Call for Violence Against Jews Around the World: Cobra Guards Jewish Institutions
Kurier, October 11, 2023
German original: https://kurier.at/chronik/oesterreich/weltweiter-aufruf-zur-gewalt-gegen-juden-cobra-in-alarmbereitschaft/402627572
The terrorist organization Hamas called for action on Friday. The executive branch is stepping up its monitoring.
After the terrorist organization Hamas called for a global wave of violence against Jews on Friday, October 13, the Austrian security authorities are also on alert.
Jewish institutions in Austria have already been under increased surveillance since Saturday. The DSN (Directorate of State Protection and Intelligence) is in close contact with international security agencies. "Calls for acts of violence in social media, changes in the situation in the affected countries, information from foreign partner services and many other circumstances or information are included in the ongoing threat analysis and assessment of the situation," the Interior Ministry said. A further strengthening of the measures is "not excluded". However, they did not want to give any details.
On social media, Hamas called for a "day of mobilization of all global Muslims in solidarity with the Palestinian people and the resistance."
The threat is likely to be taken very seriously by the authorities: When a journalist in Linz wants to photograph a synagogue, he is immediately asked by police officers to identify himself. Surveillance of Jewish institutions is partly visible, partly covert. Officers of the special Cobra unit are also on duty.
However, no concrete threat is currently known in Austria. Meanwhile, the Vienna police are preparing for a large-scale operation on Wednesday evening. Vigils for Israel and Palestine are to be held in Vienna - in close proximity to each other. The Israelite religious community wants to commemorate the victims of Hamas terror at Ballhausplatz, while the supporters of the liberation of Palestine will gather at the same time at Stephansplatz.
The coming Friday is the "Friday of the Al-Aksa tide," Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, announced Tuesday. It is about supporting the Palestinian people "in the face of the open war of (Israeli) occupation." The Temple Mount (Al-Haram al-Sharif) in Jerusalem, with the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aksa Mosque, is the third holiest site in Islam.
Hamas also urged young Palestinians in the West Bank to engage in confrontations with Israeli soldiers. Arabs in Israel, in turn, were told to come to the Al-Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem and gather there.
Hundreds of terrorists had crossed the border into Israel on Saturday in a surprise attack on behalf of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip. Some 900 people were killed, men, women and children, in the ensuing attacks and a massacre among participants in a music festival. More than 2,600 people were injured, according to the Israeli Health Ministry.
Israel responded with airstrikes in Gaza that killed 788 people, including more than 140 children and 120 women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 4100 people were injured in the airstrikes, it said.