Swiss Ban Minarets in Controversial Vote

Referendum Highlights Conflict Over Culture, Integration; Result 'Isn't Worthy of Switzerland,' Says One Muslim Leader

By DEBORAH BALL and NICHOLAS BIRCH
WSJ

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, the head-to-toe veils worn by some very devout Muslim women, as "walking coffins." The government issued a recommendation against wearing burqas, but stopped short of an outright ban.

European governments also have struggled in recent years with popular opposition to the construction of mosques, as well as with a backlash to the murder of a filmmaker in the Netherlands by a Muslim extremist, and the reaction in some Muslim countries to the publication in Danish newspapers of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.

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 such conflicts in recent years. The Swiss voted strongly for the ban, with 58% of votes in favor of the initiative and 42% against. Until about a month ago, polls had predicted voters would solidly reject the ban, though support for the ban had been edging up in recent weeks.

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