The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) called for the Swiss government to ban Nazi symbols as a first step toward banning all national socialist, racist and extremist symbols.
SIG called for Nazi symbols to be banned as a response to the Swiss Federal Office of Justice’s report examining banning symbols linked to inciting violence or extremism.
The report concluded such a ban would be impractical, leading SIG to urge a ban on Nazi symbols as a first step.
Two Jewish umbrella organizations, the SIG and the Platform of Liberal Jews in Switzerland PJLS, “believe that action is urgently needed” and “in order to simplify the resolution process, the SIG and PJLS consider that focusing on Nazi symbols would be a viable solution in the first instance,” according to SIG.
“In recent years, there have been increasing calls in the socio-political debate for a ban on Nazi symbols, which have led to three pending motions in Parliament for such a move,” SIG said.
“Contrary to the statements of practitioners in this report, the SIG, the PJLS and broad socio-political circles believe that action is urgently needed. There must no longer be any legal uncertainty regarding the use of National Socialist symbols. Switzerland too must keep up with its neighbors and cannot justify a marginal position.”
"The SIG and the PJLS call on Parliament, and ultimately the Federal Council, to examine the possibilities outlined in the report and to implement them in the first instance in the form of a ban on National Socialist symbols."
According to SIG, past attempts to ban racist, extremist and discriminatory symbols have failed because no agreement could be reached on a list of such symbols.
“If we focus on the symbols, gestures and flags related to National Socialism and the Shoah, it would be possible to count them and find a concrete solution to this problem,” the organization said.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)