More like the spoils of war. Would you rather they gave the land gained in the Arab-Israeli wars back to its original owners of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Britain?
Well the state has since its existence been about displacing arabs and bringing in jews from abroad to take their places... that state is a state of appartheid.
But, on topic...
...I support this minaret ban. Islam is not European. Most European states are nation-states... one nation dominates the state... I don't get how these people can be angry because they are getting limited to their goals of changing the cultural landscape of the country.
One thing that bothers me is what arab countries are saying...
“The Swiss do not want our minarets, we do not want Swiss products,” says one of the websites, according to a report aired on Swiss national television TSR.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/world-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=12&dd=23&nav_id=63982
Wait a minute now... they are funding the construction of these minarets and call it their minarets... then congrats to the swiss for stopping the spread of these foreign things. The muslims in switzerland can't build these on their own. They get millions from the middle east to do this. How is this then swiss? The middle easterners do not even look at the minarets as swiss, but as theirs.
It looks like others might have such a referendum. Lets see how far this will go.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/world-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=12&dd=03&nav_id=63488
France: Almost 50 pct would ban minarets
3 December 2009 | 17:09 | Source: Tanjug
PARIS -- Almost one in two French citizen is opposing the construction of minarets and even mosques in France.
This is according to a poll conducted by the French Institute for Public Opinion (IFOP).
46 percent of the participants in the poll were in favor if banning the construction of minarets, 40 percents supported the idea, while 14 percent were indecisive.
41 percent spoke against the construction of mosques in France altogether, 19 percent supported it, 35 percent stated they were indifferent and four percent did not answer, the French media reported.
Only 22 percent were against the construction of mosques in a similar poll conducted in 2001.
The debate on in France was launched after the Swiss citizens voted to ban new minarets in their country.
Many French politicians condemned the results of the Swiss referendum.
However, the ruling party Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) is "questioning the justification of the structures", whike ultra-right National Front led by Jean-Marie Le Pen is requesting the same type of referendum in France, but one which would apply to immigration more widely, news agencies are reporting.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...s-country-assert-Catholic-roots.html?ITO=1490
Now Italy may follow Switzerland with referendum on Islamic minarets
By Nick Pisa
Last updated at 2:19 PM on 01st December 2009
Italy could be the next European country to consider a referendum on the building of Islamic minarets following the Swiss vote to ban the structures.
Cabinet minister Roberto Calderoli, of the xenophobic Northern League, said Italy should confirm its Roman Catholic roots and hold a vote as soon as possible.
Like the Swiss, Italian voters can have a direct say on an issue if a minimum number of signatures are gathered calling for a referendum.
The League is expected to now start the process for a referendum, despite the Vatican expressing unease over the Swiss vote.
Official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano compared it to a decision by the European Court of Human Rights last month to ban crucifixes from Italian classrooms - a decision that provoked widespread outrage in Italy.
Calderoli said the Swiss decision was a triumphant 'yes to bell towers and no to minarets' that served as an important example for other European countries losing touch with their Christian identities.
He added: 'Respect for other religions is important, but we've got to put the brakes on Muslim propaganda or else we'll end up with an Islamic political party like they have in Spain.'
Others within the anti-immigration Northern League have called for a cross to be inserted on the Italian national flag to symbolise the deep Christian roots of the country.
Italy has one of the tallest minarets in Europe standing just a metre shorter than St Peter's Basilica, at the Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre in Rome.
The country has around 1.2 million Muslims, making Islam the second religion after Catholicism.
The Northern League have frequently made headlines for their views on Islam and immigration, most notably during the Danish cartoon row in 2006, when Mr Calederoli wore a T-shirt emblazoned with one of the anti-Islamic images.
They have also allowed pigs to graze over sites where mosques were earmarked in order to make them unholy, while recently, the Northern League was accused of racism after it emerged that a local scheme to rid a town of illegal immigrants had been nicknamed 'White Christmas'.
Today the United Nations called Switzerland's ban on new minarets 'clearly discriminatory' and deeply divisive.
The Swiss foreign minister acknowledged today the government was very concerned about how the vote would affect the country's image.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said Sunday's referendum to outlaw the construction of minarets in Switzerland was the product of 'anti-foreigner scare-mongering'.
The criticism from Pillay, whose office is based in the Swiss city of Geneva, comes after an outcry from Muslim countries, Switzerland's European neighbours and human rights watchdogs since 57.5 per cent of the Swiss population ratified the ban.
The Swiss government opposed the initiative but has sought to defend it as an action not against Islam or Muslims, but one aimed at improving integration and fighting extremism.
'These are extraordinary claims when the symbol of one religion is targeted,' Pillay said in a statement.
She said she was saddened to see xenophobic arguments gain such traction with Swiss voters despite their 'long-standing support of fundamental human rights.'
The referendum doesn't affect Switzerland's four existing minarets, or the ability of Muslims to practice their religion. It only bans the towers used to put out the Islamic call to prayer.
But wealthy Arab tourists might think twice now about spending their money in Geneva and other Swiss cities, and the neutral country's efforts to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could also suffer.
In Athens today, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said the government was worried about the ban.
'We are very concerned with this referendum. The reality of our societies in Europe and throughout the world is that each limitation on the coexistence of different cultures and religions also endangers our security,' Calmy-Rey said during a meeting of foreign ministers of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
'Provocation risks triggering other provocation and risks inflaming extremism,' she added.
Sunday's referendum, which was backed by nationalist parties, forced the government to declare illegal the building of any new minarets.