What makes this outcome particularly hard to understand is that most of the 350,000 Muslims who live in Switzerland, 4.5 percent of the total population, come from Turkey and Bosnia and practice a moderate form of Islam.
The vote was clearly not just about minarets. The country has 130 to 160 mosques and prayer centers, but only four minarets are dotted across its landscape. Swiss people accepted the claims of intolerant right-wingers that these spires were political symbols representing the creeping Islamization of Swiss society.
Racism, intolerance and fear mongering have won the day. I am angry at myself for not getting my ballot paper to the post office in time. It would not have made one iota of difference to the end result, but at least I could feel I had made my voice heard.
This bleak outcome cannot be blamed on the myopia of a few: turnout was high and 57.5 percent of the voters backed the popular initiative introduced by right-wingers. Support for the ban was also well distributed across the country. As expected, it was strongest in the small cantons of the hinterland, always the most nationalist and isolationist, but it clearly struck a chord in the psyche of Swiss citizens nationwide. Only a handful of cantons at the western edge of the country -- Geneva, Neuchatel, Basle and Vaud -- rejected the initiative.
The Swiss system of direct democracy, which allows any group to submit draft legislation to popular referendum if it is backed by 100,000 signatures, made it possible for this prejudiced law to pass.
Can a country enjoy too much democracy? This result suggests that a democratic system can turn on itself and attack the very principles of tolerance that underlies it. While hate-mongers ran a vicious campaign, boosted by posters of women in burqas and minarets shaped like missiles, the entire establishment -- the government, the mainstream political parties and the churches -- opposed the proposal and tried in vain to warn against the repercussions of a yes vote.
The government is now left with the impossible task of trying to limit the political and economic fallout that will no doubt follow. The Swiss decision has sent shockwaves across the Muslim world, but it has also caused serious concerns among local Muslims, who felt it like a slap in the face and now worry that it will fuel polarization. Switzerland could also be found in violation of religious freedom at the European Court of Human Rights.
Since I haven’t lived in my home country for 25 years, I can offer no ready explanation for this landslide. Switzerland’s demographic balances have undoubtedly evolved since my childhood. The population is now ethnically more diverse -- a change I personally welcome -- and the country has one the highest ratios of foreign-born residents in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Economic concerns must have played a role, as did an ongoing row with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has held two Swiss businessmen hostage since July 2008.
The surprising outcome should also be seen in the broader context of growing racism and Islamophobia throughout Europe. The first signs, seen immediately after the Sept. 11. 2001 attacks, have been followed by a second wave, more deeply entrenched. In neighboring France, President Sarkozy is launching a debate on “national identity.” Germany has witnessed attacks on migrants, and in the EU -- of which Switzerland is not a member -- the debate on “culture” has become more heated. These manifestations point to an identity crisis and a general malaise, which result in societies closing in on themselves and rejecting diversity.
In a climate of economic uncertainty, these symptoms are not to be taken lightly. Appalled and upset by the Swiss vote, I am also worried about its wider significance.
Benzer Haberler 
