Des musulmans de Suisse cherchent à contrer l'interdiction des minarets
Un minaret à Bussigny, près de Lausanne. Photo : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Le Conseil central islamique suisse a annoncé, lundi, le lancement d'une initiative populaire visant à abolir l'interdiction des minarets. La votation sur l'interdiction des minarets est intervenue il y a un an à l'initiative de l'UDC (droite nationaliste populiste), qui a remporté dimanche une nouvelle victoire en faisant approuver le durcissement du renvoi des étrangers criminels.

"Si on veut abolir l'interdiction des minarets en Suisse, il faut le faire en empruntant la même voie utilisée pour introduire cette interdiction", expliquent dans un communiqué les représentants du CCIS. Un comité d'initiative "le plus large possible" doit être créé d'ici à la fin décembre 2010 au plus tard. Des contacts ont été pris avec différents acteurs des milieux politiques, culturels et scientifiques. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Lundi 29 Novembre 2010

Council of Europe Votes Against Ban on Burka*
THE TELEGRAPH: MPs from 47 countries have unanimously voted against a general ban on the wearing of the burka in public.

The Parliamentary Assembly of Europe's human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, passed a resolution warning that if governments imposed such a ban they would be denying women ''who genuinely and freely desire to do so'' their right to cover their faces.

But while the Assembly opposed a general ban, it left the door open for targeted laws against the burka, pointing out that legal restrictions may be justified ''for security purposes, or where the public or professional functions of individuals require their religious neutrality, or that their face can be seen''.

The vote came in Strasbourg amid continuing controversy in France over efforts to introduce a general burka ban.

The Muslim Council of Britain has attacked President Nicolas Sarkozy as ''patronising and offensive'' after he declared: ''The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience. We cannot accept to have [sic] in our country [sic] women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity.'' >>> | Wednesday, June 23, 2010

*How stupid and short-sighted can these MPs be? Do they want women to be kept holed up as they are in Afghanistan? Do they want to turn men into sexy lechers who can no longer control their sexual urges when confronted by a beautiful woman with bare face and beautiful hair as is often the case in the Middle East? For that is what happens in societies in which it is de rigueur for women to be kept in purdah: Over time, men lose their ability to control themselves. They become socially inept.

Nicolas Sarkozy is absolutely right when he says that the full veil is not a religious symbol. The full veil stems from the desert where it was used by women in the better-off classes to segregate themselves from the poorer women who had to labour in the fields and in the great outdoors. In other words, it was a symbol of class as much as anything else. It was also a way for Saudi women to keep their skin as pale as possible. Take a trip to the desert Kingdom! You will find that women with an English rose complexion are as prized today as they ever were. Covering the face from the brutal rays of the desert sun was a way of keeping women from the upper classes as protected as possible.

As always with these things, its significance becomes blurred, and the custom takes on a life of its own.

The Koran calls for modesty. Whose version of modesty makes a woman a non-person? Whose version of modesty places women under the control of the males in the family? Whose version of modesty states that women should be kept in purdah?

The MPs who have voted against a ban have voted for restrictions on the human rights of women, and against feminism and liberation. Moreover, this decision sends out the wrong signal: Basically, it tells Muslims that they don’t have to integrate into our societies, for truly no integration can take place where women are enveloped in such ridiculous cloth.

This is the West. They have chosen to come here to live. We have welcomed them. But they have rejected our customs. It is not, I repeat NOT, our custom to keep women in purdah. If that’s what they want, they should go elsewhere. And the people who represent us in these councils and parliaments should have the courage to stand up for OUR WAY OF LIFE. Moreover, it should be remembered that there are many Muslim women who wear the full veil defiantly, as a way of flaunting their 'superiority', for that is how these people truly feel: superior. We should do all we can to stamp this out. – © Mark

Verbunden mit diesem Artikel:

DIE PRESSE: Europarat: Schweiz soll Minarett-Verbot aufheben >>> APA/dpa | Mittwoch, 23. Juni 2010

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Vollverschleierung: Spanischer Senat votiert für Burka-Bann >>> kgp/dpa/AFP | Mittwoch, 23 Juni 2010

More related articles here and here

International Right-Wingers Gather for EU-Wide Minaret Ban
Minaret in Switzerland. Wangen bei Olten. Photograph: Spiegel Online International
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Delegates from right-wing populist parties from across Europe are descending on Germany this weekend for a conference looking into the possibility of an EU-wide minaret ban. The hosts, an anti-Muslim German group, hope to use the gathering as a springboard to success in local elections.

