Michael Ejercito
2018-06-20 11:29:05 UTC
Switzerland Welcomes Radicalization
by Judith Bergman
June 20, 2018 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12558/switzerland-islam-radicalization
There are approximately 250 mosques in Switzerland, but the authorities do
not know who finances them. By rejecting the proposal compelling mosques to
disclose who finances them, the Swiss authorities can now remain willfully
blind.
The Muslim World League is behind "a whole network of radically-oriented
mosques in Switzerland... with the clear intention of spreading Salafist
thought here". — Saïda Keller-Messahli, expert on Islam in Switzerland.
Above all, the Swiss government seems not to have considered the rights of
Swiss non-Muslim citizens, who are the ones left to live with the
consequences of the government's ill-thought-out policies.
Switzerland has just rejected a proposed law preventing mosques from
accepting money from abroad, and compelling them to declare where their
financial backing comes from and for what purpose the money will be used.
According to the proposal, imams also would have been obliged to preach in
one of the Swiss national languages.
While the proposal narrowly passed in the lower house of parliament already
in September 2017, the upper house recently rejected it. The proposal was
modeled on regulations in Austria, where already in 2015, a law banning
foreign funding of religious groups was passed. The Austrian law aims to
counter extremism by requiring imams to speak German, prohibiting foreign
funding for mosques, imams and Muslim organizations in Austria, and
stressing the precedence of Austrian law over Islamic sharia law for Muslims
living in the country.
The Federal Council, which constitutes the federal government of
Switzerland, was also against the proposal, and claimed that it constituted
'discrimination': "We must not discriminate against Muslim communities and
imams and put them under general suspicion," Justice Minister Simonetta
Sommaruga said. The Federal Council noted that in Austria, Islam is
officially recognized, whereas it is not in Switzerland. According to the
Swiss government, therefore, the model applied in Austria does not apply to
Switzerland, as "One cannot demand obligations without rights". Instead, the
Federal Council evidently believes that the risks posed by extremist
Islamist preachers and communities can be combated within existing law.
There are approximately 250 mosques in Switzerland, but the authorities do
not know who finances them. The authorities have no jurisdiction to collect
data on the financing of Muslim associations and mosques apart from
exceptional cases in which internal security is threatened. By rejecting the
proposal compelling mosques to disclose who finances them, the Swiss
authorities can now remain willfully blind.
Several experts have pointed out the foreign Muslim networks at work in
Switzerland. In 2016, Reinhard Schulze, professor of Islamic Studies at the
University of Bern, pointed out that donations from the Muslim World League,
based in Saudi Arabia, and other funds from Saudi Arabia were flowing to
"those mosques and organizations that are open to the Wahhabi tradition".
Another expert on Islam in Switzerland, Saïda Keller-Messahli, has spoken
and written widely on how "Huge sums of money from Saudi Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Turkey are flowing to Switzerland", and how
the Saudi-based Muslim World League is behind "a whole network of
radically-oriented mosques in Switzerland... with the clear intention of
spreading Salafist thought here".
In addition to the Salafist influence, there are an estimated 35 Turkish
mosques, financed by Turkey's official Religious Affairs Directorate, known
as Diyanet. (Previous reports have mentioned 70 Turkish mosques in
Switzerland).
According to a report published by Diyanet in 2017, Islam is "superior" to
Christianity and Judaism and "Interfaith dialogue is unacceptable". Turkey
supports the Muslim Brotherhood and its terrorist off-shoot Hamas.
In fact, the building of another Turkish mosque was just given the go-ahead
in the Swiss town Schaffhausen. The people behind it reportedly claim that
the 1.5 million Swiss francs (approx. $1.5 million) will be collected
locally, and not from Turkey, but the imams for the mosque will nevertheless
be sent from Turkey.
None of these facts, however, appears to bother the Swiss government, which
seems to want to continue the flow of foreign funding of mosques and Islamic
centers into the country.
Above all, the Swiss government seems not to have considered the rights of
Swiss non-Muslim citizens, who are the ones left to live with the
consequences of the government's ill-thought-out policies.
One such consequence was recently on display in Swiss courts, as three board
members of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ISSC) were on trial
for charges of having produced illegal propaganda for al-Qaeda and related
organizations. One of them, Naim Cherni, was given a suspended prison
sentence of 20 months for publishing an interview he conducted with Saudi
cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini in Syria in 2015, in which al-Muhaysini called
on young Muslims in Europe to join the jihad. The two other board members,
chairman Nicolas Blancho and Qaasim Illi, were acquitted.
In contrast to Switzerland, Austria recently announced plans to shut down
seven mosques and expelling up to 60 imams belonging to the Turkish-Islamic
Union for Cultural and Social Cooperation in Austria (ATIB), a Muslim group
close to the Turkish government, on the grounds of receiving foreign
funding.
The response from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman was
that the policy was part of an "Islamophobic, racist and discriminatory
wave" in Austria.
The strong message that the Swiss government is sending to those Muslim
states and organizations that are fueling radicalization in Switzerland by
funding Salafist, Turkish and other radical mosques, is that they are
welcome to continue doing so; the Swiss government has no intention of
stopping them, let alone asking any unpleasant questions. It might as well
put up a sign, saying, "Radicalization Welcome".
(Switzerland photo by Monk/Wikimedia Commons)
Judith Bergman is a columnist, lawyer and political analyst.
