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Swiss ban on minarets was a vote for tolerance and inclusion | csmonitor.com - 1 views

www.csmonitor.com/...p09s01-coop.html

Switzerland minarets Islamophobia hirsiali opinion

shared by Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09 - Snapshot

By Ayaan Hirsi Ali
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There are two ways
to interpret the vote.
- Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
  
  Actually, I can think of many more than two ways to interpret it. This is a very limited way of framing the issue.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Actually, I can think of many more than two ways to interpret it. This is a very limited way of framing the issue.</div>
  
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Imams can then preach a message of self-segregation and a bold rejection of the ways of the non-Muslims.
- Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
  
  Sure. But they can also preach about, you know, pretty much anything. They can preach a message of tolerance and inclusion, too, and having a minaret doesn't actually change things either way.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Sure. But they can also preach about, you know, pretty much anything. They can preach a message of tolerance and inclusion, too, and having a minaret doesn't actually change things either way.</div>
  
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...4 more annotations...
None of those Western academics,
diplomats, and politicians who condemn the Swiss vote to ban the minaret address, let alone dispute, these facts.
- Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
  
  I'm a Western academic, and former diplomat, and I'm disputing these 'facts'.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">I'm a Western academic, and former diplomat, and I'm disputing these 'facts'.</div>
  
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And this is what the Swiss vote shows us. This is a confrontation between local, working-class voters (and
some middle-class feminists) and Muslim immigrant newcomers who feel that they are entitled, not only to practice their religion,
but also to replace the local political order with that of their own.
- Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
  
  This may be what the vote shows you. But you have shown no scrap of evidence that the small minority of Swiss who are Muslims have any such agenda. All there is so far is a tendentious Islamophobic narrative backed by the coarsest of generalizations. Where's the substance?
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">This may be what the vote shows you. But you have shown no scrap of evidence that the small minority of Swiss who are Muslims have any such agenda. All there is so far is a tendentious Islamophobic narrative backed by the coarsest of generalizations. Where's the substance?</div>
  
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It is
remarkable that the Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, said in public that the Swiss vote is a poor act of diplomacy
- Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
  
  I'm with you there. Very odd and poor choice of words there. The UN condemnation of the vote as intolerance was more to the point.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">I'm with you there. Very odd and poor choice of words there. The UN condemnation of the vote as intolerance was more to the point.</div>
  
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There is indeed a wider international confrontation between Islam and the West. The Iraq and Afghan wars are part of that,
not to mention the ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians and the nuclear ambitions of Iran. That confrontation
should never be confused with the local problem of absorbing those Muslims who have been permitted to become permanent residents
and citizens into European societies.
- Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
  
  The problem here is that if you're going to accept the Huntington master-narrative of clash of civilizations, then you cannot really separate these things. If you want to see a confrontation between "Islam" and the "West" then you have to accept that it is within as well as across borders. It is much easier to separate out the domestic and foreign policy issues if you abandon the narrative of the 'clash' - I recommend it.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">The problem here is that if you're going to accept the Huntington master-narrative of clash of civilizations, then you cannot really separate these things. If you want to see a confrontation between "Islam" and the "West" then you have to accept that it is within as well as across borders. It is much easier to separate out the domestic and foreign policy issues if you abandon the narrative of the 'clash' - I recommend it.</div>
  
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