What could be more European than a castle? The Continent is dotted with them, often menacingly perched on forested hilltops overlooking rivers or ancient trading routes -- important bastions necessary for the defense of what developed into Europe's long and rich cultural tradition.

These days, of course, European castles tend to be little more than bucolic tourist attractions. But it is perhaps no accident that a small palace in western Germany's former industrial heart has been chosen to host a convention ostensibly aimed at defending European culture. The castle in question is the centuries-old Horst Palace, a Renaissance structure in the Ruhr Valley city of Gelsenkirchen. The gathering is called, pointedly, the Anti-Minaret Conference.

This Saturday, politicians representing right-wing conservative parties from across Europe will descend on the Horst Palace to discuss the dangers of Islam. Delegates from the Belgian nationalists Vlaams Belang will be there as will politicians from Geert Wilders's Dutch Party for Freedom, Pia Kjaersgaard's Danish People's Party and the Front National of Jean-Marie Le Pen. Others from Sweden, Austria and Eastern Europe are also on the invite list.

'Symbols of Radical Islam'

The hosts are a relatively new group of German right-wing conservatives called Pro-NRW (an abbreviation of the German state North Rhine-Westphalia) and the goal of the conference is clear: to follow in Switzerland's footsteps and ban minarets across Europe. And they want to use a provision of the European Union's new Lisbon Treaty to do it.

"I don't think that minarets are part of our heritage," conference attendee Filip Dewinter, floor leader for Vlaams Belang in the Flemish parliament, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "They are symbols of radical Islam. The question is whether Islam is a religion like Protestantism and Catholicism and for me it is not. It is a political system, it is a way of life and it is one that is not compatible with ours." >>> Charles Hawley in Berlin | Friday, March 26, 2010

Maroc : Un minaret s'effondre et fait un carnage
20MINUTES.ch: Trente-deux personnes ont été tuées et 68 blessées vendredi lors de l'effondrement du minaret historique d'une mosquée à Meknès (centre du Maroc), a annoncé la télévision publique Al-Oula, citant un bilan provisoire du ministère de l'Intérieur.

La télévision a mis en cause les pluies qui se sont abattues sur la région.

«Le minaret s'est effondré à cause des fortes pluies» de ces derniers jours, a expliqué la télévision dans son principal bulletin d'information de la soirée.

Des habitants de Meknès, joints au téléphone par l'AFP, ont confirmé que «des pluies diluviennes» sont tombées sur la ville et sa région. «Le minaret et une partie du toit se sont effondrés sur les fidèles alors qu'ils accomplissaient la prière du vendredi», ont- ils dit. Prière du vendredi >>> ats | Vendredi 19 Février 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Morocco minaret collapse kills dozens: At least 40 people died and 71 were injured after the minaret of a historic 18th century mosque collapsed in the central Moroccan city of Meknes during Friday prayers, the interior ministry said. >>> | Saturday, February 20, 2010

Germany's Very Own Minaret Debate Turns Nasty
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A small Muslim community in a western German town would like to build a minaret on its mosque. But the plan has triggered passionate opposition from locals, many of whom rely on rhetoric from the extreme right in railing against the "symbol of Islam's quest for power."

"Willkommen," reads the stencilled print on the wall along the riverside boardwalk in the small town of Völklingen. Not content to just welcome its German guests, however, the message is translated into a number of languages. "Bienvenue ... bienvenidos ... velkommen," it reads. And "hosgeldiniz," a nod to the city's substantial Turkish population.

Elsewhere in the city -- particularly in the quarter known as Wehrden -- Muslim immigrants may not feel quite as welcome. A small mosque on the banks of the Saar River there has applied for a permit to build a small minaret on its roof -- triggering a wave of at-times vehement protest reminiscent of the fuss surrounding the November 2009 referendum in Switzerland to ban minarets in the country.

