Rabbi's, cool it. The Swiss Government and the Swiss people are trying to protect themselves from Muslims who want to change the way the Swiss live...Come on now, what kind of threat do the Jews make?..None whatsoever. The Jews goal is not to kill anyone but to live and work in harmony with any host country they reside in. The Arab countries threw them out for no reason other than the hate they have for anyone not Muslim... The Jews are an asset to the communities they live in anywhere in the world...Don't give me the story about first the gypsy's and then the Jews....I doesn't make sense in Switzerland or any civilized modern state...Radical Muslims equal trouble all over the globe...Jews and Chritians don't, period

...of a graffitti equating the Star of David and a Swastika is typically used by islamic extrmists and definitely not by European right-wing extremists. The shouts of "Death to the Jews" during anti-Israel demonstrations in January in German streets came from arab immigrants. Instead of trying to appease the muslim organisations here the Jewish groups should support those who are fighting to save our democracy - with all its achievements such as pluralism and freedom of religion - from islamisation.

I absolutely agree. In New Zealand the Jewish council was pretty sure that the Muslims will take a united front when the government wanted to ban the slaughter for meat. These cowards went ahead and signed an agreement which allows stunning first and slaughter after......... Halal my @@s.... The Jewish minority was left to fight on its own. So if the Swiss ban minarets and mosques, they probably want to stop the growth of non-contributing, parasitic segments whithin the society.

Perhaps, it will come the time when jews living abroad will understand that they have a country given by G. and they have to come back after 2000 years of exile. I know it is not easy to do it but i did. It is only a question of how much are you ready to lose to live here without fear of anyone.

Suggest #2 travel to the Polish countryside...where he can see, wherever he looks, Stars of David with a "hangman's noose," or with swastikas. Muslims there too?

This kind of behavior - defending and caring about the rights of an enemy - is something very characteristic of the diasporic Jews, who have zero backbone and seek to be on the good side of everybody, even if they're getting spat at in return. Another good examples are Richard Goldstone, Lena Posner (Sweden's Jewish community president, who criticized Israel for protesting Aftonbladet's libel), Stanley Cohen (lawyer of Palestinian murderers of Jews), that Israeli lawyer in London who handles the cases for arresting IDF officers, and of course - those ridiculous organizations, like "Jews for Justice for Palestinians".

Stupid rabbis ! The very first country to take on the Muslims, who by the way would kill all the Jews, and the stupid rabbis take the side of the Muslims. Jews never learn. That has to endear the Jews to the Swiss.

"The rabbis called for European governments to combat Muslim extremism by making a commitment not to engage in dialogue with fundamentalist organizations and their representatives." Or ... you could signal that they might be more welcome elsewhere with the purely symbolic gesture of banning minarets.

I think we all know that the graffiti which equates the Star of David and a swastika is the work of Arabs and/or Moslems, and not of the European right wing. But thank you very much for pointing it out to those who might not have known this, and would automatically draw the wrong conclusions.

with us, brothers, sisters!!!

Michael, European countries like Poland, Ukraine and some other former former Soviet republics -- the Baltic states, for example, just don't matter. Their history of anti-Semitism is long and quite deplorable, but Jews know it and discount them. Goodness, the whole world discounts them. Western Europe -- which has been invaded by all manner of violent and belligerent Arabs and Moslems -- is a different story. There will always be a core group of far right Europeans who adhere to a nonmodified Nazi policy concerning Jews but, fortunately, they constitute a small, uneducated and irrelevant minority. Most Western Europeans understand that Moslems and Arabs present the greatest threat to civilization ever. Whatever the mainstream may think about Israel or Jews is irrelevant in the face of the alarming threat posed by Moslems and Arabs to the European way of life.

If Jews would stop birth-controlling themselves out of existence, we would have greater numbers and more influence in all countries. The Muslims are winning in Europe and other places, just out of sheer numbers.

you are acting out of fear not convictions.

Doesn't Switzerland already ban kosher (and halal) slaughter? Hasn't Switzerland stolen the legacies of decendents of Holocaust victims? What do you all expect from a country where women couldn't vote until the 1970s.

