But you dont even live in CH!
By all means, complain to them and tell them that their posters are offensive to you. That is your right for free speach in the country.
Don't expect them to do anything as they are only practicing their free speach.
As an aside, I do find these posters offensive as I am a recent immigrant, invited to the country to take up a job and this makes me feel very un-welcome but I understand that they are just an insecure little bunch of people that really cannot adjust to being part of the big scary world and although I agree that unlimited immigration anywhere can be a problem, it is about how you share that message that tells the rest of the world what sort of organisation you are.
For the British out there.....a good example of "give them enough rope to hang themselves" is Nick Griffin of the BNP appearing on Question Time. Support diminished when people realised that he (like Brunner) is hardly the sharpest knife in the drawer
Anway, Colin, why do they make you feel unwelcome? Its not about the Swiss, its about the SVP - and it can't be a shock that a right wing party like them would rather that your job had gone to one of their members than to you?? (Except that their members are more likely to be currently kissing cows than doing what you do. Probably)
If you were to draw a line horizontally across Switzerland I gues it would be about the middle. (or slightly north of the middle) I cewrtainly wouldn't class it as South Switzerland.
At the end of the day, these posters means advertising revenue for the SBB and they arent going to turn it down.
But they dont think about ripple effect that these posters cause to the image of Switzerland. Loads of tourists travel through the ZH HB daily, what will they think? For example, they caught the eye of my friend who visited me recently and she was predictably horrified that such sentiments are allowed to be broadcasted so publicly - even when I tried explaining that these sentiments do not reflect majority of the Swiss population.
She remarked that whilst freedom of speech is good, to display such posters in tourist prominent places just gives the world the impression that Switzerland really isnt that welcoming a place afterall - even to her as a tourist. She even took some pictures, up they went on FB and no prizes for guessing the reaction to those pictures. I am no Swiss citizen, but I love my adopted home (on most days) and felt truly ashamed.
They perhaps don't realise that a huge chunk of the wealth of Switzerland was built on the talent of auslanders.
Such sentiments as expressed in the posters are not unique to the SVP or Switzerland as a country.
It only lasts a micro-second for me as common sense always wins out and I just think about all the wonderful Swiss people here in Basel that have really gone out of thier way to make me feel right at home, curious about why I came here, about where I am from, keen to tell me about the amazing things about Basel and have conversations about Switzerland and the rest of the world.
It has not taken me long to really fall back in love with the place and that in no way is going to be dented by some stupid posters from a bunch of nationalist rednecks (insert Swiss equivalent).
Seriously? Is it just kissing or do they take it further? I mean, potentially that explains some of the idiocy? Perhaps a genetic survey of SVP hardcore members to detect any bovine cross breeding would be a good idea?
You are quite right Paddy, but it is not the sentiment or the debate that I think is under question, it is the way it is put. I don't think that anybody here would state that a debate about unlimited immigration is worth having at very least. It is just the polarization that is put into these posters does not really help the moderates that wish to find the best way forward for all parties concerned.
Come on, really! I am talking here about offensive posters against a group of person. Advertising products is totally different. No one with enough intelligence should be offended by them.
But advertising racist and discriminatory opinions and ideas are not acceptable on the name of Saint Freedom of Speech.
In that case, why not advertising posters of people eating babies, pictures of women being gang rapes, kids prostitutions or a man doing a sheep?
That should be also on the Saint Freedom of Speech, no? How long do you think it will take to get those adds down?
But innocent pictures of minarets looking like missils, covered women looking angry, black hands reaching a swiss passports are fines, aren't they?
If you don't like certain ads then campaign for them to be made illegal. Then they won't be displayed anywhere.