"I am against the Islamification of our fatherland!" reads a message, posted by "Tommy" on the Web site of the local paper Saarbrücker Zeitung. "Islam is the greatest threat facing humanity," he adds. >>> cgh | Friday, February 05, 2010

Joe Brinkley’s Viewpoint: Clashing worlds - Europe and Islam
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: Europe and the Islamic world are at war. It's a proxy conflict, fought in European capitals and on the Arab streets. But people are being killed.

Earlier this month, Islamic gunmen slaughtered six Christians as they left church in southern Egypt on Coptic Christmas Eve, setting off a week of retributive violence. This was just the latest incident in a cascading series of repressive and violent acts against Christians living in numerous Arab states, including the Palestinian territories, Iraq and Morocco, among other places.

Meantime, across Europe, government leaders are contemplating or enacting ever-more repressive rules on Muslim residents and citizens, who are carrying their lifestyles and grievances into unforgiving societies.

The most famous example: The Swiss electorate voted last month to ban the construction of new minarets. Then, early this month, a fiery Islamic cleric in England announced that he would organize a large protest march through the streets of a town near London that regularly honors passing hearses carrying British soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was "personally appalled," and then on Tuesday Britain banned the group.

In both worlds, the conflicts result from misunderstanding and outright intolerance, fanned oftentimes by extremists**, like Geert Wilders, a Dutch member of parliament. He travels the Western world preaching an anti-Islamic screed. Wilders has hit a chord, and the transcript of one speech he gave in New York last year has gone viral, landing in millions of e-mail in-boxes and watched on YouTube nearly 1 million times.

Wilders likes to note that "it is not a coincidence that every terrorist act is based on this fascist book the Quran, this wrong ideology, and unfortunately has been done by people from the Islamic world. I don't believe that cultures are equal. I believe that our culture is much better than the retarded Islamic culture."

In England, meanwhile, Anjem Choudary, leader of the banned Islamic group, posted his view on his organization's Web site recently, saying the march (now canceled) would be in honor of "the real war dead who have been shunned by the Western media and general public as they were, and continue to be, horrifically murdered in the name of democracy and freedom: the innocent Muslim man, women and children."

An estimated 20 million Muslims now live in Europe. Many emigrated to take menial jobs that Europeans were no longer willing to do. The problem for Europeans is that these immigrants tend not to assimilate. They live in their own communities where some of their leaders enforce elements of Shariah law. >>> Joel Brinkley* | Saturday, January 16, 2010

*Joel Brinkley, a professor of journalism at Stanford University, is a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times.

**Joel Brinkley’s viewpoint.

Minarets : Deux juristes proposent un article sur la tolérance religieuse
Crédits photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: La Constitution fédérale devrait contenir un article sur la tolérance religieuse plutôt qu’interdire les minarets, préconisent deux professeurs de droit renommés, Jörg Paul Müller et Daniel Thürer. La conseillère fédérale Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf veut rassembler les organisations musulmanes

Jörg Paul Müller, ensignant notamment à l’EPFZ, et Daniel Thürer, de l’Université de Zurich, proposent un article constitutionnel sur la tolérance. Il régirait non seulement la question des minarets, mais aussi des autres signes extérieurs jugés dérangeants par les partisants de l’interdiction, comme le port de la burqa ou les mariages arrangés, selon «Sonntag».

Le projet de texte stipule que «les communautés religieuses prennent garde à ne pas heurter les sentiments du public dans leurs manifestations extérieures, que ce soit par leurs immeubles, leurs prescriptions vestimentaires ou leurs symboles. Elles évitent tout comportement menaçant». Dans l’esprit des auteurs, les attitudes menaçantes peuvent inclure les vêtements «pouvant générer de l’angoisse».

Les constructions prohibées seraient celles qui «traduisent des prétentions au pouvoir ou des représailles de la part d’une communauté religieuse». Le respect des droits humains fondamentaux et de la démocratie de la part des groupes religieux serait aussi inclu. >>> ATS/LT | Dimanche 13 Décembre 2009

Sans prononcer le terme, le Tyrol ne veut pas de minarets
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: AUTRICHE | Près de deux semaines après le vote suisse sur l'interdiction des minarets, la question est d'actualité en Autriche.

