AP Image
Paris:
The Swiss have banned minarets, a win for the People's Party which raised fears that minarets were one step towards Islamisation.
Doesn't matter that there are only four minarets in Switzerland and a little over four per cent Muslims, but the 57 per cent vote against minarets is another victory for the extreme right in Europe.
The Swiss ban could have provided fresh impetus to the right-wingers elsewhere. France put a ban on the wearing of headscarves in 2004 in public schools and is currently debating a ban on the burqa.
Now Marine le pen of the French right wing party Front National says the Swiss have taken the right decision - an example all of Europe should follow.
June saw many radical right wing parties making big gains in the elections to the European Parliament. Known for their racist, anti-Islamic and anti-immigration politics, they made big gains.
Many of these right wing parties across Europe are engaged in what they call the "anti-Islamification" of Europe.
The financial crisis and rising unemployment have stoked peoples' fears and pushed them towards an anti-immigrant right wing politics in Europe.
The vote favouring the ban on minarets in Switzerland has shocked and embarrassed many in Europe who feel that the fight against extremism is being used as a pretext by some to target Muslim immigrants, a trend many see as Islamophobic.
Doesn't matter that there are only four minarets in Switzerland and a little over four per cent Muslims, but the 57 per cent vote against minarets is another victory for the extreme right in Europe.
The Swiss ban could have provided fresh impetus to the right-wingers elsewhere. France put a ban on the wearing of headscarves in 2004 in public schools and is currently debating a ban on the burqa.
Now Marine le pen of the French right wing party Front National says the Swiss have taken the right decision - an example all of Europe should follow.
June saw many radical right wing parties making big gains in the elections to the European Parliament. Known for their racist, anti-Islamic and anti-immigration politics, they made big gains.
Many of these right wing parties across Europe are engaged in what they call the "anti-Islamification" of Europe.
The financial crisis and rising unemployment have stoked peoples' fears and pushed them towards an anti-immigrant right wing politics in Europe.
The vote favouring the ban on minarets in Switzerland has shocked and embarrassed many in Europe who feel that the fight against extremism is being used as a pretext by some to target Muslim immigrants, a trend many see as Islamophobic.
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