Vienna Jewish Shops Vandalized: Rise in Anti-Semitic Incidents Sparks Outrage

A travel agency is among those affected. The owner feels like he has been transported back to the time of the Nazis, he said in an interview with the “Presse”. The Israeli religious community is noticing an increase in anti-Semitic incidents.

In Vienna’s second district, several Jewish shops were spray-painted with anti-Semitic slogans. One of them is the travel agency Isaak Pretzel. “I walked past my store early on the holidays (May 1, note) and I saw this,” he tells the “Presse”. “We are all shocked and shaken.”

Some houses on Heinestrasse in Vienna’s second district are affected. Slogans like “Death to Zionism” and “Victory to Palestine” can be read. Nothing like this has ever happened before, says Pretzel, not to this extent. It is more than just an anti-Semitic incident. “I see this as a death threat,” said the managing director of the travel agency, which specializes in traveling to Israel. His parents survived the Shoah, he says. This action takes him back to that time. “That scares me.”

Israeli Ambassador David Roet immediately spoke out about the “anti-Semitic graffiti”: “The ugly face of anti-Semitism is visible again.” He also mentioned Austria’s National Socialist history: “It’s always surprising how little people have learned from history. ” No one should be offended by using Zionism instead of Jews. “Most Jews are Zionists,” Roet said. Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) was “deeply shocked and appalled by the anti-Semitic graffiti. “

Thrown with stones

The president of the Israeli Community (IKG), Oskar Deutsch, told the “APA” that there was an increase in anti-Semitic incidents recently. A public speech by UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese at the University of Vienna on Tuesday was followed by a march by an anti-Jewish group chanting hateful slogans. The following night, the anti-Semitic graffiti was placed on the walls of a house in a predominantly Jewish area.

On May 1, “terrorist slogans” and calls for the destruction of Israel were also chanted at a show on the Ring. In the evening, young people identified as Jewish because of their clothing were then pelted with stones while chanting “Free Palestine”. “First the word, then the action: little by little the ground is being prepared for anti-Semitic attacks in Vienna,” he says. Pretzel also says that recently he noticed a lot of anti-Semitism.

Vienna Festival Weeks Controversy

German also presided over the Vienna Festival Weeks, which start in mid-May. The appointment to the virtual “Council of the Republic” committee legitimizes supporters of the Israel BDS boycott campaign such as Annie Ernaux and Yanis Varoufakis. This is partly due to the “climate of hostility against Israel and therefore against Jews in Austria”. Viennese cultural policy therefore “indirectly supports the radicalization of anti-Semitic groups”.

Vienna City Councilor of Culture Veronica Kaup-Hasler said about a week ago protect the interest of Ernaux and Varoufakis. None of them would appear in person, she said. At the same time, the city councilor noted that a “discussion area” would be provided during the weeks of the festival. And she emphasized: “There is no place for anti-Semitism during the festival weeks.”