Seltsames Bezirkstreffen im 16. Wiener Bezirk « Kawther Salam

Seltsames Bezirkstreffen im 16. Wiener Bezirk « Kawther Salam

Strange meetings in the 16th District Vienna District

On 20 Evening of November I am "introductory fixed" in the 16th Vienna District participated, from theDistrict Chairman Franz Prokop was organized (SPO). It has the presence of members of the district administration and the district offices of the Parliament in the past Ottakringer Brewery place. Ottakringer is best known for its beer, the company also offers to non-alcoholic beverages, and it would be the biggest company in Ottakring from which it has its name.

District Chairman Prokop has come the invitations to this introductory fixed to all residents of the district between the ages of 30 and 50, there are several hundred people. Mr. Prokop and members of the district councils have welcomed the guests at the entrance very cordial, there were also information booths from various organizations, including Waff (www.waff.at) Gebietssbetreuung and police.

There have been food and drinks for all the guests. The food, hearty Krautfleckerln, meatloaf and goulash soup, to cakes, cookies and fruit. In his speech, Mr. Prokop has pointed to the district history and the traditional place, and asked all the guests to give ideas or just talk with each other or with the members of the district council informally to jointly share ideas on how to make the district more liveable for all could. I found it very nice, the people for a pleasant evening together and invite them to animate on this friendly as unobtrusive way to participate in politics. Above all it was not an event for the SPÖ invitation has been extended to all groups, not just SPÖ voters or people from a certain group.

District Chairman Prokop has used the event to Mr. Günther Aistleitner for his commitment to the St. Anna Children's Hospital to give the Ottakringer Medal of Honor (also present, his wife has a beautiful bouquet get) - he had collected 165,000 euros donations for the hospital. Kurt was also honored for his achievements Girk for the art and culture of Vienna. Afterwards, the guests have hergemacht about the buffet. The atmosphere was warm and there have been more under unknown to friendly conversations. The recently introduced "Park Pickerln" should provide for some excitement in the district.

One thing I found strange as known. According to Wikipedia, the 16th one of the highest proportions of foreigners in Vienna, so probably about half of the residents have moved in from abroad. On the street you can hear in Ottakring mostly Turkish, Arabic and several other languages, German rare. In this district meeting but was not one person present from the groups whose languages ​​can be heard mostly on the road. There are many businesses that are in Turkish hands, the markets are dominated by Turkish state learning. So where were all these people? At this event, anyway. Many of them have the Austrians citizenship but it is confirmed the suspicion that the Turks, Arabs and all Muslims otherwise prefer to keep to themselves in the ghetto.

For me, it was certainly embarrassing, because it's not the first time that I noticed this deliberate non-participation. Many questions came to me: What kind of world they live Arabs, Turks, Muslims in the 16th District work and live and do business? What kind of people are they? What are they thinking? What citizenship do you have? How important are Austria and the Austrians for these people? What religion are these people? Why none of them come to this friendly event where it would also have been in their interest to participate? Why was no one worth the time, with their presence, at least symbolically to show that you are a part of society?

The answers to these questions, I know, unfortunately. Islam is practiced by many Muslims in Austria (and Europe) is characterized by thoughts and words such as "Kufar" (unbelievers), "take what you can from them because what they have is better than what they are," präpotenter racist chauvinism as in the sentence "freckles are a rare sight in Europe" is expressed, a set of well can be interpreted as a serious threat to non-Muslim women. Practising in a good neighborhood? One would have to see women without headscarves or even talk to them, you'd have to "suffer" as the infidels drink beer or eat even Schweinefleich, and because you just prefer to remain among them, and hints at demands. It is no wonder if the Austrians did not spend estimate, because that is what they see.

At the very least we can do as a foreigner is to show gratitude in symbolic little things, like just taking part in events and thus done a bit of his 'street' "in the integration. That the official Austria lot of money for integration into the hand, takes even installed its own Secretary of State for Integration in the government, frequently reaches out and if possible all immigrants paves the way into society, which few seem interested only. The outstretched hand is believed by many, of a conspicuous group among Muslims, but apparently rare.

