Politicians and celebrities defend extremist mosques in Austria

In an open letter on June 14, the Muslim Youth Austria (MJÖ) demanded the final deletion of the “Islam map”, and is supported by politicians and celebrities. The map would promote Islamophobia and expose mosques to more anti-Islamic attacks – so the accusations. The critics of the map do not seem to care that in the course of the campaign, allegedly radical mosques are also being advocated.

Politicians of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), the Greens and the NEOS, and also the former Federal President Heinz Fischer support the demand to remove the Islamland map, as the MJÖ explains.

The list of supporters includes well-known personalities: Irmgard Griss, former federal presidential candidate and NEOS politician, as well as the book author Franzobel, the political consultant Rudi Fußi, the SPÖ politicians Nurten Yilmaz and Omar Al-Rawi, and also the Vienna City Councillor for Integration Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS). The former Green member of the National Council, Karl Öllinger, is also on the list. (Recently his accusations of right-wing extremism against the Museum of Military History proved to be groundless – eXXpress reported).

Mustafa Durmus, member of the Young SPÖ Styria, also demands on Twitter: “The Islam map must immediately disappear from the net. Concrete measures against Islamophobia must follow.” The reason for his indignation was that unknown persons had put up a sign with the inscription “Attention, political Islam in your neighbourhood” in front of the Islamic Cultural Centre Graz.

The young politician did not mention that this very mosque had been searched in the course of “Operation Luxor”, a measure of the Ministry of the Interior in the fight against Islamism. Nor did he comment on the fact that little girls and non-Muslim schoolgirls who were visiting the mosque with their classes could only be seen there covered up. Radical hate preachers are also said for having been coming and going to the mosque, which is financed from abroad.

Gepostet von Islamisches Kulturzentrum Graz am Dienstag, 2. Juli 2019

Minister of Justice Alma Zadic (Greens) also visited the mosque during the election campaign in September 2019. To date, she has not made any statement on the matter.

Hakan Gördü, founder of the small party Soziales Österreich der Zukunft (Social Austria of the Future, SÖZ) and former leader of the Erdogan-affiliated lobby party UID, who said the government’s anti-terror package was too “Islamophobic”, had himself photographed in the media a few days ago dismantling a sign saying “Attention, political Islam in your neighbourhood” that was posted near the mosque in Murlingengasse.

According to statements by his party colleague Sabettin Kocak to NEX24, the “inflammatory signage” had been put up by unknown persons near the Meidling mosque. He, Hakan Gördu, and the Simmering district councillor Suayip Akpinar had taken down the “discriminatory” sign. Hakan Gördü and Kocak forgot to mention in their alarming Twitter postings that the Viennese assassin Kujtim F. had radicalised himself in Murlingengasse and was active there, and that several regular visitors to the mosque harboured sympathies with IS.

The fact that an eXXpress report had uncovered anti-Semitic agitation and that the imam of the mosque had to be replaced, as well as the fact that the so-called Tehwid mosque had been searched by police officers in the course of the attack in Vienna and even forcibly closed for a certain period of time, did not seem to be worth mentioning, neither for the SÖZ founder Gördü nor for any of the politicians who shared his post on Twitter.

In the wake of the ongoing Islamophobia allegations, the heavily pregnant Integration Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) was threatened with death for publishing the Islam map and was targeted with hate postings on all social media platforms.

https://exxpress.at/verteidigen-politiker-und-prominente-radikale-moscheen/