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Nov
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ZURICH — Swiss voters Sunday approved a ban on the construction of new minarets on mosques, defying appeals from the government to reject the proposal and raising the specter of a new round of tensions in Europe concerning the role of Islam on the Continent.
The vote highlights the persistent conflict over the integration of Europe’s growing Muslim population into civil society. Earlier this month, France considered whether to bar Muslim women from wearing full-face veils, sparking a heated debate in which one French politician described burqas, or head-to-toe veils worn by very devout Muslim women, as “walking coffins.” The government issued a recommendation against wearing them, but stopped short of an outright ban.
European governments also have struggled in recent years with popular opposition to the construction of mosques — a backlash to the murder of a filmmaker in the Netherlands by a Muslim extremist, and to the reaction in some Muslim countries to the publication in Danish newspapers of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.
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The vote to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland has set off an emotional debate on Islam in the Alpine nation.
The yes vote in Switzerland could raise interfaith tensions in a country that has largely escaped similar conflicts. In a surprise outcome, the Swiss voted strongly for the ban, with initial projections showing 58% of votes in favor of the initiative. Until about a month ago, polls had predicted that voters would solidly reject the ban, although support for the ban had been edging up in recent weeks.
The referendum, promoted by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party, sparked an emotional national debate over the place of Muslims in Swiss society. The party, arguing that the minaret is a symbol of Islamic intolerance, led a drive to call the referendum that collected more than 100,000 signatures, twice the number required.
Minarets are tower-like structures that are often used to launch the call to prayer for Muslims. In Switzerland only four of the country’s 150 mosques have minarets, and none are used for the call to prayer because of strict noise-pollution rules.
Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf released a statement saying the government respected the vote, but emphasized that it “is not a rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture.”
Muslim leaders warned that a yes vote could damage relations with greater Swiss society. The yes vote “isn’t worthy of Switzerland,” said Farhad Afshar, president of the Confederation of Muslim Organizations in Switzerland. “Muslims no longer feel accepted in Switzerland, and that is a shame, because Islam in Switzerland is a model for other European countries.”
Swiss diplomats have quietly been reassuring leaders in Muslim countries that the government opposed the referendum. About 7%, or 14.5 billion Swiss francs ($14.4 billion), of Switzerland’s exports go to Muslim countries.