(IsraelNN.com) Switzerland is holding a referendum Sunday on a proposal to legally ban the construction of minarets, the towers that are built atop Muslim mosques, from which the calls to prayer are sounded.
The proposed law has caused a charged debate in Switzerland and outside of it as well. It was submitted 15 months ago by representatives of two right-wing parties, the Swiss People's Party (SPP) - Switzerland's largest - and the Federal Democratic Union (UDF). Proponents say they do not oppose Muslims, but merely their perceived bid to introduce Islamic law in the country. "The minaret has got nothing to do with religion," the Guardian quotes an SPP member. "It's a symbol of political power, a prelude to the introduction of sharia law." It is also claimed that Muslim freedom of worship can be sufficiently served by mosques without minarets.
To make it short: it has become illegal to build minarets.