Crédits photo : Tribune de Genève
Le parti d'extrême-droite FPÖ va proposer une loi la semaine prochaine devant le parlement provincial "préservant le caractère du paysage".

Comme la Carinthie et le Vorarlberg, le FPÖ tyrolien se prépare à faire voter un texte qui, sans nommer les minarets, doit "préserver le caractère local du paysage". "Nous faisons confiance en nos juristes pour formuler la loi d'une manière efficace", a indiqué samedi à l'agence APA le député FPÖ au Parlement provincial Richard Heis.

Le FPÖ prépare d'autre part une initiative visant au "maintien des croix dans les classes", a ajouté M. Heis. Il a critiqué au passage la décision de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme en novembre de condamner l'Italie pour le maintien des crucifix dans les écoles. >>> ats | Samedi 12 Décembre 2009

Liens en relation avec l'article :

Le dossier de la Tribune de Genève sur l'interdiction des minarets >>>

Minarets suisses : premiers appels à annuler le vote
Manifestation contre les résultats du vote, le 1er décembre à Lausanne. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Un avocat a décidé de saisir la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme.

Et si on annulait la votation ? Complètement déboussolée après le succès de l'initiative antiminarets, approuvée le 29 novembre par plus de 57 % des votants, la classe politique suisse étudie toutes les pistes : faut-il saisir la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme, comme le souhaitent les Verts, soutenus par Daniel Cohn-Bendit, ou bien lancer une «contre-initiative», comme le proposent les radicaux ? Deux plaintes ont déjà été déposées au Tribunal fédéral. L'avocat Antoine Boesch, qui se dit soutenu par des clients de tous horizons et de toutes confessions, a, pour sa part, décidé de saisir la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme. Quant au Club helvétique, composé d'une vingtaine d'intellectuels, de juristes et de responsables politiques, il suggère de remplacer l'interdiction des minarets dans la Constitution par une «disposition sur la tolérance» . >>> Stéphane Kovacs | Mardi 08 Décembre 2009

Les minarets à travers le Monde
L’EXPRESS.fr: Galerie de photos >>> | Vendredi 04 Décembre 2009

Swiss Minaret Ban Reversal Vote in Pipeline
elECONOMISTA.es | GLOBAL: ZURICH - Swiss liberals are considering a new referendum to overturn the ban on building new minarets in the country, Sunday papers reported, as Libya's Muamar Gaddafi warned the ban played into the hands of terrorists.

Club Helvetique, a group of over 20 Swiss intellectuals, will draw up an action plan to overturn the ban, which has drawn widespread criticism abroad and prompted hundreds of people to take to the streets this weekend in Zurich, Basel and Berne.

"A new initiative is the most democratic way of achieving this," constitutional lawyer Joerg Mueller told Sonntag.

Voters adopted the ban in a referendum a week ago, defying the government and parliament which had warned the right-wing initiative violated the Swiss constitution, freedom of religion and a cherished tradition of tolerance.

Two complaints questioning the legality of ban had already been handed to Switzerland's Federal Court, Sonntag said.
Libya leader Gaddafi said the ban had done a great favour to al Qaeda militants, who would use it to attract recruits in a holy war against Europe, news agency SDA reported.

"The activists are now saying: 'we told you that they are our enemies...join al Qaeda and declare jihad on Europe'." >>> Reuters | Sunday, December 06, 2009

Minarets : Appel à la fondation d’un parti islamique en Suisse
LE TEMPS: Gasmi Slaheddine, président de la Ligue des Musulmans au Tessin, propose de fonder un parti islamique. Il a lancé dimanche un appel aux 350’000 musulmans de Suisse dans les colonnes de l’hebdomadaire tessinois «Il Caffé»

«Pour défendre notre foi et la liberté de culte, nous devons fonder un parti islamique en Suisse», déclare le président de la Ligue musulmane fondée en 2005 et basée à Lugano. «L’heure est venue de défendre nos droits, les droits d’une minorité qui sont bafoués», estime-t-il.

