Another dispatch from Helvetia

The anti-Swiss slander campaign continues. Writing for Foreign Policy, deep thinker Preeti Aroon claims the proposal by the Swiss People's Party (SVP) to deport immigrant families if their children are criminals is part of “a larger general trend of racism and anti-Semitism brewing in the region.”

And once it’s fully fermented, the toxic Swiss brew will spill over, and hordes of Swiss will sweep across Europe, stabbing every minority in sight with the corkscrew attachment of their army knives, as they’ve done so many times in the past. This charge would be stupid even if we weren’t talking about Switzerland.

Aroon concedes “not all Germans, Swiss, and Austrians are cold-hearted extremists” (how generous) but threatens “history is replete with examples of populations that have been radicalized quite fast. This German-speaking part of the world should be kept on our radar screens.”

Step 1: Lock target on radar. Step 2: Commence bombing.

The Independent takes up the issue by asking if Switzerland is "Europe's heart of darkness?”

I would like to believe it an intentional joke, but how can you tell? Despite the absurd headline, the article itself is highly informative, mostly because it quotes Dr. Ulrich Schlüer, the head of the SVP. Compare the intelligence, understanding, and straightforwardness of Dr. Schlüer’s statements with the dishonest ravings of his critics (or to the inane blatherings of the typical American politician, for that matter):

Dr Schlüer is a small affable man. But if he speaks softly he wields a big stick. The statistics are clear, he said, foreigners are four times more likely to commit crimes than Swiss nationals. "In a suburb of Zürich, a group of youths between 14 and 18 recently raped a 13-year-old girl," he said. "It turned out that all of them were already under investigation for some previous offence. They were all foreigners from the Balkans or Turkey. Their parents said these boys are out of control. We say: 'That's not acceptable. It's your job to control them and if you can't do that you'll have to leave'. It's a punishment everyone understands."

Poor reactionary Dr Schlüer! He hasn’t progressed enough to realize that the cost of a few gang rapes are outweighed by the wonderful benefits of immigration and multiculturalism.

Schlüer has a pointed response for his his UN critic, special rapporteur on racism Doudou Diène:

"He's from Senegal where they have a lot of problems of their own which need to be solved. I don't know why he comes here instead of getting on with that."

Schlüer is fully aware of the real reason why the EU is so disturbed by Swiss immigration policy:

"How direct democracy functions is a very sensitive issue in Switzerland," he says, explaining why he has long opposed joining the EU. "To the average German, the transfer of power from Berlin to Brussels didn't really affect their daily lives. The transfer of power from the commune to Brussels would seriously change things for the ordinary Swiss citizen."