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REPORT ON GLOBAL ANTISEMITISMAUSTRIAThe Austrian NGO Forum gegen Antisemitismus (the Forum against Anti-Semitism, FGA) reported five physical attacks during the reporting period and eight in 2003. On July 30, 2003, according to the Coordination Forum, several unidentified persons beat an Orthodox Jew. The man was attacked from behind and beaten with belts. The assailants fled the scene and have not been arrested or identified. The victim was hospitalized suffering from bruises but was fully conscious. In a separate incident, an unknown assailant attacked two Orthodox Jews, one of whom was injured. In another incident, skinheads attacked the vice-director of a Jewish school in Vienna with a beer bottle, leaving the victim with injuries. FGA also recorded 122 anti-Semitic incidents in the first 11 months of the year and 134 in 2003. The incidents included name-calling, graffiti/defacement, threatening letters, anti-Semitic Internet postings, property damage, vilifying letters and telephone calls, and physical attacks. The European Union's Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia declared that anti-Semitism in the country is characterized by diffuse and traditional anti-Semitic stereotypes rather than by acts of physical aggression. On May 24, the Coordination Forum reported that a letter with anti-Semitic and xenophobic contents was received at the Jewish Community Building in Vienna. On June 1, in Villach, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), vandals smashed a memorial honoring Holocaust victims in southern Austria. The memorial consisted of 17 glass plates engraved with the names of 108 local Holocaust victims. Vandals previously damaged the memorial in March 2003. On October 24, the Coordination Forum reported that anti-Semitic comments were made at a neo-Nazi convention in the Province of Klagenfurt. Local authorities are examining whether holding the convention was a violation of the law. On November 25, 2003, according to the Coordination Forum, an anonymous telephone call was received at the Jewish school in Vienna; the caller said: "There is a bomb in the school." He repeated the announcement and hung up. The school was evacuated and police conducted a search of the premises, but found nothing. The law prohibits any racially motivated or anti-Semitic propaganda, and as a result, anti-Jewish propaganda does not exist in government publications. Nongovernmental media that seek to promote anti-Semitism cannot do so openly, but attempt to use veiled language that is nevertheless clearly understood by most citizens. Such groups are under close observation by the Government (especially the Bureau for Protection of the Constitution) and by private anti-discrimination groups. The Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance (DOEW) monitors the activities and publications of extreme right-wing groups and considers the following to contain revisionist and extremist viewpoints: Aula, Kommentare zur Zeitgeschehen, Arbeitsgemeinschaft fuer demokratische Politik (AFP), Huttenbriefe-Deutsches Kulturwerk Europaeischen Geistes (DKEG)/Deutsche Kulturgemeinschaft (DKG), Die Kameradschaft (Kameradschaft IV (K IV)), Fakten (published by "Die Kritischen Demokraten"), Der Eckart (Oesterreichische Landsmannschaft (OELM)), PNO-Nachrichten (Partei Neue Ordnung (PNO)), Top Secret - Phoenix, Die Umwelt, and Halt. The 1947 Law Against Neo-Nazi Activity ("Verbotsgesetz") prohibits any form of neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism and any type of activity in the spirit of National Socialism. In particular, it bans National Socialist or neo-Nazi organizations, and prohibits incitement to neo-Nazi activity, as well as the glorification or praise of National Socialist ideology. It also prohibits public denial, belittlement, approval, or justification of National Socialist crimes, including the Holocaust. The Criminal Code prohibits public incitement to hostile acts, insult, or contempt against a church or religious society, or public incitement against a group based on race, nationality, or ethnicity, if that incitement could pose a danger to the public order. The Government strictly enforces its anti-neo-Nazi legislation and provides police protection for Jewish community institutions. During the reporting period, the country implemented the EU anti-discrimination guidelines. The Ministry of the Interior's Internet hotline for reporting National Socialist activity received 140 reports of right-wing extremist activity, particularly in connection with the Internet. The FGA reported that cooperation with the police and federal and regional authorities is very good. The FGA also stated that leading newspapers have been very responsive to requests to remove anti-Semitic postings on their online forum pages. The Government recognized the Jewish faith community as one of 13 religious societies under an 1874 law. This had wide-ranging implications, such as providing the authority to participate in the mandatory church contributions program, to provide religious instruction in public schools, and to bring religious workers into the country to act as ministers, missionaries, or teachers. The Government also provided financial support to religious teachers affiliated with religious societies at both public and private schools. Holocaust education was generally taught as part of history instruction, but also was featured in other subjects under the heading "political education (civics)." Religious education classes were another forum for teaching the tenets of different religions and overall tolerance. Special teacher training seminars were available on the subject of Holocaust education. The Education Ministry also ran a program through which Holocaust survivors talked to school classes about National Socialism and the Holocaust. One example of a large-scale Holocaust education project was the "Letters to the Stars" in 2003, in which more than 15,000 students participated. Students chose a Holocaust victim who had lived in their neighborhood, did research on the person's life, and then wrote a letter to that victim. The letters were released on balloons during a ceremony on May 5. e-mail: embassy@usembassy.at |
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