«Le peuple suisse a été trompé et a eu peur, mais cette votation a aussi souligné le déclin de la démocratie et a créé une rupture entre la Suisse et le monde musulman», assure M. Slaheddine. Foi islamique menacée[.] >>> ATS | Dimanche 06 Décembre 2009

“Dobbiamo fondare un partito
islamico in Svizzera”
IL CAFFÈ: Osannata dalle destre populiste di tutta Europa, criticata, invece, duramente da capi di governo, dai Paesi islamici e dalla comunità internazionale. Una gragnuola di condanne che sta aprendo un’altra crepa nell’immagine già incrinata della Svizzera nel mondo. A pochi mesi dagli attacchi dell’Ocse sul segreto bancario, dai guai in America di Ubs e col braccio di ferro, tutt’ora in corso, con l’Italia sullo scudo fiscale di Tremonti, per la Confederazione col voto di domenica scorsa sul divieto di costruire minareti, si è aperto un altro pericoloso fronte di crisi, che sta inquietando non poco il Consiglio federale. E dal Ticino Gasmi Slaheddine, presidente della Lega dei musulmani, lancia un appello ai fedeli islamici della Svizzera: “Se vogliamo difendere la nostra fede e la libertà di culto, dobbiamo fondare un nostro partito”. >>> Libero D'Agostino | Domenica 06 dicembre 2009

Minarets : L’Iran a convoqué l’ambassadeur de Suisse à Téhéran
LE TEMPS: L’Iran a averti samedi la Suisse des «conséquences» du vote contre la construction de minarets et l’a exhortée à empêcher l’application de cette interdiction.

L’agence de presse officielle Irna a annoncé que l’ambassadeur de Suisse à Téhéran avait été convoqué samedi au ministère des Affaires étrangères qui entendait protester contre les résultats du référendum du 29 novembre en Suisse.

«Le référendum va à l’encontre du prestige d’un pays qui se targue de défendre la démocratie et les droits de l’Homme», a déclaré le ministre iranien des Affaires étrangères Manouchehr Mottaki à son homologue suisse Micheline Calmy-Rey lors d’une conversation téléphonique, selon Irna.

«Des valeurs comme la tolérance, le dialogue et le respect des autres religions ne devraient jamais être soumises à référendum», a-t-il estimé, mettant en garde la Suisse contre les conséquences d’actes anti-musulmans, selon Irna.

Il a espéré que le gouvernement suisse prendrait «bientôt les mesures nécessaires et trouverait un moyen constitutionnel pour empêcher la mise en oeuvre de l’interdiction».

Toujours selon l’agence Irna, Mme Calmy-Rey a indiqué que le référendum avait été mené contre la volonté du gouvernement suisse, qui utiliserait tous les moyens pour soutenir les droits des musulmans. >>> ATS | Samedi 05 Décembre 2009

LE TEMPS: «J’ai l’intention de téléphoner au roi d’Arabie saoudite» : Le Conseil fédéral éprouve manifestement un grand besoin de s’expliquer sur le résultat du vote anti-minarets du 29 novembre. Il a chargé le président Hans-Rudolf Merz de le faire >>> Valentine Zubler | Samedi 05 Décembre 2009

Opinion – Taj Hargey: Minarets Are Not an Essential Part of Islam
TIMES ONLINE: The Swiss vote does not infringe Muslim religious rights

Switzerland’s referendum vote to ban minarets is needlessly xenophobic but it does not infringe the religious liberty of Swiss Muslims. Minarets remain emblematic of mosques in the Muslim heartlands but there is no theological reason why houses of worship in the West have to incorporate such towers.

Their original purpose was to relay the prayer call with the unamplified voice. Today this is done by modern technology, so minarets are not integral to contemporary mosque design. European mosques should stop mindlessly mimicking Eastern design and create prayer halls that blend into the landscape.

Muslims who have settled in Switzerland (and elsewhere in Europe) should not confuse culture with creed. To become integrated into their surroundings, they must relinquish the cultural baggage of their ancestral homelands. They should practice a Swiss Islam that is rooted in the society in which they live.