This raises only the question what if the policy is the opinion of the majority of Austrians and connects us no longer meets with an outstretched hand. The path should be short: turn down once too often an outspoken heartfelt invitation, once too often make demands and appear ungrateful, once too often someone a "pig-eaters" name, once beat up often a schoolmate because he Christian Faith is raping a girl once too often because it has freckles.

Seltsames Bezirkstreffen im 16. Wiener Bezirk

Am 20. November abends habe ich am “Kennenlernfest” im 16. Wiener Bezirk teilgenommen, das vonBezirksvorsteher Franz Prokop (SPÖ) organisiert wurde. Es hat unter Anwesenheit von Mitgliedern der Bezirksverwaltung und des Bezirksparlaments in den  Räumen der historischen Ottakringer Bräuereistattgefunden. Ottakringer ist am besten wegen ihrem Bier bekannt, die Firma bietet aber auch  nicht-alkoholische Getränke an, und es dürfte die grösste Firma im Bezirk Ottakring sein, von dem sie auch den Namen hat.

Bezirksvorsteher Prokop hat die Einladungen zu diesem Kennenlernfest an alle Einwohner des Bezirks im Alter zwischen 30 und 50, es sind etliche Hundert Personen gekommen. Herr Prokop und Mitglieder der Bezirksvertretung haben die Gäste am Eingang sehr herzlich begrüsst, es hat auch Info-Stände von verschiedenen Organisationen gegeben, u.A. Waff (www.waff.at), Gebietssbetreuung und Polizei.

Es hat Essen und Getränke für alle Gäste gegeben. Das Essen, bodenständige Krautfleckerln, Leberkäse und Gulaschsuppe, dazu Kuchen, Kekse und Früchte. In seiner Ansprache hat Herr  Prokop auf die Bezirksgeschichte und den traditionellen Ort hingewiesen, und alle Gäste gebeten, Ideen abzugeben oder einfach untereinander oder mit den anwesenden Mitgliedern der Bezirksvertretung informell zu sprechen um so gemeinsam Ideen auszutauschen, wie man den Bezirk noch lebenswerter für alle gestalten könnte. Ich habe es sehr toll gefunden, die  Menschen zu einem angenehmen Abend miteinander einzuladen und sie auf dieser freundlichen wie unaufdringlichen Art zum mitmachen in der Politik zu animieren. Vor allem war das keine SPÖ Veranstaltung denn die Einladung ist an alle Bevölkerungsgruppen gegangen, nicht nur SPÖ Wähler oder Personen aus einer bestimmten Gruppe.

Bezirksvorsteher Prokop hat das Event dazu genutzt, Herrn Günther Aistleitner für sein Engagement für das St. Anna Kinderspital die Ottakringer Ehrenmedaille zu verleihen (seine ebenfalls anwesende Frau hat einen schönen Blumenstrauß bekommen) – er hatte 165.000 Euro Spenden für das Spital gesammelt. Ebenfalls ausgezeichnet wurde Herr Kurt Girk wegen seiner Leistungen für die Kunst und die Wiener Kultur. Danach haben sich die Gäste über das Buffet hergemacht. Die Stimmung war herzlich und es ist auch unter unbekannten zu freundlichen Gesprächen gekommen. Die unlängst eingeführten “Parkpickerln” dürften für einige Aufregung im Bezirk sorgen.

Eines habe ich so seltsam wie bekannt gefunden. Laut Wikipedia hat der 16. einen der höchsten Anteile an Ausländern in Wien, so dürften ca. die Hälfte der Einwohner aus dem Ausland zugezogen sein. Auf der Strasse hört man in Ottakring meistens Türkisch, Arabisch und noch einige andere Sprachen, Deutsch eher selten. Bei diesem Bezirkstreffen war aber keine einzige Person anwesend aus den Gruppen deren Sprachen man meistens auf der Strasse hört. Es gibt viele Geschäfte die in Türkischer Hand sind, die Märkte werden von türkischen Standlern dominiert. Wo waren also all diese Leute? Auf dieser Veranstaltung jedenfalls nicht. Viele von ihnen haben die Österreiche Staatsbürgerschaft aber es erhärtet sich der Verdacht, dass die Türken, Araber und sonst alle Muslime lieber im Ghetto unter sich bleiben.

