Fear of minarets
«The Swiss referendum has revealed that Islam’s visibility is distressing in the eyes of Europeans – writes Nilüfer Göle, Director of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris – The concept of acknowledging Islam and Muslims as a phenomenon endogenous to Swiss society has been rejected.» On November 29th a majority of Swiss citizens approved a constitutional banning the construction of new minarets in their country. It was a shocking vote in a country where Muslims are a well integrated minority. How could this have happened? Is this a warning for all of Europe?