Grotesque Call for a Strike

SPÖ Youth: Headscarf Ban Aims to Spark a “War”

Red youth organizations have caused a stir with a call to action.(Bild: Krone-Collage/APA/HERBERT NEUBAUER/picturedesk.com, Instagram/schulebrennt_)

The SPÖ Youth is likely to cause another major headache at the party’s Vienna headquarters: On Monday, several left-wing youth groups called for a “school strike” against the headscarf ban on Instagram—and caused consternation with grotesque claims about “preparations for war” in Austria...

The law passed by the ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS prohibits girls up to age 14 from wearing headscarves on school grounds; violations are punishable by fines of up to 800 euros.

According to the call to action, the demonstration at Human Rights Square in Vienna is intended not only to protest the headscarf ban itself, but also, more generally, against “racism, sexism, and militarization in schools.”

In doing so, the young activists lose themselves in sometimes far-fetched comparisons: “It’s no coincidence that Muslim youth are being politically targeted right now, while at the same time the Austrian Armed Forces visited schools nearly 3,000 times last school year to spread propaganda for war: Racism serves as preparation for war,” warns the accompanying text from “Schule brennt,” which the SJ and the Rote Falken shared on their Instagram accounts.

The Rote Jugend is calling for a protest.(Bild: Instagram/schulebrennt_)

And further: “We are striking because we know that without us, school comes to a standstill, and because we refuse to let things run as usual under these conditions.” 

These words caused quite a stir—even within the Austrian Armed Forces themselves. In response to a query from “Krone,” Brigadier Michael Bauer stated: “This shows how important it is for the Austrian Armed Forces to inform students in schools about its missions and comprehensive national defense.”

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense emphasized: “Evidently, not everyone is familiar with our Federal Constitution. This is further motivation for our public affairs officers to provide even more factual information: the only remedy against polemics and disinformation,” said the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense.

Federal SPÖ Contradicts Party Colleagues
The federal government justifies the headscarf ban, which was decided at the end of last year, on the grounds of protecting the freedom of Muslim girls. Integration Minister Claudia Bauer (ÖVP) called the headscarf, for example, a “sign of oppression and a means of controlling girls from the earliest childhood.”

A similar regulation for elementary schools had been overturned by the Constitutional Court in 2020 on the grounds that a regulation targeting only Muslims contradicts the state’s requirement of religious neutrality. Challenges have also been announced against the current law, which will take effect for the first time next Monday when schools reopen in eastern Austria.

When asked, the SPÖ federal party defended the headscarf ban. It stated that every child, regardless of gender, background, or religion, deserves to grow up and live a self-determined life, and that schools play a particularly important role in this regard.

The new regulation—in combination with awareness-raising efforts aimed at boys—is intended to prevent girls from being forced to wear a headscarf and to reduce the pressure on those who consciously choose not to wear one.

Freedom Party Sees “Admission of Failure”
FPÖ Federal Party Spokesperson Lisa Schuch-Gubik described the SJ’s actions in a press release as an “inconceivable capitulation to political Islam and a betrayal of our values.” She called it a “declaration of bankruptcy” when an SPÖ youth organization wants to “take to the streets alongside radical forces in support of a symbol of women’s oppression.”