The Swiss Warning

It has been said that it is a proof of extremist parties on the rise. That it is a dent on the libertarian ideals of Switzerland and the liberal foundations of Europe. The matter of fact is that the Swiss Minaret Ban is closer to a warning than anything else.

When looking at history and past events and actions, people are not moved for what is good or bad but what they think is good or bad. People react to what they believe. When the Swiss voted on their referendum, product of their unique direct democracy, they were considering if an architectural structure should be banned from being built along with a place of worship of a non-native religion. That is the idealistic question, but the practical question is: should we give a protest vote to what many believe as a threat to Swiss/European identity. The fact is, even if the ban had the contrary results and only 42.5 had voted in favour of the ban, that number is still high. The Swiss vote is the spectre of an idea that has spread throughout Europe: Moslems are a threat to Liberal Democracy and European identity, both in Europe and out of it. Is it true, is it correct, well it does not matter because many Europeans have come across that idea and believe it as a fact.

What are the reasons: In many of the countries where people who immigrate to Europe come from filled with intolerance and lack of rights and have more rights in Europe than they would ever have in their original countries. The most persecuted religion in the world is Christianity, a religion to which many Europeans identify. Many Moslem countries were critical of Europe over the Danish Cartoons, but not over anti-Christian activities in their countries, and some with murderous results. Turkey, although Laic but now heavily Islamic oriented because of the AK Party, has instigated Moslems to remove their accounts from Swiss banks or told Rasmussen to apologise if he wanted Turkey’s support to vote him for NATO’s Secretary General. The number of Moslem migrants is increasing quickly into the millions. More Halal -products are being offered over non- Halal ones, like Domino’s Pizza in the UK. Mosques are moving into empty churches in France. Not to mention the rise of terrorist attacks by terrorists of the Moslem faith for an Islamic political ideology.

What is the warning: many Europeans have begun to support extremist measures. It is not a question of a rise of intolerance in Europe; it is a similar question that has happened in Europe a long time ago. Many have begun to believe that major political parties (Left, Right and Centre) are not answering or commenting on their view of a subject that many are questioning more and more. If politicians of the major parties appear [because it is all a question of popular appearance not expert analysis] to be ignoring their concern, then people may turn to those who are discussing it. It happened in the 1920s and 1930s and it can happen again has it did in Venezuela, when people became discontent with their politicians they supported a Populist [and skilled] leader.

So far that Swiss Ban has been a warning, most likely the Ban will be over ruled by the Swiss Courts, and European politicians have to think this heavily. Although some Europeans have begun questioning how successful is integration, they have not become extremists. Despite many radical parties focus on anti-immigration policies, most Europeans will not agree with their undemocratic, racist and xenophobic principles; all is not lost for tolerance and freedoms in Europe. European leaders need to come together and discuss this issue with a successful result for the Liberal Principles and Democratic Values.