IIn Austria there have been several incidents in which Israeli flags that were flown on public buildings as a sign of solidarity with the Israeli victims of the Hamas terrorist attack were torn down. Such incidents have occurred several times in several state capitals over the past ten days, most recently on Sunday evening in Linz and Salzburg. In Vienna on Saturday night, a flag was torn down from the main synagogue, the so-called city temple, of the Israelite Community (IKG), and the perpetrators then trampled on it, as shown by images from surveillance cameras and witness statements.
The perpetrators, so far identified, are young people. Some people were told that they were Syrians. In Vienna, a 17-year-old youth involved was identified who confessed but denied political reasons. The search is still underway for the two other perpetrators, whom she said she only met by chance.
After incidents in Linz and Salzburg, teenagers, some from Syria, were identified as perpetrators and “reported at large,” the police said. They had torn down and, in one case, cut up flags that had been hung at Mirabell Palace in Salzburg and the Old Town Hall in Linz.
The mayor of Graz did not want to hang up the Israel flag
The Vienna City Temple is now guarded around the clock by police officers. The fact that this was not the case before, even though there was a request for it from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, led to critical discussions. The president of the cultural community, Oskar Deutsch, said, “The Israel flag is flying again at the IKG building. . . We will not let ourselves be defeated!” The Israeli embassy expressed “great concern” about these outbursts of hatred, but the designated ambassador David Roet praised the fact that Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and the government had immediately condemned the act.
The communist mayor of Graz, Elke Kahr, had difficulty with the idea of hanging an Israeli flag on the town hall of the Styrian capital. She wanted to keep the lighting in the colors of Israel. However, the opposition ÖVP submitted a motion to hang the flag and achieved a majority in the local council.
Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) assured on Monday that the police were doing “everything humanly possible” to ensure the safety of the Jewish population. There is also “a special historical responsibility” for this. Security, both covert and visible, of Jewish institutions has been increased. In view of the anti-Israel demonstrations that were also held in Austria, Karner said that all means available under the rule of law would be used here. It “turns his stomach” when slogans like “Death to Israel” are shouted.
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