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Ski star joins campaign in support of refugees

Austrian alpine skiing champion Marcel Hirscher has joined a new social media campaign using the hashtag #showyourfacechallenge - speaking out in support of refugees and against xenophobia.

Ski star joins campaign in support of refugees
Marcel Hirscher. Photo: News Zach - Kiesling Roman

“As an athlete I don’t usually express my opinion on political issues, and there are certainly more appropriate people who could do this,” 26-year-old Hirscher says in a video uploaded to Facebook.

He adds that as winter and colder weather approaches it is time to show that “there is a clear majority, who react with compassion and understanding instead of hatred or fear. And that is why I say: Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here.” On Thursday morning his video had almost 300,000 views on Facebook.

At the end of the clip he nominates others to follow his example and film a short #showyourfacechallenge video – including Austrian President Heinz Fischer, soccer star David Alaba and fellow alpine skier and Olympic gold medallist Anna Fenninger.

The #showyourfacechallenge was only launched on Monday by 32-year-old Vienna-based actor Wojo van Brouwer. “It cannot be that the people who stir up hatred against refugees, are louder than we are – the people who have welcomed refugees into our country. We must show our faces and this is why I’m starting this challenge,” van Brouwer says in his video.

 

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REFUGEES ARE WELCOME HERE!

Leute, ich wurde von Peter Hörmanseder, besser bekannt als eine Teil von Maschek, für die #showyourfacechallenge nominiert und sage dafür aufrichtig DANKE. Ich äußere mich als Sportler normalerweise nicht zu politischen Themen, dafür gibt es Geeignetere, doch hier geht es nicht um Politik sondern um Anstand. Wenn es kälter wird in unserem Land, und nicht der Winter dafür verantwortlich ist, dann gilt es zu zeigen, dass die große Mehrheit anders denkt. Mitgefühl und Verständnis sind angesagt, anstatt Angst und Hass. Und deshalb sage ich: SAY IT LOUD, SAY IT CLEAR, REFUGEES ARE WELCOME HERE!Und nun nominiere ich den sehr geehrten Herrn Bundespräsident Dr. Heinz Fischer, unseren Fußballstar David Alaba, die beste Skifahrerin der Gegenwart Anna Fenninger, meine geschätzten Kollegen Aksel Lund Svindal und unseren Lieblingsnachbarn Felix Neureuther

Posted by Marcel Hirscher on Wednesday, September 2, 2015

FAR-RIGHT

Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

Radical Austrian nationalist Martin Sellner has been banned from entering Germany, it emerged on Tuesday, days after he was deported from Switzerland.

Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

Sellner, a leader of Austria’s white pride Identitarian Movement, posted a video of himself on X, formerly Twitter, reading out a letter he said was from the city of Potsdam.

A spokeswoman for the city authorities confirmed to AFP that an EU citizen had been served with a “ban on their freedom of movement in Germany”.

The person can no longer enter or stay in Germany “with immediate effect” and could be stopped by police or deported if they try to enter the country, the spokeswoman said, declining to name the individual for privacy reasons.

READ ALSO: Who is Austria’s far-right figurehead banned across Europe?

“We have to show that the state is not powerless and will use its legitimate means,” Mike Schubert, the mayor of Potsdam, said in a statement.

Sellner caused an uproar in Germany after allegedly discussing the Identitarian concept of “remigration” with members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at a meeting in Potsdam in November.

Reports of the meeting sparked a huge wave of protests against the AfD, with tens of thousands of Germans attending demonstrations across the country.

READ ALSO:

Swiss police said Sunday they had prevented a hundred-strong far-right gathering due to be addressed by Sellner, adding that he had been arrested and deported.

The Saturday meeting had been organised by the far-right Junge Tat group, known for its anti-immigration and anti-Islamic views.

The group is also a proponent of the far-right white nationalist Great Replacement conspiracy theory espoused by Sellner’s Identitarian Movement.

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