Firestorm in Austria as Politician Calls Mohammed a Child Molester

She'll be lucky to stay out of jail due to incitement laws, never mind getting herself elected.

Needless to say, there could be more delicate ways of getting your point across.

Seems the seething isn't just limited to the Muslim population in Austria.

A candidate campaigning for the Graz city council in Austria says it is time that Islam was "thrown back ... behind the Mediterranean," and alleges Muhammad wrote the Koran in "epileptic fits."

Election campaigns, it would seem, are uncomfortable times for immigrants to be in Europe. First, it was Ronald Koch, the conservative politician in the German state of Hesse who turned up the rhetoric and began railing against "criminal young foreigners" in his country. Now, an Austrian politician has followed suit.

Susanne Winter, a right-wing politician with the FPÖ party running for a city council seat in the city of Graz, blasted Muslims on Sunday, saying that "in today's system" the Prophet Muhammad would be considered a "child molester," apparently referring to his marriage to a six-year-old child. She also said that it is time for Islam to be "thrown back where it came from, behind the Mediterranean." Not yet finished, she also claimed that Muhammad wrote the Koran in "epileptic fits."

In an interview with the daily Österreich published on Monday, Winter continued the onslaught saying that child abuse is "widespread" among Muslim men and that Graz is facing a "tsunami of Muslim immigration." In 20 or 30 years, she warned, half of Austria's population would be Muslim.

Her comments have resulted in a storm of protest in Austria, with politicians and commentators of all stripes taking Winter and her party to task. Austrian prosecutors are also looking into the possibility of filing charges against the 50-year-old politician for incitement.

Her comments, said Omar Al-Rawi, head of integration for an Austrian association of Muslims, showed "a lack of respect" and they "had no basis in fact." He told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that such Islam bashing has reached a point in Austria that "one wants to puke."

But despite the strong reaction generated by Winter, such rhetoric is hardly foreign to political campaigns in Austria. Her party was created by Jörg Haider, the notoriously right-leaning politician who found success in the 1990s and earlier this decade with a mixture of xenophobia and nationalism. He has since moved on, but his rhetoric has remained the same. Campaigning recently for his new group, the Association for Austria's Future (BZÖ), he said, "We are still allowed to say Gruss Gott," -- the traditional Austrian greeting -- "and don't have to praise Allah."

Haider: Ban Mosque-Building

Expect plenty of seething to follow.

By the way, why is it always "rightwingers" who are considered "firebrands"?

Arent't there any leftwing firebrands?

Austria's Haider says to ban mosque-building

Austrian right-wing firebrand Joerg Haider said on Monday he plans to change building laws to prevent mosques and minarets being erected in his home province of Carinthia.

Haider, Carinthia's governor, said he would ask its parliament to amend the building code to would require towns and villages to consider "religious and cultural tradition" when dealing with construction requests.

"We don't want a clash of cultures and we don't want institutions which are alien to our culture being erected in Western Europe," Haider said in a statement.

Oooh, those are fighting words. How insensitive of him, wanting to actually preserve his own culture.

"Muslims have of course the right to practice their religion, but I oppose erecting mosques and minarets as centers to advertise the power of Islam," he said.

His spokesman, Stefan Petzner, said that there were no plans to restrict Muslim prayer rooms, as this would violate Muslims' human rights, and the planned change applied only to dedicated mosques and minarets.

Muslims in Europe are meeting increasing resistance to plans for mosques that befit Islam's status as the continent's second religion after Christianity, with petitions in London, protests in Cologne, a court case in Marseille and violence in Berlin.

However, while all those places have significant Muslim minorities, Haider's Carinthia has the second lowest share of Muslim citizens of all Austrian provinces -- 11,000 out of a population of around 400,000, a Muslim spokesman said.

"It's a ridiculous statement to say he fears a clash of civilizations (in Carinthia)," said Omar al-Rawi, a centre-left lawmaker who is spokesman for the Austrian Muslims' Initiative.

I guess if you're "centre-left," you don't qualify for firebrand status.

"We don't know of any mosque plans there. His move is meaningless, populist, racist and anti-Islamic," he added.

You forgot "Islamophobic," Omar.

Whatever the case, Haider isn't exactly the best spokesman to come out with this, considering his history. Especially this part:

Despite his rhetoric against Islam at home, Haider also praises himself for his close ties to Muslim leaders including Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, whom he calls a personal friend.