Für mich war es jedenfalls beschämend, denn es ist nicht das erste Mal, dass mir diese absichtliche nicht-Teilnahme auffällt. Viele Fragen sind mir gekommen: In welcher Welt leben diese Araber, Türken, Muslime die im 16. Bezirk arbeiten und leben und Geschäfte betreiben? Was für Menschen sind das? Was denken die sich? Welche Staatsbürgerschaft haben sie? Welchen Stellenwert haben Österreich und die Österreicher für diese Leute? Welche Religion haben diese Leute? Wieso ist keiner von ihnen zu diesem freundlichen Event gekommen wo es zudem in ihrem eigenen Interesse gewesen wäre, teilzunehmen? Wieso war es niemandem die Zeit wert, mit ihrer Anwesenheit zumindest symbolisch zu zeigen, dass man Teil der Gesellschaft ist?

Die Antworten auf diese Fragen kenne ich leider. Der Islam der von zu vielen Muslimen in Österreich (und Europa) gelebt wird ist von Gedanken und Begriffen geprägt wie “Kufar” (Ungläubige), “nimmt von ihnen was ihr könnt denn was sie haben ist besser als was sie sind”, präpotenter rassistischer Chauvinismus wie er im Satz “Sommersprossen werden ein seltener Anblick werden in Europa” ausgedrückt wird, ein Satz der durchaus als ernsthafte Drohung gegen nicht-muslimische Frauen gedeutet werden kann. Sich in guter Nachbarschaft üben? Man müsste ja Frauen ohne Kopftuch sehen oder gar mit ihnen reden, man müsste “erdulden” wie die Ungläubigen Bier trinken oder gar Schweinefleich essen, und da bleibt man eben lieber unter sich und lässt Forderungen verlautbaren. Es ist kein Wunder wenn die Österreicher uns nicht gerade schätzen, denn das ist was auch sie sehen.

Das allermindeste was man als AusländerIn tun kann ist, seine Dankbarkeit in symbolischen Kleinigkeiten zeigen, wie eben an Veranstaltungen teilnehmen und so ein wenig seine “Bringschuld” bei der Integration erledigt. Dass das offizielle Österreich viel Geld für Integration in die Hand nimmt, sogar einen eigenen Staatssekretär für Integration in die Regierung installiert, des öfteren die Hand ausstreckt und nach Möglichkeit allen Zuwanderern den Weg in die Gesellschaft ebnet, das interessiert anscheinend nur wenige. Die ausgestreckte Hand wird von vielen angenommen, von einer auffälligen Gruppe unter den Muslimen aber anscheinend eher selten.

Es stellt sich nur noch die Frage was ist, wenn die Politik sich der Meinung der Mehrheit der Österreicher anschliesst und uns nicht mehr mit ausgestreckter Hand entgegenkommt. Der Weg dorthin dürfte kurz sein: ein Mal zu oft eine von Herzen ausgesprochene Einladung ausschlagen, ein Mal zu oft Forderungen stellen und sich undankbar zeigen, ein Mal zu oft jemanden einen “Schweinefresser” nennen, ein Mal zu oft einen Schulkameraden verprügeln weil er Christlichen Glaubens ist, ein Mal zu oft ein Mädchen vergewaltigen weil es Sommersprossen hat.

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Islamophobia: Between Propaganda and Facts

I am not a hater or a defender of Islam, I am not a spokesperson of Europe or Austria, of leftist or rightist parties, and religion is far away from my interests. I sent this article, “Islamophobia between propaganda and facts” in response to Professor F.H. from the University of Vienna, who wrote to tell me about his speech in acceptance of a prestigious award for his book about islamophobia in Austria. Dr. F.H sent me an e-mail saying: “I have just visited your homepage and thought that you may find this interesting: http://www …”. I read the speech of the doctor and I sent him as answer what I wrote below. I asked him to permit me to publish his speech. I have not yet received an answer from him. Even the issue of “islamophobia” is not something that I see touches me directly, and until Professor F.H. wrote me, was not something I would have given too much thought. I think that labeling this complex political issue as “phobia” on part of the Europeans rests from its urgency and also belittles the real worries of many people.

