An event at the University of Vienna with guest speaker Francesca Albanese warned authorities on Tuesday evening: the Italian is the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories – and considered a figurehead of the pro-Palestinian movement. Accordingly, there were concerns about such an escalation at universities in the US. The “Krone” was there.
About 115 meters as the crow flies from Vienna’s Fool’s Tower, dozens of people gathered on Tuesday evening to show solidarity with Palestinians in general and UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese in particular. The Italian is responsible for the messages from the Gaza Strip and has repeatedly faced accusations that he is an anti-Semite.
Jews murdered because of ‘oppression’.
For example, in a message to French President Emmanuel Macron, she wrote: “The victims of October 7, 2023 were not murdered because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression. France and the international community did nothing to prevent this. My condolences go out to the victims.”
Nevertheless, Albanian was added to a course at the University of Vienna on Tuesday, even though there were violent protests from the Jewish community in Vienna beforehand. The criticism was particularly loud because the event had a relevant title: ‘Genocidal war and complicity? The war on Gaza and Western responsibility’ announced.
And: The event was open to the public, which is unusual for a course. Pro-Palestinian groups then called on their members to come in as many numbers as possible and show their solidarity.
“Prevent escalation like in the US”
“The University of Vienna has so far managed very well to avoid a political escalation comparable to that of American universities. The planned event represents a conscious break with this previously very smart attitude of the University of Vienna,” said a letter from the “Club of Friends of Israel.”
The University of Vienna justified the event as a “critical discussion in the spirit of academic engagement with the subject” and again condemned anti-Semitism in all forms.
Aside from the occasional “Down with Israel” chant, there were no significant scandals on campus Tuesday night — Vienna is a far cry from the conditions at individual American universities.
Source: Krone
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