Swiss Politics

Gaza “not an issue” for most Israelis

This content was published on Jan 8, 2009 Although most Israelis support their government’s action, Ernest Goldberger says there is a “painful” lack of interest among the population in the events in Gaza. On Wednesday Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets resumed after a brief lull to allow food and fuel to reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza, where an Israeli warplane dropped leaflets urging…

Swiss Politics

Foreign minister sees hope for Gaza peace plan

This content was published on Jan 8, 2009 “The elements are on the table and there is hope that the parties can agree on a peace plan,” she told French-language Swiss radio on Thursday. She stressed her concern over the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, saying that this was where Switzerland could play an important role. She added that it was essential…

Swiss Politics

The hidden past of Swiss Nazi-era volunteers

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 An exhibition in St Gallen details this long forgotten chapter of Swiss history through personal recollections and artefacts. The stories are told in “Cold, hunger and homesickness – Soviet prisons of war 1941-1956” currently on show at the city’s History and Folklore Museum. “More than 2,000 Swiss volunteers fought alongside the Nazis, but it’s not…

Swiss Politics

Retailers ignore clouds by predicting growth

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 But industry experts believe that bosses of high-street stores are being over-optimistic and will have to revise their expectations as job losses and failing consumer confidence start to bite in. The retail sector report by Credit Suisse bank and consultancy firm Fuhrer & Holz reflected recent surveys in other sectors of the economy. These show…

Swiss Politics

Swiss business leaders plead for EU treaty

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 They are anxious to ensure that voters in Switzerland accept an extension to the free movement of people treaty to cover new EU members Bulgaria and Romania. The issue comes to a nationwide vote on February 8, after the youth wing of the Swiss People’s Party and two marginal rightwing parties gathered enough signatures to…

Swiss Politics

Ticino is a “model for Europe”

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 The following is taken from a speech Steinberg gave at Franklin College Switzerland in Lugano in 2004, and the excerpts are reprinted here with his kind permission. What makes Ticino different? The answer I propose may surprise you: Ticino serves as a model of Europe and acts as the glue which has helped to hold…

Swiss Politics

“Had I known that California was a wilderness”

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 That is because Cavalli, a native of the Ticino village, Verscio, was a writer by trade as editor of the San Francisco-based, Italian-language newspaper, L’Elvezia. In this extract from an account published in 1890, Cavalli describes an encounter with a group of immigrants travelling by train to California. Into the West I spent the 30…

Swiss Politics

“I have made a very bad calculation”

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 In this autobiographical letter he wrote as an old man in 1905, he reflects on the trials and tribulations of attempting to make a life for himself in the New World. There is more than a hint of bitterness in his writing. Unlike the two letters reprinted in the Journey into the Unknown section, Pozzi…

Swiss Politics

Migrations interview: Part five

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 swissinfo: Your own father migrated to California. But he came back… G.C.: My father worked for nine years in California but he returned, as did many, many others. As I told you, 27,000 people emigrated to California but, of these 27,000, only 1,000 established ranches. We need to double that figure, because there were the…

Swiss Politics

Migrations interview: Part three

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 swissinfo: Let’s take a step back and talk about how they actually travelled abroad. Did the first emigranti in the 1850s begin their journey on foot, or did they take diligences (stagecoaches) to the ports? Giorgio Cheda: They travelled partly on foot, partly by diligence and partly by train. There were already sections of railway…

Swiss Politics

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