Despite opposition from the population, a mosque is being built in the Upper Austrian district capital of Vöcklabruck. Christian activists have now erected a cross on the building site and made a protest in the form of a banner.
Last Sunday, August 22, an eight-metre high wooden cross was erected on the construction site of a planned large mosque in Vöcklabruck. The unknown perpetrators, who can probably be attributed to Christian activism because of the cross, additionally placed a 17-metre long banner in front of the cross, which read “Islamismuszentrum OÖ entsteht hier” (Islamism centre Upper Austria is being built here). Furthermore, a quotation from the Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was attached to a sign, which was supposed to show his alleged fight against Islam:
In the fight against political Islam […] in order to be able to take action against those who are not terrorists themselves, but who create the breeding ground for such.
The construction of the Islamic “Culture and Education Centre”, which is also to serve as a mosque, has been the subject of political debate in Upper Austria for years. In 2017, agreement was reached on the planned location in Vöcklabruck. The owner is the Bosniak religious community in Austria. Bosnia is a majority Islamic state with more than 50 per cent Muslims. As reported by the radio station Deutschlandfunk, the Bosniak religious community is particularly supported with funds from Saudi Arabia.
The newspaper Oberösterreichische Nachrichten refers to this as an action by “Islam-haters” and puts the peaceful activists on the same footing as the Ku Klux Klan:
The action is reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan in its viciousness and stupidity.
Mayor Elisabeth Kölbinger ( Austrian People’s Party) is also outraged:
I am shocked that hatred is being spread in our city in this way.
Even the State Security Service has been called in and is now investigating. It’s encouraging when they have nothing else to worry about than persecuting those who put up a cross.