Of course, the easy way to fight "Islamophobia" would be for peaceful Muslims to exert all their efforts to compel jihadists to stop committing violence in the name of Islam. Then "Islamophobia" would cease. But for this "expert" -- and for the Swiss government -- the responsibility for it lies solely with non-Muslims. It never seems to occur to either that Muslims could or should do something to gain infidel good will.
"OSCE expert concerned by Swiss Islamophobia," from Swissinfo (thanks to John Doe):
The Swiss Muslim community is better integrated than those in other European countries, but suffers from an "acute perception problem", says an Islamophobia expert.Turkish diplomat Ömür Orhun, the representative of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe fighting intolerance and discrimination against Muslims, was speaking at the end of a three-day visit to Switzerland.
Under his OSCE mandate, Orhun was invited by the Swiss authorities to gain a better understanding of the situation and expectations of Muslims living in Switzerland.
Addressing a news conference in Bern on Wednesday, Orhun said the Swiss Muslim community was relatively better off as far as education and financial status were concerned, but there was a major issue regarding perception.
"The mainstream Swiss population has a growing apprehension of Muslims in the country which leads to a sense of fear in the Muslim community of not being welcome, alienated and rejected," he explained.
And I suppose this apprehension arose entirely spontaneously, ex nihilo?
"The perception problem of mutual fear and anxiety between the non-Muslim and Muslim communities could be easily corrected by small gestures provided there is goodwill on both sides. Otherwise this fault line could further increase in the future," he told swissinfo.[...]
Orhun also criticised political initiatives such as the rightwing Swiss People's Party campaigns to force nationwide votes on banning the construction of minarets and on expelling criminal foreigners, which he said were "creating a very bad atmosphere".
Yep. Got to keep those criminal foreigners.
In June 2007 the Turkish diplomat said he was "astonished" that such developments were taking place in a country like Switzerland, which had been "an advocate of protection of human rights elsewhere in the world".
Such as, perhaps, in Saudi Arabia and Iran?
Orhun said his attitude hadn't changed since his visit, but he was glad that the people he spoke to held similar positions to him."Now the elections are over I hope there will be more quietness and a responsible attitude to handle this initiative," he declared.
"Minarets are an integral part of mosques, as bell towers are parts of churches. And both of them are humanity's common heritage," he said.
Disproportionate
Orhun added that Muslims moving to Switzerland were disproportionately affected by Swiss immigration laws and regulations.
"There has been international criticism that some Swiss laws are discriminatory, especially the 2006 Aliens or Foreigners Act, creating two tiers of naturalisation and family reunification," he explained.
Note to Swiss: change your laws to favor the immigrants. If you are perceived as trying to preserve the cultural character of your country, there might be...difficulties.
The OSCE representative has already carried out ten similar visits to other countries in Europe, including Britain, France, Spain, Norway and Denmark, and plans to submit his report on Switzerland early next year.His "well-rounded" programme included meetings with senior officials at federal and cantonal levels, representatives of the Muslim community and cabinet ministers Pascal Couchepin, Micheline Calmy-Rey and Christoph Blocher.
Earlier this year Switzerland was accused of discriminatory tendencies in a hard-hitting report by the United Nations special rapporteur on racism, Doudou Diène.
He accused the authorities of a lack of any "coherent and resolute political and legal strategy against racism and xenophobia".
In reaction, the government said it agreed that racism was a problem and added that it was aware that more had to be done at the federal, cantonal and communal levels.
Yes, evidently they're aware that it'sall up to them. How reassuring that must be for Mr. Orhun, the Islamophobia expert.
Multiculturalism is a fact in Switzerland, and has been for longer than Mister Ö knows, I suppose.
We have 4 national languages (not including the lingua franca - english). We have large communities from Italy, Spain, Germany etc - with non-swiss residents totalling to 20% of the population, and not counting those immigrants who now hold a swiss passport.
We have problems only with one part of the population - the one Mister Ö is writing about.
Those who don't like it here are invited to go.
And Mister Ö is invited to stuff his report to the place he cannot see, only feel.
