The rise of right wing in Europe
Switzerland’s vote to ban minarets on mosques in the country raises the question of whether anything similar might happen elsewhere in Europe. Experts are distinguished between actually banning an Islamic symbol such as the minaret and using the minaret example to fan voters’ fears and boost a party’s chances at the polls.
It seems Switzerland’s trademark direct democracy system makes it possibly the only country in Europe where both seem possible right now. This distinction could become more important in the coming months as far-right parties—as they are expected to do—try to exploit the minaret ban to rally support for their anti-immigration policies. The Swiss far right has already suggested banning full facial veils next.
This might do away with the argument of fundamentalist (Islamist) versus the liberal secularist and bring back the fundamentalist White man of the early last century — the one who hates the Blacks, Mexicans and Jews; the one who cannot stand anything other than what he believes; and the one who is ready to kill to protect his belief (the same crime charged against the Muslims).
This is not a small change, or a return to a previous state of affairs. Europe, not the US or even the UK, was like the model society: the scientific community; the non-fundamentalist beliefs; where value was given to human life and ideas; where there was liberty, equality and fraternity. What’s stunning about the ban is the gap between the clear rejection of the ban in public opinion polls and the clear approval given in the actual vote. It means there is an official discussion of Islam and that there is a subterranean discussion. It’s cause for worry in Europe.
Marine Le Pen, deputy leader of France’s National Front, has called for a referendum in France not only on minarets, but also on immigration and other issues linked to Muslims. Filip Dewinter, head of Belgium’s Vlaams Belang, said he wanted to change zoning laws there to ban “buildings that damage the cultural identity of the surrounding neighbourhood”. At the same time, the consensus reaction from politicians and the press across Europe today was critical of the Swiss vote.
Most excited calls for more action come from fringe parties that the majority parties keep at a distance (except the Northern League, which is part of Silvio Berlusconi’s government in Italy). Referendums are not as easy to stage in other European countries and are even banned in Germany, where the team of Hitler and Goebbels used them before 1933 to rally support for the Nazi Party.