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DO NOT FLY SWISS AIR – SENTINEL OPINION

3 December 2009

BY PAT MURPHY
Sentinel Founder
The San Francisco Sentinel © 2009

Mayor Newsom’s office hosted Swiss Air officials today announcing six weekly flights from San Francisco International Airport to Zurich, Switzerland in June.

Congratulations to Newsom and all the folks who closed the deal, and thank you very much to Swiss Air.

In normal times, that deal would have brought badly needed revenues to San Franciscans.

But in Newsom recent months, it seems that if indelicate timing can beset this mayor indelicate timing will beset this mayor.

And if this mayor can react to make matters as bad as possible, Gavin Newsom will make things as bad as possible.

The Swiss people, Newsom surely knows, just this week voted to ban Minarets — that powerful symbol of Islam, thus shocking the entire Muslim world.

The Muslim world comprises 1.1 billion people, with money to spend, a great many who come to San Francisco well educated and taxpaying, many more who would have liked to vist.

This writer would not be unfulfilled if he never again saw another burkha or never again saw any Islamic symbol.

Even so, he will link arms to protect a Mosque and Muslims, indeed risking being badly burned, hit with rocks, or being shot.

All who ever suffered withering humiliation, hatred, violence, governmental repression, must do the same.

Individually grouped, there aren’t enough of us to save only ourselves.

And to prove itself a stand-up compnay, Swiss Air must donate resources to Muslim centers in Switzerland, donate resources to Muslim centers in San Francisco, and play a major role in overturning that soul-killing Swiss Referendum.

If this mayor had heart to go with wit he would have, at minimum, quashed the business-as-usual ballyhoo.

He did not.