How appropriate that another NOPP article (no paper purchase) is featured today:
"Swiss adopt strict deportation policy" by Associated Press / November 29, 2010
GENEVA — Swiss voters yesterday approved a plan to automatically deport foreigners who commit serious crimes or benefit fraud, in a significant victory for the nationalist party that pushed the proposal against the will of the government....
Emma Link, 86, blamed foreigners for what she said was rising crime in Switzerland, adding that she had recently been robbed....
Under Switzerland’s unique political system, any group wanting to change the law can collect 100,000 signatures to force a referendum.
Yeah, who would want the people making decisions in a democracy?
Last year the country drew international condemnation after voters defied a government recommendation and approved a law to ban the construction of minarets.
FLASHBACKS:
"Swiss ban new mosque minarets in backlash against Muslims; Rights groups decry surprise ballot result" by Alexander G. Higgins, Associated Press | November 30, 2009
GENEVA - Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on minarets yesterday, barring construction of the iconic mosque towers in a surprise vote that put Switzerland at the forefront of a European backlash against a growing Muslim population.
Related: Hearing the Call of the Minaret
Not just over there, is it?
Isn't it amazing how Jewish racism is acceptable and praised as Muslims face persecution everywhere they go?
Muslim groups in Switzerland and abroad condemned the vote as biased and anti-Islamic. Business groups said the decision hurt Switzerland’s international standing and could damage relations with Muslim nations and wealthy investors who bank, travel, and shop there.
Related: Lying Looters Large and Small: Secret Stashes and Secret Deals
“The Swiss have failed to give a clear signal for diversity, freedom of religion, and human rights,’’ said Omar Al-Rawi, integration representative of the Islamic Denomination in Austria, which said its reaction was “grief and deep disappointment.’’
Diversity is only for some.
About 300 people turned out for a spontaneous demonstration on the square outside Parliament, holding up signs saying, “That is not my Switzerland,’’ placing candles in front of a model of a minaret and making another minaret shape out of the candles themselves. “We’re sorry,’’ said another sign. A young woman pinned to her jacket a piece of paper saying, “Swiss passport for sale.’’
Now THAT is what I LIKE to SEE!!!
The referendum by the nationalist Swiss People’s Party labeled minarets as symbols of rising Muslim political power that could one day transform Switzerland into an Islamic nation.
Yeah, and they would PROBABLY BE BETTER OFF!!!
So when do the menorahs come down?
The initiative was approved 57.5 to 42.5 percent by about 2.67 million voters. Only four of the 26 cantons or states opposed the initiative, granting the double approval that makes it part of the Swiss constitution. Muslims make up about 6 percent of Switzerland’s 7.5 million people. Many are refugees from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and about one in 10 actively practices their religion, the government says.
Looks like a MAJOR OVERREACTION, huh?
The country’s four standing minarets, which will not be affected by the ban, do not traditionally broadcast the call to prayer outside their own buildings.
So then WHAT is up the SWISS BUNG HOLE?
And why would they be upset about something that sounds beautiful?
The sponsors of the initiative provoked complaints of bias from local officials and human-rights groups with campaign posters that showed minarets rising like missiles from the Swiss flag next to a fully veiled woman. Backers said the growing Muslim population was straining the country “because Muslims don’t just practice religion.’’
Oh, it was a PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN that got 'em ALL FEARED UP, huh?
“The minaret is a sign of political power and demand, comparable with whole-body covering by the burqa, tolerance of forced marriage, and genital mutilation of girls,’’ the sponsors said.
Of course, DROPPING BOMBS on them and MISSILING their villages is OKAY!!!
Mosques and minaret construction projects in Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Greece, Germany, and Slovenia have been met by protests. But the Swiss ban on minarets, sponsored by the country’s largest political party, was one of the most extreme reactions. Amnesty International said the vote violated freedom of religion and would probably be overturned by the Swiss supreme court or the European Court of Human Rights. The seven-member Cabinet that heads the Swiss government had spoken out strongly against the initiative but the government said it accepted the vote and would impose an immediate ban on minaret construction.
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The issue remained a story for days as well in the divisive, agenda-pushing paper.
"Swiss ban on minarets stirs anger" by Associated Press | December 1, 2009
GENEVA - A top Swiss official said yesterday that voter approval of a ban on minarets next to mosques could be struck down in court, as critics at home and abroad swiftly condemned the vote, saying it undermined the country’s secular image.
Legal analysts have questioned whether the ban on the Islamic towers used for the call to prayer is compatible with Switzerland’s constitution and international human rights law.
Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said it would come into force immediately, but indicated it could be overturned. “The ban contradicts the European Convention on Human Rights,’’ Zurich daily Blick cited Widmer-Schlumpf as saying. Switzerland currently presides over the European Court of Human Rights, which rules on breaches of the convention.
The vote brings the focus of a Europe-wide debate over Islam and immigration to Switzerland, and is a serious slap in the face for the government, which campaigned against it. France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said he was “a bit scandalized’’ by the vote. “I hope that the Swiss will go back on this decision rather quickly,’’ Kouchner said on France’s RTL radio. “It is an expression of intolerance, and I detest intolerance.’’
Get in line.
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"Muslims protest minaret ban" by Associated Press | December 13, 2009
BERN, Switzerland - About 700 Swiss Muslims peacefully protested against their country’s minaret ban yesterday. The protest in the capital, Bern, came two weeks after voters decided to ban the construction of minarets, drawing criticism from Muslim and other European nations.
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The government will now have to draft a law requiring automatic expulsion of foreigners found guilty of crimes such as murder, rape, and drug dealing....
Wouldn't you want those people out of your neighborhood, readers?
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Print I did purchase:
"Swiss official urges 3 charged with nuke smuggling" by John Heilprin, Associated Press / December 23, 2010
BERN, Switzerland—Smuggling charges should be brought against three Swiss engineers suspected of giving nuclear weapons technology to a rogue network in Pakistan, a magistrate said Thursday, in a case involving CIA ties, shredded documents and national security implications....
The politically sensitive case was slowed down after the Swiss government repeatedly ordered evidence destroyed in the case, allegedly under pressure from senior U.S. officials....
We call it a COVER-UP 'round h're.
Investigating magistrate Andreas Mueller, who said he is relieved to be done with the investigation, harshly criticized the Swiss government for having "massively interfered in the wheels of justice by destroying almost all the evidence." He said the government also ordered federal criminal police not to cooperate with him....
Mueller said the Tinners did not deny working for the A.Q. Khan network, but claimed they did not know his aim was to produce nuclear weapons. He also said the Tinners had worked for the CIA since June 2003....
What didn't make the cut:
He told AP that "there is no contrary proof that they were not on the payroll" of the CIA.
In June 2009, the Swiss government ordered the destruction of about 100 pages of evidence linked to Mueller's investigation of the Tinner family, saying they contained information that could have endangered national security and needed to be kept out of "the wrong hands."
Or minds.
The Cabinet, or Federal Council, said those documents were "the most explosive" material in the case's file of more than 1,000 pages....
A report this week by a Washington-based think tank found the Swiss authorities, the CIA and the Tinners were all responsible for failing to limit the spread of nuclear weapon technology and know-how....
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Related: Nuclear technology smuggling case may reveal CIA secrets (by William J. Broad and Sanger, New York Times)
Also see: Swiss lawmakers block UBS treaty
