This came in my email:<\/p>\n
Sometimes it’s the little things that are most telling.<\/p>\n
In Switzerland it has long been customary for students to shake
\nthe hands of their teachers at the beginning and end of the school
\nday. It’s a sign of solidarity and mutual respect between teacher
\nand pupil, one that is thought to encourage the right classroom
\natmosphere. Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga recently felt
\ncompelled to further explain that shaking hands was part of Swiss
\nculture and daily life.<\/p>\n
And the reason she felt compelled to speak out about the
\nhandshake is that two Muslim brothers, aged 14 and 15, who have
\nlived in Switzerland for several years (and thus are familiar with its
\nmores), in the town of Therwil, near Basel, refused to shake the
\nhands of their teacher, a woman, because, they claimed, this would
\nviolate Muslim teachings that contact with the opposite sex is
\nallowed only with family members. At first the school authorities
\ndecided to avoid trouble, and initially granted the boys an
\nexemption from having to shake the hand of any female teacher.
\nBut an uproar followed, as Mayor Reto Wolf explained to the BBC:
\n“The community was unhappy with the decision taken by the school.
\nIn our culture and in our way of communication a handshake is
\nnormal and sends out respect for the other person, and this has to
\nbe brought home to the children in school.”<\/p>\n
Therwil’s Educational Department reversed the school’s decision,
\nexplaining in a statement on May 25that the school’s exemption
\nwas lifted because “the public interest with respect to equality
\nbetween men and women and the integration of foreigners
\nsignificantly outweighs the freedom of religion.” It added that a
\nteacher has the right to demand a handshake. Furthermore, if the
\nstudents refused to shake hands again “the sanctions called for
\nby law will be applied,” which included a possible fine of up to
\n5,000 dollars.<\/p>\n
This uproar in Switzerland, where many people were enraged
\nat the original exemption granted to the Muslim boys, did not
\nend after that exemption was itself overturned by the local
\nEducational Department. The Swiss understood quite clearly
\nthat this was more than a little quarrel over handshakes; it was
\na fight over whether the Swiss would be masters in their own
\nhouse, or whether they would be forced to yield, by the
\ngranting of special treatment, to the Islamic view of the proper
\nrelations between the sexes. It is one battle \u2013 small but to the
\nSwiss significant \u2013 between overweening Muslim immigrants
\nand the indigenous Swiss.<\/p>\n
Naturally, once the exemption was withdrawn, all hell broke
\nloose among Muslims in Switzerland. The Islamic Central
\nCouncil of Switzerland, instead of yielding quietly to the Swiss
\ndecision to uphold the handshaking custom, criticized the
\nruling in hysterical terms, claiming that the enforcement of the
\nhandshaking is “totalitarian” (!) because its intent is to “forbid
\nreligious people from meeting their obligations to God.” That,
\nof course, was never the “intent” of the long-standing
\nhandshaking custom, which was a nearly-universal custom in
\nSwitzerland, and in schools had to do only with encouraging
\nthe right classroom atmosphere of mutual respect between
\ninstructor and pupil, of which the handshake was one aspect.<\/p>\n
The Swiss formulation of the problem \u2013 weighing competing
\nclaims \u2014 will be familiar to Americans versed in Constitutional
\nadjudication. In this case “the public interest with respect to
\nequality” of the sexes and the “integration of foreigners” (who
\nare expected to adopt Swiss ways, not force the Swiss to
\nexempt them from some of those ways) were weighed against
\nthe “religious obligations to God” of Muslims, and the former
\ninterests found to outweigh the latter.<\/p>\n
What this case shows is that even at the smallest and
\nseemingly inconsequential level, Muslims are challenging the
\nlaws and customs of the Infidels among whom they have
\nbeen allowed to settle [i.e., stealth jihad toward sharia
\ndominance]. Each little victory, or defeat, will determine
\nwhether Muslims will truly integrate into a Western society or,
\ninstead, refashion that society to meet Muslim requirements.<\/p>\n
The handshake has been upheld and, what’s more, a stiff
\nfine now will be imposed on those who continue to refuse to
\nshake hands with a female teacher. This is a heartening sign
\nof non-surrender by the Swiss. But the challenges of the
\nMuslims within Europe to the laws and customs of the
\nindigenes have no logical end and will not stop. And the
\ngreater the number of Muslims allowed to settle in Europe,
\nthe stronger and more frequent their challenges will be.
\nThey are attempting not to integrate, but rather to create,
\nfor now, a second, parallel society, and eventually, through
\nsheer force of numbers from both migration and by
\noutbreeding the Infidels, to fashion not a parallel society
\nbut one society \u2014 now dominated by Muslim sharia.<\/p>\n
The Swiss handshaking dispute has received some, but
\nnot enough, press attention. Presumably, it’s deemed too
\ninconsequential a matter to bother with. But the Swiss
\nknow better. And so should we.<\/p>\n
There’s an old Scottish saying that in one variant reads:
\n“Many a little makes a mickle.” That is, the accumulation
\nof many little things leads to one big thing. That’s what’s
\nhappening in Europe today. This was one victory for the
\nside of sanity. There will need to be a great many more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This came in my email: Sometimes it’s the little things that are most telling. In Switzerland it has long been customary for students to shake the hands of their teachers at the beginning and end of the school day. It’s … Continue reading