In an increasing set of anti-Muslim incidents across Europe, a Vienna mosque suffered the indignity of having pig parts placed at the entrance to the mosque. The material was placed at the entrance to the Kocatepe mosque on Christmas day, which is within the Austrian capital.
The anti-Muslim hate was best described to the Anadolu Agency on Saturday by Fatih Karadas, the Head of the Turkish-Islamic Union in Vienna (ATIB). He stated that:
“This is not an attack against Muslims but the whole of humanity. We, as Muslims, will preserve our calm and collective attitude.”
There have been similar anti-Muslim hate crimes conducted against other mosques and Islamic schools in Austria with the Imam Hatip School desecrated with a pig’s head in the summer of 2014. Furthermore, in December 2014, an elderly Austrian Muslim woman suffered a serious assault after she was knocked to the ground.