Dear F.H.,

Thank you for your interest in my writing, and for sharing with me the very interesting text of your speech. I think that it accurately reflects a part of the problem. I normally do not talk about this subject, and religion is also far away from my interests. Your speech about islamophobia brought this issue to my attention again. I think that islamophobia is actually hatred and violence directed against women under the guise of religion and religious differences. Hopefully, on a day not too distant, a cleansing process similar to what has been forced upon the Catholic Church will take place within Muslim communities too. On that day, I will be the first one to open my mouth to relate what I have heard from other women and seen myself.

In my view, and from my experience, we are individually and as communities of immigrants responsible for how the peoples of the countries perceive and receive us. While many people like to think that we come here with rights, it is too often forgotten that we also come here with duties, like respecting the peoples, cultures and customs, the laws and the religion of these countries. We do not need to forget our culture, which is part of us, and we also have no right to impose our culture and values on the Austrians and the other European peoples. As foreigners, regardless of out legal status in these countries which have received us very well on average, we must know how to be foreigners and always remember that each one of us is an ambassador for all of us.

The Austrians, and other European peoples, correctly view us as “other” and “foreigners”, whom they must get to know better before extending us their personal approval or rejection. This has nothing to do with “racism” or “islamophobia” but is normal to thinking, adult persons. Racism, religious discrimination, misogyny and other forms of hatred of the “other” are almost always instigated by groups acting for their own political and/or economic interest, building on this perception of “other” which is natural to us all. “Islamophobia”, the rejection and hatred of all people and things identified as “Muslim” and “Islamic”, is exactly one such phenomenon: hatred of the other because of who and what they are not, instigated by interests which try to remain in the shadows.

But also, “islamophobia” as you call it, does not happen in a vacuum, it happens in the context of many anecdotal events which are perceived and remembered by the silent majority of Europeans who have seen Muslims living here during the last several decades. In my experience, Islam is perceived as misogynist by westerners, and the most often discussed trait of Islam among westerners is treatment of women. Europeans see, and correctly reject in disgust, the miserable conditions in which many Muslim women live and how they are treated. What are most visible to Europeans in public are Muslim women walking around covered to various degrees, in shabby attire which reflects miserable living conditions. Covered Muslim women have become the symbol for everything about Islam that is objectionable. These women at once are the victims of a system of brutal suppression exerted on them by misguided men under the influence of interpretations of Islamic religious literature which are simply wrong, and at the same time they carry the full weight of the rejection of these host societies while being the weakest and most vulnerable members of these Muslim immigrant communities.

While the religion of Islam offers ample material which recommends treating women in the most respectful way, it is true that a morass of customs and a whole culture of hatred based on misinterpretations of the religious texts in ways which are against women exists in most Islamic countries, and that these customs are for the most part followed in Muslim communities throughout the western countries. The religious literature says that “the wives of the believers” should cover (dress) themselves in a way which makes them appear as respectable and respected members of society and which will not specifically identify them as “wives of believers. In cases where a woman of exceptional beauty fears that she will be harmed because of this, she may cover herself.

These orders were given by God to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and to his followers during a time when Islam existed surrounded by pagans not always well-disposed towards Muslims. In my knowledge, there are no Prophets and Khalifas in our day, but merely men imposing their power upon women by use of raw force and under the pretext of wrong interpretations of Islam, and worse, by disregarding all respect for them.

The introduction of covers like Niqab under the guise of religious duty could be seen as blasphemous. For Muslim women living in western societies to cover themselves using Niqab, Burqa or even less restrictive attires, has the net effect of bringing social disadvantages upon themselves and their families, so alone on this account the practice should be viewed as being against the Islamic religion. Cover of any kind should also be seen as unnecessary because all women are protected in their persons and rights by law which are generally respected, and customs respectful towards women which are the cause of pride to many Europeans.