Although the Swiss have been convinced by right-wing zealots that minarets are a problem, local Muslims should not embrace a victim mentality. They must confront the toxic radicalisation of their faith that is imported from overseas. The Wahhabi denomination >>> Taj Hargey | Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Dr Taj Hargey is the chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford and the imam of the Summertown Islamic Congregation in Oxford

Les Français opposés à un référendum sur les minarets et à la construction de mosquées
LE MONDE: Le résultat du référendum suisse sur les minarets n'en finit pas de faire des vagues en France. Et de souligner les contradictions de l'opinion. L'organisation d'un référendum sur l'interdiction de construire des minarets serait une mauvaise chose pour 54 % des Français, indique un sondage BVA pour Canal+, jeudi 3 décembre. Les réponses diffèrent selon la couleur politique des sondés : 61 % des sympathisants de droite approuvent l'idée d'un référendum, contre 31 % parmi les sympathisants de gauche. >>> LeMonde.fr avec AFP | Jeudi 03 Décembre 2009

Minarets: L'ONU s'inquiète
leJDD.fr: Après l'adoption dimanche du projet d'interdiction de construction de minarets en Suisse, l'ONU, par la voix d'Asma Jahangir, parle de résultats "discriminatoires" et s'inquiète du non-respect des droits de l'Homme.

L'affaire des minarets "indésirables" en Suisse ne cesse de faire des vagues sur la scène internationale. Et la question de la liberté religieuse est au centre de la polémique. Lundi, c'est une experte indépendante auprès des Nations Unies, Asma Jahangir, qui regrettait le résultat de ce référendum, organisé par le parti de droite populiste Union démocratique du centre (UDC). "J'ai de sérieuses inquiétudes quant aux conséquences négatives que le résultat du vote aura sur la liberté de religion ou de conviction des membres de la communauté musulmane", avait alors indiqué Asma Jahangir.

Si elle considère que l'interdiction de construire des minarets sur le territoire helvète est une "discrimination claire" à l'égard des musulmans, la rapporteuse spéciale sur la liberté de religion ou de conviction, ne fait que confirmer le point de vue des Nations Unies. Il y a un mois, le Comité des droits de l'Homme de l'ONU avait déjà mis en garde la Suisse en indiquant qu'une telle interdiction serait contraire aux obligations du pays. Le Vatican soutient les musulmans >>> Anne-Charlotte Dusseaulx, leJDD.fr | Mardi 01 Décembre 2009

Now Italy May Follow Switzerland with Referendum on Islamic Minarets
MAIL ONLINE: Italy could be the next European country to consider a referendum on the building of Islamic minarets following the Swiss vote to ban the structures.

Cabinet minister Roberto Calderoli, of the xenophobic Northern League, said Italy should confirm its Roman Catholic roots and hold a vote as soon as possible.

Like the Swiss, Italian voters can have a direct say on an issue if a minimum number of signatures are gathered calling for a referendum.

The League is expected to now start the process for a referendum, despite the Vatican expressing unease over the Swiss vote.

Official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano compared it to a decision by the European Court of Human Rights last month to ban crucifixes from Italian classrooms - a decision that provoked widespread outrage in Italy.

Calderoli said the Swiss decision was a triumphant 'yes to bell towers and no to minarets' that served as an important example for other European countries losing touch with their Christian identities.

He added: 'Respect for other religions is important, but we've got to put the brakes on Muslim propaganda or else we'll end up with an Islamic political party like they have in Spain.'

Others within the anti-immigration Northern League have called for a cross to be inserted on the Italian national flag to symbolise the deep Christian roots of the country.

Italy has one of the tallest minarets in Europe standing just a metre shorter than St Peter's Basilica, at the Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre in Rome.

The country has around 1.2 million Muslims, making Islam the second religion after Catholicism. >>> Nick Pisa | Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Erdogan: „Das ist rassistisch und faschistisch“
DIE PRESSE: Der türkische Premier Erdogan übt herbe Kritik am Schweizer Referendum.

