Do The Election Results Show the Swiss Have Become Racist?
Parliamentary elections have come and gone in Switzerland, where the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is looking to take the biggest share of the votes at around 29%, gaining seven more seats in the 200-member parliament. And you know what? Despite the inflammatory headlines you may read, it doesn’t really matter.
The U.S. and international press and their buddies in the world of NGO activism, have stirred up a hornets’ nest around the globe about what they perceive to be a Nazi-like campaign by the party that was victorious in Sunday’s Swiss elections to kick out all of the country’s immigrants.
The controversy surrounds a poster plastered all over the country depicting three white sheep standing on a Swiss flag and one of them is kicking a black sheep off. Underneath read the words, “For More Security.” Another poster depicts a Muslim woman wearing the veil, the caption reading, “Where are we living, Baden or Baghdad?” The charges of Nazi-like racism stem from the fact that these campaign posters are obviously referring to the country’s Albanian and Turkish immigrant populations; immigrants making up about 20% of the country’s population overall.
The story is extremely frightening if it is taken outside of its cultural context. Listening to the press, you’d think Hitler was reincarnated in the world’s most neutral and independent nation, which many people look at as extremely tolerant and multi-cultural.
Why do people think this? I have absolutely no idea. The Swiss cannot be called anything other than Swiss. It is what they are, and what they have been for hundreds of uninterrupted years. They love the great outdoors, whether the country’s majestic glaciers at the height of Jungfrau or the serene lake Lucerne. Bike racks are more common than parking spaces and Sunday afternoons in Basel are full of cyclists and dog walkers. They are also fiercely patriotic and traditional. They know their history and are proud of who they are and where they came from, at both the national and cantonal levels. In sum, they have a very, very clear idea of what it means to be Swiss and what it takes to have a harmonious Switzerland.
However, the press doesn’t see it this way. People who support tighter immigration measures are considered blatantly xenophobic regardless of the fact that many of these immigrants do not mesh with Swiss society. They are simply expected by the press to accept anyone who waltzes in regardless of values and identity, taking both the good and the bad.
Well, here’s the bad.
The crime rate in cases of bodily harm, serious injury, and rape has risen by multiples over the past two decades. At the end of 2005, in which 29,952 convictions were made, only 48.8% of convictions were of Swiss nationals while the rest were foreign residents or illegal aliens, despite comprising only 20% of the population. And by the end of 2006, with 5888 people being interned in Swiss prisons, a whopping 69% were foreigners, mostly young males. Yet I have not seen these figures cited by such institutions of credibility like Reuters, unless used in a quote by an official who they’ve spent an entire article actively trying to discredit.
Violent crime is so rare in Switzerland that when it occurs, the community is shocked. It’s simply un-Swiss. This is not to say that violent Swiss don’t exist, but when the majority of such crimes are committed by immigrants while they only represent 20% of the population, the effect can only be magnified. A Turkish man who stabbed his wife to death in public a few years ago in Basel totally rocked the city.
What the SVP aims to do is introduce by either legislation or referendum a law that would deport immigrants who commit such serious offenses after they’ve served their jail terms. After all, they aren’t Swiss citizens who have integrated into Swiss society, who obviously do not represent or profess their loyalty to the nation or its values, so why should they be allowed to stay? One of the more radical measures they aim to introduce is the deportation of an entire immigrant family for the most grievous crimes that a minor, under the wing of his parents, can commit. Yet this is not a one-size-fits-all formula; it would only apply in the most horrible of situations and would have to be approved by the judiciary. Things like murder, not traffic violations, would see this rule used.
The American press especially seems to look at the election in terms of its own majoritarian politics. Just because the SVP won the most seats with 29% of the votes doesn’t mean anything in Swiss politics. The Federal Council, the country’s executive branch, is made up of seven cabinet ministers who are chosen by the parliament. For decades, the Federal Assembly has used a “magic formula” to choose the ministers, assigning two portfolios to the three biggest parties and one to the fourth. This ensures that decisions are made by deliberation and consensus among all the parties, so with the SVP’s only marginally better showing, this formula will likely not change. This ensures that any policy initiatives the SVP brings to the table will be watered down or met with opposition.
