Meinl-Reisinger: No Place for Antisemitism in Austria
"Since October 7 (2023, note), we have been experiencing an incredible ordeal due to daily anti-Semitic attacks," said the President of the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG), Oskar Deutsch, during a working meeting on challenges and developments in the fight against anti-Semitism, to which Foreign Minister Meinl-Reisinger had invited on Monday in response to the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023.
Call for "Boycott of Anti-Semitism"
"A resilient democracy, an open society must be able to ensure the protection, freedom, and dignity of each and every individual," Meinl-Reisinger further demanded. Deutsch urged action against "incitement and hatred, both online and on our streets, accompanied by a lack of empathy in large parts of society." The Jewish community is under enormous pressure, and there is an urgent need for effective measures that bring noticeable relief. Every area of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches must do everything to combat anti-Semitism. "We do not need a boycott of the Jewish state, we need a boycott of anti-Semitism."
"We take every form of anti-Semitism seriously - whether from the right, the left, or from Islamist milieus," said the responsible State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery, Alexander Pröll. Anti-Semitism has "no place in our schools, nor anywhere else in Austria," declared Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS). "If we lose the fight against anti-Semitism, and our Jewish fellow citizens cannot live free from fear, we ultimately lose ourselves - and thus the foundation on which our society rests," Meinl-Reisinger concluded.
The discussion was also attended by representatives of the Jewish Community of Vienna as well as experts from academia, education, and civil society. The focus of the debate was the joint fight against anti-Semitism in light of existing challenges and current developments worldwide and in Austria. The aim was to give voice to the experiences of the Jewish community and openly discuss expectations of politics in order to effectively counter anti-Semitism together.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.