This same claim has been advanced in the U.S. and in countries in Europe besides Austria. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find a counterterror measure that an Islamic group did not decry as “Islamophobic,” except for those that deny outright any Islamic content to the motivating ideology behind jihad terrorism. This charge has the effect of inhibiting counterterror activities, as Western authorities are always solicitous of their Muslim communities and anxious not to offend them. So counterterror measures ended up getting blunted in focus, directed toward “white supremacists,” and otherwise rendered impotent in the face of the advancing jihad.
“Austrian Muslims concerned over rising Islamophobia,” Ahlul Bayt News Agency, November 15, 2020 (thanks to Henry):
AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Just over a week after the Vienna terror attack, Austria’s government proposed legislation to keep terrorism detainees locked up indefinitely.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called them ticking time bombs. But the most controversial part of the new measures is the creation of a new criminal offense that the government calls political Islam. If approved, this law would make it easier to close mosques or detain imams on charges of creating the breeding ground for terrorism.
The Islamic Faith Community of Austria representing around 700,000 people says some of the measures are incompatible with the Constitution and fundamental human rights.
Prominent Muslim personalities have raised alarm on social media. “The Muslim population has the impression that the term political Islam is used as a kind of code to send signals to certain groups of voters and foster resentment. There can’t be a penalty that addresses only one religion,” an activist said….