Domingos Amaral on the Swiss foible for bans

The minaret ban is a Swiss foible, concludes Domingos Amaral, director of the Portuguese edition of the Men's magazine GQ, pointing out that it doesn't reflect Europe's relationship with Muslims in the daily Correio da Manhã: "It's logical that for the majority of people this is just another episode of the old war between Europe and Islam … . For many it's only logical that the blame lies with the Islamists. … But because the Europeans need the Muslims … to work on their construction sites and clean the streets they reluctantly accept that their streets are filled with burkas and mosques. The truth is that the Europeans are afraid of bombs and religious excesses and are therefore beginning to react. First it was the famous cartoons in Denmark. … Now it's the minarets … . The Swiss are … anything but tolerant and love banning things. … So this is not just another episode in the Europe-Islam war but first and foremost another typical Swiss foible."

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