TALKBACK NUMBER 7. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3814365,00.html Arn-Orao.

oh, you are one of THEM too? Switzerland is banning ALL ritual murder for humans and animals- it is medieval, outdated -. The people respect animal rights- there are strict laws for keeping animals, slaughtering them... ritual slaughter has no place in a modern society, period, this goes for Jews and Muslims- . As for money: keep on repeating this until the end of days... maybe it will go away. Most of it has been repaid with interest and then some- if you still haven't got it- then ask what the agencies who were supposed to distribute, did with it... unlike certain other countries Switzerland is NOT corrupt- by the way: what does this have to to with the ban of minarets.... minarets not mosques- but then how would you know this? You don't live there- you are just repeating what you read... Swiss women did not get the vote until 1970? So what?- We are using it now, we said we did not want minarets- is this ok with you? Do we have to ask your permission next time? We are FREE to have a say, Dorothy- unlike orthodox women in Israel who are still suppressed by their pious husbands....

is it the far right who will atatck Jews or their Islamic nemesis? And whilst in Europe, most anti Jewish atatcks are by muslims, in Russia, it is the russian neo-nazis. So why does the rabbi feel safer walking in Moscow? The extremist islam is a threat to Jews, and the rabbis should realsie that riding on the multicultural train will hurt them. In the UK, white anti-semitism is usually from the left wing , pro-palestinian camp, and physical attacks are usually from the islamic extremists.

Dorothy, the Swiss women may not have gotten the vote until 1970- but they have made up for this. At least we don't have to sit at the back of a bus- behind the holy men-. Who is more backward?

will shut up. Always have to stick their noses in business that is not theirs. People are afraid and rightly so that moslims want to take over their countries and push their sharia law and religion down the throats of others.

has always been a very strong national characteristic in this little, perhaps uninspiring, country in the middle of Europe. It wasn't that long ago that men in each canton were expected to come out and vote in public in person. It's true that women were late in receiving the vote. Swiss are a hidebound people. But since the vote was allotted, women participate fully in Swiss politics. And now the Swiss have overwhelmingly spoken. They don't want a population of people who refuse to integrate and who represent a genuine threat to their way of life. And then these idiot European rabbis come out to remonstrate against the Swiss initiative. But this initiative will be repeated in most western European centres in the next few years and with good reason. Democracy does not mean giving away the character of one's history and culture. It is only the politically correct whose idea of liberalism is so farfetched who place so much credence on individual rights and so little on communal ones. These rabbis are out of touch with the very real threat experienced in every western European country in which Muslims reside.

Jews are already a target for discrimination all over Europe, mainly due to the increased Muslim population in all countries. It is therefore not a real concern, as it already exists. The ado about minarets is just an excuse to try to exert Muslim pressure on all of Switzerland and the rest of Europe. In fact, many mosques do not have a minaret. Therefore, Swiss Muslims can have mosques without the minarets. However, this goes against their grain as their house of worship may not be the tallest man made structure in the area, which of course is the underlying reason for the minaret as they insist that Islam is the only true religion and it must tower over all others. Switzerland has to be brave and take this first small step in preventing a Muslim takeover of their land and culture. The rest of Europe should be on their guard.

Look at your PM scrapping and bowing to the poritz, going against the platform he has been elected, same with Sharon, same with Ulmert. Look at YNET! Defending daily the enemy and incinting hatred against their religious people.

Now I understand the Swiss vote. They are totally against any all religions and anything associated with it, including ritual slaughter, without which Jews - and Muslims - would not be able to eat meat. I don't give a damn for your 'modern society.' This is the way we have lived for thousands of years; and to try and take it away from us is anti-Semitic! Jews - out of Switzerland!! Come home!!

Once again, it is made clear that the true spirit of Judaism is still alive in the Diaspora. Unfortunately, in Israel Zionism has smothered it.

Have any person of t he Jewish faith ever wonder WHY he is or was discriminated. It certainly needs some self evaluation. No other group has ever suffered similiar treatment - must be something we should ask ourselves and improve upon.

Greetings, I understand that the Swiss have some problems with respect to Kosher meat, that is not allowing the slaughter of beef, and has even proposed disallowing Kosher meat to be imported, and both are pretty bad, but should be separated from this minaret issue. The Christian Science Monitor has a good article titled, “Swiss ban on minarets was a vote for tolerance and inclusion” which sounds a little different than the others accusing the Swiss of intolerance, but it is written by a Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of "Infidel," who is the Somali-born women's rights advocate and former Dutch parliamentarian. Her forthcoming book is entitled "Nomad." at http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1205/p09s01-coop.html I believe we need to be all concerned about the intolerance of Islam and use this as an opportunity to call them on it.