Flying with Black Wings
Yesterday on Sunday, portion of Swiss citizens cast their vote on a referendum to ban building minarets on mosques in Switzerland. The results came as a surprise for this ‘strange vote’ which was implemented in response to the political calls by the far-right-wing “Swiss People Party (SVP)” since June 2008 to legislate a local constitution that forbid such constructions.
The keystone to understand what went wrong is to pause and analyse since neither exaggerating nor extreme anger can help, so let me ask a simple question: what made citizens in 22 out of 26's cantons with a 57% to cast their vote for such referendum? The answer and beyond is what I am trying to do in this post so be my guest in reading.
SwissBan: A New Brand
Firstly, I shall start with saluting the folks at SVP for their ‘genuine acts’ that pave the road for establishing a new brand for Switzerland in the 21st century called SwissBan; a new third millennium's invention that is fabricated in contrary to the normal human trend which aims to understand and respect the variety of people on planet Earth.
Bravo! Let me hear the applause!
Aside from sarcasm, the direct answer for my question placed at the beginning of this post is ‘Swiss democracy’ which reflect the will of people. Well, this is true but I beg to differ because democracy -in my point of view- is not a goal but a tool which means it can be used right or wrong, and hence, when people vote, they do so according to their assumptions that was formulated and directed by the media, politicians and so on.
Consequently, the fear of Islam and Muslims, known as Islamophobia, is the fuel for the ideology of the conservative right-wing parties to survive and expand in Europe since the 90s of the 20th century and hence in this case, it lead those people to cast their vote in this way. In fact, I am feeling sad for them; how they are affected by the tunnel vision that see nothing but the wrong stereotyped image about Islam and Muslims; something that has been reflected into nothing but racism in:
- the poster of SVP's campain which is discriminating Muslim women (attached pic);
- the game which was launched under the name Minarett Attack (attached pic);
- associating Switzerland's national anthem and flag with the background of the game;
- symbolizing an Architectural element, the minaret, to serve their ill vision.
If this is not racism, tell me what else can we identify this? And hey, you make a wrong comparison by saying “look at your own backyard” because in Egypt and most of Arab/Muslim countries, despite the problems we face, we cannot even make such constitution to ban Churches and Synagogues. Furthermore, I am aware about the extreme acts done by some Muslims yet moderate people in our region do not accept this either to the right or to the left simply because this is not Islam but Muslims act; it is totally different! Nevertheless, even if we establish comparision, radicals and/or conservatives are playing an important role in such vision here and there yet the circumstances are just different!
Obsession with Muslim Women
On the other hand, I cannot end without returning back to the poster of the SVP's campaign and here a simple question rise: why everybody have problem with Muslim women? If we look for an answer, we need to digg through mentalities a little bit and we shall discover that radicals and/or extreme conservatives everywhere have this problem with women in general and Muslim Women in particular.
As for the poster, it is not only discriminating women, whether they wear niqab (burka) or not but also reflects the ignorance people have so please do not tell me about 1st or 3rd world thing because such categorisation seems to fall down in the case of women and hey we are talking about Switzerland not another country!
It not only about being wrong, ignorant for knowing nothing about Islam except from media and politicians, generalizing and stereotyping, but also about badly affecting the country's image; instead of shedding more lights on liberty and human-rights that portrays Switzerland since many decades, some people choose to spent efforts in this ‘genuine’ way.
Dears, by reaching this paragraph, you can easily identify a typical scenario for what any extreme right-wing can do in any country either by hiding behind freedom of speech and democratic acts or the vice-versa since the same destination is reached at the end of the day; when people do not understand what common grounds mean and follow the chaos of politicians with their tunnelled vision.
In a nutshell, I am looking forward for Swiss people to re-evaluate what happened; it is not only whether law protect citizen's rights or not, which is something important to debate and go for in the Swiss courts to correct for sure, but what is more important for me is that this fatal mistake should set up an alarm for not falling into the swamp of ignorance where nothing fill it but fear, anger and stupidity ~ Everywhere!
“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.” ~ [Daniel Boorstin]
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on November 30, 2009 | 3:30 AM
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November 30th, 2009 @ 05:49
Interesting blog post. I’m not sure if the Swiss are Islamophobics or just prejudice against minorities, but it’s still wrong.
November 30th, 2009 @ 15:15
Humza: I do not believe in generalizing and that is why the post started by mentioning portion of swiss and same goes throughout the post. Thanks for stopping by here!
December 2nd, 2009 @ 02:52
great post, that Daniel Boorstin quote is so true btw
Matthew´s last blog ..Anger Is Cowardly Sadness With More Enthusiasm
December 2nd, 2009 @ 06:35
Matthew: Daniel’s quote summarize an answer for many things that we don’t understand from people. Thank you for stopping by here
December 3rd, 2009 @ 08:42
hi Hicham, and thanks for visiting my blog – very interesting to read your thoughts. What you say about the obsession with Muslim women is true – and VERY long-lasting in Western cultures, going back to orientalist paintings of 150+ years ago. It’s a fascinating angle – the West often uses women as a benchmark by which to test or validate another culture, which is why I think that poster hit such a nerve. Your thoughts make me realiset that the image of the concealed woman is menacing on two counts – overtly, with the violent, terroristic theme of the minarets as missiles, but also implicitly, by serving as an example to threaten Swiss women with what they might be forced to wear if they allow minarets to be built…
Matthew Teller´s last blog ..Swiss rolled
December 3rd, 2009 @ 12:30
Matthew: Exactly! Your comment is an “executive summary” for your post that exposed this too in an excellent way. For me, I see how the whole political discourse was about playing with the unconscious part where stereotypes settle down and this was reflected into the results.