What is much less visible in public, and is never spoken about, is the comportment of Muslim men towards their female relatives and other women. Two cases in point are a recent case which happened in Vienna about which I wrote (see here and see here), and the case of the woman who was recently fined for driving with a veil in France. I saw her husband flippantly claiming on TV that there is nothing in law forbidding one to have a mistress or four. How can these women allow themselves being denigrated in public in such a way, characterized as doxies by the man who is their husband under Islamic religious law? Why did the woman seen with him on TV not spit on him?

Fact is, laws forbidding polygamy in European jurisdictions are routinely circumvented in this way, by declaring the “other” wives as mistresses or not at all. Many Muslim men living here often enough marry several women under Islamic law and not declare these (illegal) marriages before the government. These undeclared wives will then be sent to ask for money from the government, often expressly forbidden by the husband to work even if she would like to. If the woman objects, she will be subject to violence, threatened with divorce or sent back to her parents, what will render her unmarriable and dishonorable, sealing her fate. If there are children, the man often keeps them, as they also mean “income” from social services. This process can be repeated. This practice also bases on a “convenient” interpretation of Islamic literature. Fact is, the Quran allows a man to marry up to 4 women IF he is wealthy and has the means to sustain them. Also, it must be noted that this practice was originally intended to protect widows and destitute women from social decline or poverty, and not so that lazy men could send women to beg money for them.

Today it is still normal to find Muslim women living in Europe submitted to genital mutilation, for them to be locked in by their fathers, husbands or sons, to be brought up to be servants of their male relatives, to be coerced into polygamous relations, to be engaged by their fathers, as children, to boys in far-away lands and to be shipped off as soon as they arrive at puberty. Boys on their part are taught to expect that their sisters, mothers and daughters must obey their whims at once. Woe to the woman of Muslim background who does not submit to this system of suppression and repression, as we must fear being murdered by the family for “honor”, and if this is not possible here, to be shipped back to where the family originated and have the deed done by a cousin or uncle, or be forced to marry somebody there. A personal acquaintance, somebody who has lived for 40 years and prospered here, told me that “to receive a girl in this society is a catastrophe” (because women could learn to think by themselves), from another I know that he shipped a daughter aged 14 off to be married to somebody in a catastrophe area.

In the current misguided discussion about Burka, Niqab and other forms of cover, the losers are women in all cases. The net result of the law proposed in France by that simpleton Sarközy, and similar laws and edicts which will probably follow throughout Europe, will be that most of these women, who must cover themselves in public in order to not fall afoul of their male relatives, will not be able to participate in life beyond the walls of their homes, they will effectively be put under house arrest.

If we wish to eliminate the visible signs of mistreatment and dejection of women within Muslim communities, laws can only be the last step of the process. The change should come from within the communities, and it should involve not only an abstract change in thinking, but the active disenfranchisement of religious and political figures which in any way or form tolerate, condone or even look the other way when it comes to the dehumanization, mistreatment or suppression of women for any reasons whatsoever. This should not be limited to the figures within the Muslim communities, but should extend to judges who excuse violence against women because “such are the customs of the perpetrator”, as was recently the case in a verdict in Korneuburg if I remember correctly.

I think that visibly taking responsibility for the lacking treatment of women from within Muslim communities will go a long way in conferring these communities, and Muslims in general, more acceptance and respectability from outside and ultimately give us influence in the political process of the country.

Beyond the women issue, what the Austrians (and other Europeans) see of us Muslims, and this determines their perception of us, are community markets which are increasingly dominated by Muslim immigrants and which do not meet their expectations of hygiene, a proliferation of Kebab-stands which sell inedible wares and blight the city, favoritism from of the authorities, which are seen as lowering their standards when conceding business permits to immigrants, courts of justice which condone violence against women on part of Muslim men, cover-up on side of the commercial media of crimes perpetrated by Muslim immigrants, vast abuse of the social system on side of mostly Muslim immigrants, gangs of Muslim immigrant youths on the streets who do not care about the customs of the country, who are often involved in violence, harassment of women and petty crime against others.

