Contributed by Benjamin Bruce
November 29, 2010 Precisely one year following the Swiss referendum banning minarets in 2009, the Swiss Islamic Central Council (IZRS) has announced that it wishes to hold another national referendum in order to remove the minaret ban from the constitution. No other Muslim organizations were consulted with regard to this plan, which had been kept…
November 18, 2010 Switzerland has been cited in a recent US report on threats to religious freedoms in the world. While normally the report focuses on countries such as North Korea, Iran, China, and Burma, according to US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, “several European countries have imposed severe restrictions on religious expression.” The Swiss…
November 16, 2010 Stefan Kölliker, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) director of education for St. Gallen, has recently met with Hisham Maizar, a representative of the Federation for Islamic Communities in East Switzerland, concerning the education council’s decision in August 2010 to call for the banning of headscarves in schools. Despite Maizar’s efforts, Kölliker has…
November 11-15, 2010 Langenthal, a town in Oberaargau known for design, porcelain, and reflecting average German-Swiss tastes and opinions, continues to make headlines due to a local minaret project. Though occurring one year following the banning of minarets in Switzerland by national referendum, the minaret project had already received approval from city officials before the…
November 1-9, 2010 Following Bern, Lucerne and Zurich, the city of Winterthur will soon become the latest Swiss city to have a Muslim section in the local cemetery. The project has been planned since 2008, and following a unanimous vote in the city council it will also receive a loan of 1.53 million Swiss francs….
