A Swiss ban on four minarets inspired US Islamophobic campaigns

Evidence

The Swiss People’s Party campaigned fiercely in favor of the amendment. One of the party’s major spokespersons, Oskar Freysinger, invoked the specter of an Islamic conquest taking the form of minarets, referring to them as “the flags that generals place on strategic military maps to identify a conquered territory.” This militant image found expression in the campaign’s most infamous poster, depicting a Swiss flag populated with minarets in the form of missiles. The party warned that minarets would open the door to Sharia law and to the oppression of women. In fact, the same poster also contained the image of a veiled woman in the foreground. Minarets and the loss of freedom for women became intertwined in the campaign. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 637 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Schlüer responded that the comparison was invalid because the steeple and the minaret represent two religions that hold two very different sets of values: “I think Christianity is an attitude of freedom, of recognizing different meanings, of tolerance. Islam has nothing to do with tolerance.” Put another way, Christianity embraces and epitomizes Western secular values such as toleration and freedom, the very values Islam rejects. Since Islam is so different, so “other,” its symbols cannot be allowed to occupy public space and promote values that are “foreign” to the Swiss people. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 57 (#complicates, via linked claim)

The ban met with strong criticism outside of Switzerland. The Vatican, the UN high commissioner for human rights, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference condemned the ban, as did many political leaders. Far right parties throughout Europe, by contrast, welcomed the ban and expressed hope that similar bans in the future would take effect in their countries. Their optimism was not misplaced. Polling in the weeks following the ban indicated that support for similar bans across Europe was gaining traction. Approximately 59 percent of those polled in Belgium favored a minaret ban, as did 46 percent in France and 37 percent in Britain. The Swiss ban galvanized far right politicians throughout Europe, providing them with a possible blueprint for minimizing Islam’s presence in the public sphere. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 640 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Switzerland banned mosque minarets despite only four existing nationwide. — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 554; The Swiss campaign framed minarets as military conquest symbols threatening women’s freedom — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 637; The Swiss minaret ban rested on framing Islam as foreign to Western values — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 57 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• The Swiss campaign framed minarets as military conquest symbols threatening women’s freedom #complicates (0.90) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 637
• The Swiss minaret ban rested on framing Islam as foreign to Western values #complicates (0.90) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 57
• The Swiss minaret ban provided a blueprint for far right parties across Europe #complicates (0.80) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 640
• The United States armed and licensed global anti-Muslim crusades #complicates (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 293
• Anti-veil campaigns aimed to disarm Islam as liberation-movement glue #complicates (0.75)