'Black Sheep' campaign posters target immigrants
Updated Sat. Oct. 20 2007 7:29 AM ET
Philip Stavrou, CTV.ca News Staff
At first glace, a tourist in Switzerland might think posters depicting three white sheep kicking a black sheep off the country's flag were the doings of an underground group of fascists.
In fact, the images are part of an election campaign strategy for the SVP (Swiss People's Party) -- the country's most dominant party with the largest share of members in the four-party Swiss coalition.
The posters, which carry slogans like "For more security" and "Provide Safety," are rather tame when contrasted with a video that had been posted on the party's website.
In it, images of "hell" are depicted by foreigners committing crimes. Then "heaven" is represented by images of the country's picturesque landscape, traditional wrestlers and wealthy bankers. The video has since been taken down after the actors in it complained.
The right-wing party, guided by billionaire Christopher Blocher, claims the advertisements are not racially motivated but rather meant to symbolize foreigners that commit serious crimes like rape and murder.
Matthias Müller, a spokesman for the SVP, told U.K.'s The Times that the growing international criticism showed a "deep misunderstanding" of Swiss politics.
"The figures show that we have a severe problem with some immigrants. The increase of crime is caused by the lack of political will of our opponents," said Müller.
"...We are not a racist party but we try to make clear that what is going on in Switzerland is a very dangerous tendency."
The party claims that the image of a "black sheep" is one that's understood in every culture, regardless of race.
"A court recently decided that it's not a racist campaign," Georg Lutz, a political analyst at the University of Bern, told CTV.ca. "The SVP are quite clever with playing the game."
Still, Lutz said the posters are clearly against foreigners and that it wasn't a big stretch to "make a link between a black sheep and black skin colour."
