Really Switzerland?

I am deeply disappointed in Switzerland (where I studied abroad in 2007) this week as a result of its recent referendum deciding to prohibit the construction of minarets. There are currently four mosques in Switzerland with minarets, but apparently more would represent "'the political will to take power' and establish Shariah, or religious law," according to Ulrich Schlüer, a member of Swiss Parliament and advocate of the referendum. According to one world-renowned expert of Middle Eastern politics who I spoke to this week, "that's like saying church steeples are a symbol of bombed abortion clinics and queer dragging."

The referendum seems to me to be a result of blind fear and ignorance. Much like proposals to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico a few years ago, this law will be very difficult to put into action and has already proven to be a diplomatic disaster for Switzerland. One proponent of the bill who I saw interviewed on French television yesterday commented that he "doubts we would be allowed to construct our church steeples in the Muslim world." While this is simply not the case it is, sadly, indicative of the misinformed opinions of people who vote for this kind of law. The Coptic Christians are one of the largest and oldest minorities in Egypt and in addition to mosques, I saw plenty of churches on my recent trip to Istanbul (the largest city in the Muslim world).

The call to prayer has long been banned in Switzerland (tantamount to a Muslim country banning church bells) and I see a direct link between this issue in Switzerland and the debate over the hibjab in France. Both result from a fear and misunderstanding of a growing minority of Muslim immigrants throughout much of Europe. As is the case in the issue of Hispanic immigrants in the U.S., this debate is fueled by people who don't understand how crucial immigrants are to their economy and the well-being of their society. Opponents claim that immigrants are "stealing" jobs from established citizens when, in reality, they are simply performing the tasks that no one else is willing to do. These workers are the ones who keep open the few remaining factories and mills in countries like the U.S., Switzerland and France, where most white citizens seek higher paying jobs but decry the flight of our industrial sector to countries where workers can be found to work blue-collar jobs.

My homestay family when I lived in Switzerland was largely in favor of just such a ban on minarets in the country. The woman I lived with was very welcoming and accommodating to me, but believed that "minarets don't fit the image of Switzerland." When pressed she told me that it would be alright to have mosques, they should just be constructed to look like churches. Her 18 year-old son was a self-described "skinhead" and was extremely supportive of a far right candidate who was running for president at that time, a man many described as a neo-nazi.

In the end, while we think of Switzerland as a forward-thinking, open society which was chosen as the home for the United Nations because of its history of neutrality, its citizens still retain some deep prejudices. Hopefully the discriminatory decisions of the Swiss public won't serve to further widen the gap between western nations and the Muslim world as we continue to face challenges like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the prospect of nuclear arms in the hands of the leaders of Iran's Islamic Republic.