We must also take responsibility for this, as we can not expect from the common European, Austrian man or woman to understand what causes all these issues, which in sum threaten, to them, to overwhelm the character of this country as a place worthy living in. To them we are people who have brought problems here which did not exist before. I think that these issues should be taken care of, in the best interest of everybody.

The FPÖ and their objectionable anti-foreigner stance, the Swiss minaret referendum and other related issues are perfectly valid and legitimate expressions of the worries of an increasing part of the people of Austria and other European countries. It is wrong to dismiss them as “racist” without a second thought, and we do so at our own peril. The FPÖ, the minaret referendum, and related political issues are at once made possible by decades of constant propaganda demonizing and dehumanizing Muslims, Arabs and anything and anybody related to us, by behavior of immigrant Muslim communities which is objectively and visibly inappropriate when taking in consideration the laws, expectations and values of the Austrians, and by (perceived) attitudes and activities of the academic and political agencies of public life which are appropriate towards exacerbating existing conflicts, not to solve them in the best interest of us all.

What the Europeans and Austrians seldom see, are the many immigrants from Muslim countries who have become doctors, engineers, academics, traders, workers and employees, who together with their families have done their best to integrate into and contribute their part to the society of this country, people who often do not rest on religion as the main trait defining their identity. These people, who do not correspond to the image of retrograde, extremist religious zealots, are seldom shown in the media and are at best given lip service by established political forces. This shows, in my opinion, that the religious groups which are traded as our representatives on the political scene in this country do not represent our interests well, and that they probably do not understand which are the interests of this community outside their own shortsighted views. I hold that our common interests should not be represented against Austrian customs as seems to be the case, but within what is considered acceptable by the Austrians who are not of immigrant background.

While the clienteles of FPÖ and similar forces on the “right” of the political spectrum complain about what are the most visible activities and attitudes of immigrant Muslim communities, my impression is that the “left” of the established political spectrum, out of opportunism, courts out of political opportunism (securing votes) groups constituted around a reactionary religious establishment which at once promotes a role of women which is undesirable by Austrian (actually, any) standards, which promotes exactly the attitudes criticized by the “right”, and which stands in the way of a constructive and lasting integration into a common Austrian culture of Muslim immigrants.

The main outside factor in the generation of “islamophobia” is in my opinion a decades old, pervasive, subtle and brutal propaganda campaign which is being waged through all western media with a very definite and clear intention. The visible political movements of the right, such as FPÖ in Austria, have nothing to do with this campaign; they are only opportunists picking the ripe fruit falling from this tree of evil. Without exception, western media portrays Muslims as a mixture of dangerous wild beasts, crazy religious zealots, woman beaters, terrorists, violence-prone idiots, thieves, rabble, backward, uneducated, dishonest desert-dwellers, and with other even less appealing and even more dehumanizing epithets which hugely overstate and exaggerate social problems which we have.

In sum, this relentless campaign of propaganda against Muslims can be characterized as being the second or third stage of genocide if we restrict our view to Europe – see

I include a quote from that Wikipedia article, which I think mentions clearly what this campaign of vilification of Muslims is about:

… members of the dominant society must perceive their potential victims as less than fully human: as “pagans,” “savages,” “uncouth barbarians,” “unbelievers,” “effete degenerates,” “ritual outlaws,” “racial inferiors,” “class antagonists,” “counterrevolutionaries,” and so on. In themselves, these conditions are not enough for the perpetrators to commit genocide. To do that—that is, to commit genocide—the perpetrators need a strong, centralized authority and bureaucratic organization as well as pathological individuals and criminals. Also required is a campaign of vilification and dehumanization of the victims by the perpetrators, who are usually new states or new regimes attempting to impose conformity to a new ideology and its model of society.

The results of this unrelenting propaganda campaign are impressive, and in sum they have shown themselves as extremely useful for the ruling elites of the western nations, to which Austria ultimately belongs. Countries which are dominantly Muslim or where sizable Muslim minorities live either are ruled by ruthless and murderous dictatorships which are invariably backed by US or European secret services, or they are the victims of interminable strings of wars, overt and covert genocide, or various stages of civil war. In these countries, the suppression of women from the social process is part of the warfare of these western-backed criminal regimes against the peoples which they rule by terror.

