Revenge on the West

“Attacks like this don’t happen overnight”

(Bild: krone.tv )

Shortly after the fatal knife attack in Villach, investigators classify the attacker as an Islamist. The 23-year-old Syrian is said to have radicalized himself on the internet within a few months. The 14-year-old who is said to have planned an attack on the Westbahnhof train station also became radicalized on the Internet. What is it about the phenomenon of flash radicalization? And what should Austria do?

 "Such attacks don't happen overnight, but social media can accelerate terrorist activities a little," explains Ednan Aslan, Professor of Islamic Religious Education at the Institute for Islamic Theological Studies. It's about anti-Western resentment for various reasons. These are also promoted by our Western mosques. "If they have learned to devalue a certain way of life, to condemn it as immoral, it is only a matter of time before they want to destroy this civilization. These feelings of revenge only begin when a certain group is condemned as immoral, un-Islamic."

According to Aslan, there are no differences in doctrine between the radical interpretation of Islam, Salafism and Islam. "Many imams and pastors who actually reject the teachings of Salafism actually teach the same doctrine in their mosque community. What the Salafists do is that they implement this doctrine that they constantly preach. In Salafism, the interpretations are becoming more and more radical."

Ednan Aslan, Professor of Islamic Religious Education at the Institute for Islamic-Theological Studies

(Bild: krone.tv )

For Ednan Aslan, it is incomprehensible what these people want in Europe. "If they want to defend such values, they can do so in countries like Syria or Afghanistan. There are Salafists in power who live such values. So I can't understand the point of people who want Salafism living in Europe."

Watch the whole interview in the video above!