"Swiss voters have supported a referendum proposal to ban the building of minarets, official results show." (BBC)
Minarets are tall slender towers, typically part of a mosque, they contain a balcony from which a muezzin calls Muslims to prayer. The swiss have voted against the creation of any new minarets.
Switzerland's government did not wish to put a ban on the minarets, they feared that this would reflect badly on Switzerland's image in the Muslim world.
"voters [though] worried about rising immigration - and with it the rise of Islam - [so they] have [chosen to ignore] the government's advice."
so the ban was voted in favor by the people. It is targeting one religion which is why so many find the referendum so distasteful. The ban itself seems to scream intolerance. Which is why most of Europe is pitting itself against the ban and trying to reason with Switzerland to repel the referendum.
so the ban was voted in favor by the people. It is targeting one religion which is why so many find the referendum so distasteful. The ban itself seems to scream intolerance. Which is why most of Europe is pitting itself against the ban and trying to reason with Switzerland to repel the referendum.
You wouldn't really know it, but there are many Muslims in Switzerland, around 400,000 live in the country. With such a large community you would imagine a strong sense of Islamisation, you'd be wrong. Switzerland itself only has 4 Minarets and after the ban that is all it's set to have unless something dissolves the law.
Martin Baltisser, the SVP's (Swiss People's Party) general secretary, told the BBC: "This was a vote against minarets as symbols of Islamic power."
Switzerland accepted their people's decision however and said the following: "The Federal Council (government) respects this decision. Consequently the construction of new minarets in Switzerland is no longer permitted."
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