All in all, this Sunday didn’t change Switzerland very much. The major difference was that rather than walking by the Rhein, voters brought their dogs to the voting booths instead. And like before, what they voted for above all else was a vote for Switzerland and Swiss-ness. If the press and international NGOs consider that to be abhorrent and xenophobic, well, who cares what they think? Switzerland is a patriotic nation even more so than just a country, and that nation wants its newcomers to fit in, not break the law, and be just as proud of being Swiss as they are.
It has been more than 30 years since I spent a summer with a middle-class family in Switzerland. I was impressed at that time by the active concern for security in this country, which was formed for common defense by people from different cultures (with four official languages). I learned right away about the military training of all Swiss men, the explosives in mountain tunnels to guard against invasions, etc.
Tolerance for others and conspicouos internationalism in the business sector was balanced by fierce patriotism. Social cohesion between Swiss citizens from various cantons was promoted through school curricula, etc. But each canton retained its own cultural “flavor”.
At that time, some Turkish workers were in Switerzerland under a sort of “guest worker” program and were not really considered to be Swiss. Well-heeled immigrants were expected to bring considerable value to the country. I do not believe that I, as a college-educated American, would have been successful in immigrating into Switzerland at that time. It is hard for me to believe that the Swiss are now suddenly becoming racist, rather than self-protective.
The author’s comments on intolerance toward violent crime (and even toward social disorder) are consistent with my experience. The main difference between the political situation described above and my experience of 30 years ago seems to me to be that during those 30 years multiculturalism came to be accepted in the West as morally superior to “old-fashioned” values. Thus the apparent shock when more traditional values and cultural pride are affirmed by the Swiss people.
The true neoNazis are the liberals and the mainstream media. If it doesn’t fit their idea of political correctness it must be racism on the right side of the political spectrum. And normally, only that perspective is presented by the media. In fact I believe most of Europe must be aware of the actual facts, now that it is likely too late, but the media is afraid to even publish cartoons! Unless the cartoons are anti Christian!
At least Switzerland is awakening, to the jealousy of the rest of Europe. Expect an antiBush type of backlash from the politically “correct” media.
It’s refreshing to see the Swiss stand up for their culture, heritage and the standard of living they have achieved for themselves. The Swiss are merely defending what they are as a society. Good for them!
“They are simply expected by the press to accept anyone who waltzes in regardless of values and identity, taking both the good and the bad.”
No, that is not quite accurate. The Swiss are not expected “to accept anyone”—but only those with dark skins. Race is everything to these politically correct journalists. White people are supposed to make up for their past misdeeds and never say no to their “victims.”
I was actually very surprised that the Swiss had allowed this level of immigration at all. I was still under the impression that it was nearly impossible to emigrate to Switzerland without gobs of $$$. Very traditional, very protective society due to both history and geography. Wasn’t there even a row about women getting the right to vote in certain rural areas within the past 10 years?
Past misdeeds? Did I miss that part of European history class when the Swiss were actively colonizing parts of the world, or oppressing other people?
If there is any “white” society on the planet that should have no “white guilt” it is the Swiss. This is not to say that any society should be afflicted by “white guilt”, of course.
They (muzzies) – don’t fit here in the US only – it their religion, Stupid!
I think in the Swiss case ‘past misdeeds’ has something to do with a full lifeboat. (Swiss actions towards Jews fleeing the Holocaust was notorious and they continued to display a lack of compassion or even shame for years after.)
Being swiss and having participated in yesterdays election, the results did not come as a shock… they were foreseen! As unhappy as I am with the result (the gain of seats by the conservative Swiss Peoples Party (SVP)) I am happy that Switzerland has a concordance government, where all 7 ministers (from 4 different parties) that build the government (the president is elected for 1 year as “primus inter pares” among the 7 ministers and has purely representative tasks)always have to reach consenus solutions. The influence of the SVP is therefore limited!
