Mayor of Austrian village prevents Palestinian family from buying villa because of their religion

Vienna (QNN)- Mayor of a village in Gänserndorf has in last April rejected a request by a Palestinian family to buy a villa in the village because “the different cultural values of Islam and the West don’t go together regarding moral values, mores, and practices”, as the mayor claimed.

The Palestinian family Abu El Hosna, which has been in Austria for six years so far, thought that they found the suitable villa to buy in Weikendorf village. They got a loan and almost completed all legal proceedings before they get an official letter telling them that their request to buy the villa has been rejected by the mayor because of their religion.

“the different cultural values of Islam and the West don’t go together regarding moral values, mores, and practices”, said the mayor Johann Zimmermann in a statement.

The family decided to go to the court of law to fight this “racist decision”, as Mansour Abu El Hosna described it.

“We just want our freedom of religion to be respected. We never knew about any such case, in which someone is denied his right of ownership because of his religion”, Mansour Abu El Hosna told QNN. “Belief is something personal. You can’t discriminate against someone because of his/her belief”.

The family’s lawyer in an interview with the Austrian website Kurier underestimated the mayor’s opinion, describing it as a “political opinion” which doesn’t relate to the laws of the Lower Austrian region.

Omar Rawi, member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria and Vienna parliament, criticized the mayor’s decision and warned of the danger of Islamophobia.

“To be in the 21 century and believe that different culture of Europe cannot go together is weird”, he said. “But it seems that the Islamophobia, brought by the turquoise-blue coalition has reached the narrowest corners of the country.”

Austria has been led by a right-wing coalition, which has been targeting Muslims, as many say. Two weeks ago, Austrian MPs have approved a law aimed at banning the headscarf in primary schools, a measure, which has been believed to target Muslims, as it doesn’t cover other religious symbols.