December 4th, 2009 @ 05:46
I really don’t see how come Swiss people claim that they are unbiased and vote for such a non-equal opportunity for Muslims?! It would have made sense if they voted against any religious sign, but voting against Muslim sign in specific is considered an act or racism.
Mohaly´s last blog ..633) The Sins !
December 4th, 2009 @ 07:04
Mohaly: Neither do I in the matter of fact. Nevertheless, it seems this is not only right-wing in Switzerland but Europe.
December 6th, 2009 @ 02:12
Is not the minaret just a part of architectural design? If this is so it seems the ban to be a piece of nonsense.
What I have a problem with is when you hear that a Muslim sends their child to a Christian school and then asks that the cross be removed because they find it offensive. I’m not sure if this is some media buildup, but if true I think they should simply send them to another school.
Sire´s last blog ..Giving Your Blog That Christmas Feel
December 6th, 2009 @ 04:45
Sire: It is an architectural element that has been served in this campain as ‘missiles’ that represents the fear of Islam and thus Muslims. Therefore from the voters and right wing point of view, they should be banned which is nonesene when we want to generalize. It’s childish from my point of view.
As for the story you mentioned, I don’t know about Muslims have been involved but may be you meant a case in 1990s in Switzerland when a teacher from the Italian-speaking and traditionally Catholic canton of Ticino complained about the presence of a crucifix in his classroom.
Anyway I wonder where the world is going to with such kind of bigotry, wherever and whenever by whoever!
December 6th, 2009 @ 07:25
The Swiss want to remain who they are. They do not want to be absorbed into an invading or dominant culture. Is that so difficult to understand?
Having said that, I think minarets look nice . . . in Muslim countries. In European countries, they look foreign, like an invading plant species.
True, Islam has a bad reputation outside of Muslim countries, but, for that, you can thank your own extremists. Instead of apologizing for Islam and its extremists, maybe you should try saying some positive things about the host culture. That might reassure the locals that immigrating Muslims mean no harm. If you are going to immigrate somewhere, make a sincere effort to show that you are willing to live within the norms lf the host society. If you refuse to do that, why not go back whence you came?
December 6th, 2009 @ 08:43
atheistdebater: it seems you haven’t bother yourself with reading the post and just came to place your opinion. Okay, welcome to the blog and here is my reply for yours.
Sir, your comment seems reasonable at the first glance but taking a deep look reveals the way the narrow-minded works. Who invaded whom? They are citizens who have resposibilities and rights, and this was not about the minaets but the way far (radical) right wings defend their visions and find more lights and hence if people do not want Muslims, please do not preache human rights and hide behind freedom as I mentioned.
I have also mentioned that ‘portion of swiss people’ not all because this is the generalizing that I don’t fall in like radicals who are the same mentality everywhere if your read this post.
On the other hand, it is very easy to talk about invading but you choose to pick what you want -like many other do- and forgot that Europe had invaded the East either Muslim countries or not for more than 1 century so who have the bad reputation my friend? You don’t look at this because you don’t want to mention this fact so keep us away from this game because it is nonesene in the 21st century.
Again if you read my post, you shall easily discover that I am neither apologizing for Islam nor for those puppets of extremists who have their own version that they practice, and if you fair enough, you would have mention that extremists found in other religions and ideologies but since “Islam” is not welcomed by some due to ignorance and stereotypes, lights shed on those puppets and ignore the true values.
Finally, if you read my post(s) and blog, you shall discover that I am not falling into this narrow-minded vision as I call for understanding between people and coexsitence which is something hard for radicals everywhere to get!
December 6th, 2009 @ 13:03
great post, but i think the Swiss are just wrong about this
December 7th, 2009 @ 04:30
Amy: Me too think the same for those who voted. Thanks for stopping by here!
December 7th, 2009 @ 03:50
Hi,
Very good article: it is worrying how populist the debate in Switzerland was, and how populist it can turn in referendums in general. Ideally, in normal circumstances, there would be a well organised opposition to such populist campaigns, which would lead the debate in a more enlightened direction, but sadly that’s not always the case – and in this case, which wasn’t normal (as I’ve written on my blog, I think that the law goes against the rule of law and the principles of human rights and equality, and so oversteps the bounds of legitimate state power), it seems such a badly politically fabricated issue that rational debate didn’t get much of a look-in.
Eurocentric´s last blog ..Of minarets and democracy
December 7th, 2009 @ 04:35
Eurocentric: Hello, I am glad to read your insightful post where you discussed important issue for this case. Thanks for stopping by my blog and I am looking forward for better understanding in this world!
December 7th, 2009 @ 09:01
Hello Hicham! It’s me – Nabil! I was online to Google Webmaster Tools a few minutes ago and I saw that you placed a link to my website in the links section of your website. Thank you so much for that link, even though it’s on a PR 0 page.
December 7th, 2009 @ 22:25
Nabil: Hello and welcome to my blog. You are welcomed; I liked your blog and hence it was featured there
December 8th, 2009 @ 07:31
totally agree! Ignorance seems to be a very strong driving force these days!
December 8th, 2009 @ 10:40
Aliaa: Indeed! Ignorance, stereotyping, and the political chaos of those far-right wing parties anywhere.