This is the picture between Morocco in the West and Philippines in the East. A prime example of such a regime is the wretchedly criminal PA which has been imposed upon Palestine by the zionists. As a result of this propaganda campaign, the genocide against Palestinians being perpetrated by zionist jews is regularly portrayed as something honorable in character, two wars between Iran and Iraq instigated by the CIA and MI6 were somehow dismissed in the media as “business as usual between brutes”, the wholesale destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan and the ensuing genocides perpetrated by the USA against these peoples are portrayed in the media as “the right thing to do”, “our only alternative”, “war against terror”, and other wholesome falsities.

As a result of this campaign, it is possible for Germany to give for free to the criminal operation called Israel six or seven submarines able to launch nuclear weapons; it is possible for president Sarközy to say that he wants to “Karcherize” the banlieus and be applauded as funny instead of being dismissed as the bigoted racist which he is; it is possible for Austria to support with troops for about 40 years the occupation of the Golan heights, in direct contravention to international law, and defend this as “peace keeping”; it is possible for the USA to account for the disappearance of 5 million Afghanis since the invasion in 2001 with a simple “accounting error” claim instead of seeing this as an instance of genocide; it is possible for the zionists to get away with over 60 years of dedicated genocide against us Palestinians and explain it away as “nation building”; it is possible for the city of Vienna to finance at enormous cost a PR campaign of the city of Tel Aviv which is designed to justify and normalize genocide and cleanse the stench of murder from Israel; it is possible for Ehud Barak, a criminal accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, to visit Austria and be called a “friend”. Many other similar instances of insane behavior and shows of moral depravity are all made possible by this campaign, and we see them everyday on TV mostly without noticing them.

This campaign of propaganda and perception management works through all media and many institutions of public life: it consists of computer games such as “Call of Duty 4” or “ Amer icas Army” where Muslim enemies, always portrayed as terrorists brandishing RPGs and AK47 guns can be shot at will; it consists of out-of-place skits by american actor Eddy Murphy which force the line that Muslims are terrorists; it consists of the misrepresentation of legitimate political groups in Muslim countries as terrorists; it happens each time when an Arab or Muslim from far-away lands is called “radical muslim” in news programs such as ZIB; of articles published in zionist newspapers which misrepresent, obfuscate and justify the zionist crimes against Palestinians; it consists of the vile bigot Sascha Baron Cohen and his “Borat” character, and of the director of the University of Vienna who disallowed a speech by Dr. Norman Finkelstein about the zionist crimes in Palestine on his premises of the university.

The most potent weapon of this propaganda campaign is the abstract slander of “anti-semitism”, which, while nobody knows exactly what it means, makes everybody shudders at being the target of this accusation, and it effectively silences any criticism of the many crimes of the zionist interests in its tracks.

This unrelenting campaign of vilification and active suppression of Muslims in western media should concern everybody, Muslims, Christians and also the followers of other religions. To ignore it for much longer will ultimately allow for “justified” outright mass murder against Muslims in many western nations, as has been the case in isolated incidents in Thailand, India, and the Philippines. When that happens, it will be too late, perhaps for decades, to look for a common ground with other population groups.

The campaign is waged by zionist interests, it is designed to vilify, belittle, dehumanize Muslims everywhere in ways not easily identifiable to the casual consumer of media, because they, zionists, perceive Arabs and Muslims (right or wrong) in general as a primary “support group” of the Palestinian cause, which they must discredit and weaken in order to attain legitimacy for their colonization of Palestine. In western countries, among them Austria, the campaign also has the purpose of hindering solidarity between Christians and Muslims, as it denigrates the “other” side and so prevents us to see that we actually have many common interests when we see beyond outwardly apparent differences.

