If you aren't familiar with what goes on in Switzerland or Libya from day to day, you're probably with the majority of Canadians. But every once in a while, something goes on that can just sicken you into listening.
A basic rundown of Swiss politics goes something like this: the parliament thinks of a bunch of things they'd like to see happen, and then they put it on a referendum, which means that every Swiss citizen of voting age gets to vote on the issue - it's a lot more interactive than Canadian politics.
In 2008, The son of Libya's leader was arrested for allegedly beating servants at a Swiss hotel. He and his wife were released two days later. In response, Gaddafi (Libya's leader) withdrew his money from Swiss bank accounts, shut down Swiss corporations in Libya, cancelled most flights going to and from Switzerland, and arrested two Swiss businessmen for "Visa irregularities," claiming that their arrests were not at all related to the arrest of his son. At this point, the Swiss president decided to apologize for the arrest. Many saw this as a very bad move.
Then, at the next G8 Summit, Gaddafi suggested that Switzerland be divided between France, Germany, and Italy, while a month later, his son said that he would drop a nuclear bomb and destroy Switzerland if he had such a thing.
Then, in November of 2009, a referendum was put out that asked Swiss if they wanted to ban the construction of new minarets (towers that are used to call Muslims to prayer) in the country. It was passed by a 57% margin. Many countries and organizations considered this an attack against all Muslims and Freedom of Religion. Others supported the Swiss majority, saying that minarets aren't needed to practise Islam. Others said that it was to avoid Switzerland becoming an "Islamic State" and thus preventing some of the problems in the Middle East from reflecting themselves.
Gaddafi, as leader of an Islamic country, decided to make more aggressive comments regarding Switzerland, and denied citizens of almost all Western European countries (save the UK) entry into the country. The argument between Libya and Switzerland goes on to this day.
Now, to be honest, I understand why there might be some concern when the child of a world leader is arrested in any country - but this is far beyond ridiculous. Consider the past of these two countries: when it looked like everyone else in the world was saying "no" to anything Libya had to offer, Switzerland was there, buying their oil off them. And just because his son was arrested on charges that, for all we know, were perfectly legitimate, he starts going on about disbanding the country and dropping nuclear weapons! Now, maybe I'm not "up" on what most world leaders do in this situation, but this is just completely insane. Granted, Switzerland should probably have been less strict on the minaret thing - maybe next time they could put a restriction on the number allowed in a certain radius- but this is over-reacting on a completely different scale. I don't think either side is completely "innocent," but the Swiss put out their hands. Just shake it Gaddafi - it isn't going to kill you.
