Popular Initiative against minarets submitted to the Swiss government

Today July, 8 a right-wing committee has submitted a popular initiative against minarets backed by slightly more than 100,000 citizens to the Swiss government. The Swiss government has already made clear that they will not support the initiative. Nevertheless the Swiss electorate will have to decide whether to accept or to reject the initiative within a few years.

In Switzerland's direct democracy, popular initiatives are submitted quite frequently, but only a very small number has ever been accepted by the electorate at the polls. Muslim organizations in Switzerland familiar with this fact are much less concerned about the initiative than some Arab governments.

The photo shows one of the two mosques in Switzerland that do already have a minaret. As muslims in Switzerland are a small minority, mostly immigrants with rather low incomes, most "mosques" in Switzerland are in fact just prayer rooms located in old industrial buildings no longer used for their original purpose. Insofar the practical relevance of the initiative is anyway almost zero.