Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
By Mona Eltahawy
Dec. 1, 2009
The Washington Post
My question for Switzerland and other European countries enthralled by the right wing: When did Saudi Arabia become your role model?
Even before 57.5 percent of Swiss voters cast ballots on Sunday to ban the building of minarets by Muslims, it was obvious that Switzerland’s image of itself as a land of tolerance was as full of holes as its cheese. When the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) came to power in 2007, it used a poster showing a white sheep kicking black sheep off the country’s flag. This was no reference to black sheep as rebels — the right wing doesn’t do cute — but to skin color and foreigners.
Posters the SVP displayed before Sunday’s referendum showed women covered from head to toe in black, standing in front of phallic-looking minarets. Such racism preceded and fed into the bigotry that fueled the referendum.
Predictably, the election results sparked cries of “Islamophobia,” but the situation for Switzerland’s 400,000 Muslims is not (yet) dire. The four existing minarets were not affected by the vote, and there are still 150 mosques or prayer rooms in which to worship.
Further, the Council of Europe, the continent’s top human-rights watchdog — whose chairmanship, ironically, Switzerland recently took over — has already said the ban could violate fundamental liberties, and the Swiss justice minister said the European Court of Human Rights could strike down the vote.
But the real issue here is more fundamental than whether or when Muslims can build minarets in Switzerland. Until Europe confronts long-simmering questions about how it treats immigrants — Muslims and others — the continent will continue to convulse with embarrassing right-wing eruptions that strip it of any right to preach to anyone on human rights and liberties.
Europe is an aging continent that depends on the “foreigners” its right-wing politicians love to rail about. In Switzerland, for example, it’s difficult for immigrants and even their children to get citizenship.
As a Muslim who believes in the separation of church (and mosque and synagogue) and state, I pay attention when people say they are opposed to political Islam. But to suggest, as nationalist parties in Switzerland did, that minarets are symbols of political Islam is ridiculous.
Minarets are used to issue the call to prayer, not to recruit people to Islamic political groups. If the SVP finds such prayer calls too noisy, I’d like to see it try to stifle church bells.
Raising the specter of “political Islam” or “creeping Islamicization” to frighten voters diminishes the concerns that ought to be discussed, such as an ideology’s opposition to many minority and women’s rights. And that’s where the difficult questions lie for Europe’s Muslims. They, too, have a right wing that breeds on fear and preaches an exclusionary and inward-looking Islam. It is the perfect foil for the non-Muslim political right wing on the continent. But while these conservative Muslim views might hold some moral sway, they have none of the political power of the SVP and its cohorts.
Meanwhile, condemnations from the Muslim world — where some have semi-jokingly called for a boycott of Swiss chocolate — underscore the other sort of hypocrisy that must be confronted if Muslim complaints of bigotry are to be taken seriously.
The Grand Mufti of Egypt, for example, denounced the ban as an “attack on freedom of belief.” I would take him more seriously if he denounced in similar terms the difficulty Egyptian Christians face in building churches in his country. They must obtain a security permit just for renovations.
Last year, the first Catholic church — bearing no cross, no bells and no steeple — opened in Qatar, leaving Saudi Arabia the only country in the Persian Gulf that bars the building of houses of worship for non-Muslims. In Saudi Arabia, it is difficult even for Muslims who don’t adhere to the ultra-orthodox Wahhabi sect; Shiites, for example, routinely face discrimination.
Bigotry must be condemned wherever it occurs. If majority-Muslim countries want to criticize the mistreatment of Muslims living as minority communities elsewhere, they should be prepared to withstand the same level of scrutiny regarding their own mistreatment of minorities.
Millions of non-Muslim migrant workers have helped build Saudi Arabia. Human rights groups have long condemned the slave-like conditions that many toil under, and the possibility of Saudi citizenship is nonexistent. Muslim nations have been unwilling to criticize this bigotry in their midst, and Europeans should keep in mind that Sunday’s ban takes them in this direction.
Comments (16)
Noblese said:
Hi Mona
Wonderful post! I am so angry and ashamed of the Swiss vote. Living in Switzerland myself I don’t understand the people here not to mention the SVP party. They play (manipulate) with peoples’ fears and thus such results. I wouldn’t be surprised by any retaliations by Moslem nations.
Have a good day.
December 1st, 2009, 4:54 am
Dale said:
Well, while I don’t agree with the actions taken in Switzerland, I can certainly understand them. The decisions made by THE PEOPLE, certainly are fear-based, but for whatever reason, the decision was made. As you pointed out, Saudi Arabia and many other Muslim nations are not nearly as tolerant as the Swiss in terms of freedom of thought/speech/actions. Unlike Christians in Saudi Arabia, however, Muslims are generally free to leave whenever they want.
Its not a perfect world, and in the end, nur die Gedanken sind frei!
December 1st, 2009, 3:06 pm
Imad said:
i agree with you 100%, Ms. Eltahawy. Both on the fault of the right wingers in europe as well as the criticism coming from the Muslim countries.
