Vienna protest camp

ÖH blames anti-Semitic groups

According to the Austrian Student Union, anti-Semitic groups are behind the protest camp in Vienna.

(Bild: Bartel Gerhard)

The Austrian National Union of Students (ÖH) holds anti-Semitic groups responsible for the protest camp in Vienna. It cited Der Funke and the BDS campaign against Israel as examples. Jewish students are currently feeling increasingly insecure.

These threat scenarios would not help the suffering people in Palestine either. "As much as we must criticize the Israeli government's brutal warfare, this must never lead to Jewish people no longer feeling safe," the student representation stated in a press release. A liberated Palestine could only go hand in hand with liberation from Hamas and could not mean the extinction of the Jewish state.

Around 100 people camped out on the campus of the University of Vienna.

(Bild: APA/Max Slovencik)

They had previously taken part in a demonstration for Palestine.

(Bild: APA/Max Slovencik)

Still 30 to 40 people in the camp
As reported , around 100 people had set up tents on the campus of the University of Vienna at the Altes AKH after a demonstration for Palestine on Monday. They had put up banners, waved Palestine flags and chanted slogans. By late Tuesday morning, around 30 to 40 protesters were still on site. The police are monitoring the rally and currently see no reason to break it up. No one had acted criminally and neither public safety nor welfare were at risk.

Demands such as an end to cooperation
Around ten tents are still set up on the meadow, with oriental music playing in the background. Among other things, the activists are demanding that universities and research institutes stop collaborating with the European Defense Fund and weapons manufacturers. No money should be spent on armaments and military research. The demands have apparently been copied from US models and are hardly suitable for domestic universities.

As much as one must criticize the brutal warfare of the Israeli government, this must never lead to Jewish people no longer feeling safe.

Österreichische HochschülerInnenschaft (ÖH)

The team from the University of Vienna distanced itself in the evening. The presentation was one-sided and intolerant. Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) said that "there is no place for anti-Semites and extremists at Austria's universities."

"There is certainly the potential for this to intensify," said the President of the Jewish Austrian Student Union (JÖH), Alon Ishay. It is of course permissible to demonstrate against war, "but anyone shouting 'Bomb Tel Aviv' or 'Intifada' is not calling for peace, but for the murder of Jews." Leaflets calling for violent uprisings against Israel were also distributed at the protest camp in Vienna on Monday.

Jews often do not identify themselves
Even before the Hamas attack on 7 October, many avoided identifying themselves as Jewish students at university, according to Ishay. In everyday life, anti-Semitism comes mainly from the left. In other European countries, where there are also protests, Jewish students are already afraid of verbal and physical attacks.

Those who are now showing solidarity with the Palestinian population should perhaps take a look at who is behind the protests and whether they are being manipulated, said NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger on Tuesday.