Muslim Hate in Austria
Muslim teacher banned over anti-Semitic propoganda
Social Democrat (SPÖ) Education Minister Claudia Schmied has banned a Muslim man
from teaching his religion at a Vienna secondary school after he distributed
anti-Semitic leaflets to pupils.
Schmied ordered the city school council today (Thurs) to take such action
against the man, who had been teaching at the Cooperative Secondary School (KMS)
on Brüßlgasse in Wien-Ottakring district. She said "delay would be dangerous."
The reason for the ban is the man’s behaviour. He reportedly distributed
anti-Semitic leaflets to his students a few days ago. The leaflets contained a
list of allegedly "Jewish" firms from which, the man told the students, they
should not buy anything.
Teachers of religion are usually appointed and removed by their respective
religious associations, but Schmied said the law on religion provided for the
minister of education’s intervention in cases in which such teachers violated
their legal obligations.
Allowing the man to continue to teach, the minister said, would have caused
"serious damage to the interests of the school and the students."
Schmied’s intervention comes in the wake of a study concluding Islamic
instruction in Austria has to change to comply with modern standards.
Mouhanad Khorchide is a professor of the sociology of religion at the Islamic
Religion and Pedagogical Institute at Vienna University and the author of the
new study, "Islamic religious instruction between integration and a parallel
society."
Khorchide’s study concludes Muslim teachers in Austria have largely
anti-democratic beliefs and one in five is "fanatical".
Khorchide, himself a Muslim, said 22.6 per cent of the 210 Muslim teachers he
had surveyed had "fanatical attitudes" and 21.9 per cent rejected democracy as
incompatible with Islam.
The older the teacher, Khorchide said, the more likely he was to reject the
principle of the rule of law.
According to Vienna weekly "Falter", the study claimed 8.5 per cent of the
Muslim teachers said it was understandable for violence to be used to spread
Islam, 28.4 per cent said there was a contradiction in being both a Muslim and a
European, and 44 per cent said they had to make their students understand they
were better than non-Muslims.
In addition, 29 per cent said it was impossible for Muslims to integrate in
Austria without losing their Muslim identity, and 55 per cent called Austrians
xenophobic.
On the other hand, 85.7 per cent said they did not believe Muslims had to keep
to themselves to avoid losing their Muslim identity.
The education Ministry and the Austrian Islamic Denomination recently agreed on
a package of changes providing for new contracts for Islamic instructors and new
lesson plans for the teaching of Islam in Austrian public schools.
Austrian Times
Homegrown Austrian terrorism - the end of a safe era?
Earthtimes.org
September 13, 2007
Vienna - The arrest of three second-generation Muslim immigrants Wednesday on terrorism charges shattered Austria's image of being a safe haven from global terrorism. The three, two men in their 20s and one woman, are accused of having produced an internet threat video, demanding Austrian and German troops stop engagement in Afghanistan. The three are believed to have links to al-Qaeda.
Austrians felt safe on their proverbial "island of the blessed", when all over Europe concerns over homegrown terrorism mounted. The country prided itself in its historically conciliatory approach and good relations between the faiths.
But was this feeling of safety just an illusion, the policy of cooperation a failure?
Austria's authorities did not regard the country as a prime terrorism target, owing to its neutrality and opposition to the Iraq war. However, in the long term view the number of militants was on the rise, experts said.
Up to now Austria believed its approach of recognition and inclusion of Muslims - despite regular attacks by the country's rightists - would stave off extremism as experienced in other European nations.
The fact however that the suspects appear to be radicalized second-generation immigrants shows parallels to arrests in Britain or Germany.
Austria is home to approximately 339,000 muslims, 4.2 per cent of the population, the Islamic Religious Authority said.
Austria was victim of several terrorist attacks in the 1970s and 80s. The attack on the Vienna-based OPEC headquarters in 1975 was masterminded by terrorist Carlos.
In 1979 a social democrat councillor was murdered by the Abu Nidal terror group. Two were killed in a PLO attack on Vienna airport in 1985.
It is widely believed that Austria's authorities allowed the perpetrators to leave the country in exchange for security guarantees. They inadvertently made Austria into a safe base for militant movements by this tacit agreement, critics said.
How dangerous were these latest Austrian-based alleged terrorists really? Are they al-Qaeda terrorists, or just copycat amateurs, Austrians wonder. Authorities stressed the suspects had "posed no danger" for Austria.
First media reports paint a more differentiated picture: The 22- year-old main suspect headed the German outlet of the "Global Islamist Media Front", a propaganda platform used by al-Qaeda for recruitment. The arrest shut down Bin Laden's voice in Germany, one expert said.
The suspect travelled to Iraq in 2003, and is believed to have trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan or Pakistan, Austrian media said. According to unconfirmed reports, he may have even been an al- Qaeda sleeper.
Whatever the investigation unearths, Austrians will have to part with the idea that their country can be exempt from terrorism and further question the effectiveness of its policies to prevent radicalization.