7 in 10 Austrians: “Islam is not compatible with the West”

A new study out of the University of Salzburg has revealed that seven out of ten Austrians believe that Islam isn’t compatible with the Western world.

The university study, which surveyed 1,200 people, discovered that an overwhelming majority of population are greatly worried about the effect Islam is having on Austria, with 80 percent of those surveyed saying that they wanted Muslims to be monitored more closely, Austra’s leading newspaper Kronen Zeitung reports.

Of those who participated in the survey, 72 percent said that Muslims were not a cultural asset to the country. Half of the participants said they wouldn’t object to policies that would restrict Muslims’ ability to practice religion, while nearly just as many said the mosques in Austria shouldn’t be tolerated at all.

59 percent of participants said that they feared Muslims living in Austria are terrorists. 

Last month, Austria’s domestic intelligence agency, the Office for Protection of the Constitution (BVT), released a report which stated that radical Islamic terrorism is still the most pressing security issue in the country, with returned ISIS fighters being a primary concern.

The report also mentioned that at least 93 ‘Austrian citizens’ who left the country to fight for ISIS in the Middle East had returned to Austria.

Wolfgang Aschauer, the author of the study, claimed that the results suggest that participants were under-emphasizing what he called ‘the complexity of Islam’. He also claimed that most Muslims in Austria are trying to integrate.

The president of the Islamic Religious Community, Ümit Vural, blames politics for rejection of Muslims by the vast majority of Austrians. 
 
Early this year, a physician and former MP from Austrian People’s Party told an Austrian television station that Austrian girls having to wear headscarves to prevent street harassment and assault by male Muslim migrants. This is a clear indication that Muslims aren’t assimilating to Austrian culture, but that Austrians – in their own country – are being forced to assimilate to Islamic culture.

LINKS

https://www.krone.at/2003681

https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/09/7-in-10-austrians-islam-is-not-compatible-with-the-west/