18 October 2010 Sura Al-Shawk, a Swiss citizen of Iraqi origin, has been unable to participate in any basketball games since her regional league banned her in 2009, due to the headscarf that she wears. Since that time her case has been tossed “like a hot potato” between the regional and national basketball associations, while…
9 October 2010 Around 150 anti-minaret protests have gathered in Langenthal to denounce the recent decision to allow the construction of a minaret for the local Islamic center. Members of the far-right Swiss Nationalist Party (PNOS) demanded that the November 2009 ban on minarets be respected, however local officials have said that the original decision…
22 August 2010 The Editions de l’Aire will soon be publishing a French translation of Zurich author Daniel Groetsch’s novel Ben Kader. The novel shifts between Algiers in 1957 and Zurich in 2001, and explores the contrasts between father and son, adopted and assumed identities, Eastern and Western cultures, Islam and Christianity. Ben Kader himself…
A documentary film by Swiss Television entitled “Behind the Veil – Muslim Report Switzerland” has caused controversy due to the interference of the Swiss government’s integration officer. The film shows disturbing scenes which had shocked the country, such as the secretary of the Muslim community justifying the beating of wives, and an imam who preached…
According to a recent report by the Swiss Intelligence Services (SIC), the ban on the construction of minarets has not led to a heightened risk of Islamic terrorism in the country. Nonetheless, the SIC states that Islamic terrorism remains “one of the most present threats” to the Switzerland, and that the state should not lower…
