(On the photo — leaders of the Austrian Freedom Party with representatives of «United Russia»)
Yesterday, when Muslims in Russia learned about the ban on hijab in Penza schools, it became known about a similar initiative of the ruling coalition in Austria. This refers to the ban on «wearing ideological or religious clothing that covers the head» in primary schools.
In principle, this initiative differs from the practices in Penza, Mordovia and Stavropol Krai, as it is currently limited to primary schools and affects girls, who are not obliged to cover up according to Sharia law. However, another recent initiative in Austria attracts attention — the prohibition of holding positions for students under the age of 16, from whom teachers can demand termination under threat of a fine if approved.
Of course, in the first case it can be said that girls, if they wish, may not wear «ideological and religious clothing», but a headscarf or something similar, since, unlike in Russia, they are not allowed to go to school without it, and only fines can be issued to parents. Or one can say that the decision to prohibit positions before the age of 16 corresponds to one of the positions in the Hanafi Mazhab, according to which adulthood is established from this age.
Nevertheless, experience shows that when A is said, B and C are usually said as well, i.e., starting with something small leads to something bigger, according to the Overton window principle. And here one could say: here you see, it turns out that not only in Russia there are Islamophobes in power, apparently things are no better in the vaunted Europe.
That could be, and there are reasons for it, especially in countries like France with its militant secularist unifying tradition. But there is a «but» in this case. The initiator of the most blatant Islamophobic initiatives in Austria is the Freedom Party (FPO), which signed a cooperation agreement with the United Russia party on December 19, 2016. It is significant that of all the Austrian parties, the Russian ruling party has chosen as its partner a force with the most notorious reputation. In another key European country — France — Moscow does not hide its support for a similar party, the National Front, which receives Russian funding, and its leader, Marine Le Pen, is warmly welcomed in the Kremlin.
We have also written many times about Moscow’s support for the anti-Islam Alternative for Germany party. And these are by no means the only Islamophobic parties looking to Moscow today. So, yes, of course, it is not worth considering the situation of Muslims in the West as a complete idyll compared to Russia. But it is necessary to understand that the Western forces and politicians who want to aggravate this situation to the maximum are precisely those who are currently targeting Putin’s Russia.