I wouldn’t be surprised if many (most?) Sky subscribers in Britain are motivated purely by a desire to watch sports events for which Murdoch has exclusive broadcasting rights.

That means a majority of the people in all the cantons voted no to minarets.

The solution is then to change the perception of those people, a win-win solution.

The solution is not to go to battle with them over courts (a win-lose solution). So what can Muslims do to change the perception? Mezba´s last blog ..Fun with Lego

For Asians and other whiter shades, it is different because the majority assume themselves to be white until ofcos they check into a restaurant stopping themselves from eating with their hands :)

The thing is, I don’t like going to places where people’s racism, ignorance, and prejudice is so on display and evident, whether it’s a small town in Indiana, somewhere in the deep south, or Switzerland. That was my point.

I’m just amazed that you were offended by this comment and felt the need to write a whole post about it, or two if you count the mention in the previous post. Ginny´s last blog ..And While I’m At It…

As for equal rights between men and women, oh perish the thought, the Swiss have never heard of such a thing -men are routinely given higher wages because it’s assumed the wife is not/will not work.

I’d rather live in chaotic, crazy, not very clean London any day than pretty, clean and safe Geneva. I tried and gave up. Having said that, my husband, who is French actually but lived in Switzerland most of his life converted to Islam because he used to walk past the Geneva mosque on his way to work. After about a year and half of this he ventured in to explore and the rest is history, so perhaps I have something to thank Switzerland for, I don’t know.

Anyway, this is a really good subject albeit contentious…obviously. I have mixed feelings about boycotts. However, just like that cheesy yet effective old saying “work smart..not hard”, I am sure that there could be mileage in “boycott smart…not everything”.

As for a ban on the Swiss…that doesn’t sound smart or even right to me. However, I do respect the right of anyone who would want to do it.,,,and people may have their own reasons for doing it in addition to the minaret ban.

There was even news of the German-Turkish director who has boycotted visits to Switzerland…. There are however others who boycott visits to his homeland, Germany - or at least to the ex-SS strongholds around Munich and other regions in and around the north of Austria & Padania where that evil Nazi heritage still has such a disgusting stench that it has polluted the minds of some of its neighbours. There are some Jewish folk who would never dream of living in Germany because of the stench that still resonates in the area. So while some people boycott countries out of a “lets boycott that” whiplash, some other people do it genuinely out of a fear of being in racist or fascist ghetto areas. But then again millions voted for the BNP in our own back yard, so should we all move out of the UK or rather expose those misguided Nazi racists for what they are. Overall I would prefer to stay and fight …..although it has occasionally crossed my mind about moving to a less racist country.

As opposed to the boycott of visits to certain countries, there are people calling for a boycott to products – in this case Swiss goods, and again each to their own (for now), but the majority of the Swiss businesses, especially the non-Germanic ones, opposed the minaret ban so it is hardly a just reward for their support of freedom and rights for all people. For Israeli products though it is a different case due to their war crimes and the nature of that apartheid state.
Furthermore, take the War in Iraq and Afghanistan and look at the war mongers in the US - for example, the likes of FOX news and that corporation that is headed up by Murdoch and his spawn. Murdoch got to where he is because there are people who buy into his products, services and sound-bytes; in the UK there is a Sky satellite dish on almost every house - including on many principled left winger’s and Muslim’s houses; do these people realize that they are funding Murdoch and giving him the clout to put war-mongering leaders in power? Boycott Murdoch and Israeli products smartly to see some results. Boycotting has also been successfully used by AIPAC in the US and the friends of Israel (Cons, Lab and others) in the UK to effectively allow Israel to commit war crimes, so to dismiss Boycotting completely may be a bit premature.

Presumably the people who voted for the ban think there are more muslims and symbols of islam than there should be in Switzerland and would be delighted if more didn’t go there.