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ISLAM

Vienna mosque defaced by graffiti

In the wake of the Islamist-inspired terror attack in Paris, a mosque in a building used by the Vienna Islamic Centre was defaced by Islamophobic graffiti on Thursday.

Vienna mosque defaced by graffiti
Photo: Tuna Mosque

Police were called to investigate the incident on Thursday morning, when the faithful turned up for their morning prayers.  

The graffiti next to the door of the Tuna mosque at the corner of Adamgasse and Krieglergasse said "Paris! Islam = shit out". 

A mosque official said that he saw the graffiti, and reported the incident to police.  He added that the act was most likely motivated by the attack in Paris, in his opinion.

He also said that Islamophobia was increasing in Austria, with recent incidents including pig parts being left in front of mosques, and attacks on women wearing headscarves.

“They disturb us too,” he added. “How can we be sure they're not going to harm us while we're praying at nights?”

During the last six months in Austria, a pig's head was left at the construction area of the Eyüp Sultan Islamic High School, a Nazi symbol was scrawled on another mosque building in the town of Telfs and numerous women wearing headscarves have been verbally and physically attacked.

"We condemn the graffiti attack on our unity in the strongest possible terms. It was on the basis of the attack in Paris that racist graffiti was written on the wall of the mosque," the sponsoring organization of the Tuna mosque wrote in the Austrian edition of the Turkish newspaper Zaman.

"The Viennese Islamic Federation has criticized the events in Paris and stresses that this can not be reconciled with Islam. In this context, we want to reiterate that we are against any violence that disrupts social unity and communion", it added.

The group has received threatening phone calls, an official said on Thursday. However, the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGiÖ) has so far not requested special police protection for their facilities and representatives after the attacks in France. 
 
Enhanced surveillance of mosques had also not been requested. "We hope it will not be necessary," the group said.

TERRORISM

What is the risk of new terror attacks in Austria?

Following the March 22nd attack in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall that left over 140 dead, European governments are evaluating the threat of terror attacks. Is Austria a target for fresh terrorist attacks?

What is the risk of new terror attacks in Austria?

With responsibility for the Moscow attack being taken by the Islamist terror organisation ISIS-K, national intelligence services are reevaluating the threat posed to targets within their borders. 

‘No concrete threat’

Austrian officials have been quick to give their appraisal of the situation. 

“We currently have the Islamist scene under control,” stressed Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the Directorate of State Security & Intelligence (DSN) – the governmental agency responsible for combatting internal threats – in an interview with the Ö1 Morgenjournal radio programme on Tuesday. 

He continued: “The terrorist attacks in Moscow, for example, definitely increase the risk. But at the moment, we do not see any concrete threat of an attack in Austria,”

Other experts and officials have warned that while there are no concrete threats, Austrians should not be complacent. 

‘Situation is still valid’ 

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced tighter security at church festivals during the Easter period, in the days after the attack, and stressed that the high terror alert level introduced after the October 7 Hamas attacks was still in place. 

“This increased risk situation is still valid,” noted Karner.

READ MORE: What does Austria’s raised terror alert mean for the public?

Meanwhile, terror researcher Peter Neumann of King’s College London told ORF’s ‘ZiB 2’ news broadcast on Monday that Austria remains a potential target due to its Central Asian migrant population. 

Neumann noted that countries at most risk are those “in which Tajik and Central Asian diasporas exist and where ISIS-K finds it relatively easy to identify and recruit people”. 

He continued, identifying both Austria and Germany as “countries in which the ISPK is particularly active and which are particularly at risk from terrorist attacks”.

New threats

Austria has not been spared from attacks from homegrown terrorists.

On November 2nd 2020, amid Coronavirus lockdowns, Austrian-born Kujtim Fejzulai shot and killed four, injuring twenty-three others during a shooting spree across Vienna. He was ultimately shot dead by police. 

Fejzulai was already under surveillance by federal authorities for his beliefs and had been released from prison on parole less than a year before. 

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