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Wednesday, March 18, 2020

The Muslim Brotherhood in Austria




The is the seventh in a series of translations by Fousesquawk of original-language articles regarding the Muslim Brotherhood in Western Europe-country by country. This 2017 report, from Die Presse, concerns a study by Lorenzo Vidino of George Washington University (GWU) of the Muslim Brotherhood in Austria. There is also a link to the study itself (in English) at the end of the translation.

https://www.diepresse.com/5285504/studie-warnt-vor-einfluss-der-muslimbruderschaft-in-osterreich

Study warns of influence of Muslim Brotherhood in Austria

The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood  has "considerable connections and influence" in Austria according to a  study by George Washington University

A study by George Washington University warns of activities of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood in Austria. This (MB) has "considerable connections and influence", is the conclusion of the extremism researcher Lorenzo Vidino. The unification of people and organizations close (to the MB) have taken key positions in the lives of Muslim immigrants in Austria.

Vidino is director of the Program on Extremism of George Washington University. For his report, "The Muslim Brotherhood in Austria", he worked together with the University of Vienna, the Federal Office for Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism (BVT), as well as the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF). As sources, Vidino ( utilized) existing publications, newspaper articles, contributions from social media as well as court records.

Network built in many European countries

The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928 in Egypt, has also spread in many Western countries since the late 1950s and early 1960s. The goal is "the gradual Islamization of society", according to a mailing by the Interior Ministry on the study. For this purpose, the Muslim Brotherhood  has built "a a network from social organizations, educational institutions and companies". 

"Due to their strong networking and professional structure, supporters of the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, and their related organizations have increased as contact points for Western elites in the Muslim community", explains the author of the study, Vidino, who for 15 years has been involved with the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood organizations in the West as well as with jihadist mobilization dynamics.

According to Vidino, people and organizations close to the Muslim Brotherhood have taken over key positions in the lives of Muslim immigrants in Austria. For example, the IRPA (Institute of Islamic Religion) - responsible for the training of Islamic religious teachers, and which belongs to the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGiÖ)- due to various associations with the Muslim Brotherhood, is "doubtless under their influence".

"Central Role" in the Reception of Asylum-Seekers


Organizations and people with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood have taken a "central role" in the reception of asylum-seekers from majority-Muslim countries into Austria, Vidino writes. " "However, their efforts run counter to the measures of Austrian policy, since their values are in contradiction to the constitutional values of Austria," he adds.


"The Muslim Brotherhood aims for a splitting of society and a strengthening of the influence of political Islam,"according to the author of the study. Thus, any critical confrontation with Islam is categorically rejected as "Islamophobia". " That extends to the justification of violence- an attitude that presents a supportive environment for radicalization," says Vidino. Anti-Muslim incidents have been deliberately exaggerated by Islamist circles

"The spread of the narrative of Muslims as victims must be considered with concern, especially before the backdrop of the sharp rise in Islamist radicalization in Europe," Vidino sums up.

 Strache Demands "Sharp Action"

The FPÖ (Freedom Party of Austria) used the occasion of the study to demand "sharp action". "The expansion of radical Islam in Vienna is the nucleus of terrorist evil", said top candidate Heinz-Christian Strache on Thursday in a  press release. Especially in Vienna, we have seen "Salafist activity" long enough, to which there must be a final end.

Strache demanded a "sharp action against everything and everyone who pushes a radical-Islamist and criminal ideology." The Muslim Brotherhood has long been observed  by the German (police) for the Protection of the Constitution, and therefore, should finally be banned in Austria. In addition, Strache demands "urgently necessary and immediate strict controls" of Muslim kindergartens, schools and associations, and also a ban on distributing the Koran in public places and streets in Vienna. 
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The GWU report referenced in the above article may be accessed here in English.






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