PS: Reply to M5p04: Swiss women got the right to vote in 1971, but there was a small canton named Appenzell that took until 1991 to add this right to their cantonal constitution! So whenever there was a federal vote (whole Switzerland voted on), women in Appenzell could vote as well, but not on cantonal level, cantonal matters were exclusively for men… FORTUNATELY this changed!!
As a legal foreign resident, it is much easier to get expelled from the U.S. today, than it would be to get expelled from Switzerland if the proposed laws are ever approved.
The U.S. standard is: if you are not a citizen and are convicted of any felony and sentenced to spend any more than one year in jail, you are deported, even if it is a suspended sentence (i.e., you do not spend a single day in an actual jail or prison).
The U.S. government has identified, tracked, and expelled people who were 60 years old, were legal residents, lived here since they were 5 or 10, had a suspended sentence from when they were teenagers (1950′s and 1960′s), and did not even speak the language of their native countries. These people are barred from even visiting the U.S. for 10 years.
Regarding the possibility of kicking out the family of a criminal minor… In the U.S., even today, you can go after the assets of a neglectful parent whose child has caused certain types of damages. In most foreign societies, parents are considered responsible for the actions of their children. Are we not to respect the culture of the Swiss?
It’s time we STOP associating intolerance for the fascist doctrine of Islam with “racism” — Islam is an Ideology of War against all things “un-Islamic” — it’s certainly not a “race” but a creed — a creed of violence and intolerance, one inimical to our own – and “intolerance” of Islam and all of the fascism Islam entails is no crime at all!
I have no problem with any ethnic or religious group who comes to our country to abide by our laws, and to embrace our values and assimilate. If they can’t do those simple things — they don’t belong in the West.
Muslims come to the House of War, as they label it, (the “Dar ul Harb” in arabic) — they come here to OUR HOUSE to wage Da’Wa and to wage Jihad for the sake of Islam and impose Islam wherever and whenever possible. They come explicity not to join us, but to reject our laws and our customs — to subvert our nations — to intimidate us — and to impose Islam and Islamic laws and customs wherever and whenever they might.
This goes for so-called “Jihadists” who will do this by murdering, blowing up, stabbing to death, etc, but also for the so-called “moderate” Muslims who conduct bake sales for the local Mosque or sue “infidels” because their Islamic sensibilities are somehow “offended”. ALL Muslims believe that Islam must spread — if they don’t believe this — then they are ignorant Muslims — or lying Muslims.
Well — it took me some time to comprehend that if Muslims feel Islam is resisted, then that is sufficient for them to feel attacked, because to Muslims Islam is the embodiment of everything perfect — and all else is amoral and monstrous to them. They are filled with such hatred from their earliest age to detest the “infidel”, that is, the non-believer in Islam, that we have, in their minds, little choice — submit ultimately to Islam or suffer the consequences. Muslims are so utterly convinced at the superiority of Islam (despite all the evidence to the contrary) in all things that they are truly shocked and revolted when they see we don’t want to adopt their creed — this is part of the “humiliation” at our hands which they constantly express in the West. They are dumbfounered to find a West which functions beautifully without Islam, and in fact functions much better at nearly every level the less Islam is present — and functions better at nearly everything than Islam ever has or ever will.
But whereas other groups may come to the West admiring our own true creed of tolerance and freedom — and thereby make themselves subjective to the influences of such things (thereby “assimilating” often while still holding onto those cultural and religious beliefs which came before…) the Muslims on the other hand come here with a triumphal view of the perfection of Islam — they come here truculently to tell us, often quite angrily, about how to do this or that — as if they’d have the slightest clue! Just look at the cesspools from which they emerge to come and lecture us in the West about “tolerance” and such!
They come from nightmarish sewers like Saudi Arabia — and Iran — places where human degradation and horrors know no bounds… These are the people who come here and lecture with their pointy fingers and angry words how we “infidels” should behave — these are the losers who DEMAND our respect for their vile religion of hatred!
So on the one hand, our tolerance for them is not experienced by Muslims as a strength on our part, nor is it viewed as an invitation to come and learn from us and be like us in our tolerances — it is viewed by Muslims as a weakness in us — as an invitation for Islam to conquer a wavering weakling — a weakling who does not believe in the perfection of his own system — a system therefore ripe for Muslim conquest.
