AUSTRIA BANS FUNDING OF SOME MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS

The Great Synagogue, Elizabeth Street, Sydney, Australia. Australian Jews have launched an action plan to combat anti-Semitism in the country. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Vienna, 14 Jumadil Awwal 1436/5 March 2015 (MINA) – The Austrian parliament passed legislation last week prohibiting foreign funding for Islamic organizations in an attempt what they called curbing the spread of Islamist radicalism.

The law specifically bans foreign funding for imams and mosques from some Muslim nations including Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Under the new legislation, Austria’s 450 Muslim organizations must exhibit a “positive approach toward society and the state” in order to continue receiving official authorization, Algemeiner quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Sebastian Kurz, Austria’s integration minister, said that the new provisions would inhibit specific Muslim countries from exerting “political influence” in Austria via financial mechanisms.

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“What we want is to reduce the political influence and control from abroad and we want to give Islam the chance to develop freely within our society and in line with our common European values,” he said.

The new law has received backlash from Austria’s Muslim communities, arguing that international support for Christian and Jewish groups is still allowed. However, the legislation appears to target some countries with problematic foreign policies of promoting radical Islamist agendas.

Moreover, the law will initiate university-led education programs for Austrian imams and Muslims will have the right to halal meals in some of the country’s main institutions and public schools, including hospitals, prisons, and in the armed forces. Muslim workers in these institutions will also be able to receive spiritual guidance from Islamic religious leaders.(T/P008/R04)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)