One ought to observe the Swiss SVP Party and how it is approaching its muslim immigration issues and how it adopts measures to forestall sharia creep. The SVP is in the forefront of taking those measures that Mr O objects. Switzerland is not an EU member nation, it has the autonomy needed to adopt measures in defense of its culture. It needs no EU approvals.
The SVP should be followed/observed for how they address these issues under democratic rule in their sovereign nation. It may be the model party for other European right wing parties to follow.
"Those who don't like it here are invited to go."
Why invite them to go? Why not "compel" them?
Thank Allah, we have muslims telling us something about human rights. We have such a chance to learn from their long record of human rights violations. Oops..did I say violations? Oh no, I must be one of them Islamophebes he is referring to.
When is the next/first conference in a muslim country of the "Organisation for Security and Cooperation in the Middle east and North Africa fighting intolerance and discrimination against Non-Muslims"?
"Phobia now means crime. And racism includes Islamophobia. Got that?"
That's a big ten-four! Everytime I see the word 'phobia', I associate it with psychiatric treatment and counseling.
But no, you're right. Time to begin associating phobias with iron bars, one bath a week, and one hour of free time per day in the "yard".
I don't know what frustrates me more: the attitude that the majority must change for a minority (who want to kill us), or the mangling of the English language, by misapplying 'phobia' to mean 'crime'.
Europe seems to be looking for leadership; you could hear it in Sarkozy’s address to Congress. That leadership isn’t going to come from America until things get much worse here. Maybe the leadership will come from Switzerland.
Earlier this year Switzerland was accused of discriminatory tendencies in a hard-hitting report by the United Nations special rapporteur on racism, Doudou Diène.
Uh oh, someone better get on the TuTuPhone tout suite before Switzerland becomes another Israel, God forbid!
The sheer arrogance of Muslims in Europe and America complaining about our 'misperceptions' of Islam our 'insensitivies' is breathtaking, comic, surreal and absurd. Oriana Fallaci loved one American expression and used it sparingly but effectively to her Islamic enemies:
"F-ck you."
-Oriana Fallaci 1929-2006
Why am I hearing the William Tell Overture to animation of four white sheep and one black? Go Swiss! and take no prisoners.
does anyone know what the OSCE says about Zimbabwe or perhaps about Saudi Arabia???
Do these people ever go to muslim countries and talk about the lack of human rights there?
This guy needs to visit the Swiss national museum in Zürich. I had always thought of Switzerland as a quaint tolerant peaceful place until we sent our daughter there for boarding school. Thus began a long series of frequent visits for us and in the course of time the natural acquisition of many Swiss friends and a close interaction with the Swiss authorities owing to our daughter's residence status.
What sealed my present view of Switzerland as an eminently defensible and benevolent police state was my first visit to the national museum. The exhibits are laid out in chronological order to describe the history of the confederation. It is quite literally a history of warfare with special emphasis on the technology of war. It is no wonder that many of the European royal families relied on Swiss soldiers for their personal household guards, the Swiss guards at the Vatican today being a vestige of that tradition.
The entire country is literally an armed camp. Even the Nazis knew better than try to challenge them. The only arms control in Switzerland is that everyone must prove to be a good shot at 300 meters.
Some in the US have argued that it was the Swiss model of a permanent and universal citizen militia that inspired the 2nd Amendment. the main difference being that in the US the possession and competence with a firearm is entirely voluntary whereas in Switzerland it is compulsory.
So to any would-be mujahadeen the Swiss I know would certainly say bring it on.
Good on yer Switzerland-a shining beacon of Hope
among the Dhimmi States of Europe. Absolutely agree that the arrogance of Muslims is staggering-think it may also be their downfall as there is just so much the local Non Muslim populations can tolerate.
No Minarets or screeching muzzeins-no more mosques
allowed to be built in western countries until churches,synagogues,temples etc are built in Saudi Arabia...As for Muslims screaming about Human Rights-lets see 'em introduced into the Ummah-even better, would be Muslim protagonists going to places such as Somalia,Yemen [just about whole of Middle East & Africa] to implement them
instead of comfortably staying in the West...