experience in other countries.

6. Main arguments of those who opposed the ban were that it was not in line with the «freedom of religion» clause in the constitution, nor with Switzerlands liberal tradition. Also the SVP's poster campaign ran into severe criticism as it was seen as picking on moslems as a group. For this reason, in certain cities e.g. Basel, the posters were not allowed to be put up on public buildings.

7. Of interest will be how Muslims not only in Switzerland but outside Switzerland react to the decision of the Swiss people, and more immediately how key media e.g. Al Jazeera, and Al Arabiya react. Also whether extremist elements use this occasion to start an anti-Swiss campain. The extent of the reaction also depends on how succesful the Swiss government is in explaining the enviable virtues of Swiss direct democracy and that both «Bundesrat» and parliament (70%) were not in favour.

It is, however to be expected that the backers of the initiative, encouraged by their success, will come back for more, and go for a ban of the burka (which would have chances of being approved) as well as a ban on scharia, to avoid the risk of parallel societies. Also the SVP will extend their efforts to cancel and re-negotiate with the EU «Personenfreizügigkeits-Abkommen» (free circulation of persons) to stem the increase of immigrants, in particular from Germany, which has put a considerable strain on the Swiss employment market during the recent crisis, and is certainly a popular cause of concern.

Finally, calls to increase efforts to encourage better integration of moslems into Swiss society will become louder, (and a better understanding of the Moslem religion) and will be backed by the main political parties. Unclear, at the moment, is whether the constutionality of the ban will be challenged in Swiss courts, or whether the ban clashes with any european agreements which Switzerland has commited to.

Peter Graham Lancashire (Quelle: news.ch)

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