i had to do a piece on this story. i spent a few days in switzerland visiting family friends while i was in europe this summer. my dad escaped romania during the ceausescu era with his friend valentin and sister. valentin lives in switzerland with his family and he has a son my age who took me to see the first church built after the reformation.
the interesting thing about this article is the controversy. switzerland really is all everyone says it is. the most neutral country during wars past is living up to it's history. the fact that they put an end to the construction of minarets on buildings in the country is not the end of the world or a pull from the free expression of the muslim. it seems possible that the swiss are following in the french's footsteps. it could also be possible that they are doing it to honor the very first mosques built which did not contain minarets. however, many people do believe that the fact that the right wing conservatives have sent out messages into the media that this is new form of "creeping islamization" is the reason that 57.5% of the individuals in switzerland voted for this.
Muslim communities in Switzerland reacted cautiously. “We were a bit shocked; we hadn’t expected this result,” Abdel Majri, the president of the League of Swiss Muslims, said in an interview. “This is another step toward Islamophobia in Switzerland and Europe in general.”
when people don't know enough about something, they go back to what their leaders know. if their leaders don't know either, they get scared and it affects others worldwide.
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