Dear WIGS,
> >this is a mail to our international friends who are concearned about
> >what is going on in Austria.
> >if you agree with the content, please forward it to others.
> >
> >
> >***************************************.
> >
> >
> >WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT IS DONE TO HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN DIGNITY IN
> >OUR
> >COUNTRY.
> >
> >
> >We do not feel obliged to claim Austria's "innocence". The to-be
> >government is in support of the majority of Austria's
> >population. We have no reason to claim Haider is "just another"
> >populist. He is not. He is a populist that operates with xenophobia,
> >racism and the denial of the Holocaust.
> >
> >The major threat is not the increase of direct violence against
> >minorities. The major threat is the signal that far right agitation and
> >action is not only ok but earns you a place in government. As
> >opportunism is one of the most prominent features of the "Austrian
> >mentality", this is a severe political danger.
> >
> >We have reason to be afraid of
> >* the final end of refugee or integration policies
> >* increasing xenophobia, racism and even antisemitism, because Austia
> >has never faced its past and now people have
> >governmental legitimation for such attitudes
> >* law and order policies instead of co-operative strategies to deal with
> >crime and conflict
> >* abolition of progressive women's policies (e.g. the post of the
> >minister for women's affairs will be cancelled and
> >replaced by an extended family ministery)
> >* severe restrictions to freedom of art, especially where it puts a
> >finger on the state of the Austrian society (already, in
> >Carinthia, artists are faced with political limitations to their work)
> >* restrictions to the freedom of press, because subsidies for critical
> >media products will most certainly be cut down
> >
> >we don't know yet what to do about it.
> >we need both your solidarity and your ongoing critisism.
> >don't stop looking at our country.
http://gegenschwarzblau.cjb.net/
http://www.aktion-zivilcourage.at/quickframe.html
________________________
Sabine Messner
Institut für Translationswissenschaft
Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
Merangasse 70, A-8010 Graz/Austria
Tel.: 0043.316.380.2676
Fax: 0043.316.380.9785
Mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www-gewi.kfunigraz.ac.at/uedo/research/projekte/femtrans.html
~~~
To write <I am a woman> is full of consequences.
(Nicole Brossard)
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