Povo suíço proíbe minaretes (4)

Soeren Kern, no Pajamas Media, numa peça anterior ao referendo, relata as circunstâncias que levaram à sua convocação:

«(...) The current controversy dates back to 2005, when the Turkish cultural association in Wangen bei Olten, a small town of some 4,500 people in northern Switzerland, applied for a permit to erect a 6-meter (20 feet) high minaret on the roof of its Islamic community center. The project to build the minaret, which was opposed by the majority of local residents, was roundly rejected by the town’s building and planning commission. But the Turkish cultural association appealed the decision, claiming that the local building authorities were motivated by religious bias. The case eventually made its way to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which in 2007 ruled that the project could proceed apace. The minaret was finally erected in July 2009.

Up until recently, Muslims living in Switzerland had mostly been keeping a low profile, preferring to practice their religion discretely in nondescript mosques. But over the past several years the number of mosques has mushroomed; there now are some 200 mosques and up to 1,000 prayer rooms dotted around the country. And although only four of those have minarets (plans to build a half-dozen more minarets are currently pending approval), observers say the minarets symbolize the growing self-confidence of Switzerland’s Muslim community. (...)»

À medida que a população muçulmana cresce, vai fazendo mais exigências.
E porque será que os suíços vêem os minaretes como símbolos do avanço do Islão? Porque os muçulmanos os consideram isso mesmo:

«(...) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, (...) once implied that the construction of mosques and minarets is part of a strategy for the Islamization of Europe. The pro-Islamic Erdogan said: “The minarets are our bayonets, the domes our helmets, the mosques our barracks and the faithful our army.” (...)»

Aí está: os suíços fizeram aquilo que os restantes europeus e os americanos se recusam a fazer: levar a sério o que os próprios muçulmanos dizem e fazem.