Austria: “Two to three IS sympathisers per school class”

Insecurity in Austria is escalating: In an interview, IS expert Moussa Al-Hassan Diaw warns of the increasing radicalisation of younger and younger people. In every school class there are up to three people who at least sympathise with IS ideology. Former Defence Minister Scheibner warns in an eXXpress interview: “The threat of terrorism in Austria has been downplayed for decades.
The situation in Austria is alarming. For years, the government has neglected the problems that arise in connection with the uncontrolled immigration policy, which is the breeding ground for radical Islamists: Almost not a day now goes by in Austria without stabbings, rapes, robberies and other violent offences. The Islamist terror attack plans at the Taylor Swift concerts clearly show that there are gaps in our country’s security policy.

The recently thwarted terrorist attack now raises the question of the driving forces and ideological motives behind such plans for violence. Islamism expert Moussa Al-Hassan Diaw reveals frightening facts in an interview with oe24.TV: There are two to three sympathisers of IS ideology per school class, he says: “In workshops, we have already looked after 550 people suspected of radicalisation. There are up to three people in every school class who at least sympathise with these ideas. Including native Austrians, even 13-year-old boys and girls,” warns Diaw, adding that radicalisation is increasingly taking place among younger people – even those who are not of criminal age.

According to the Islamism researcher, many of these young boys have sworn allegiance to IS. “They want to look strong and scary. Then they are indoctrinated with images of the enemy”. When asked who the enemies of these young men are, Diaw explains, “the West, the Americans, the Jews. The IS radicalised do not believe in democracy and man-made laws. They want a theocracy. For the fanatics, murder is justified”.

In an interview with eXXpress, Herbert Scheibner, President of the European Institute for Counter-Terrorism and former Minister of Defence, talks about the current terrorist threat in Austria and Europe. Scheibner makes it clear that the Islamist terror threat is by no means new. Experts have been warning of this in Europe for years: “In Austria in particular, people always try to put it off a little”. Since the terrorist attack in Vienna in 2020 at the latest, “we should know that there is a real threat”, says the former defence minister.

Scheibner warns that “extremists can strike anywhere”. Such attacks and radicalisation cannot be ruled out completely, but “the problem has been played down in recent years – also in Austria”. In addition, 10-20 per cent of Muslims in Austria are “susceptible to radical ideas”. Those who have presented a “multicultural society as a great utopia” in recent decades have done very little to ensure that living together can actually work.

IS-Experte warnt: “Pro Schulklasse zwei bis drei IS-Sympathisanten” | Exxpress