From their perspective they are taught to reject all things “un-Islamic” — whatever that means — certainly in those nations where Islam dominates Muslims do not tolerate much else but Islam — and even there — they hate each other version of Islam which differs from their own — it is primitive and vile and violent to witness — For a Muslim to recognize our freedoms and tolerance as strengths would be to admit that Islam is not perfect – that it must co-exist with other beliefs and not above other beliefs — something that is unthinkable to most Muslims. Most Muslims ultimately cannot conceive of the idea that the perfect laws of God should ever be subjected to the imperfect laws of Infidel mankind! Impossible!
That’s all on the one hand.
To make matters even worse on the other hand, our mass rejection in accepting Islam as our law and social guide in the West is viewed by those same Muslims as an attack in Islam itself! And sadly for us, Islam has some very stern provisions for what the Muslims must do whenever Islam is “under attack”: they are mandated to wage Jihad — to fight for Islam, violently if necessary.
So Muslims come to the West in order to impose their heinous “religion” upon us — and if we resist — their religion entitles them to attack and murder us! How preposterous!
There’s no way for the West to win with Muslims in our midst. They will not stop their subversions, nor will they ever stop their endless demands for accommodations and “respect” until they are victorious and we are either converted to Islam, subjugated under Islam, or dead.
Muslims are nearly all engaged in various acts of sedition and subversion against the West and across the spectrum — I think the Swiss are finally shirking off the Politically Correct blinders which the Muslims have exploited mercilessly to gain advantage. They are realizing what a maligant society they’ve allowed to enter by admitting Muslims into their midst. It’s now clear that rather than moderating the vile forces which animate Islam to wage Jihad and Islamic violence to spread Islam, exposure to our Western nations, our Western aid, our Western technology, our Western knowhow, and our Western tolerance and generosity has simply amplified Islamic Jihad in the worst possible ways. They are vipers in our midst.
There’s nothing racist about defending your society from such an attack — we should never allow the Muslims to constue it as such without severe repudiations.
Take what Alexandra says to heart. Switzerland has one of the most advanced forms of constitutional democracy on the planet — while based on the U.S. constitution, has probably been much more successful at upholding the values enshrined in it. For example, each canton has it’s own defining “personality” and way more influence over how things are run in that area than the national government has. Furthermore, as she has states, the “magic formula” for the executive along with a rotating one-year presidency elected from within it means that any decision taken at the national level must be consensual, embodying the important principal of national unity on such issues.
Even if you don’t like the SVP and their policies or any other party in particular, the Swiss system has much to be proud of in its effectiveness. I think all Americans would find not only the constitutional system, but the Swiss and their culture itself, much closer to home than they think!
I am indian living and working in in geneva for an international organization. Last august at 22:30 CET i was going towards UBS bankomat crossing mcdonalds, where i saw a lot of young people of coloured skin wandering aimlessly, 2 boys follwed me(as they noticed my gold bracelet) then they attached me grabbed my bracelet and ran away. everyone just watched.
My chinese friend who was in the city for 2 weekns on business also had a bad experience.
Yes, geneva needs a party like this who puts these people where they belong. in the prison, or out where they came from (shit)
One more interesting detail about this election is that it actually resulted in the election of Switzerland’s first black member of parliament, Ricardo Lumengo, who was an asylum-seeker in the ’80s from Angola. He’s a member of the Social Democrat party, who successfully integrated into Swiss society and even became a full fledged citizen. I think this takes much more precedence in the mind of the Swiss than the fact that he is black.
Phew. After going to see Nonie Darwish at Cal and having to hear chants of racism from students and local activists, it’s nice to see something refreshing.
Nice name, Asma.
20 percent of Switzerland is non-Swiss. I’m astounded. Europe is committing a genocide on its own people, I’m afraid. The invasions are far worse than colonialism ever was.
People’s Repuplic of Switzerland!
Welcome to the Reichsgau of Switzerland. Since you voted to barricade yourself inside a Ghetto for years, the world community has stopped listening to you.
A swiss expat that moved to one of the few oases of fredom left: Texas.