As interested Muslims, we should concern us with solving to the best of our capacity the existing and most visible problems in our communities, starting with the suppression of women. Of equal urgency is that we concern us actively with the propaganda campaign waged by zionist interests against us. We will survive neither as communities nor as individual persons if we do not interest us in these problems affecting us. In order to be able to counter the vilification directed against us, Muslims must first solve the internal problems which affect these communities. We should equally take account of the worries of the host societies into which we have come, not by silencing them and denigrating their worries as racism or worse, but by respecting their laws and traditions, by listening to them attentively and doing our best to find the common ground which we have.

Lastly, it is of primary importance for a peaceful and constructive coexistence to unmask zionism as a poisonous, criminal ideology which parasitizes upon judaism just as the Nazi ideology parasitized upon the idea of being German, because no sensible discussion of politics in any context is possible without extensively analyzing the mostly undue influence exerted by zionists in political and social processes.

by Kawther Salam

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Demo For Free Education for All

Demo For Free Education for All

Jul 8th, 2009 by kawther.salam

“Stop the new European law – Stoppt die UG-novelle gegen Bildungsabbau”, “Education is a right and no privilege – Bildung ist ein recht und kein Privilege”, “Reclaim your University”, “Education not for sale”. See Demo photos
These signs were raised yesterday July 8 2009 at 11 in the morning in the Ring Street near the Parliament, during a small demonstration organized by the students of University of Vienna. The students sat in the middle of street and blocked the traffic in a clear challenge to the Austrian Police, who was present everywhere near the Parliament and around the demonstrators. The students were protesting against the negative policy of the government toward the education, and the new laws which should to be discussed between 8th and 10th July in the parliament. These new laws affect negatively the education and the students, and threatening the space of the democracy in the universities. The demonstrators described the new laws as a catastrophe which brings further massive deterioration for all universities, said the woman who spoke on behalf of the demonstrators.

The demonstrators said that the European education policies imposed during the recent years are aimed at the full economization of universities as well as the abolition of all democratic rights of teachers and students. They criticized the discussion of the law amendment under exclusion of the public by the parliament.

The Austrian police was unhappy with the students protesting, who surprised them by sitting suddenly in the middle of the street and hindering the traffic. The head of the police at the scene, Mag. Peter Famler, was seen addressing the protestors through a loudspeaker to free the street for the traffic, and to continue their protest at the place named in their permission for the demonstration. A while later, officer Famler was seen talking to the organizers of the demo for more than five minutes. Another Police officer was seen showing a paper to the demonstrators and ordering them to evacuate the street.

The protestors did not obey the orders of the police and challenged the orders to evacuate the street. They continued their sit in, chanting against the SPÖ government and refusing to leave the street. “It’s our rights to raise our voice before the government, who now sits in the parliament to discuss such grave laws against our future”, said one of the demonstration organizers.
The confrontation between the protesters and police was ended after the chief of the police ordered his troops to evacuate the protestors from the street. After that, many police troops were seen proceeding along the demonstrators with anger in their faces. They forced the protestors in a non-violent way to free the area. No violent action broke out during the evacuation. The police continued pushing the demonstrators to the front, and suddenly a police clashed with one of the demonstrators in the middle of the street.

Is the Demonstration Legal?
I asked the Chief of the Police Mag. Famler: “Is the demonstration legal?” My question came as a result of seeing the police chasing the demonstrators away. I had never seen such a confrontation between the police and the demonstrators in Vienna.
Mag. Famler, who I had seen addressing the demonstrating students in a peaceful way asking them to free the street, clarified that the students have the legal rights to demonstrate. He said: “we already permitted the student demonstration, but the demonstrators did not abide by the permitted place of their demonstration, and they changed the place where they demonstrated to a location around the corner at Löwelstrasse, before the entrance to the SPÖ headquarters, and then sat in the middle of Ring Street, and then blocked the passage of traffic in a provocative and illegal way. In this place, in the middle of the Ring Street, from where we evacuated the demonstrators, the demonstration was illegal”.

The demonstrators were allowed to continue their protest on Löwelstrasse, chanting against the SPÖ at the entrance to their headquarters. Four to five police were seen protecting the main entrance of the SPÖ. The chief of the police and the organizers of the demo organizers where seen talking with people from the local media.

See more Photos