Prosecutor's Office Vienna Against Vienna Association Due to Hamas Ties

The association Dar al Janub (Arabic: House of the Sun, ed.) announced on Sunday that house searches were conducted at five locations, including the homes of former and current board members as well as the association's premises in Vienna-Ottakring. Electronic devices, association documents, literature, and personal diaries were confiscated. The evaluations are still ongoing.

ÖVP Report Triggered Investigations Against Vienna Association

"These accusations are primarily based on the association's long-standing political and scientific work," says Dar al Janub. Since its founding in 2003, the association has been dedicated to addressing global injustices, promoting "marginalized voices from the Global South," and organizing educational projects, trips, and conferences. According to its own statements, the association has been supported in the past by the City of Vienna, the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), and the OPEC Fund.

As confirmed by the Public Prosecutor's Office to the APA, a report by the ÖVP initiated the investigations. The association criticizes that "a political climate is being created in which critical positions on Israeli policy are criminalized and legitimate civil society work is delegitimized."

Vienna Association in Focus of Documentation Center for Political Islam

According to the association, the complaint is based on a study by the Documentation Center for Political Islam. Behind the facade of a legitimate interest representation hides a "dichotomous worldview that attributes all good to the 'global South' and all negative to the 'West'," as stated in the report published two years ago. In doing so, the association forms alliances with "left-wing extremist and anti-Semitic groups" and supports various organizations classified as terrorist.

The spokesperson for Dar al Janub posted a photo on Facebook in 2021 with Ismail Haniyeh, one of the central leaders of the militant Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas, with the words: "You have to travel far to meet politicians who keep their word." In the mid-2000s, both representatives of Hamas in Austria were reportedly invited to events by Dar al Janub, and representatives of the Vienna association met with the high-ranking Hamas official Osama Hamdan in Lebanon.

Even in the recent past, the association has shown sympathies with various Islamist groups and shared images depicting fallen Islamist fighters as martyrs. On October 9, 2023 - two days after the major attack by Hamas on Israel, which involved kidnappings and rapes of the Israeli civilian population - the association referred to Hamas and its allies as "Palestinian resistance forces" that had initiated a "process of liberation" (Palestinian resistance forces that had initiated a liberation process, note). The DPI report reveals that Dar al Janub previously presented itself as a partner in development aid and received approximately 100,000 US dollars (nearly 86,000 euros) from the OPEC Fund for International Development for this purpose.

Vienna Association Rejects Allegations

Dar al Janub firmly rejects all accusations and warns of the "dangerous consequences of politically motivated intimidation of civil society initiatives in Austria." The meetings with Palestinian representatives, including representatives of Hamas or the equally radical PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), took place within the framework of political trips, conferences, or publicly documented interviews. Social media postings are interpreted as "advertising for terrorist organizations," "although they link to journalistic contributions or scientific works," according to the association.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.