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by Judith Bergman
June 20, 2018 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12558/switzerland-islam-radicalization
There are approximately 250 mosques in Switzerland, but the authorities do
not know who finances them. By rejecting the proposal compelling mosques to
disclose who finances them, the Swiss authorities can now remain willfully
blind.
The Muslim World League is behind "a whole network of radically-oriented
mosques in Switzerland... with the clear intention of spreading Salafist
thought here". — Saïda Keller-Messahli, expert on Islam in Switzerland.
Above all, the Swiss government seems not to have considered the rights of
Swiss non-Muslim citizens, who are the ones left to live with the
consequences of the government's ill-thought-out policies.
Switzerland has just rejected a proposed law preventing mosques from
accepting money from abroad, and compelling them to declare where their
financial backing comes from and for what purpose the money will be used.
According to the proposal, imams also would have been obliged to preach in
one of the Swiss national languages.
While the proposal narrowly passed in the lower house of parliament already
in September 2017, the upper house recently rejected it. The proposal was
modeled on regulations in Austria, where already in 2015, a law banning
foreign funding of religious groups was passed. The Austrian law aims to
counter extremism by requiring imams to speak German, prohibiting foreign
funding for mosques, imams and Muslim organizations in Austria, and
stressing the precedence of Austrian law over Islamic sharia law for Muslims
living in the country.
The Federal Council, which constitutes the federal government of
Switzerland, was also against the proposal, and claimed that it constituted
'discrimination': "We must not discriminate against Muslim communities and
imams and put them under general suspicion," Justice Minister Simonetta
Sommaruga said. The Federal Council noted that in Austria, Islam is
officially recognized, whereas it is not in Switzerland. According to the
Swiss government, therefore, the model applied in Austria does not apply to
Switzerland, as "One cannot demand obligations without rights". Instead, the
Federal Council evidently believes that the risks posed by extremist
Islamist preachers and communities can be combated within existing law.
There are approximately 250 mosques in Switzerland, but the authorities do
not know who finances them. The authorities have no jurisdiction to collect
data on the financing of Muslim associations and mosques apart from
exceptional cases in which internal security is threatened. By rejecting the
proposal compelling mosques to disclose who finances them, the Swiss
authorities can now remain willfully blind.
Several experts have pointed out the foreign Muslim networks at work in
Switzerland. In 2016, Reinhard Schulze, professor of Islamic Studies at the
University of Bern, pointed out that donations from the Muslim World League,
based in Saudi Arabia, and other funds from Saudi Arabia were flowing to
"those mosques and organizations that are open to the Wahhabi tradition".
Another expert on Islam in Switzerland, Saïda Keller-Messahli, has spoken
and written widely on how "Huge sums of money from Saudi Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Turkey are flowing to Switzerland", and how
the Saudi-based Muslim World League is behind "a whole network of
radically-oriented mosques in Switzerland... with the clear intention of
spreading Salafist thought here".
In addition to the Salafist influence, there are an estimated 35 Turkish
mosques, financed by Turkey's official Religious Affairs Directorate, known
as Diyanet. (Previous reports have mentioned 70 Turkish mosques in
Switzerland).
According to a report published by Diyanet in 2017, Islam is "superior" to
Christianity and Judaism and "Interfaith dialogue is unacceptable". Turkey
supports the Muslim Brotherhood and its terrorist off-shoot Hamas.
In fact, the building of another Turkish mosque was just given the go-ahead
in the Swiss town Schaffhausen. The people behind it reportedly claim that
the 1.5 million Swiss francs (approx. $1.5 million) will be collected
locally, and not from Turkey, but the imams for the mosque will nevertheless
be sent from Turkey.
None of these facts, however, appears to bother the Swiss government, which
seems to want to continue the flow of foreign funding of mosques and Islamic
centers into the country.
Above all, the Swiss government seems not to have considered the rights of
Swiss non-Muslim citizens, who are the ones left to live with the
consequences of the government's ill-thought-out policies.
One such consequence was recently on display in Swiss courts, as three board
members of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ISSC) were on trial
for charges of having produced illegal propaganda for al-Qaeda and related
organizations. One of them, Naim Cherni, was given a suspended prison
sentence of 20 months for publishing an interview he conducted with Saudi
cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini in Syria in 2015, in which al-Muhaysini called
on young Muslims in Europe to join the jihad. The two other board members,
chairman Nicolas Blancho and Qaasim Illi, were acquitted.
In contrast to Switzerland, Austria recently announced plans to shut down
seven mosques and expelling up to 60 imams belonging to the Turkish-Islamic
Union for Cultural and Social Cooperation in Austria (ATIB), a Muslim group
close to the Turkish government, on the grounds of receiving foreign
funding.
The response from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman was
that the policy was part of an "Islamophobic, racist and discriminatory
wave" in Austria.
The strong message that the Swiss government is sending to those Muslim
states and organizations that are fueling radicalization in Switzerland by
funding Salafist, Turkish and other radical mosques, is that they are
welcome to continue doing so; the Swiss government has no intention of
stopping them, let alone asking any unpleasant questions. It might as well
put up a sign, saying, "Radicalization Welcome".
(Switzerland photo by Monk/Wikimedia Commons)
Judith Bergman is a columnist, lawyer and political analyst.
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