Austria's Muslims 'Concerned but Not Afraid'
Two right-wing parties, the conservative OVP and far-right FPO, both of which relied heavily on anti-Muslim rhetoric prejudice in the campaign, came first and third respectively. Now, they’re expected to form a government together.
"To see that Austria has a majority of nearly 60% of right wing voters is not something that would make me happy. I think anti-Muslim rhetoric will continue, but I know Austria is strong enough to manage it,” Al-Rawi adds.
His mixture of anxiety and optimism is understandable as he was a candidate of the left-wing SPO party, which despite better-than-expected results in Vienna will likely have to relinquish its hold on power in the country after finishing behind OVP nationally.
His view is reflected by others who share his religion and have confidence in Austria’s ability to protect their rights.
‘A Christian country’
The Favoriten is a working-class district which is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in Vienna. In the Attaysir mosque Dawid, an eloquent student from Chechnya, who fled conflict to come to Europe recalls how things have changed since he arrived in 2008.
"Things looked different [Then]… now, people don’t like us”, he claims, adding, surprisingly, that he can understand the tensions. "This is a Christian country. They do what they want. If you go to Turkey or Saudi Arabia, and start to discredit Islam, the reaction will be the same”.
"If I can study and work, that’s ok. If they try to touch me or my family, I will tell them to step back”, he adds admitting that he himself has never experienced any sort of prejudice. In Austria, there are around 700,000 Muslims from a range of different ethnicities and backgrounds.
Unlike many other countries in Europe, Austria has long history of integration with Islam. As early as 1912 Austro-Hungarian empire formally recognized the religion within its legal system. The Muslim community has been rooted in the nation’s society since the 1960s when workers began moving from the south and east.
"The public mood changed in the late 1990s, when politicians discovered that the Muslim issue is effective to mobilize voters”, said Carla Amina Baghajati, spokeswoman for the Austrian Islamic Religious Authority.
"I’m not afraid either”, she admits. "I have trust in the rule of law”.
But what Baghajati is concerned about is that terrorism or the refugee crisis are being mixed up with the situation of Muslims in general. "It should be the other way round. Those who have a longer history in Austria should be used to help to solve these problems, not labeled as enemies”.
The far-right FPO has always relied on attacking Islam, whether in the person of Jorg Haider twenty years ago or more recently Norbert Hofer, narrowly edged out in the 2016 presidential election. During the past few months, though, the conservative OVP took a similar line.
Source: Euronews