However, i’m not in this big huff over the minaret ban. As far as i’m concerned, the minaret doesn’t make the mosque, does it? It seems trivial, but it’s still unsettling to me that the SVP is the one bringing it up, and it seems that their entire platform concerns bringing mob rule, the rule of the majority as opposed to rule of ALL people as a model of democracy.
December 2nd, 2009, 9:08 pm
Don Sharpe said:
Mona, comparing the Kingdom to any democracy isn’t going to work.
The minaret ban is a well played message from the right that creeping Islamization will meet stiff resistance. The Swiss who voted for the ban are afraid. They’re afraid of 2nd generation muslims who don’t seem to be integrating well, and afraid that demographics will eventually result in sharia. We’ve all watched the news from other EU countries, the only question now is, when does the rioting and car burning start?
December 6th, 2009, 11:57 am
Aage Kürstein said:
Before the vote the Swiss were told not to be that islamophobic.
Phobic as irrational fear.
After the vote, spokepeople from everywhere told them, they now would have to fear the reactions of islamic extreemists.
Irrational fear, or rational fear: what is the worst?
Apart from that: I just happened to turn on my telly to watch Martin Krassnik’s interview with you on danish television: I loved your attitude, and the intelligent way way you answered to his challenging questions.
Looking forward to follow you here on the site!
December 7th, 2009, 10:56 am
Chris said:
I agree with Hirsi Ali. The Swiss vote was not so much a vote against the minaret as it was a vote for tolerance.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1205/p09s01-coop.html
December 7th, 2009, 12:20 pm
Global Voices Online » Egypt: When did Saudi Arabia become Switzerland’s role model? said:
[...] ElTahawy has one question for Switzerland and other European countries enthralled by the right wing: When did Saudi Arabia [...]
December 8th, 2009, 5:32 pm
Egypt: When did Saudi Arabia become Switzerland’s role model? :: Elites TV said:
[...] ElTahawy has one question for Switzerland and other European countries enthralled by the right wing: When did Saudi Arabia [...]
December 8th, 2009, 6:23 pm
Global Voices in Italiano » Egitto: da quando la Svizzera prende esempio dall’Arabia Saudita? said:
[...] ElTahawy pone un quesito [in] alla Svizzera e agli altri Paesi europei sedotti dai partiti di [...]
December 10th, 2009, 11:06 pm
Global Voices auf Deutsch » Ägypten: Seit wann ist Saudi-Arabien ein Vorbild für die Schweiz? said:
[...] ElTahawy hat eine Frage an die Schweiz und die anderen europäischen Länder, die vom rechten Flügel begeistert sind: Seit [...]
December 11th, 2009, 5:51 am
Readers Edition » Ägypten: Seit wann ist Saudi-Arabien ein Vorbild für die Schweiz? said:
[...] ElTahawy hat eine Frage an die Schweiz und die anderen europäischen Länder, die vom rechten Flügel [...]
December 11th, 2009, 6:40 am
Don C said:
You are such an outstanding writer!
The way you correlate the right wing of Swiss politics to the right wing of “political islam” is so beguiling, so succinct, that I doubt either group will get it. Still, it is well said…
I will say, the muslim community does need to address the need to assimilate into Western society in these cultures, or there will never be peace on these issues….
December 16th, 2009, 1:42 pm
Phyllis said:
turkey and lybia, countries that not only ban church towers but churches and the practice of religions other than islam as well, have criticised switzerland.
and yeah, iran too, this model of a peaceful and tolerant country.
sorry mona… what more is there to say? it’s wrong to assume swiss people fear or hate islam, no, they are inspired by it…
January 28th, 2010, 8:20 pm
FA said:
Hold on there a minute – while Switzerland claims democracy and enshrines the rights and freedoms of minorities in their constitution, Saudi Arabia made no such claims, rather, it calls itself a kingdom with a constitution based on sharia. Its not a simple comparison about ‘minority rights’ anymore than it is to compare the export earnings from chocolate or oil for each respective country. There is no comparison. And while Europe (and its extension, the US) claims to be championing human rights, freedoms and secular democracy to justify intervention and conflict worldwide, their justification rings hollow once this right wing reactionary phase sets in against Islam. I do not know of how many armed conflicts Saudi is directly involved in other than the border skirmish with the Yemeni rebels. So pray tell, why must Saudi (or any other muslim theocracy) ‘tolerate’ churches?
January 31st, 2010, 2:45 am
Phyllis said:
@FA – so you’re advocating double standards? one for the west, one for islamic countries?
fyi, switzerland hasn’t intervened anywhere outside their border since 1492 or so.
February 3rd, 2010, 8:26 pm
Egypt: When did Saudi Arabia become Switzerland’s role model? - Marwa Rakha said:
[...] ElTahawy has one question for Switzerland and other European countries enthralled by the right [...]
July 4th, 2010, 7:22 pm
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