minarets news stories on Newser

Dozens Killed in Morocco Minaret Collapse

Rob Quinn — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:35:13 CST

At least 38 people were killed when the minaret of a 400-year-old mosque in Morocco collapsed during Friday prayers yesterday. Officials say heavy rain weakened the structure in the historic city of Meknes. Over 70 people were injured in the collapse and the rescue operation has been slowed by the...

Sarkozy to Muslims: Be Discreet

Kevin Spak — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:38:12 CST

People of all faiths, but especially Muslims, must “refrain from ostentation and practice their religion in humble discretion,” Nicolas Sarkozy opined today, sympathizing with the Swiss voters who approved a minaret ban last week. In a column in Le Monde , the French president warned Muslims that doing anything that appeared...

Minaret Ban Shoves Swiss Hard to the Right

Kevin Spak — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:38:43 CST

The right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) got a surprising shot in the arm with Sunday’s vote to ban minarets in the country. Though it’s been growing rapidly since its 1980s inception, the SVP has had little success in referenda until now, with critics accusing it of racism for its anti-immigrant...

Swiss Projected to Approve Minaret Ban

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:38:21 CST

Swiss voters approved a move to ban the construction of minarets in a vote today on a right-wing initiative that labeled the mosque towers as symbols of militant Islam, early projections showed. The Swiss looked to have swung from only 37% supporting the proposal a week ago to 59% in...

Swiss to Vote on Minaret Ban

Jane Yager — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:47:10 CST

Swiss government and business leaders are having a panic attack over a referendum that would ban minarets on mosques—and, they fear, make the country a target for Islamic terrorism. The handiwork of the anti-immigrant Swiss People's Party, infamous for an earlier campaign poster showing a white sheep kicking a...

Swiss Group Fights Against Islam's Minarets

Rob Quinn — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:24:00 CDT

A debate on freedom of religion featuring ultra-nationalist zealots is playing out in the most unlikely of places: a sleepy hamlet in Switzerland. A group is trying to block the construction of a 30-foot tall minaret on a mosque in Langenthal (pop. 14,000) because it's a symbol of Islam's...

Tolerant Swiss to Ban Minarets?

NewsDude — Mon, 28 May 2007 21:57:57 CDT

The Swiss have gone NIMBY (not in my back yard) on minarets. While Switzerland's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, a number of leading politicians want to ban them via a referendum this fall. There are now exactly two minarets in all of Switzerland.