Antisemitism Researcher: FPÖ Without Distinction from Right-Wing Extremism

"The FPÖ simply cannot or does not want to distance itself from the far-right sector," says anti-Semitism researcher Gerald Lamprecht in an APA interview.

No Distancing of the FPÖ from Right-Wing Extremism, "Rather the Opposite"

This is shown, for example, by the right-wing extremism report presented on Friday, as well as a multitude of so-called "individual cases". Just in the middle of the week, an FPÖ candidate for the Gänserndorf municipal council caused a stir with an "Eiernockerl" post. The dish is considered a favourite of Adolf Hitler and a code for right-wing extremism. "This happens all the time. But also the proximity to the (classified as right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, note) Identitarians. There is no distancing from the right-wing extremist sector, rather the opposite," said the researcher from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of Graz. One may at least doubt that this distancing would come with a chancellorship of FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, according to Lamprecht.

The scepticism of the Israelite Cultural Community (IKG) towards the FPÖ can also be historically justified. "I can understand it well if the Jewish community has problems with someone moving into the Chancellery who comes from the party that was essentially the catch basin for former National Socialists after 1945." Just on Thursday, IKG President Oskar Deutsch, when he was awarded the Grand Golden Badge of Honour, said it could have been his last visit to the Federal Chancellery for the next few years. The Jewish community is worried, some are already thinking about "packing their bags".

Anti-Semitism Researcher: Conflicts at Commemorations are Preprogrammed

Rosenkranz was prevented by the Jewish Student Union from laying a wreath in memory of the victims of the November pogroms shortly after he took office, after he had previously not been invited to the commemoration ceremony at the Shoah Wall of Names by the IKG. The President of the National Council then spoke of "violence", but considered "stepping aside". On Monday, he will participate in a commemoration ceremony in parliament, but Rosenkranz will not speak. "The fact that the descendants of the victims strictly reject the participation of representatives of the FPÖ has a certain form of plausibility. These debates will continue. If FPÖ members participate in commemorative events, the Jewish community will probably stay away. Conflicts are thus pre-programmed," says Lamprecht. When it comes to remembering and commemorating, there are two levels, according to the expert. "Very specifically, people were persecuted, people were murdered. The National Socialists intended not only the physical extermination, but also the extermination of the memory of these people. And when we remember today, we give these people a face, a name and a presence."

Contradiction Between Constant Individual Cases and Participation in Commemorative Ceremonies

It is also about the question "What does this have to do with us as a society?", and this implies "political memory". "This is exactly where the great conflict lies, that remembering and commemorating must not simply degenerate into a ritual, without then being reflected very concretely in politics. That is, on the one hand, attending a commemorative event, on the other hand, passing laws that discriminate against people, that is a discrepancy." This is exactly what it is ultimately about: "If there are constant individual cases, and then at the same time this group, where these individual cases occur, stands up and tries to uphold all these values associated with remembering, there is a contradiction." If the FPÖ wants to be welcome at commemorative ceremonies, it needs "credible politics that clearly distances itself from the right-wing extremist individual cases and commits itself to the basic values of a liberal, cosmopolitan society".

Anti-Semitism Researcher Sees Many Forms of Anti-Semitism

Lamprecht is critical of the term "imported anti-Semitism", which FPÖ and ÖVP representatives have used in recent months. "This is a political term. Here, an anti-Semitism debate is being mixed with a migration debate." Anti-Semitism has many faces: "There is a traditional right-wing extremist anti-Semitism in the midst of our society, which is articulated differently, but which is massively present. There is also an Islamist anti-Semitism, which is more prevalent, also in groups of people with a migration background." However, reducing the debate to immigrants only is a simplification of the problem and a trivialisation of anti-Semitism. "If you want to seriously combat anti-Semitism, you have to fight it in all its forms and expressions. From left to right, with or without a migration background."

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.