Reccep Tayyip Erdogan. Bild: Die Presse
Ankara/Genf/Rom. Die hitzige Debatte rund um das Ergebnis des Schweizer Referendums über Minarettneubauten geht weiter. Der türkische Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan ortete nun in Europa eine „zunehmende rassistische und faschistische“ Haltung. Vor der Parlamentsfraktion seiner Regierungspartei AKP zeigte sich Erdo?an [sic] besorgt über das Ergebnis der Abstimmung. Islamophobie sei wie Antisemitismus ein „Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit“. Die Schweiz müsse daher das Verbot zurücknehmen. Ebenfalls betroffen zeigte sich der türkische Staatspräsident Abdullah Gül, der das Ergebnis der Abstimmung als „Schande“ bezeichnete. Laut UN-Menschenrechtskommissarin Navi Pillay sei die Abstimmung „klar diskriminierend“ gewesen. Vor allem kritisierte Pillay, dass das Ergebnis nur die islamische Religion beträfe. Die Schweizer würden mit ihrer Entscheidung die Menschenrechte missachten. >>> APA/duö | Dienstag, 01. Dezember 2009

Débat chez les imams de France sur les minarets
Inaugurée en 1926,la mosquéede Paris est la plus grande de France. Son minaret fait 33 mètres de haut. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Une petite partie d'entre eux estiment que les lieux de culte musulmans doivent se faire discrets «pour éviter de réveiller les peurs».

«Le minaret n'est pas une obligation coranique. C'est une architecture traditionnelle pour appeler à la prière dans les pays musulmans. Il n'est absolument pas nécessaire en France. Il est même déplacé», affirme l'imam de Bordeaux, Tareq Oubrou. Lui a sciemment écarté cette tour du projet de grande mosquée de sa ville. «Dans le climat actuel, le minaret est perçu comme un défi. Pour éviter de réveiller les peurs et les intégrismes, je milite pour une présence discrète de l'islam.»

Au sein de l'Union des organisations islamiques de France (UOIF), Tareq Oubrou fait cependant figure d'exception. À Poitiers, le représentant de ce courant proche des Frères musulmans a insisté pour qu'un minaret surplombe la future grande mosquée. Au risque de réveiller les passions dans une ville symbolique. «C'est un ornement. Nous n'appellerons pas à la prière», se défend El Hadj Amor. «Mais il est important de signaler les lieux de culte musulman.» >>> Cécilia Gabizon | Lundi 30 Novembre 2009

Swiss Vote to Ban Minarets

As the Swiss Say No to Minarets, I Vote We Have Many More Referendums
THE TELEGRAPH: Why is making decisions for the nation a right of the government and not one of the people, asks Melanie McDonagh.

The Swiss have spoken and, oh dear, the government isn't best pleased. Against all the approved advice, from churches, politicians and business, the people have voted to ban minarets.

The outcome of yesterday's referendum was entirely unexpected, given that Swiss manufacturers, pallid at the thought of Abu Dhabi saying no to Swatches, had lobbied vigorously against a ban. The government wasn't keen on reprisals from excitable Islamists. But notwithstanding all the high-level advice, the people were having none of it.

Actually, the notion of building minarets in Switzerland is pretty redundant. They couldn't be used to call the faithful to prayer because noise regulations, this being Switzerland, don't permit it. Small Islamic communities all over Switzerland just wanted to make their presence felt. On the skyline.

It was interesting, the nature of the coalition against the minarets. The campaign was led by the populist Swiss People's Party, but it was supported, unexpectedly, by Swiss feminists because they have issues with Islam's treatment of women. And – who knows – because of the phallic shape of the structures concerned. In fact, the most notable thing about the poll was that, in favour of the ban, women outnumbered men.

Personally, I blame the Turkish prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan. The opponents of minarets hardly needed to make an argument; all they needed to do was quote, out of context, his pronouncement that minarets are the bayonets of Islam and the job was done. Nice one, Mr E.

Actually, I felt rather cheered when I heard that the Swiss had voted as they did, for the simple and sufficient reason that I like it when people don't do what they're told by politicians. I was ecstatic when the Danes voted against the Nice Treaty; I felt a kind of subversive thrill when Ireland turned against the Lisbon Treaty, though it did vote the approved way second time round.

Referendums are brilliant, precisely because they give people a chance to consider what everyone says they ought to think and do, and then do just what they want anyway. It's the nearest we get nowadays to the full-on democracy of Athens, unless you count reality television.

The sad thing, of course, is that it couldn't happen here. Whenever anyone suggests having more referendums, politicians say, in a grand way: nope, we are a parliamentary democracy. Finis. >>> Melanie McDonagh | Monday, November 30, 2009