Banning Brotherhood Symbols in Austria, an Attempt to Persecute Islam?

There is great racism against the Muslims of Europe with the rise of the voices of the extreme right in France, Austria and Bulgaria, under the pretext of confronting political Islam and fighting terrorism, but limiting the presence of Islam that spreads quickly in the old continent is the main goal.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, known for his extremist stances against Muslims, has previously described "Islamic ideology" as a threat to the European model of living.

Kurz's allegations, from time to time, turn into organized campaigns against Muslims, limiting their activities and undermining their existence.

Vienna announced on July 8, 2021, the expansion of sanctions against the "Muslim Brotherhood", by issuing a law prohibiting the use of the group's symbols.

That law placed the group in one place with the "Islamic State", "Al-Qaeda", the "PKK", and the fascist Croatian "Ustasha" movement.

The decision is an attempt to ban and reduce the role of civil society organizations linked to the Brotherhood and all Islamic centers in Austria's political and social life.

It also seeks to implement the agenda of hostile regional powers, led by the UAE, which is actively engaged in combating Islamic activities in Austria and all of Europe.

 

Consecutive Hits

In early March 2021, for the first time in a Western and European country, legislation was issued to ban the logo of the Muslim Brotherhood, and to add to the logos of banned organizations and the list of banned symbols in Austria.

It did not stop there. In May 2021, the Austrian government published the addresses of more than 620 mosques and Muslim associations.

It unified their activities and placed them under strict supervision, according to the decision of the Ministry of Integration, in what it considered to be in the context of "fighting extremist political Islam."

In the context of the Austrian authorities' strategy in targeting the Muslim Brotherhood, as it considers it a source of threat to national security.

On November 9, 2020, the Austrian police launched a fierce raid campaign in different regions of the country, which included more than 60 sites and institutions linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, and arrested 30 people.

The Public Prosecutor's Office in the Steyrmark district of the Austrian capital, Vienna, stated that "the investigation targets more than 70 suspects and a number of associations suspected of being affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood."

The Islamic Religious Authority of Austria, the largest organization representing Muslims and managing 360 mosques, criticized the Kurz government's approach to places of worship and the Muslim community.

Its president, Umit Vural, said on November 6, 2020: "The government has closed a place of worship, and freedom is a precious asset in our country, and we must protect it from violations."

 

Kurz and "Islam Law"

The year 2015 in particular witnessed the beginning of the transformation towards Muslims in Austria, when the "Islam Law" was issued.

It is a discriminatory law, born out of (then) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Integration Sebastian Kurz, the current Austrian chancellor.

The law coincided with a large refugee wave, with the displacement of thousands from Syria and Iraq due to the wars.

This is what the extreme right has exploited to incite against foreigners, especially Muslims, by using anti-Islam propaganda that reinforces Islamophobia.

During that period, elections were taking place, Muslims thought that these hostile campaigns would end after them, but the opposite happened, especially since a coalition took place in 2017.

That coalition between the Black Party, the "center-right", is represented by Sebastian Kurz, and the Liberal Party (the Blue Party), "very extreme", is considered relatively to the "far right", and has a relationship with the neo-Nazis.

The whole goal was to gain extremist, xenophobic and anti-Muslim voices, so that the Muslim community as a whole would pay a heavy price.

 

Intelligence Unit

The inauguration of the "Observatory of Political Islam" by the Austrian government on July 16, 2020, is the biggest indication that it has targeted this group without any other groups in Austria's broad society.

The observatory was considered by Muslims as the spearhead adopted by the right-wing People's Party (the ruling party) to fight the Muslim community in the country.

It was inaugurated by the Austrian Minister of Integration Susanna Raab, in the presence of Professor Mohannad Khorshid, Dean of the Higher Institute of Islamic Studies at the University of Münster, Germany, and an activist in the fight against political Islam and Islamic legislation.

It is considered a scientific unit concerned with studying the concept of political Islam and what they called its "dangerous dimensions for European societies and Islamic and non-Islamic societies."

The observatory is the first of its kind in Europe, where the right-wing Austrian government has allocated "half a million euros" for its work in 2020.

The right-wing People's Party, which represents the strongest party in the government,  justified the move by saying that the government formation agreement stipulated the separation of "internal security."

Under the title "Measures to Combat Extremism and Terrorism," it stressed "the establishment of an independent documentation center accredited by the state, for religiously motivated political extremism (political Islam)."

The Objective of the Center undertakes "the task of scientific research, documentation and preparation of information on political extremism with religious motives."

 

Political Islam

The Austrian ruling party led by Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz noted that "the agreement was clear, and stipulated the fight against political Islam."

The center reinforces Kurz’s' restrictions on Muslims, tightening control over mosques, charitable organizations, kindergarten and secondary schools, and banning external funding for Islamic organizations and centers, in addition to closing all entities that contravene the new laws that target observant Muslims.

The Political Islam Monitoring Unit aims to be the arm of the right-wing government of the people, to isolate the Muslim community from the associations that contain, serve and protect them, by restricting and scaling these institutions, leading to their closure.

The most prominent targeted institution is the Islamic Religious Authority in Austria, which serves the provinces (Vienna, Low Austria and Burgenland).

The Austrian Financial Supervision Department demanded an examination of the financial records of the authority, which is the first time that this department called Reschennkhof has taken such a measure towards a religious authority in Austria.

The Muslim Brotherhood also has been in Austria for a long time, when it began with the migration of many cadres of the group to the country, during the sixties of the twentieth century.

Their presence was established by some immigrants, such as Youssef Nada and Said Ramadan, and with time they became integrated with Austrian society, and they have many activities.

They were able to make a network of strong relationships with the elites, and to establish educational academies, businesses, entities, companies, charities and humanitarian organizations, and they enjoy a large degree of relationships.

 

Double Standards

Dr. Ahmed Zeidan, the imam of an Islamic center in Northern Ireland, and a preacher activist in Europe, said : "It is a crude racist regime, similar to what was in Eastern European countries in the eighties and nineties."

He added to Al-Estiklal: I say these words "as a resident of Europe for more than 20 years, and I have visited most of its countries, including Austria."

He explained that "what is happening against Muslims in Austria is taking place in particular since the rise of the extreme right and Sebastian Kurz."

He asserted that "complaints and racism directed by the Austrian government against the Muslim community are only approached by Bulgaria and France, which follow the same abhorrent racist approach."

What is surprising, according to Zaidan, is that "all the activities of Islamic societies, mosques, and advocacy centers are subject to direct control by governments, and do not operate separately or isolated from society and the state."

He continued : "Periodic reports are submitted on the activities and financial transactions related to donations and expenditures. Everything is open ."

He showed that "the newly emerging regimes in Europe have become dependent on the scarecrow Islam to gain their people’s confidence, which is the most important card for the extreme right to be in power."

He asserted that "this is exactly what happened in Austria. The alliance of Kurz and the extreme right took advantage of the waves of immigration, and the people's fear of immigrants, especially Muslims."

“This is to undermine Islamic preaching and public activity, and to persecute Muslims in general, immigrants or refugees, or even if they are ordinary citizens of the same country,” according to him.

He believes that "the UAE's main role in combating Islamic activities within Europe cannot be overlooked, as it provides right-wing parties with money and information, and supports certain individuals and academics to attack Muslims and immigrants."

He stressed that Abu Dhabi "is trying to inaugurate the system of mystical Islam based on superstitions and dross, and because of that many Islamic associations and centers have been banned, and the rest are struggling to survive."