I don’t know about you but I find this Swiss ban on the construction of Muslim Mosque minarets really peculiar. Swiss voters approved the ban in November last year and I’m still utterly bewildered.
There are only 4 Swiss mosques (out of a total of 150) that even have minarets. And these minarets won’t be removed according to the ban; Swiss Muslims just can’t put up new ones.
So what’s all the fuss about? Are they really so hard on the eye?
The Anti-Minaret (Il)logic
As the wise women at Muslimah Mediawatch point out, Switzerland doesn’t share the colonial history with Arab or Muslim countries that nations such as for example, Spain does. Over half of the Muslims in Switzerland came from the Balkans, predominantly from Bosnia and Kosovo.
While this may explain why some Swiss citizens aren’t accustomed to their Muslim compatriots it still doesn’t really cut the mustard when it comes to why minarets have been banned. I was curious to find out when the controversy began. If I couldn’t find a why, I decided to at least look at a when…
Tower Power
The Swiss minaret controversy ignited in 2005 in a small town in northern Switzerland. The Turkish Cultural Association in Wangen bei Olten applied for a construction permit to build a 6-metre-high minaret on the roof of its Muslim community centre.
Building of the tower was opposed by a group of surrounding residents. The Turkish Association said the building authorities unfairly delayed its building application. It also felt members of the local opposition group were behaving unfairly towards Muslims.
The Communal Building and Planning Commission rejected the Turkish Association’s application and the applicants appealed to the Building and Justice Department, who reversed the ruling, in their favour.
Local residents and members of the Wangen community appealed and brought the case before the Administrative Court of the Canton of Solothurn, but were unsuccessful. The 6-metre high minaret was eventually built in July 2009.
Not Putting Up with Defeat
From 2006-2008, members of the Swiss People’s Party and the Federal Democratic Union launched several cantonal initiatives against the building of minarets but these were never voted on as the cantonal parliaments declared them unconstitutional.
Disgruntled, in 2007, the Egerkinger committee launched a federal popular initiative against minarets, proposing that building them be prohibited.
In Switzerland, federal popular initiatives don’t require judicial review, as they amend the federal constitution- Promoters of popular initiatives are given 18 months to collect at least 100,000 signatures. If they get them, the initiative goes then before the Swiss people in a national vote. Both federal and cantonal initiatives are common in Switzerland, resulting in their fair share of referendum votes each year on all manner of issues.
In November 2009 a referendum was passed banning the construction of new minarets was approved by 57.5% of the participating voters. Only four of the 26 Swiss cantons, which were mostly situated in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, opposed it and stood up in defence of the minarets.
Friends in High Places
Catholic bishops have opposed the minaret ban on the grounds of Switzerland’s Christian values and democratic principles. The Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches feels the initiative has nothing to do with the minarets, but is more an expression of the initiators’ concern and fear of Islam. The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities has also stood up and expressed it is against any ban on building minarets and many other religious organisations have stated that they feel the ban is unfair and unjust.